《Septem》


 Septem Prologue

    *woosh* *ssssst* *clink* *clank*


    The high pitch sound of swords rang out as thousands of men on the battlefield fought each other to the death. Whether they held grudges or not, it did not matter. The twos sides were both fighting for one main reason, the sword of Nahlia.


    The sword Nahlia, was a sword made out of diamond. A sword made out of diamond would obviously shatter when struck by something as simple as hammer (in the right angle). But that was not the case with Nahlia as it was able to be slammed against a rock and stay intact. It really was a priceless treasure.


    "Madam Dahlia, please get away from here with young master Kioxe. There''s too many of them. I don''t believe that we can come out of this unscathed." A loyal servant cried urgently.


    "Stall for time, I''ll be getting as far away as I can from here." Dahlia replied urgently. Though right when she turned around, a man with five swords spinning around him appeared.


    "You miss me Dahlia?" The man in a clad of black armor spoke in amusement.


    "Y-you monster! You''ve killed my husband and now you aim for me? You must be joking." Dahlia gritted her teeth in anger.


    "It was his fault for not handing over Nahlia. A sword like that was destined to be mine. Why else would he decide to make such a sword and not bind it. He was at the beginning of the sixth  stage. Now if he was to bind and fuse the sword, he definitely would''ve been still alive." The man clad in black smirked.


    "Screw you! Although I''m only in the peak of the fifth stage, I should still be able to defeat you." Dahlia screamed in agitation.


    Dahlia then motioned for the loyal servant to come closer. When he did, she said, "Take Kioxe away from here and keep him safe. Raise him if I don''t catch up to you."


    "Yes! Of course Madam, I''ll keep young master Kioxe safe with my life." The servant took Kioxe and immediately ran for it through the woods opposite of where the fighting was taking place.


    Seeing the servant making a run for it, the man clad in black made one of his sword pierce towards the servant with just a thought.


    *clang*


    "Hmmmf as if!" Dahlia cried. With but just a thought, one of her five swords had hit the side of the flying sword away from the servant.


    A sixth stage septem combatant versus a peak fifth stage septem combatant. This fight could be said to be relatively close as the two both wielded five flying swords each.


    "Ahhh!" Dahlia screamed as the five swords spun around her and one by one was sent flying towards the man from five different directions. "Die!" Dahlia screamed. Giving her utmost effort, she applied a bountiful amount of life energy.


    "As if a fifth stage septem combatant can defeat me." The man calmly used his five swords to deflect the five incoming swords from even scratching him. With the man''s advantage in being in the sixth stage, he had more life energy than Dahlia and was able to easily defend himself. He didn''t have to be on the offensive as he knew that in the end, Dahlia would be drained of energy and he''d have just enough to spare. Not to mention, his swords in quality were a bit lacking compared to Dahlia. So he really didn''t want to risk attacking and have his sword be damaged. By deflecting Dahlia''s swords, he''d be  able to minimize the amount of time that his swords would come into contact with Dahlia''s.


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    Dahlia was in disarray. There was nothing she could do to injure the man. Even when Dahlia changed her sword''s speed and power, it did not disrupt the man at all. With the situation looking grim, she decided to use an all or nothing attack. She used up all her saved up soul energy in which she hasn''t used since the start of the battle right as the swords were once again heading towards the man for the eighth time.


    The difference between a sword filled with energy and one filled with soul energy were two completely different things. Life energy could be used by taking in the life energy around you, but soul energy was one where a living being would produce it just for themselves. It was literally what it meant. Soul energy came from your soul and the only thing that could counter that would be another soul attack or defense. This also implied with life energy as soul energy would not at all affect life energy. They were two completely different forms of energy that made up the world.


    Caught off guard, the man couldn''t use his soul energy to deflect all of Dahlia''s spirit-like swords. One sword was able to reach him and go through his armor as it struck his soul. A soul couldn''t be destroyed, that was a fact. Although a soul couldn''t be destroyed, once their soul was damaged, their life would drastically shorten to the point of death.


    Enraged, the man bawled in agony, "Ahhhhhhh b**** you dare to injure me?" Seeing that the damage to his soul was done in such a way made him infuriated. He refused to believe that he would be done by Dahlia. Using what''s left of his life energy, he controlled his four swords to stall the other four swords. Meanwhile, his soul would keep Dahlia''s fifth sword in his soul to prevent it from getting out. This left his fifth sword to be able to go straight towards Dahlia with no intrusions. Seeing as there was no way out of it, Dahlia used every ounce of soul energy left to make her fifth sword burst in their soul, destroying her sword and damaging the man''s soul to the point that he would die.


    "Sorry little Kioxe, mommy will be leaving you early to go see your daddy." Dahlia stared at the ground as she fell over and died from the hole in her chest.


    With the two fallen leaders of both sides dead, the fight got even more intense as both sides fought with everything they had to kill their foes. It wasn''t long before the battlefield came to a close with no one left alive, just a couple thousand dead bodies left for the animals and maggots.


    Author''s Note:


    Haha, school is over wooooot! Man I love summer! As for the word septem, I hope my readers would be able to get used to it as the story progress. Hope you all enjoy! Definitely comment about what you think so far as it''ll encourage me to write more and play Reague of Regends less. :D

 Septem Chapter 1: Servant Potis

    It''s been a year since I''ve last heard of Madam Dahlia. She must have died to the hands of that scum. Was it not for a sneak attack, master Von wouldn''t have died. For Madam Dahlia to defeat a sixth stage septem combatant would''ve been too tough. She probably passed away, but that does not matter as I will stay true to her wishes and raise young master Kioxe.


    "Gaaaah heh heh heh" The young master was playing with his ring. There would be times where an item would appear out of nowhere and then disappear as the young Kioxe was summoning the items stored in his spatial ring. Of course Potis had always thought about removing the ring off his young master''s finger as he was too young to work the ring, but removing the ring would be touching his master''s property and he didn''t want to do that at all.


    Seeing as Kioxe always stored the items after summoning them, Potis paid no heed. As long as his master would be happy, it would be enough for him. Seeing the energetic one year old Kioxe would always make a servant such as Potis content. For Potis, raising Kioxe was like paying away his debts to his dead masters while having fun. How could Potis not help but feel deep affections for young Kioxe.


    Potis a year ago had decided to live in a secluded cottage that he had made deep in the woods. Since he was a fourth stage septem user and was one of his masters'' most strongest servant, he was able to easily catch the wild ferocious animals that lived in the woods. With a small stream nearby, Potis was able to feed the baby Kioxe and himself perfectly fine.


    Although there were at times when humans did come into the woods, they would never find the cottage as it was concealed relatively well. It was in this calm and quiet atmosphere that Potis was able to raise Kioxe with ease.


    It wasn''t long before the crawling Kioxe was able to walk. It was at this time that Potis started to worry. Kioxe would stagger and fall every so often and give Potis a heart attack. He couldn''t handle his young master walking around and then suddenly falling face flat on the floor or knocking his head on the furniture. Whenever his master''s knees started to wobble greatly, Potis would dive towards his master and gently place him on the floor. You could say Potis''s easygoing life became one filled with stress. If anything serious was to happen to Kioxe, he wouldn''t know how to explain what happened to his two masters in heaven.


    At the age of one and a half years old, Kioxe had started to talk. He would be able to say simple things like meat but without the ''m'', pronouncing "eat." Potis was most joyful when Kioxe called his name. Since the ''p'' was really hard for Kioxe to pronounce, his name became "Otis" from then on.


    Growing up, Kioxe would slowly be allowed to venture around the woods. Potis knew that his master would have to experience the world outside the cottage and so he let his master venture around freely. Though Potis would have to clean Kioxe up by the stream every time as Kioxe loved playing in the mud or playing with dirt.


    At the age of four, Potis had taught Kioxe to the point where Kioxe''s vocabulary would rival that of the average seven years old. Too bad Kioxe was still too young and had troubles pronouncing his words correctly.


    Being that of a fourth stage septem user, Potis was able to help Kioxe with his understanding of his life and soul energy. But what really surprised Potis was that Kioxe was able to sense and send out soul energy at such a young age. There were plenty of people that had to train countless of years before they were able to detect and use their soul energy. Potis could only shake his head in admiration and cry out to the sky that his masters should not worry about Kioxe''s future accomplishments.


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    Seeing that Kioxe was nearing the age of five, Potis decided it was time to go to a city to enroll Kioxe in a school or clan. It would teach him how to be tough and strong. His social ability would also improve as Potis was the only one who talked to Kioxe. When Potis broke the news to Kioxe that they were leaving their home and going to a place that had a lot of people, Kioxe was thrilled and saw it as meeting more ''Potis''. Kioxe had asked,"So dere will be more Otis?" Grinning, Potis could only say yes and make the boy even more exhilarated.


    Though right before Potis was about to pick up the boy and carry him on his back, Kioxe spoke some words that shocked Potis.


    "Otis, on dis tip if dere are baddies I will beat em up wit my first stag septem powars!" Kioxe had yelled out cheerfully.


    Looking shock, Potis stood there in a daze for a moment. "Young master Kioxe, you must be joking me." Potis cried out in a serious tone.


    "Yea, I have feelies of the first stag." Kioxe cried in all honesty. Kioxe had come to the conclusion that the strong amount of energy inside his body had reach the first stage that Potis always talked about.


    "My heavens....Kioxe quickly take out the diamond sword in your ring and bind it. Put your blood on it and use your soul power to fuse it with your sword." Potis instructed Kioxe with eyes wide as a fish.


    As Kioxe quickly followed Potis''s instructions with haste, Kioxe could only believe that he had done something wrong as Potis was talking in such a serious tone. After Potis had helped Kioxe in making a small cut on his little index finger to place a drop of blood on the sword, the sword Nahlia had trembled as it seemed to come alive. It was only after several hours did Kioxe was able to completely fuse the sword with his soul. Nahlia and Kioxe had become one.


    "Good job master Kioxe, you can rest now." Potis spoke in a kind tone. He was filled to the brim with happiness. Having someone be so attuned to their life and soul energy at such a young age was too astonishing. His young master would be ranked as one of the most talented individual as Potis had never heard of a four year old first stage septem user. The average age for most people would be at the age of ten. Only then would their life and soul energy be strong enough to bind and fuse a septem.


    Seeing that Potis had such a wide grin, Kioxe couldn''t help but smile. It seemed that he was able to do it right and make Potis happy. With his life and soul energy all drained up, he slowly fell fast asleep from fatigue.


    The journey of young master Kioxe and poor old servant Potis would only then begin. With Kioxe on Potis''s back, Potis quickly ran through the woods and out upon the open prairie.


    Author''s Note:


    Hope this chapter was to your satisfaction. As I had a lot of fun writing about the loyal old servant Potis. :D

 Septem Chapter 2: The City of Zabudi

    "Young master Kioxe, wake up!" Potis shook the sleeping Kioxe.


    "I need ten copper coin for the both of us to be able to go through the gates." Potis held out both hands as he displayed the amount needed.


    Half-awake, Kioxe pulls out ten platinum coins from his ring.


    "Kioxe put that away before someone sees. I need ten copper coins, not ten platinum coins. Got it?" Potis was terror-stricken.


    "Hue hue hue, I was only kidding Otis." Kioxe was playing around as he stored his platinum coins and pulled out ten copper ones. With a sigh of relief, Potis made sure to remark the boy about his actions. If anyone were to see those ten platinum coins, Potis wasn''t so sure if he alone would be able to fend off the greed of others. Being careful, Potis decided to get a couple copper and silver in advance from Kioxe to avoid any further monetary issue.


    In a couple of minutes, the two heard a deep uncaring voice yelling, "Next!" The guard was six feet tall, but seemed like a monster to Kioxe as he had never been given the chance to meet others. With but just a flick of his hand, Potis had given the guard 10 copper coins. The two were then allowed entry as the gates were opened.


    Kioxe clung to Potis as he was afraid of the guards patrolling the gates. Kioxe truly thought that Potis was weaker than the guards looking at their frame and build. Potis after all was a sixty year old man. It wouldn''t be weird if someone called him an elder. It was even more so when Potis had a long one foot stash of grayish beard. Living in the woods, Potis never felt the need to cut his hair. It was more natural to let it grow.


    Smirking, Potis picked the boy up and onto his shoulders. Feeling the change in height, Kioxe opened his eyes to see thousands upon thousands of people running amok among the marketplace.


    "Local fish! Get your local fish for 10 copper coins each. Guaranteed to fill your belly and tasting to your tongue." A local fisherman cried out.


    "Come on ladies, come on ladies, get your boyfriend or husband to buy you one of these pearls. It''s the latest fad. It''s only when they truly love you will they buy this pearl for you." A jewelry salesman cried out. As there were a line of buyers, truly there were some gullible women that forced their loved one to buy them the pearl as proof of their love.


    In summary, the city of Zabudi was bustling. Kioxe couldn''t help but have stars in his eyes. He wanted to walk up to every store as there were probably millions of things he had never seen before.


    "Let''s first find a place to stay for the night." Potis walked around until he found an inn that had the price of just twenty coppers. It wasn''t a rundown inn, but one where it was relatively simple. That was all Kioxe and Potis needed as the two weren''t going to stay for long.


    Seeing as a worker walked by their room, Potis decided to kindly ask the miss for some answers.


    "Excuse me miss, what is the name of the septem academy here in this city?" Potis kindly asked the worker.


    "Oh, it''s called the School of Zen. You must be a foreign country bumpkin if you haven''t heard of the School of Zen." The worker replied.


    "Is the School of Zen that amazing?" Potis asked in embarrassment. Judging from the worker''s tone of voice, this School of Zen must really be an amazing academy.


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    "Why yes! It''s only one of the top three academy specialized in soul attacks in the whole continent of Xenodan." The worker boasted in pride.


    Looking at how prideful the women was, Potis couldn''t help but believe that this school really was that great.


    "May I ask what are the requirements to enroll in this school?" Potis asked politely.


    "Being one of the top school in the whole continent of Xenodan, the requirements are very strict. You would have to be 21 or younger to enter. Its second requirement is that the student be able to reach the first stage of septem before the age of ten. If you are older than ten, then you would have to show an official document to prove that the individual did get to the first stage before ten. Now the school''s third requirement is the most hardest of all. You have to be able to reach the third stage of septem by the time you reach adulthood at sixteen. As for the school''s rules, it''s the same rules that apply to all. The universal rule of not being allowed to kill a fellow student." The worker recalled what she knew at the top of her head.


    "Thank you very much!" Potis cupped his hands as he then handed her five copper coins.


    Returning to his room, Potis watched as Kioxe was admiring the city. The hustling and bustling truly was a place where kids could let out their curiosity. Walking up to Kioxe, Potis lightly tapped on Kioxe''s shoulder.


    "You will be going to attend the school of Zen tomorrow. I''ll get you signed up right away." Potis broke the news.


    "School? Wat is dat?" Kioxe asked in confusion.


    "It is a place where kids like you attend. The school will surely teach you how to be strong. You''ll meet other kids like yourself and probably make a few friends." Potis replied reassuring Kioxe.


    "B-b-but wat if I dun want to go to school? I like Otis, Otis makes me happy. Otis has to take care of me!" Kioxe protested.


    "You have to go to school and try your best Kioxe. I can''t take care of you forever. You saw how big and strong the guards at the gate was right? Potis has grown too old. Potis can''t continue to always take care of you. I''ll die soon and once that happens, who can take care of you but other than yourself?" A heartbroken Potis with streams of tears flowing down his wrinkly face cried out.


    "Otis...dun cry...Kioxe will make Otis happy. Kioxe will be strong. Kioxe will be able to take care of Kioxe and Otis too. Kioxe will go to school and be strong." Kioxe wailed tugging at Potis''s shirt.


    "Be strong young master Kioxe. You have to show them your abilities tomorrow. Show me that you can take care of yourself before this dried up pile of skin and bones pass away." Potis stared into the eyes of Kioxe.


    As the two got on bed to get ready for the next day, you''d be charmed to see a little kid like Kioxe hugging an elderly man that could pass as his grandfather so affectionately. The two were what you''d say went hand in hand.


    Author''s Note: this


    Monetary System-1000 copper coin= 1 silver coin


    1000 silver coin= 1 gold coin


    1000 gold coin= 1 platinum coin


    Who doesn''t feel for their loved ones whether related by blood or not. I hope you all cherish your loved ones before it''s too late. Just say you love them and it''ll surely make their day. :D

 Septem Chapter 3: Genius

    "Kioxe, remember to do what they ask you to do okay?" Potis made sure Kioxe would behave.


    "Okay Otis, I''ll do wat they tell me to do." The four year old Kioxe agreed.


    As the two walked towards the School of Zen located between the commerce and nobleman area of the city, they would get sidetracked a few times as it really was a big city. With over ten million people, the city of Zabudi really was able to harbor talent making themselves one of the strongest city upon Xenodan.


    "We should be there soon...ahah it should be over there." Potis pointed at the large rectangular building. Brown brick walls made up the dojo giving it a commoner feel as that was the color of most of the houses built in the commoners area. It gave off a simple yet serious aura as you could hear the students shout with vigor. Giving a glimpse of how the school conducted themselves, Potis could only nod in satisfaction at the school environment. The youths there really did seem to give it their all as they trained their bodies.


    "Are you sure I should be here? They all so big." Kioxe whispered to Potis. He had thought that maybe it would work out if he had met someone nice and kind like Potis, but that wasn''t the case from looking at how most of the students were really ripped or so thin as if they could pass off as a person who hadn''t gotten the chance to eat much for months. The disciples pretty much all looked hard to approach.


    Potis couldn''t help but mentally agree that the students didn''t seem as if they would be able to become Kioxe''s friend as since they were here, it could only mean that they were all a cut above the rest in the use of septem.


    "Just follow me master Kioxe, you had promised me yesterday that you would become strong. It''s only by training under a school will you become educated enough to be strong." Potis continued walking dragging Kioxe past the gates and towards the tall wooden building that seemed to be the main building.


    Walking into the building, a man who was probably a septem expert above the fourth stage sat quietly in a meditative position. He had a fine stash like Potis, but at the same time looked more refined and powerful.


    The man slowly opened his eyes and said, "Have you come here to apply to be a teacher at the school of Zen? I must kindly say that you don''t meet the requirements and should go back home." The man''s uncaring tone seemed to reverberate inside the wooden room.


    "Ahh, wise senior I haven''t come to be a teacher at this most esteemed school. But rather to apply my young master to this school where I''m sure will be able to nurture him." Potis patted on Kioxe''s shoulder, signaling whom his young master was.


    "Hmmmm, isn''t he a bit too young?" The senior spoke indifferently.


    "Haha, that is exactly so. Kioxe here is four months shy from the age of five but has already reached the first septem stage." Potis spoke with pride.


    "What! Impossible!" The senior had eyes wide of disbelief.


    "Kioxe, would you kindly demonstrate to this senior your sword. Make sure to control it in the air as to prove that you really are in the first stage." Potis instructed.


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    "Yes Otis!" Kioxe yelled energetically. It was at this moment that a four feet diamond sword appeared. It floated in front of Kioxe majestically as it really was showing off its colorless radiance. A colorless diamond sword would only reveal itself that it was the best among diamonds. It was at this moment that the senior really believe that Kioxe was at the first septem stage.


    "You are named Kioxe correct? Truly a genius! To be able to already have a septem at such a young age. Surely you would be able to reach the seventh stage of septem. Though it is a shame that your sword is made of diamond. Although it is hard, it will shatter really easily." The senior spoke with mixed feelings.


    "Senior, this diamond sword is able to stay intact even if a powerful force were to slam against the sword. I advise you to look at it again." Potis made sure to show the significance of the sword. After all, Kioxe''s parents had died because of this sword that they had made. Although a septem could be fixed if broken with soul energy, if it doesn''t break, then there is no need to use a large amount of soul energy to fix it. The diamond sword Nahlia really was a one of a kind.


    Hearing this, the senior clamped his two hands upon the sword, but to his astonishment it did not shatter. An expert like him would be able to easily crush a one meter tree trunk, but wasn''t able to do so on Nahlia. His fingers were even cut as the diamond edge of Nahlia really was too sharp.


    "Amazing, a sword like this is a real treasure." The senior couldn''t help but wish he had a septem as good as Nahlia. Though he didn''t dare try to take it as a fused septem was bound to their wielder''s soul. There was no one that could rob someone else''s septem. It was exactly because Kioxe''s parents refused to fuse Nahlia with their soul did people try to steal it.


    "Kioxe, you will be attending our School of Zen immediately. I''ll inform the headmaster of such a talent. As for you, if you wish to work here and keep an eye on your grandson then you can live at our teachers'' quarters." The senior really was in a jubilant mood.


    "Thank you senior!" Kioxe cried out as he heard that Potis could keep an eye on him at the school.


    "Hahaha, it''s no big problem young Kioxe. Now you can call me senior Dorang as I''ll surely help you become an outstanding septem combatant." Senior Dorang urged the boy.


    "Then Senior Dorang, thanks a lot!" Kioxe repeated joyfully.


    "Follow me, I''ll bring you to your own room." Senior Dorang waved his hand to show Kioxe to his dorm.


    As Kioxe followed the senior to his dorm, he couldn''t help but look back at Potis and give a wide grin.


    Author''s Note:


    Had a nice nap. I kind of wrote this chapter half awake so I hope the quality is still there. Now cheer as little Kioxe will embark on the road of a septem user/school life. It seems I''m able to write several chapters a day when I don''t play LoL. Please, please, please comment about what you think of the story so far and encourage my self esteem to continue writing.

 Septem Chapter 4: Big Sis

    Kioxe''s room was relatively plain and simple. With the standard white walls on all four sides and only two plain wooden desks and two twin size beds, it really was just a simple living room.


    Seeing as there were two beds with the bed most closest to the door already having clothes on top of it, Kioxe believed that to be his roommate''s clothes.


    Senior Dorang had gone to inform the headmaster and led Potis to his own room and so Kioxe had been left all alone. Since there wasn''t a class Kioxe had to go to for the day, Senior Dorang had advised Kioxe to walk around the school and get used to where everything was. Although he was four, Senior Dorang had reassured Potis that nothing would go wrong or happen to the boy as bullying was strongly banned from the school and that it could lead to expulsion. The disciples were all relatively friendly which went against their outer appearance.


    Seeing as Kioxe didn''t have any luggage and had them all in his inter-spacial ring, he decided to walk around the school.


    Walking around the dorms, he spotted what seemed to be an arena of sorts. It was a relatively flat circular gray platform. Seeing as a group of teenagers were watching intensely at the two individuals in the middle of the stadium, Kioxe couldn''t help but look at where everyone''s eyes were pointed at.


    On one side stood a handsome youth who seemed to be giving it his all against his opponent. Three arrows seemed to fly at an astonishing speed as it was faster than what the eyes of Kioxe could follow. It was so fast that Kioxe could hear the air make a swoosh sound.


    At first, Kioxe had thought that the other person on the receiving end would have three arrows stuck on his chest. But to his surprise, the arrow couldn''t penetrate and actually broke apart.


    The other individual was a rather plain looking boy who was obviously much younger than the handsome one. He actually went out and gave the other person pointers on how to properly utilize his arrows. Kioxe couldn''t help but be amazed at how calm and collected the boy was. As for the boy''s septem, little Kioxe couldn''t even see what it was as nothing floated out and about. It clearly was a mystery.


    Moving on, Kioxe decided to search for the cafeteria. He was very much so hungry and it was also during noon that he ate the most amount of food. Using his nose as his guide, he followed the scent of whatever that seemed to smell wonderful to his nose. Head raised up, Kioxe continued to walk around with his eyes closed to concentrate on the smell of food.


    It was only after a few minutes did Kioxe catch a peculiar waft of smell. It was like strawberry? No, scratch that. It was hard to decipher so Kioxe went closer and smelled the smelly smell. One word, sweat! Though for some reason, Kioxe really liked the smell.


    "Are you lost?" A soft crystal clear voice rang out.


    Opening his eyes, Kioxe realized that it was a girl''s neck. As he quickly backed away, he was able to see a teenage girl crouching to be at his height. She had several long streaks of dark brown hair that laid nicely on her elbow. Looking at her bright green eyes, Kioxe quietly muttered a few words.


    "Can you repeat that? I kind of didn''t hear what you just say." The girl stared at Kioxe with a polite smile.


    "Eyes...pretty..." Kioxe found the courage to mutter it out more clearly.


    "Why thanks! You''re not lost are you." The girl asked.


    "..."


    Seeing as Kioxe did not say anything, it was only so. Trying to get Kioxe to talk, the girl started to introduce herself.


    "Hi, I''m Hailee. What''s your name?"


    "I-I-I''m Kioxe...." Kioxe nervously blurted out as he was unable to be constantly under Hailee''s gaze. Trying to look away from her eyes, Kioxe found to his surprise that his eyes were then drawn towards her neck and that peculiar smell.


    "Is there anything big sis can help you with?" Hailee urged Kioxe to say more.


    Seeing as Hailee was willing to help him, Kioxe with the help of Hailee''s neck reminded him what he was doing the whole time. Searching for food! Looking at her with his puppy blue eyes, Kioxe decided to give a nod and then rub his stomach with a sad face.


    "Ahh!" Hailee let out a relieved voice.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences."You must be hungry! Come, I''ll bring you to the cafeteria. Big sis will get you a lot of food so cheer up okay?" Hailee stood up and held Kioxe''s little left hand.


    Seeing as Hailee would lead him to the cafeteria, Kioxe couldn''t help but dream of the food that was going to go down his throat. He even drooled a bit from the thought but quickly used his right hand to wipe it away before Hailee was able to see.


    It turns out that the cafeteria was next to the dorms the whole time. Only a few meters north from the dorms! It was only because Kioxe went south was he unable to find it.


    "Here''s some peas and grapes." Hailee gave Kioxe a tray of both.


    Although Kioxe did eat it, he couldn''t help but stare at the barbecue meat that Hailee was eating. It didn''t take long before Hailee caught on and cut the meat into small pieces so Kioxe could chew on.


    "Thanks sis, the food was great." Kioxe closed his eyes and patted his now round belly.


    "Your parents must be worried about you, let''s hurry on and go find them." Hailee didn''t want Kioxe''s parents to worry about their son going missing.


    "It''s okay. Otis lives here and I''m also a student here." Kioxe gave a wide grin.


    "Wait...can you repeat that?" Hailee asked in disbelief.


    "I''m a student here." Kioxe boasted his accomplishment.


    "How old are you Kioxe?" Hailee questioned.


    "I''m only four years old. After four more months I will be five." Kioxe counted on his fingers.


    "What? Only four? Isn''t the requirement set to be at the first stage of septem?" Hailee was completely astonished. She had been six when she had reached the first stage of septem. Even then, in the whole continent of Xenodan, she only knew of one other kid that was able to accomplish such an achievement. You could say that Hailee was the school''s most prized disciple. Having already reached the fourth stage of septem at the age of fourteen, Hailee''s future accomplishments would surely shake the continent of Xenodan.


    "Yes, I''m at the first stage of septem." Kioxe confirmed her thoughts.


    Although Hailee was an expert, it was only today did she realize the term that there would always be someone even better. It was at this moment did Kioxe find an opportunity to ask for help.


    "Big sis, I''m still new here and haven''t gotten the hang  of where everything is. Can you lead me around?" Eyes filled with expectations stared longingly at Hailee.


    "Sure, big sis doesn''t mind. Let me take you around the school so that you don''t get lost again, but if you do get lost, you can always ask a fellow disciple as everyone here is rather friendly." Hailee decided to show Kioxe around.


    As the two walked around with Hailee pointing and describing the buildings and places around them, Kioxe was able to understand more and learn about the important figures that resided in the school. It turns out that their headmaster was actually a peak sixth stage septem expert. If he were to break his bottleneck and onto the seventh, the headmaster would be able to become an immortal.


    An immortal was something Potis had described to Kioxe several times. It was when an individual become a seventh stage septem user did they become an immortal. Immortals would be able to traverse the sky and ignore the idea of needing air or food. They were unfathomable. Truly something that Kioxe had his eyes upon.


    When learning about how Kioxe''s new found big sis was actually a genius, Kioxe didn''t seem so shocked. He even smirked and told her that her prowess would definitely be unable to lose to her looks. It only made Hailee blush and reprimanded Kioxe that he should watch what he say.


    As the sun came to set down upon the western edges of the world and signaled how late it was getting, Kioxe could only sadly part with Hailee and go back to his dorms. Even after returning, there was still no sign of his roommate being in the room as it was left alone just like when he came in this morning. Feeling the fatigue kicking in, Kioxe jumped on top of his bed and fell fast asleep.


    Author''s Note:


    Hope you enjoy! *devilish grin*


    Feel free to comment on the story so far. *huhuhu* :D

 Septem Chapter 5: Control Specialist

    Waking up, Kioxe was going to tidy up until he finally saw who his roommate was. It seemed that the really strong young man yesterday was actually his roommate. Giving out a sigh, Kioxe recalled the battle yesterday. The boy was able to deflect and defend from all those arrows no matter how fast or skillfully launched. It truly amazed Kioxe to the point that he wanted to kowtow and learn how.


    Giving himself a few smacks on the face, he reminded himself that he should go train today. It turns out that there are several seniors, all at the fifth septem stage who taught differently and touched on different subjects. Going to get help from the seniors would surely help him become strong. As Kioxe left the room, the person who was supposed to be fast asleep opened his eyes looking seemingly intrigued.


    "I got back so late that I didn''t realize someone else was in my room. I need to be more aware of my surroundings. Being here, a septem user at the age of four through six eh...." The boy pondered. Getting out of bed, the boy decided to shadow behind Kioxe.


    Upon arriving at the instruction area where there were seven buildings that seemed to stand majestically, Kioxe couldn''t help but be lost on where to go first. Kioxe stared as each building symbolized power, speed, defense, control, septem, life and soul energy.


    After making up his mind, he decided to go to the control building first and then to the septem building.


    There were quite a few amount of students who were in the control building. Kioxe could easily count the amount of students on one hand. As Kioxe came to sit down on a mat in the corner of the building, the senior couldn''t help but also notice him in the corners of his eyes.


    "Let''s review what control septem users are. They are the leaders of any battle between septem users. They do things that set the pace for their allies and change the tides of war. Gaining victory is as easy as a thing if the enemy is powerless under your abilities." Senior Beltur spoke slowly for a certain someone.


    "It''s also because we are control specialists that we are looked down upon the most. Instead of using just one kind of septem to easily go up the septem stages, we are forced to fuse with several different kinds of septem. It''s only through our variety of septems do we become a scary hidden arsenal for our allies. But it''s also because of this that we have a harder time going up the stages. You could say that having a chance to reach the seventh stage is almost impossible. It''s only been done through the passage of time by three people, each respectively from Xenodan, Zeron, and Keshiktas." There was a hint of worship on the face of senior Beltur.


    "Kane, can you stop snooping around and come out and show these fellow disciples your ability to control?" Senior Beltur stood looking at a plain looking boy by the door''s entrance.


    "Huh? Isn''t that my roommate?" Kioxe stared intently at Kane.


    "Sure Beltur, but are you sure you want me to reveal to these young disciples that their senior is useless against a 12 year old kid?" Kane smirked slyly.


    "Enough with your jokes, I just want to show these hard working disciples that taking the control route will not be such a huge gamble." Beltur sighed sadly.


    "Okay, but make sure to treat me to some of the city''s delicacies during your noon break." Kane held his smile. While Beltur could only agree.


    Kane then went up to the front of the class and into the training area behind the senior. As the senior gave a push on some contraptions, hundreds of needles flew randomly at different speeds and directions. It was then followed up by several sharpened bamboo sticks falling down from above.


    Everything took place in just a couple of seconds, but Kane was able to avoid most of the needles and bamboo sticks. Although there were some that landed on him, the needles and bamboo only hit his body with a loud thud noise as it fell to the floor.


    "Your body''s control is as good as ever Kane." Beltur couldn''t help but praise.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "Now what happened there was Kane using his echolocation ability which he obtained from having a bat as his first septem. He''s able to hear all incoming attacks. With his trained body, he can easily dodge most of the attacks that were definitely going to hit him. As for the ones where he couldn''t dodge, all Kane had to do was release his mithril armor in places which he would be hit. Only revealing a small part of his mithril armor on the surface of his skin, no one will understand what it was that kept Kane from getting injured. All of this is just a portion of the ability control septem specialists bring." Beltur boasted.


    "Now imagine if there were hidden enemies. Kane here would be able to earn his companions with even the location of where the enemies are. Since it''s really hard for Kane to even get injured, the side that has someone like Kane would easily defeat their enemies. Not to mention, Kane could send out his mithril to protect one of his companion." Beltur made sure to bring up the pros of control septem users.


    "Amazing...absolutely amazing, if I was a control specialist...." Kioxe could only admire and dream of the thought.


    After the class came to a close, Kioxe couldn''t help but already set his goal on being a control septem specialist. Although it was lunch, Kioxe ignored it and moved on to the septem building. He truly was interested in what the septem building would bring him.


    A library, it must have been a library as the building was filled to the brim from the bottom to top with shelves upon shelves of books. It turns out the books talked about every single thing in the world and the uses each septem would bring.


    Kioxe couldn''t help but be amused as his eyes laid upon a row of books pertaining food. The thought of using an apple as a septem as free food only made Kioxe chuckle.


    The section that seemed to bring the most benefit for someone like Kioxe was the creature section. There, Kioxe could find out the benefits of fusing with different animals to attain certain abilities. For people who dreamed of flying, they only needed to get a bird as their septem and they would be able to do just that. That was also the reason why not all flying individuals were seventh stage septem users.


    Looking through the books one by one, Kioxe stared at the millions of unique creatures that lived in his world. When a person came from behind and poked Kioxe, he couldn''t help but see who it was. It was senior Dorang and Potis.


    "Otis!" Kioxe cried out as he ran towards Potis and gave a hug.


    "So how''s the school so far? Do you like it?" Potis hoped his master was enjoying himself.


    "Yea, I learned lots. I want to be a control spe..cia...list." Kioxe pronounced slowly as to say it clearly.


    "A control specialist eh? Then work hard, if you can reach the sixth stage as a control specialist, not to even think about the seventh stage, you''d surely be able to rival other seventh stage septem users." Potis respected his young master''s choice.


    "I''m the senior in charge of the septem building on this campus, so if there''s anything you want to know, always ask." Senior Dorang kindly wanted to help Kioxe as having a genius such as Kioxe picking the wrong septem would be such a huge waste of talent.


    "Okay, senior Dorang! I''ll work hard to get to the second stag and come back to you for help." Kioxe made sure to please the senior.


    After leaving, Kioxe decided to go back to his room and practice channeling his life and soul energy. Tomorrow, he''d surely go to these two buildings as to get help on reaching the second septem stage.


    Author''s Note:


    I''m sorry, but I hope you all deal with me as the next chapter will also be filled with some information dump like this one (Not like there was too much of an information dump, but more of like how their abilities work) As always, Enjoy! :D

 Septem Chapter 6: Let Your Soul Gravitate

    (Sorry, just a short chapter....not like it was always short >_>)


    Setting his goal to raise his life and soul energy, Kioxe had woken up early to arrive at the soul instruction building. The building was much bigger than the control building and Kioxe could see why. The room was very spread out as hundreds of mats laid upon the wooden floor.


    There were even over fifty people meditating as early as it was. Seeing as the senior for this building had not shown up, Kioxe decided to quietly wait and look around.


    At the very front of the class sat someone in which Kioxe was somewhat familiar with. Her dark brown hair and petite figure was easily spotted. It was also even more so when Kioxe noticed how everyone was looking at her and yet none dared to sit next to her.


    Walking towards her, Kioxe was almost in a nervous breakdown as the gazes around him turn from lust to curiosity. The gazes would surely be detected as Kioxe could feel the chill coming from behind him.


    Upon nearing Hailee''s, Kioxe accidentally tripped and landed face flat on the wooden floor. Oh how the pain made Kioxe want to howl in pain, but being determined he refused.


    The loud smack on the floor was surely heard across the room as the boys around couldn''t help but snicker or smile. As for the girls, they were about to run up to the little boy and help him get up when suddenly, a slender girl walked over and held him up.


    "Are you okay Kioxe? It must have hurt right? Here, let big sis make you feel better."


    It was at this moment that Kioxe felt his pain alleviate. It was as if the pain just disappeared stopping his tears from falling out.


    "Come with big sis." Hailee said as she picked Kioxe up and sat down to where she was just a minute ago.


    It was weird. Kioxe didn''t know how to feel as his pain just went up and disappeared. As the gazes from the onlookers became that of jealousy or regret for not being the one to help Kioxe get up, it did not matter. All Kioxe could think about was that he was sitting on the lap of his big sis.


    "T-t-thanks...." Kioxe muttered out.


    "No problem, you see....big sis is very good at alleviating people''s pain away. My septem is that of the opium poppies. So that''s why your pain disappeared." Hailee read what Kioxe was thinking and decided to tell him her septem.


    "So did you come here to improve your soul energy?" Hailee asked.


    "Yea...can big sis help me train my soul energy?" Kioxe saw his opportunity to ask for help.


    "Hmmm, improving soul energy is very difficult. The rate at which everyone improves is very far apart. It''s all due to your personal effort on focusing on your soul energy do you improve. Strong feelings also help when training on your soul energy. As for shortcuts, there are none. All short cuts do is improve your soul for a moment before your soul energy gets stuck at a standstill and you become unable to improve." Hailee tried to explain the basics of improving one''s soul energy and that was to put in the effort.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Ahhhhhh, so there is no technik? Only one''s blood, sweat, and tears?" Kioxe seemed to slowly understand what Hailee was getting at.


    "Right, you have to control your mind and meditate, let your soul gravitate. Only then with time can you improve your soul energy." Hailee answered.


    "You know, you can meditate with big sis everyday if you want. I''ll be here everyday as I''m trying to improve my soul energy. I want to be able to astonish everyone by reaching the fifth septem stage in two to four years." Hailee had determination which resounded out from her heart.


    "Oh...ok¡­*blushes a little*...I¡¯ll try, but I have to go to the life energy building to train my life energy too." Kioxe replied sadly.


    "Oh? You don''t know? Life energy is the production of all living things. Although you and I create life energy, it''s not the same. You know why? It''s because my soul itself is stronger. You can''t improve your life energy, only get used to how to use it efficiently. But if you improve your soul energy, it''ll improve the rate at which you produce your life energy." Hailee let a bombshell let loose in Kioxe''s head.


    "Wat! Then that means that soul energy is what makes you strong?" Kioxe cried in shock.


    "Well, pretty much?" Hailee chuckled at Kioxe''s reaction.


    "Thanks big sis for teaching me something so portant. I''ll surely meditate with you everyday." Kioxe''s blue eyes glinted with happiness.


    "Sure you will." Hailee ruffled up his black hair with her two soft hands.


    When the sun came down, Kioxe had greatly improved his soul energy. Kioxe was convinced it would only take several months to reach the second stage. As for the senior who never came, Kioxe decided to ask Hailee why it was so.


    "The senior never came. Will he be here tomorrow?" Kioxe looked for an answer.


    "Huehue, you know the senior for this building is actually the school''s headmaster himself. Though he doesn''t show up often as he is trying to get out of his bottleneck." Hailee answered.


    "Then I''ll rely on big sis from now on."Kioxe did a little kowtow.


    "Stop it! You can just come to me whenever." Hailee tried to stop the boy from doing such an embarrassing thing.


    Having already made his plan to improve his soul with his big sis, there wasn''t much else that Kioxe needed to do. Occasionally, he''d go visit Potis to tell him how he was doing. With that, Kioxe would put his whole heart into meditating and improving his soul.


    Author''s Note:


    There will be a light time skip next chapter. So that''s my heads up for you all. Maybe even several time skip in the coming chapters? IDK...I''ll be sure to think of something. For the people that decided to follow my novel, I''d like to repeat what I always say....a great big THANKS!


    Now as always, hope you enjoyed! :D


    sidenote...there will be no more of Kioxe¡¯s horrible pronunciation since he¡¯ll be much older than four :)

 Septem Chapter 7: Annual Septem Search

    It''s been two years and five months since Kioxe had joined the School of Zen.


    These days, he had been feeling a bit lonely as his big sis had gone to the annual fighting competition between all the schools in Xenodan.


    It was pretty important for all teens at the age of sixteen through twenty one to showcase their talents. With the School of Zen always placing third within the competition, it was about time that they would take home the second or first place position back home.


    Kioxe could only meditate in his room and wait for his big sis''s big victory. With a sigh, Kioxe couldn''t help but miss the time when he was meditating upon the lap of his big sis. Her warmth had really lit up the fire deep inside Kioxe to try much harder than any kid his age. So in just two years time, he had reached upon the second stage of septem. As for the third stage, he felt that it was very near.


    Kioxe could still recall the moment when he jumped up in joy and had kissed his big sis on the cheeks due to the moment. Touching his lips, he couldn''t help but hide his smirk beneath his hands.


    As for his second septem, he had refrained from choosing a septem to the seniors'' surprise. Kioxe had wanted to plan out and wait as he wanted to make sure that whatever he chose as his septem would be critical to his control prowess. The seniors hearing his answer were okay with it and decided to not take him out to the annual septem searching.


    As the third stage was drawing near, that had signaled the end of Kioxe''s stallings. He would have to fuse with his second septem or be unable to get to the third stage.


    Luckily for him, the annual school wide septem search was today. He had consulted with senior Dorang and senior Beltur on which septem to find during their search and had come to a conclusion. He would fuse with the mantis shrimp or greater wax moth. These two creatures gave remarkable abilities in which humans could never attain unless they fused with it.


    Kioxe had only known about these two creature after Senior Dorang suggested what would be the most hardest to fuse, but the most beneficial. Fusing with things that were so beneficial would only hurt a person''s soul energy cultivation. But since Kioxe was so close to the third stage, even if he never made it to the fourth stage, he''d be an outstanding septem user with the use of these two septem.


    Since Kioxe was going to go look for such specific creatures, he had decided to get help from his roommate. Kane would be able to tell the movements of creatures and if he were to locate something that had a similar shape as described by the books, he would immediately notify Kioxe.


    With the guidance of half of the seniors at the school, a quarter of the students ranging about a hundred had decided to go on this year''s annual septem search. The reason for so many students to go to this year''s search was because it would be at the forest of Kalini right next to the ocean. With a trading port added in, you could get almost any creature or weapon. Truly, this year''s septem search was really grand and Kioxe knew it was because of him. With the help of two of the seniors who were assigned to take this year''s disciples out on the search, it wasn''t hard to get it right where Kioxe needed it to be.


    The forest of Kalini actually took a week for the school to reach. At first, everyone was bored to death as they sat for a week upon a wagon, but once the forest was in sight, it did not matter. With excited faces everywhere, it wasn''t long before everyone jumped out of their wagons and ran like mad.


    It was as if in such a large forest, someone would go and steal away their targeted septem. It truly was a sad thing. As for Kioxe, he didn''t worry much as long as he had Kane.


    "Where should we camp? It''s almost sundown since we arrived so late." Kane asked.


    "How about Kalini port first and see if we can rent a room? I''ve got the money so it''ll be my treat. Now if we are able to find the two creatures I asked about, I''ll give you the promised platinum coin." Kioxe suggested.


    To get Kane to help him on his search, Kioxe had offered up a platinum coin. Since Kane would always dress plainly and seemed to always beg for food from others, it was pretty obvious that Kane came from a poor family. Though it''s also because he is poor does he use his septem so well. There''s arrogance from time to time when he jokes around, but it was due to Kane''s hard work that  he able to become so calm and collected.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "During the way, tell me if you pick up any moths. It may just be the greater wax moth I''m looking for." Kioxe reminded Kane.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Kioxe, my echolocation abilities are better than you can imagine. I¡¯ll tell you whenever I find a moth.¡±


    It didn''t work out very well though as Kane would say, ¡°There''s a moth over there Kioxe.¡± Every few seconds they walked through the forest. They had found some atlas moth, luna moth, comet moth, pea moth, and the mung moth but had yet to find the greater wax moth. There truly were a variety of moths as the two headed towards the trading port of Kalini.


    The city was bustling with people from all over the continent. There were some that were even from the continent of Veron and Keshiktas. It truly was a successful trading port.


    Going through the marketplace, Kioxe spotted all sorts of weapons. From glaives, to axes, to katanas, to spears, they pretty much had it all. Though there was one really cool weapon that Kioxe fancied. It was called a cestus. It was a glove with sharp blades knives sticking out it. Kioxe could totally imagine himself as he shredded everything in his way. Seeing that it wasn''t much but only a few gold coins, Kioxe bought it. Kioxe''s parents really were rich as they had saved up to over a hundred platinum coins.


    Right when the two spotted an inn that seemed to accommodate their guests well, a man cried,"Selling adamantium! Selling adamantium! The highest bid win! The current bid is ten platinum coins for this adamantium buckler."


    "Will you look at that....adamantium! That metal is the hardest metal in all of Xenodan. It''s virtually indestructible! Only something like diamond or adamantium itself can hope to even scratch that buckler." Kane couldn''t help but admire the adamantium  buckler.


    "Little do people know that I have a diamond sword other than the seniors and big sis." Kioxe laughed at the thought.


    "Hmmm....though a shield made of adamantium. Although it''s not much, every single ounce of adamantium is very valuable." It was then that Kioxe''s eyes gleamed with longing.


    By the time the two had arrived in front of the auction, the buckler had already reached an astonishing price of fifty platinum coins. Fifty platinum coins was the same thing as comparing it to Zabudi''s annual taxes from 10 million people. It truly was set at an extravagant price.


    Calmly waiting, Kioxe them cried out in a calm tone,"75 platinum coins!" The faces of everyone present became ugly. No one was able to compete and when they saw that it was just a seven year old kid who yelled it out, they felt relieved and complained that kids should not be allowed to make pranks.


    It was when Kioxe went up on stage and hand over 75 platinum coins did everyone become petrified. The auctioneer became quite quiet as the kid whom yelled out 75 platinum coins really did have the money. In no time at all, the auctioneer handed over the adamantium buckler.


    "Was a pleasure of doing business with you young man." The auctioneer cheered inside as he was able to get more than he bargained for.


    Giving no time at all for the people to realize what was happening, Kioxe quickly left the scene with Kane and rented out a room at the inn they saw before.


    "My god....how are you so rich..." Kane stared at Kioxe intensely as if he was a money making machine.


    "My parents gave it to me." Kioxe gave a sly smile as he went to his bed and admired the cestus and buckler.


    "You should *yawn* go to sleep Kane, we''ve got another long day ahead of us." Kioxe reminded the boy as Kane stood there with jealousy in his eyes.


    "How can the world be so unfair...." Kane bitterly cried inside.


    Author''s Note:


    Will he find his desired septems or will he go home empty handed? Stay tune on the next septem searching adventure woot!


    And as always, hope you guys enjoyed! :D

 Septem Chapter 8: An Utter Moth Disaster

    "Wake up...hey....hello....wake up!" Kioxe was having troubles as usual waking Kane up. Through the two years that Kioxe has been Kane''s roommate if there''s anything that he has learned, it''s that Kane loves to sleep until noon. An opposite of Kioxe who was an early riser.


    "Hey, do you want to obtain a platinum coin or not?" Kioxe tried to sound uncaring.


    "What? Hold up! Hold up Kioxe. I was only kidding. That''s right, I was channeling my life spirit. You see? Wallah! I''m done! How about it cause now I''m thrilled to go get me some greater wax moth." Kane stood up as fast as a jaguar could pounce.


    "The things money can do to a person...." Kioxe could only shake his head.


    Returning to the forest, Kane and Kioxe could spot some of their fellow disciples as they were either trying to catch a bird or monkey. It was hard to tell. When you have several teen kids climbing trees, you don''t question it, but be on your way.


    "Hey, Kioxe I spot a moth." Kane suddenly blurted out.


    "Where? Show me!" Kioxe was hoping that the greater wax moth would finally be found.


    "It''s just an atlas moth. Its wings are too big to be a greater wax moth." Kane joked.


    "My god, why can''t we find such a simple and supposed to be an abundant species of moth." Kioxe moaned.


    "Yeah, that''s a bit weird. You know, if you look around right outside of Zabudi city, there are times where you''d find one. So I''m with you on this one. A greater wax moth should''ve been found long ago." Kane pitched in on the complaining.


    Walking around the forest and traversing for what was like a three mile walk, the two still couldn''t find a single greater wax moth.


    "If we don''t find this moth soon, we might as well strip our clothes and jump in the ocean. I''m sure finding a mantis shrimp can''t be as hard as this." Kane suggested. The two were limited on time as they only had three days. Seeing as it was their second day, there really wasn''t much time at all to search.


    "Yup, let''s dive in the ocean and find a mantis shrimp instead." With Kioxe agreement in the situation, the two decided to walk towards the east. Hopefully, they''d find a mantis shrimp. As for going back empty handed, it was unacceptable.


    "Is that a house?" Kioxe pointed at what seemed to be a wooden cabin far away. Walking closer, the two heard a lot of buzzing sounds. It could only mean one thing, bees!


    "Kioxe, aren''t the greater wax moth fond of honey and wax?" Kane couldn''t help but point out what was a greater wax moth''s favorite food.


    "There must be greater wax moths there!" Kioxe couldn''t help but agree. If there was one reason as to why there wasn''t a single greater wax moth before, it was because there was a bee nest.


    Since the buzzing came from behind the cabin, the two went around it and saw what it was...an apiary! Seeing as there was a fence, the two decided to kindly ask the owner to let them search for a greater wax moth.


    *thud* *thud* *thud*


    Kane knocked on the door.


    A few seconds later a blonde haired women opened the door and kindly said,"Hello? Can I help you boys?"


    "Hello kind lady, we''re students from the School of Zen and we''re in search of greater wax moths. Is there by chance you''d let a seven and fourteen year old boy search through your apiary?" Kioxe asked bluntly.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    *facepalm*


    Kane couldn''t help but blame himself for letting Kioxe have the chance to ask a lady to let a seven year old near an apiary.


    "Why yes, I would let you check my apiary...but you see...I''m a beekeeper. Now there''s one common thing between beekeepers and that is we hate the wax moths. Whenever I see one whether it''s in the woods or not, I kill them. I don''t think I''ve seen even a wax moth this past year as I''ve run this business for years." The lady lit the fuse to a bomb.


    "No wonder we couldn''t find any greater wax moth...." Kioxe was filled with disappointment.


    "Thanks for letting us know, otherwise we may have kept searching for weeks." Kane lied as to cheer up the lady that was feeling bad from looking at the depressed Kioxe.


    "Thanks for your time." Kane said politely as he dragged Kioxe towards the east.


    "What was that about mom?" A six year old girl with short shoulder length blonde hair asked her mom.


    "You see, those two boys are in search of a greater wax moth for their septem. But I''ve killed every single wax moth around these areas for years..." The girl''s mom said in a regretful tone.


    "Oh? I have a wax moth mom. It''s in my jar. I found one a few days ago." Rushing to her room to get her jar, the girl then quickly ran toward the two boys who were walking away.


    "W-w-wait up!" The girl ran panting.


    "Hmm?" Kane and Kioxe looked back.


    Panting, the girl held out her jar and said,"I...f-found...a...greater wax moth...several days ago. You can have it as wax moths are harmful for the bees."


    Kioxe''s eyes lit up and stared at the greater wax moth moving inside the jar. He then took the jar and stored it in his ring.


    "Thank you, thank you so much. I really needed this moth. Can I ask for your name?" Kioxe truly thought that the girl in front of him was a goddess sent from above to give him his much needed septem.


    "I''m Cynthia, beekeeper at your service." Cynthia pounded her chest in pride. "As for you?"


    "I''m Kioxe, the future fourth control septem user in history." Kioxe replied proudly.


    "Pfffff!" Kane couldn''t hold in his laughter.


    "Oh yeah, I was going to give a platinum coin to whomever could find me my septem. Since it was Cynthia, I think you deserve this."Kioxe shoved a platinum coin onto Cynthia''s hand.


    "Eh?" Cynthia was shocked as the coin she was holding really was a platinum coin.


    "Let''s go Kane." Kioxe turned and left.


    "What! Are you kidding me? You promised me that I would get a platinum coin for coming with you to Kalini." Kane voiced out his complaints.


    "It''s not like you found the moth. You still have another chance if you can find a mantis shrimp tomorrow." Kioxe said it indifferently.


    "Arggggh poor ol'' me! Why did I even get pulled in by this seven year old." Kane could only continue following Kioxe bitterly.


    Author''s Notes:


    It''s amazing what writing a novel does for you. I learned that wax moth loves to eat the wax and honey of the honeybees (which destroys the bee''s home) and that honeybees dies when they sting a person. You learn something new everyday. Comment on how you think of the story or something I should fix (grammar mistakes).


    Now as always, I hope you enjoy! :D

 Septem Chapter 9: Predator

    Septem Chapter 9: Predator


    "Kane, you go see if you can find me a mantis shrimp. If you can find it, instead of one, I''ll give you five platinum coins. How about it?" Kioxe suggested.


    "Ok!" Kane sadness from not finding a greater wax moth was far behind.


    "Here, since you''re going to work so hard and may not find the mantis shrimp." Kioxe flicked a platinum coin.


    "Really? Thanks!" Kane cried jubilantly as he dreamed of having a full course meal with his family. The reason Kane wanted the money so bad was that he knew his parents were having tough times. A platinum coin would surely let a commoner live like a king for several years.


    With renewed motivation, Kane ran towards the sea.


    "Now then, time for me to bind and fuse this greater wax moth." Looking at the jar in hand, Kioxe opened the lid and held the moth.


    Suddenly, Kioxe tried to force his soul to fuse with the moth''s. It was a weird experience as Kioxe could feel the liveliness which came from the moth. When Kioxe had fused with Nahlia, he didn''t think much as his soul was able to easily take it in. Kioxe would then be able to wield Nahlia as if it was a part of his body. But for the moth, it wasn''t the case.


    The moth was a living insect. Since all living creatures had a soul, Kioxe''s soul wasn''t able to take the moth as his own. Kioxe could only stare at his sea of consciousness as his soul and the moths came to agreement. If Kioxe''s soul was described as a white color and the moth''s as brown. Then his soul was now currently light brown.


    It was then that Kioxe started to see the slow change in his body. He was becoming part moth. His body becoming much lighter and his skin became light brown. Two light brown wings started to grow on each side, which kept growing until Kioxe had a wingspan of approximately three meters. You could say that Kioxe''s full septem form was a half human, half moth monster flying in midair. Truly, a peculiar sight.


    But it wasn''t just that, Kioxe had actually gained a total of two abilities. The ability to fly (although not as good as a bird) and the ability to hear things at 300 kHz (kiloHertz)! Nothing could escape Kioxe''s hearing as he could pinpoint every single sound. Though he immediately put the ability away as the sound of the roaring waves became too stressful for Kioxe to handle.


    The difference between an inorganic and organic septem fusion really was different. For an inorganic item, it would retain its shape and ability (such as sharpness and toughness). But for an organic fusion, it really was complex as you would take in its abilities not summon it itself like you could with an inorganic fuse (Yes, when fusing a tree it would have a soul and you would gain its abilities).


    As Kioxe continued to fly, he decided to go where Kane should be. After a few seconds, Kane had shown up with a wide grin.


    "I''ve got it. Finding a mantis shrimp is too easy compared to our search of that wax moth." Kane grinned. Who wouldn''t be when they just achieved what was going to be six platinum coin as a a reward in one day. Tossing the mantis shrimp towards Kioxe, it was quickly putted away in a jar and stored within his ring. You could say it was the loophole to being able to store living organic things.


    Though just as Kioxe was celebrating on the inside, Kane seemed to panic.


    Swimming towards the shore, he quickly screamed at Kioxe to help him. Although his bat wings were out on his back, he had a hard time even flying as the waves were constantly rolling in and his wings became wet. It was then suddenly that Kane was pulled under the sea.


    It was hard to make out what it was, but Kioxe believed it to be one of those sharks he read about. Since his moth wings wouldn''t help him at all underwater, he just took it back into his body as he dived into the sea.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    *thump* *thump* *thump*


    "Kane!!!!!" Kioxe''s head seemed to be screaming. With opened eyes, Kioxe could barely make out what was happening with the water rushing towards his eyes. The shark was probably twenty feet as Kioxe saw its enormous length. It was trying to bite and chew Kane to bits as its jaws thrashed savagely.


    *thump* *thump* *thump*


    Summoning out Nahlia in hand, Kioxe quickly spent most of his life energy to pierce through the shark. With the sudden burst of energy, Nahlia quickly traveled at an astonishing towards the shark''s head.


    *Splat*


    It was only then that the body of the great shark floated motionlessly.


    *thump* *thump* *thump*


    Trying his best to swim against the current, Kioxe willed Nahlia to come back to him. Holding Nahlia, he then gave it some life energy to move himself towards the mutilated body.


    *thump* *thump* *thump*


    "My god..." Kioxe thought. Although Kane had a mithril body armor, it was still dented upon the shark''s bite. As for his arms and legs, they were completely mangled and bleeding profusely underwater. All around Kane was just a sea of blood.


    *thump* *thump* *thump*


    Grabbing onto what felt like a motionless human doll, Kioxe quickly spent his remaining life energy  onto Nahlia to get himself to shore. It didn''t take long before the two were upon the shore.


    Gasping for air, Kioxe screamed, "Kane! Kane! Are you alright? Wake up! Speak to me!" Tears came running down his blue eyes. Since Kane was not breathing, Kioxe quickly tried to give CPR as he pushed Kane''s chest and tried to breath air into him. Seeing as Kane coughed up some water, Kioxe was relieved. Though only for a short moment as he noticed there was still no pulse. None at all.


    Looking around Kioxe quickly call out for help. Screaming "Help! Someone! Anyone!" several times but to no avail, there was none. It was just Kane and Kioxe.


    Kioxe then quickly held onto Kane and slowly flew towards the port believing that maybe there was still hope. Maybe Kane could be save.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "You''re lying! You''re all lying! How can Kane be dead! How?" Kioxe yelled angrily at the doctor, senior Dorang, and senior Beltur.


    "Listen to me Kioxe, Kane is dead. It was all just a freak accident." Dorang tried to convince Kioxe.


    "And you! You said Kane was a genius. You said he was one of the best control expert you had ever met. Then why? Why did Kane still...." Kane broke down as he pointed at Beltur.


    *smack*


    Dorang knocked Kioxe unconscious.


    "It''s for his own good."


    "I know..." Beltur replied as he stared at the body of Kane one last time before leaving the emergency room door.


    "Haha...good riddance...seems there won''t be a kid to bother this old man for food anymore." Beltur muttered hysterically.


    "Come boy, let''s have us some good ol'' wine. You had asked me to buy you wine had you not? Well now, tonight we get sober." Beltur slowly walked towards the nearest bar he could find.


    Author''s Note:


    Seeing as someone decided to make a review and dislike on my novel all because of its description (though I admit that my description was just so I can post my story) I''ve decided to take his review to account and change my synopsis. Would anyone want to write a short synopsis of what my story is about? I''m having a hard time to really explain Septem and maybe with the readers point of view, I could improve it. Just send me an email at: [email protected]</a>


    As for the story, I hoped you enjoyed (don''t think anyone was expecting that)  ^_^

 Septem Chapter 10: Fault

    During the week journey back, no student spoke a single word. That was what exactly to be the case on the first and third wagon. The news of Kane''s death really hit home upon the hearts of the students. Kane had a lot of times sparred and given advice to his fellow friends. So the death of Kane really wasn''t something that most could accept.


    Wagon one had the two seniors who seemed to both have very solemn looks. They probably blamed themselves for not supervising all of their students more closely. Letting them run off to their death was not on their plans.


    As for wagon three, no one seemed to bother the grief stricken Kioxe. They knew Kane and Kioxe were roommates so the two had spent a lot of time together. Though the most important thing was that Kane came here on the trip because of Kioxe. That was the mindset in which Kioxe was pondering while on the wagon.


    In but just a week, the students and seniors had came back home to Zabudi. Though most seemed to want to bring Kane''s body to his parents.


    "Hey, Dan! I think those are the seniors and students of the School of Zen. Why have they come here?" A middle aged women questioned.


    "Probably something to do with our son. Come, let''s take a look." Dan replied.


    As the students and seniors got closer, Dan couldn''t help but be a bit nervous. He didn''t understand why so many people had come to his house. Well, his son shouldn''t be causing trouble. Though he did play around with people a lot so there was still a chance that he did something wrong.


    "Dan and Susan right?" Beltur asked solemnly.


    "Why yes, we''re Dan and Susan. May we ask why you seniors have come?" Dan couldn''t help but think that maybe his son did get in trouble. Maybe he did do something heinous.


    "I''m sorry to say...but your son has passed away." Those simple words from Beltur made Susan froze in time as she finally caught sight of a casket right behind the seniors.


    "N-n-nooooooooooooooo! H-how did this happen? Explain!" Tears flowed out of Susan endlessly.


    "We were septem searching and your son was attacked by a shark....I''m sorry ma''am, but this truly was a twist of fate in which we could''ve prevented." Beltur blamed himself.


    "Oh my baby...my baby, my baby!" Susan stared through the casket to see a black haired plain looking boy who assuredly was her son.


    "Ma''am, I was the one who had caused Susan''s death. I had brought him to our annual septem search so that he could find my septems for me. I didn''t know that my selfishness would be Kane''s downfall." Kioxe came up and cried out his thoughts.


    Going from what the seniors said and what Kioxe said, Susan could easily see that her son had come to help a little boy with his septem, but died to the hands of a shark. It truly was a twist of fate.


    "Oh there now, it''s not your fault. He died helping someone at least....at least that''s something to be proud of." Susan comforted Kioxe.


    As the casket was brung into the home of Dan and Susan, everyone spoke of their condolences and left. It was just Susan and Kioxe comforting each other while Dan watched with saddened eyes.


    "Ma''am, here''s thirty platinum coins. Use it well, as I''m sure it wouldn''t replace your son, but it''s all I''ve got." Kioxe placed the coins on their table and with that, Kioxe left.


    It didn''t matter where he was going, Kioxe just felt that he should leave. Walking out of the commoners area and towards the western gate. Kioxe couldn''t bring himself to go back to school. He''d feel too guilty to stay in Zabudi. So he left.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Hey kid, where you going? Kid!" A guard had shouted.


    But for Kioxe, all he heard was the wind. The whistling of the wind would surely guide him. With that, Kioxe''s wings took him towards wherever the wind blew. When the wind had stopped, Kioxe found himself near a mountain. Seeing as there was no wind, Kioxe decided to fuse with the mantis shrimp. Kioxe had already reached the third septem stage on the wagon trip back and so it seemed like the perfect time to fuse with the mantis shrimp.


    The feeling as he fused with the mantis shrimp was even more intense than Kioxe had imagined. His eyes became what felt like burning hot pancakes as the pain intensified.


    "Arghhh! Ahhhhh!" Kioxe wailed in pain. The torment was too much for Kioxe to handle. It was then that Kioxe blanked out.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Urghh!" Kioxe moaned as he sat up. What the? It was dark. Too dark in fact.


    "Are you okay?" A kind voice rang out.


    "Stop worrying about him sis, don''t you see our precarious situation?" Another girl cried in disapproval. She seemed to be older as her voice was more mature.


    "I''m fine." Kioxe grunted.


    Remembering that he just fused with the mantis shrimp, he decided to use it for the first time. It was crazily amazing. If all he saw was darkness before, he now saw what seemed to be a large rectangular steel box entrapping him. As for the the girls in the darkness, there seemed to be two. He could see their body heat upon using his new eyes.


    "Why are we in a large steel container?" Kioxe asked.


    "We''re probably in an interspatial ring. Won''t be long til we get sold off as slaves in the market." The elder girl from before said half heartedly.


    "What?" Kioxe couldn''t believe of the thought. Although you could put any living thing inside of something and then store it inside the interspatial ring, never would he thought of storing real life humans.


    "Yeah, you see....in these parts, people get kidnapped and sold a lot. As for my town, we were under the control of a slave organization." The elder girl said it like it was no biggie. Something that seemed to be really common around these parts.


    "I see...." Kioxe didn''t mind too much as he thought this was God''s will.


    "So what are the names of the two of you? I''m Kioxe, a seven year old boy." Kioxe greeted.


    "Eh...I''m Sasha and the girl next to be is my little sister Lily. We''re fourteen and seven." Sasha replied.


    "I guess we''ll be stuck here for a long time huh?" Kioxe cried out. Although he was able to destroy the steel container, he didn''t want to think of what would happen if a living person was to be out in the open within an interspatial ring.


    "Tell me about it..." Sasha rolled her eyes.


    Kioxe couldn''t help but smile a bit. Sasha seemed like a negative type of person but she would always reply. As for Lily, she was shy and quiet but really nice.


    The amount of time the three spent together was unknown to them, but Kioxe had estimated it to be a week. Kioxe grew really fond of them as talking with them would relieve him of his boredom. It wasn''t that much longer until they heard a loud thud.


    The container then opened and the three were able to finally open their eyes to light.


    Author''s Note:


    I guess there will now be a plot for young lil Kioxe to grow upon?


    Now as always, I hope you all enjoy! :D

 Septem Chapter 11: Slave Days

    "Get out of there now!" A rough looking man with a few scars on his face yelled.


    As Sasha, Lily, and Kioxe walk out, they were then whipped by the man.


    *crack* *crack * crack*


    "Hey Rudi, take your anger out on the boy instead. We need those two blonde headed girls to be ripe for the boss. Beat up the boy, but make sure he has the strength to work." Another man spoke.


    "Okay ladies, it''s your lucky day. Obediently follow Marco to our boss now." Rudi smiled sinisterly at Sasha and Lily who were already crying from the whipping before.


    "Sorry boy, but you see here...I just got this new cat o'' nine tails from the boss and can''t wait to use it out on you." Rudi stared at Kioxe menacingly.


    With just a snap of the whip, it gave a loud crack.


    *crack* *crack* *crack*


    "Ahhhh! Arghhh! Please Stop!" Kioxe screamed as he was hit for who knows how long.


    Rudi was merciless. He didn''t care if someone died as long as he got to inflict pain on others. You could say he was a sadist.


    "Scream more boy! It was your misfortune to come here where I, Rudi resides!"


    *crack* * crack* * crack*


    "Ahhhh won''t you look at that. Such a masterpiece if I do say so myself." Rudi smirked. Grabbing onto the unconscious bleeding Kioxe and dragging him to the mines.


    "You, help him learn of his circumstances and what he has to do from now on." Rudi pointed at a skinny yet ripped boy.


    The boy had a very lean body with muscles underneath from the labor he did.


    "Yes, Master Rudi." The boy said quickly as he saw the whip behind Rudi''s back. Not to mention the blood and cut skin Kioxe received.


    "Good boy, now drop and let me whip you ten times for not getting rid of this piece of meat." Rudi pointed at Kioxe.


    Although it was impossible for the boy to had drag Kioxe away in such a short moment, Rudi did not care. He just looked for an excuse to whip the boy.


    "Yes!" The boy said clearly as to not let Rudi whip him even more than the set number. Going down on all fours, the boy let Rudi whip him ten times without complaining. The boy knew of Rudi''s temper and sadistic habits so he did not voice out a single complaint.


    *crack* *crack* *crack*


    "Thank you master Rudi, I will now get rid of the boy and myself out of your sight." The boy with trickling blood on his back quickly pulled Kioxe away from Rudi''s plain eye view.


    After going deep into the mine, the boy yelled,"We got another one."


    With saddened faces all around they could only nod their heads.


    "I''ll put him here, someone give me a pickaxe before we get punished for not meeting today''s daily goal." The boy said as Kioxe was set upon the corner of the mine.


    "Here you go James, don''t work too hard. We know you got punished just now. I can smell your blood." Another boy came over and handed a pickaxe.


    *cling* *cling* *cling*


    The sounds of pickaxes rang. It was like a harmonious song as the noises that came from the impact of their pickaxes echoed thorough the mine.


    "Good job boys, we have another tough day tomorrow. Make sure to get enough rest." A tall strong boy encouraged.


    "Harrumph!" Kioxe cleared his throat as he woke up.


    "Let''s introduce ourselves to the new boy first before we all go to sleep." The tall boy suggested.


    As Kioxe sat up, with the dim lights coming from the surrounding lanterns, he was able to barely make out the other boys. There were nine of them in fact and all lean too.


    "Hello, I''m Tommy! Now the two short boys over there are John and Jack, you could say they''re twins. The guy that brought you here is James. Then we have Chad, Henry, Kenny, Cedric, and Dan respectively." Tommy made a fast introduction.


    "I''m Kioxe." Kioxe replied.


    "First things first, you have to work. Over here, we have to mine two thousand pounds of rocks or minerals per day." Tommy clarified what Kioxe had to do.


    "Everyday, we will have one us who will push the cart to Rudi or Marco. Those two are second in the hierarchy after their leader Budeen. We switch off like this as you are guaranteed to receive some punishment from Rudi. If one of us gets a really grave near death injury, then try will get two weeks to recover. That is...if you survive." Tommy explained bluntly.


    For Tommy, it''s not that he wanted to scare the newcomers, but because he had been here for far too long. Every year, a kid or two would die and be replaced by another new kid that the slave trade kidnapped.


    "That is all, you better rest up as it seems that Rudi did quite a piece of work on you. You''ve got a long day tomorrow." Tommy then left, following the other kids.


    Working in the mine wasn''t all too hard. Although Kioxe was unable to use Nahlia as it gave such clean cuts to the wall that it would arouse suspicions, Kioxe was a septem user. All Kioxe had to do was use his life energy to fix his body up. That meant that Kioxe was able to work for hours everyday and train his soul at night. He didn''t need to get much sleep as the life energy produced from his soul would keep Kioxe at peak condition.


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    Even if it was the case, Kioxe had made sure to not heal his wounds from Rudi too soon. It would arouse suspicions from the other kids and get him killed if Rudi found out. After having lived in the mine for two years or so, Kioxe was able to confirm that the leader of this large trade organization was actually a sixth stage septem user. The amount of life and soul energy the man had would probably overwhelm Kioxe in a second.


    As for Rudi and Marco, they were both amazingly fifth stage septem experts. With the whip being obviously Rudi''s septem. It turns out that the cat o'' nine tails was obtained after Rudi had reach the fifth stage. Kioxe could still remember the death of Tommy like it was yesterday. On Tommy''s fifteenth birthday, Rudi used a steel whip to mutilate his body and kill him in just two whips. It turns out that the rule was to kill any that reached the age of fifteen as they could cause future harm or retaliate.


    As for the other kids, John and Jack had died from exhaustion. The work was too much for the two eight years old to handle. As for James, Chad, Henry, Kenny, Cedric, and Dan, they had all died in the span of three years after Kioxe had arrived. Tommy''s attitude was understandable after Kioxe witnessed the atrocities himself.


    New kids would get kidnapped and forced into hard labor almost every couple months or so following the death of one of the kids in the mine. Although Kioxe had grown fond with some of the kids, he had made sure not to grow too fond as it would only depress him even further.


    There was even one time where a kid who was in the second stage of septem at just the age of eleven was kidnapped and brought to the mine. Although Kioxe warned him right away after he dared blatantly showed off his septem in the mine, he still couldn''t handle the sadistic ways of Rudi and actually attacked him. The sneak attack had injured Rudi, but not much as Rudi could use his strong fifth septem stage life energy to heal his body. As for the boy, he was tortured with for five days and nights. You could hear his screaming moans for days on end.


    Other than that kid, there was only a few other septem users. Though they were on the first septem stage and their life energy wouldn''t amount to much. When you were found out about being a septem user, another fellow would snitch on Rudi just so he wouldn''t get tortured for the month. It truly was a pitiful thing.


    As for Kioxe, he didn''t just get physically stronger, he had reached the fourth stage. Although after fusing with the moth and mantis shrimp, it turns out to his surprise that a strong body only further help develop the soul. Although taking in such extraordinary abilities should have slowed his soul cultivation, he was more or less still able to reach the fourth stage.


    For his fourth stage, Kioxe had decided to fuse with the adamantium buckler that he had bought from Kalini port. Since there wasn''t anything worth in the mine to fuse with, the buckler surely was a good choice. As for the reason why Kioxe still had his interspatial ring, it was because all interspatial rings were different from each other in looks. With varied looks, it was hard to tell which was a ring and which was an interspatial ring.


    The ring Kioxe had was relatively plain and simple. So Rudi didn''t think much of it other than a junk decoration. The ring that Rudi wore surely was much more extravagant.


    Having reached the age of ten, Kioxe had already gotten enough time to reflect on his life so far. Kioxe had decided to forgive himself and treasure his third septem. He had thought that Kane was still with him. The mantis shrimp was what you could say Kane''s eyes and Kane''s gift to Kioxe.


    Looking around him, Kioxe mentality had also changed. Although he was still kind, he had decided that the world is just cruel. With that, he had shut himself from others emotionally.


    "I''ve got four more years...." Kioxe muttered.


    "It would be great if I could reach the fifth septem stage on time. Only then would I be able to escape from this wretched place." Kioxe prayed.


    If he wasn''t at the fifth stage then, there probably wasn''t going to be a chance for Kioxe to face off against Budeen, the sixth stage septem user that controlled the slave organization. Surely, Kioxe could handle Rudi and Marco, but the unknown expert was someone he didn''t want to fight against.


    Sitting down with his legs crossed, Kioxe closed his eyes in meditation.


    Author''s Note:


    So I fell asleep for a long, long time. I think the fatigue kicked in and said go to sleep. So I obeyed like James would obey Rudi....I submitted to the great God of sleep. As a sorry though, I was like a long chapter! A longer chapter than usual to make my readers forgive me. xD


    Now as always, hope you enjoy! ;)

 Septem Chapter 12: Discovery

    "Hmmmr?" Kioxe''s expression changed slightly.


    To Kioxe''s dismay, he had reached a bottleneck.


    He was only at the beginning stages of the fourth stage, but his soul training had become that of almost a standstill.


    "What? Why can''t I...." Kioxe couldn''t comprehend why he would be unable to improve his soul. It had never been at a complete standstill until today.


    "Ahhh, whatever...I''ll just figure it out tomorrow." Kioxe decided.


    Jumping down from his resting area, he went down the rough stone stairs. His sleeping area was actually a hole in the wall. Since Kioxe would always be able to work the longest hours, he was also the last person to be mining. The other kids would leave to get back to the surface to sleep, while Kioxe would walk midway up then fly into his resting area above.


    It was four meters up and barely noticeable. Even if someone saw it, they wouldn''t see Kioxe or be able to climb up as Kioxe had made sure there would be no footing upon the walls. It could be said that Kioxe had made a den of sorts inside the mine.


    Upon walking for several minutes, Kale had finally reached the mining site. It truly was getting deeper and deeper. While at the same time, even harder to meet the daily requirement. The daily requirement was only 1000 hundred pounds of whatever they mined as it was becoming increasingly harder and harder to even chip the stone.


    Mining early as usual, Kioxe took his pickaxe and  pound it upon the stone slabs. The area that Kioxe was mining was unusual. Everyday, only one person would come down to mine this deep as it was really hot. The rest would dig several tens of meters higher as to be able to avoid the heat and dig for more stones. Even Kioxe hated the days where he was assigned to mine in the deepest corridor as the mortality rate there was rather too high.


    *ding* *ding* ding*


    The noise was now different as the slabs would barely budge, only chipped.


    "Man, that Rudi better lower the daily limit or we''ll be unable to meet it every single day." Kioxe complained. Although they barely could mine the deep corridor and were more of mining the more tolerable places, the stone slabs were still really hard to chip away.


    On the days where they didn''t meet their daily requirement, Rudi would punish every single kid. Although Kioxe had built up a much better tolerance for pain, he still loathed being whipped by Rudi.


    *ding* *ding* *ding*


    Kioxe started to sweat profusely. The heat could be said to be unbearable. At first, the mining three years ago was very cool and cold, but upon digging deeper, it became hot. The heat would only become hotter and hotter as they were all forced to go deeper.


    *ding* *ding* *ding*


    "What the?" Kioxe stared at the stone slab he was chipping away.


    "Is that water?" Using his eyes, he quickly looked at the supposedly oozing white liquid. Although it was dirty and seemed black, Kioxe''s mantis shrimp eyes wouldn''t fool him. It really was white and for some unknown reason. It was also very blue in temperature, signaling that it didn''t give out much heat. Rather, it was very cold.


    "How?" Kioxe was perplexed. The stones were burning hot. There was no way for the water to not also be hot. As Kioxe carefully touched the water, it seemed to rush into his body. The liquid seemed to have a mind of its own as it rushed into his body. His body felt freezing cold. A single drop of it and his body was already frozen stiff.


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    The white drop of liquid actually travelled through his body and into his brain. Kioxe was about to subconsciously scream, but the coldness he was expecting disappeared. To his amazement, Kioxe felt like his life energy just increased. Closing his eyes and checking his soul, it seemed to have made his bottleneck disappear. Rather, it was actually increasing the rate at which his soul was producing soul energy.


    "What the....I''ve already reached the halfway mark for the fourth stage?" Kioxe questioned.


    Looking at the small puddle of white liquid, he seemed to be in awe at its effects. Wasting no time at all, he stored every single drop of the liquid in his interspatial ring. Then continuing on as if nothing happened, he continued digging.


    "Hahahaha, whatever this liquid is, it''s a real treasure. For there to be such a thing that would strengthen ones soul. Truly amazing!" Kioxe couldn''t help but celebrate.


    Continuing to slam his pickaxe upon the stone slab, he was determined to find more of it.


    *ding* *ding* *ding*


    "Ahhhh this is taking too long!" Kioxe became impatient. Wasting no time at all, he took out Nahlia and cut the stone slabs. It was surprisingly easy as the stone slabs now felt like tofu. Slashing and cutting, again and again, Kioxe became that of a madman. It didn''t take long though before Kioxe realized the reality of the situation.


    There was no more of the liquid. That was for certain. Although there was no more of it, Kioxe didn''t seem to mind as he was already able to discover such a treasure.


    "Forget about the fifth stage, I can probably reach the final seventh stage in a year with the puddle of white liquid." Kioxe cried joyfully.


    "Now as for this corridor...." Kioxe then backed up until he was at the stairs and willed Nahlia with life energy to destroy the ceiling, causing it to collapse. There were frequent times when accidents like the ceiling crashing down only came to be natural, so it wouldn''t be a surprise if it happened in the deepest tunnel.


    With a smirk, Kioxe dirtied himself a bit and ran up the stairs. "Guys the lowest corridor collapsed!" Kioxe yelled. Kioxe watched as the other kids seemed to be relieved that it wasn''t them who was mining there today. Not to mention, that also meant that they would now dig a tunnel in a different direction. Meaning that they would dig a new tunnel where it wouldn''t get as hot for a while.


    Seeing as no one question Kioxe about the incident, Kioxe could only smile as his tracks were perfectly covered up.


    Author''s Note:


    Seeing as there are people who rate so early, it would really help if you could just tell me what I can improve instead of just rating without me knowing what I have to do.


    Now as always, enjoy! :D


    (next chap will be longer to make up for this short one?)

 Septem Chapter 13: Budeen

    "Rudi, how is the mine progressing?" An old sinister man asked.


    "Master, those kids are doing not bad. They have actually mined for at least two hundred or so meters down. Maybe even three hundred meters. Not to mention, it''s only because we are giving them such expensive pickaxes to use." Rudi proudly cried out.


    "Did I not warn you to immediately notify me when the mine had approached approximately two hundred and fifty meters?" Budeen became ruthlessly angered by the fact that Rudi did not notify him. His face actually showed hints of worry.


    Noticing his master''s temper, Rudi couldn''t help but cry out,"I am sorry for such a blunder. This will not happen again."


    "Hmmph, get down there and tell them to stop mining. Gather them up here and kill them. They have no use to us anymore." Budeen gave out his order.


    "Yes, master! I will immediately gather them up and kill them right here as you requested." Rudi ran as fast as he could down the mine.


    "That fool! If he screws up and I find that my soul nectar was consumed, he''s going to wish he was dead." Budeen cried out ruthlessly.


    Being a sixth stage septem user, he had been stuck at the biggest bottleneck of his life. It was due to his business of selling young girls for profit did he accumulate an enormous amount of wealth.


    It was during Budeen''s younger days did he discover through written old documents that there was a thing called soul nectar. The nectar was able to make people move past their bottleneck and strengthen their soul. It was recorded that some people were even able to get to the seventh septem stage in just a day if they had enough soul nectar.


    But Budeen ignored it because it was just a thing of the past and had nothing to do with him. What benefit was it for him if something that precious was already all used up. Not to mention, the people from the past had surely searched through thick and thin for such a thing.


    It was during his mid sixties that he became compelled to find a way to get him to the seventh stage. Being only at the sixth septem stage, he would surely die from old age like any other person. Heck, there were a lot of sixth stage septem user on the continent, but only so few would be able to reach the seventh stage.


    Sometimes, Budeen even thought of his past choices. He had gone greedy and didn''t fuse just one thing like the majority of people. He had actually fused with three different things! Surely, that had prevented him from reaching the seventh stage.


    It''s through his regular customers did he learn that he would have a chance. It turns out, one of his customers actually had a soul nectar indicator device. By pouring in soul energy, the device would give a signal to its wielder''s soul. You could say that the device was his family relic. Only by paying him an extravagant price was Budeen actually able to get the item off of the greedy bugger.


    With renewed hope, Budeen had travelled across his entire hometown continent of Vernon with the soul nectar device. But just as he had thought, there was no soul nectar. But how can a persistent man like himself give up? So he decided to go to Keshiktas. It wasn''t long until he had once again turned up with nothing.


    With Xenodan as his last hope, Budeen prayed that the Gods would answer his call. Luckily enough, it was here in a rural mountainside did his soul nectar indicator suddenly tugged upon his soul and indicated that the soul nectar was within two hundred and fifty meters.


    He had struck gold! It had taken him twenty years of traveling around the whole world just to find the soul nectar. Being careful, he had decided to have kids mine for him as the blind kids would be forced to follow orders.


    If it was an adult or grown man, surely they wouldn''t be scared to grow suspicious and steal his treasure once they found it.


    That was why he had kidnapped kids to do such a task. There was only stone slabs, no gold at all. How could he get rid of suspicion other than using someone like Rudi to fill his sadistic needs while also making it seem like a torture mine for the kids.


    Since he was going to kidnap some boys, why not also some girls? After all, he was a slave merchant back in the days in Vernon. With that, Budeen was going to get his nectar, some girls, and some money if he sold the girls. You could say that Budeen had it all. He was going to become a seventh stage septem combatant and be immortal. What could possibly go wrong?


    "Master Budeen, I''ve brought all of them." Rudi had returned.


    There were fourteen boys who were all nervous and yet curious at the same time for them to be called up together like this. Only when they did not meet their daily requirements were they brought up together like this. So what could possibly be the reason?


    It was only after they had heard Rudi call the sinister looking old man in front of them "Master Budeen" did they understand. They were riled up together due to the command of this Budeen.


    "Have you kids found a certain kind of liquid while mining?" Budeen said sinisterly. His voice surely did give you the creeps.


    "What liquid? Why would there be liquid?" The kids all but chimed in.


    "Can it be that the white liquid that I found is the thing he was looking for?" Kioxe pondered. Surely, the liquid could be called a treasure and during his mining, he had never found anything worth mining for.


    "You there, come here." Budeen pointed at Kioxe.


    "I saw the look in you eyes, tell me did you find some kind of liquid while mining?" Budeen asked politely. But in reality, he was ready to pounce the boy and slice him in half if Kioxe were to have taken his liquid.


    "Master Budeen, I did indeed did see a tiny puddle of white liquid, but....." Kioxe tried to word it properly.


    "But what?" Budeen shrieked. He immediately had thought that Kioxe had taken in his soul nectar and was going to say,"You touched it and it went inside of you?"


    When Kioxe cried,"The mine collapsed and I barely got out in the nick of time. Isn''t that so guys?"


    "Yeah, we all saw the corridor collapsed." Another kid chimed in and saved Kioxe in the nick of time.


    "Phew!" Budeen breathed out. He was relieved beyond imagine to know that his soul nectar was still there.


    Budeen then looked at Rudi menacingly. "If it wasn''t for the fates choosing to side with me, I would''ve lost my soul nectar." With but a pounce, Budeen had use his claws to swipe upon Rudi. At such an astonishing speed, Rudi had lost both of his legs without resistance."After I find my soul nectar, I''ll deal with you. Marco! Come here and kill all of these kids! I''ll be going to the mine for a short moment."


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    "Was that a combination of the cheetah and bear? That speed and power really was amazing." Kioxe could only sigh in his heart. As he looked at the wailing Rudi with pity. Although his eyes were able to follow up on what had transpired, he wasn''t so sure he would be able to dodge Budeen''s pounce at such close range or have his buckler out in time to deflect Budeen''s claws. "Good thing I didn''t choose to escape long ago."


    After Marco had arrived, Budeen had made sure that Marco had heard what he had said. "You see Rudi there, he didn''t listen to me. So you better kill these kids and notify me if anything happens. Let no one through this mine!" Budeen shouted. Budeen wasn''t going to let his chance to attain the soul nectar slip by. Much less have anyone near this mine. Budeen then quickly turned and left towards the mine.


    "Now won''t you look at that? The sadist just became the masochist? Why the sudden change?" Marco was putting dirt upon Rudi.


    "Ahhhh F*** you!" Rudi replied as he continued to wail in pain.


    "As for you kids, although I''m not fond of getting my hands dirty like Rudi, I''ll still obey orders." Marco stared at the boys like a preying hawk. His hands immediately grew out six sharp bladed talons and his back grew out two enormous wings.


    Seeing as he was about to attack, Kioxe decided to wait for the right moment. Right when Marco''s talons were about to rip off two of the boys'' head, Kioxe sent out his Nahlia at Marco, while his buckler in front of the two boys.


    *splat* *splat*


    Nahlia pierced through Marco. At the same time, Marco''s left talon was able to rip off one of the boy''s head.


    "What?" Marco stared in shock at the hole in his belly. "Who?" *splat* as Nahlia turned back around and sliced through Marco''s head.


    "It''s a shame I couldn''t save the other boy." Kioxe thought. His buckler after all was a buckler, which was relatively small and would only have been able to save the lucky guy closest to Kioxe.


    "We''re free, run!" Kioxe declared as the boys around him were still shocked.


    "F-f-Freedom!" The twelve other boys yelled in unison. "We are free!" They couldn''t believe their luck. They had all accepted their unlucky fates, but it was Kioxe that had turned it around.


    Wasting no time at all, the twelve boys immediately ran away as fast as they could. As for Kioxe, he ran towards the really large stone shack.


    When he had arrived and gotten whipped by Rudi, he had still saw where Marco had taken Sasha and Lily. Although it has been three years, he hoped they were still alive and well.


    Although there were still some henchmen who worked for Budeen outside the mine, all Kioxe had to do was see and hear where all of them was and kill them with Nahlia. They were at most third stage septem users but held no chance against Kioxe who could kill a fifth stage septem user. After having Nahlia slaughter every single one of the henchmen in half, Kioxe continued his way towards the stone shack.


    "Die Boy!" A man suddenly popped out of the ground and blew several darts, which completely caught Kioxe out of guard. Although Kioxe was able to block most of the darts with his buckler, there was still one where it changed directions midway and impaled Kioxe''s right arm. That one dart that was able to actually impale Kioxe was the moleman''s dart septem.


    "You die!" Kioxe screamed in rage. It was the first time someone had injured him today and it was mostly due to his fault for not being more aware of his surroundings.


    Nahlia was able to slice the moleman''s head in half right before he was going to dive back in his hole. Truly, Kioxe was going to listen more carefully to his surroundings as he could''ve dodged the darts. After pulling the needle out of his right arm, Kioxe quickly continued running towards the shack.


    Seeing as there were a couple chains tied in front of the door, Kioxe quickly slashed it with Nahlia and barged in.


    "Eh?" A few dozen girls stared at the ten years old boy.


    Looking around, Kioxe decided to cut the chains on all of the girls. Though upon not seeing Sasha or Lily, Kioxe couldn''t help but be saddened. They were probably sold long ago.


    "Excuse me, is that you Kioxe?" A soft voice came around the corner.


    It was an older Lily, most definitely! There was no doubt about it that the ten year old blonde in front of him was her. Rushing over, Kioxe quickly cut the chains apart and hugged Lily.


    "I''m glad you''re safe Lily." Kioxe cried. "What about Sasha?" As Kioxe quickly noticed that he had yet to see a trace of Sasha.


    "After we came here, she was quickly sold off to someone." Lily had tears in her eyes.


    "Oh....I''m sorry....." Kioxe comforted the girl.


    Finding some way to change the topic, Kioxe said,"Let''s get out of here before Budeen comes." Kioxe then helped get Lily up and ran towards the east. Seeing as Lily was so weak and fragile and was unable to keep up, Kioxe picked her up and carried her princess style.


    "Eh?" Lily couldn''t help but blush. Kioxe had came and saved her like a knight in shining armor. He then picked her up in such a dreamy way. Who couldn''t help but feel their heart swain?


    "Hmmmr? Are you sick? It''ll be okay once I get you to a town. We can get you some medicine there." Kioxe continued running, oblivious to why Lily was blushing.


    Author''s Note:


    I''ve noticed that my phone auto correct words that I don''t want a lot and that I sometime accidentally put in words by accident, so please point out sentences that may not make sense as I was able to spot a few (probably not all) after rereading my chapter.


    Also, I hope you all enjoy as I''m sure it''ll get much, much interesting from now on (I¡¯ll also make this story kind of steady and not like the tragedy that came out of nowhere; Kane was more of like a character that I could show that death is always near & least when you expect & that the world is not so always safe). :D

 Septem Chapter 14: Oath

    "What the?" Budeen was staring in shock. On the floor laid a headless Marco. Budeen had searched thoroughly under the collapsed corridor for several hours and only now did he come back up the mine with nothing in hand.


    "What happened here?" Budeen questioned the Rudi who still sat there on the ground.


    "M-m-master! That kid that you questioned was at least a second stage septem user as he was able to control two septems! When Marco was about to kill the boys, that Kioxe had used a sneak attack on Marco and given him no chance to even defend." Rudi explained.


    "No wonder I couldn''t find the soul nectar under those stones. That kid must''ve already drank it. So he dared to play tricks with me huh...." Budeen was enraged. His lifelong search of the soul nectar was stolen by a little boy. Not to mention the boy getting away scot free.


    "Tell me, what were his two septems?" Budeen''s eyes gave the daggers.


    "I''m sure one was a diamond sword while the other was a buckler. I''m not too sure but the buckler was probably made up of adamantium." Rudi didn''t believe what he was saying. Surely, his eyes had played tricks on him.


    "I see....and to think that you weren''t paying enough attention to figure out such a thing?" Budeen really was infuriated by how much Rudi had messed up.


    *smack*


    Giving no heed at all, Rudi''s head had already been flung to the floor, dislocating his neck.


    "It''s a good thing my septem is that of the silvertip grizzly. He can run, but he can''t hide!" Budeen laughed sinisterly as his nose was already picking up on Kioxe''s scent.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "You can put me down now." Lily suggested. Kioxe had carried her for a couple mile or so now and was still running strong. Although Lily would voice her complaints, Kioxe ignored it and kept running.


    "This Kioxe....he''s too headstrong." Lily could only chuckle in her heart. Lily could only watch as Kioxe was trying his utmost in carrying her. Suddenly,"Ahhh!" Lily shrieked as Kioxe dropped her on the ground.


    "I''m sorry, my right arm just felt like it was becoming more and more numb." Kioxe cried out in embarrassment.


    "I told you! Should''ve listened to me. Now what did I say."Lily cried in a mom-like tone.


    "Forgive me, it won''t happen again. But first, let me stretch my arm. It feels so tight for some reason." Kioxe stared in puzzlement. "No wonder...." Kioxe muttered. The place that he had been injured from the dart moleman was awfully purple. "I must have been poisoned when that dart hit me."


    Using his life energy to repel the poison out of his body, Kioxe was surprised to see that the poison was stronger than he expected. It turns out that the poison had a life energy of its own. Truly, this poison was also a septem ability of the moleman for there to be life energy in it.


    "Let me help you with that, I still remember a time when Sasha was bitten by a snake and my daddy had sucked the poison out of her legs." Lily recalled. Moving closer, Lily daringly took hold of Kioxe''s right arm and started moving her red lips upon the puffy purple arm. Sucking the poison in her mouth, she then spat out a gooey black liquid onto the ground.


    "Thanks?" Kioxe cried in a daze as it all just seemed to happen in a blink of an eye.


    "I''m not done yet." Lily replied as her lips returned upon the arm. Only after seeing Kioxe''s right arm have less of the purple shade of color did she wipe away her mouth and smile in satisfaction.


    "....." Kioxe was kind of shock. He would have been able to get rid of the poison with his own life energy, but Lily had done such an act and help him get rid of the poison even faster. "Uhhhhh.....thanks a lot. My arm feels great now because of you." Kioxe didn''t know what to say and gave a little flex with his arm.


    "It was nothing..." Lily looked down upon the ground. She didn''t seem to have understand why she was compelled to do such a thing.


    "Let''s go, we don''t want to sleep in the woods now do we?" Kioxe watched as the sun was coming down.


    "I won''t mind as long as I''ve got you." Lily blurted out. Not seeming to hide her opinions.


    "Okay, then let''s find someplace for us to rest for the night." Kioxe looked around.


    "How about that log over there?" Kioxe suggested. Pointing at a large trunk of tree that had fallen down long ago.


    "Sure?" Lily went along with Kioxe''s suggestion.


    Giving Nahlia a bit of life energy, Kioxe was able to cut the inside of the log to make a short term shelter.


    "Ahhh, a septem user." Lily had admiration in her eyes. Although Lily had wanted to be a septem user, she was only seven at the time she was kidnapped and then never got a chance to reach the first stage.


    "What stage are you at?" Lily asked excitedly. She knew that Kioxe had fought with the men that worked for Budeen and must''ve been at least in the second stage to defeat the men outside the shack.


    "Fourth stage..." Kioxe didn''t give it any thought as he told Lily the truth.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "Aren''t you ten like me? How? You must be a genius." Lily cried in shock.


    "Yeah, I guess?" Kioxe didn''t give it much thought as he went inside the log.


    "Kioxe.....c-c-can I use your lap as a pillow? This log is rather hard for my head." Lily asked craftily.


    "Sure, go ahead." Kioxe couldn''t think much of it. After giving his approval, Lily had crawled over and set her head upon his lap. It didn''t take long for the girl to cheerfully fall asleep. After confirming Lily was fast asleep, Kioxe decided to take in several drops of the white liquid.


    "Arghh!" Kioxe moaned quietly. The soul nectar was rather painful at first as it was freezing cold. Only after it reach his head did Kioxe become jubilant. Three drops was all it took for Kioxe to get to the fifth stage. With a smirk upon his face, Kioxe finally decided to go to sleep.


    *Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*


    A sound resonated in Kioxe''s mind. "What the?" Kioxe concentrated upon the crunching sound which clearly was heading towards his direction.


    "Hmmm?" Lily woke up as Kioxe got up.


    "Shhhh! There''s someone here. Stay here while I see who that person is." Kioxe left the log.


    Upon walking out of the log and seeing the incoming Budeen, Kioxe became completely worried. "How?" The word rang in his head. For Budeen to even find him miles away was something Kioxe couldn''t accept.


    "You thought you could get away boy?" Budeen chuckled. "Although you were able to fool me and run, that was all useless. I can smile your scent miles away." Budeen couldn''t help but point out.


    "Tell me now, did you not take my soul nectar?" Budeen stared with hate.


    "So that''s what that white liquid was called. It truly is magnificent as I was able to get to the fifth stage of septem." Kioxe bluntly proclaimed his achievement.


    "It really is as legendary as the legends. To help a boy at the age of ten get to the fifth stage." Budeen couldn''t help but admire the soul nectar and what would''ve transpired had he obtained the nectar.


    "Since I still have one drop of soul nectar, can you spare my life if I hand it over to you?" Kioxe tried to compromise.


    "What? You still have a drop of soul nectar?" Hope gleamed in Budeen''s eyes.


    Revealing a drop of soul nectar, Kioxe let it drop onto a leaf. "If you don''t swear to take an oath to spare Lily and I, I can''t say that I''ll touch the nectar and consume it. Then your hopes of reaching the seventh septem stage would be all but naught." Kioxe taunted. Budeen was said to be at the peak of the sixth stage, which was only the hardest bottleneck to overcome. It''s only natural that Budeen would have to make an oath if he ever even hope to reach the seventh stage.


    Seeing as there was still a bit of hope, Budeen wouldn''t let his chance go. "I solemnly swear as a man of integrity that I will not harm you or the girl in the log if you are to hand over that drop of soul nectar." Approaching carefully, Budeen wanted to grab the soul nectar right away.


    In just a moment of time, Budeen was only a meter away from Kioxe. "Here, catch!" Kioxe flicked the leaf and watch as the soul nectar drop fly into the air.


    Wasting no time at all, Budeen reached out for the soul nectar. Though right when his hand came into contact with the soul nectar, Budeen couldn''t help but let out a painful howl. The soul nectar was probably colder than Budeen had ever thought it to be and when it reached his mind, his soul was becoming that of the seventh stage.


    Not wasting his chance, Kioxe quickly gave a slash aimed at Budeen''s neck.


    "You!" Budeen cried mentally. He had reached the seventh stage finally at the age of eighty five, only to have his life taken away. As Budeen''s head rolled about on the ground with shock in his eyes, Kioxe couldn''t help but smirk.


    Call him underhanded, but Kioxe knew that after getting the soul nectar, Budeen definitely would have decided to kill the two. It wasn''t as if Kioxe had made a promise to not kill Budeen or anything. It was only through the use of such an underhanded method could Kioxe kill someone who was much more powerful than him.


    Walking to the corpse of the dead man in front of him, Kioxe quickly removed the ring from the wrinkly fingers of Budeen. "Thanks for the trade." Kioxe could only laugh hysterically. The wealth inside of Budeen''s ring was surely at an astronomical value considering the shady business Budeen had ran for years.


    "Lily, go back to sleep. We''ve got another long day ahead of us." Kioxe walked slowly back to the log.


    Authors'' Note:


    Will be slowly going back to correct my chapters one by one as I really do suck at past tense/present tense (hard for me to differentiate so pointing it out would help>_<).


    I''ll also make my chapters slowly longer and longer. So no worries there (shout out to Lucifer''sReincarnation on giving me good solid/valid points to improve).


    Other than that, hope you all enjoy! :D