《The Mystic》 Volume 1-Prologue *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* Countless "thunders" were raining down from the sky as if they were boastful of how loud they were. Forget the phoenix, a bird so majestic that the people claim as the kings of the skies or the invincible dragons as they crush anything in its way. The thunders were the third Kings of the sky. Whether they could harm or be harmed was two separate things entirely. Whenever they wished, they could easily send a living being into the afterlife. Though harming them was impossible. Sure, a phoenix can reincarnate after death. Sure, a dragon with its tough scales, powerful robust wings, sharp razor claws, and its hellish flames would incinerate everything. Though what about thunder? They can travel faster than most living being could and yet still be able to do as much damage a dragon could. This was what made the thunders so boastful about themselves and today they were mocking a wandering peasant. The peasant was draped in a worn out brown leather robe. The robe could be seen as if it was worn for decades. Holes were everywhere from the peasant''s head to toe. The robe was surely eroding away. "Hahaha , you dare to mock me? Today will be your end. Don''t blame me for your deaths, but your mocking attitude." The peasant sneered. The peasant soon pulled his robe off to reveal an aging old man. Surely, you would think that he should be dead from how malnourished he looked. From his aging skin, to his toothless gums, he was the epitome of what you''d call someone who''s lived through the ages. The elderly man gave out a ferocious roar at the sky. In but a mere second, he was up in the sky holding a bolt of thunder. The thunder tried to squirm free from his hand but it couldn''t. The man then crushed it by just closing his palm. Immediately, the storm ran away South upon seeing its brethren die. How could a mere mortal kill thunder? The kings of the skies were all frightened to death upon witnessing the impossible. Although the thunders in the skies tried to escape South, they couldn''t. The elderly old man was too fast, even faster than them! Each one of them were grabbed and crushed as the man flew in the sky doing the impossible. *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* The birds cried out as the storm all but disappeared in the sky. The sun''s gleaming rays were shining brilliantly as it gave an embrace to the wet and cold land. The trees, flowers, and animals were all glad that the sun came, all except the elderly man. He immediately wore his tattered robe and continued walking. His eyes dull, losing all its light. A walking corpse without a soul was the perfect description of this man. ***** It all started long ago, when a young teen decided to explore the world. He was naive then, but that was due to his inexperience. Heck, he even thought that while traveling, he''d find the love of his life. Although there are couples out there that do get married while traveling or adventuring, it''s not for all cases. When he left his village of 800 people, most of them warned him of the dangers lurking on the continent of Vahsil. Unfortunately, he didn''t listen. Not only did he get raided by a bunch of bandits, he was even sold off as a slave to the slave merchants. This took place all but in just 3 days. If his parents could have lived long enough to see him, they would have shoved a huge "I told you so" right in his face. While he lived painstakingly as a slave, one day he was beaten to "death" by his master. Obviously, for disobedience. What should have been the day death''s door greeted him, he avoided. Through a stroke of luck, he was one of those rare cases where people died but didn''t actually die. In several days time, the young man would wake up to find himself in a forest pit. The forest pit was full of bones except for the bodies that were recently killed by his master. As he looked around, he spotted a couple chunk of meat being slowly eaten away by all the worms. The way the worms squirmed and wriggled as they poked their head out of the bodies were horrifying. As he climbed out of the pit with the stench of death, he wondered why he wasn''t dead. He was so sure that he''d die to the whippings and torture from his master. Actually, it was only due to luck that his heart started beating again that he "resurrected". You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He''d climbed out and escaped deep into the forest. Where he''d bump into a beautiful girl on the way. What should have been a danger sign for all those that would find a beautiful girl in the middle of nowhere, he paid no heed. Spending a couple weeks with her, he fell in love. Thus, he got married in the middle of nowhere to an unknown girl. What should have been the day of his life, it secretly wasn''t. It became one of what you''d say...a beginning of a nightmare. During their wedding night, they engaged in what newlyweds would always do. After the intercourse with his wife, he was drained...literally. He felt as if his mind and body were completely drained. It was only after later on that his wife revealed to him her dark secret. She was a succubus but what made her reveal herself was her astonishment. Surprisingly, only his mind and body were tired after every time they had their adult fun. She couldn''t drain his soul away, which was her goal all along. The man had no soul. This was something that would shock most people. To not have a soul meant you met death''s door but couldn''t be pulled in. Only powerful experts and in really rare cases would there be a person with no soul. When the young man saw how astonished his wife was, he was also shocked. His wife had razor sharp claws, scaly reptilian hands, two black horns upon her head and a devilish black tail with a cone-like end. The next thing he saw was her claws coming for him. As he backed away from her claws, it prevented a fatal injury. He would retaliate and fight back by using her own claws to cut her throat. It wasn''t an easy feat, but it wasn''t impossible either. Since succubus were rather weak, they would use their charm rather than their strength to catch their prey. It was only during sexual intercourse that they would be able to feast on their prey. A succubus diet was very unusual as they were able to maintain their beauty and live longer as they feasted on more and more souls. It wasn''t surprising when he overpowered the succubus and killed her just like that. He soon left the wretched place and searched for a human settlement or town. Outside the forest, he stumbled across a barren field as two large scale armies were at war. It was due to him being mistaken as an enemy was he taken in as a prisoner of war. Although he pleaded and pleaded, no one listened. It''s because the nearest villages and towns were miles away. So why would there even be a villager anywhere near a battlefield. It was thus how he became a prisoner of war and locked for decades in a cell. It was during in jail that he came to reflect on what life had offered him. His strokes of misfortune made him enraged at the world. He came to believe that it was the other humans and the world that led to his demise. Everyday he''d think, "What did I do to deserve this." It was due to pondering that he became enraged and confused. One night, he stared out at the night sky. Through the window, he''d noticed how dazzling and beautiful the night sky really was. In his mind he felt as if the stars, comets, and space were calling out to him. You may say he became a lunatic after being in a cell for too long but that wasn''t the case. The night sky was something he came to love. He''d sleep in the morning and wake up at night to stare at the sky. Since he came to animosity with the world, he felt that the sky was something that he could believe in. Something that he could trust. Something that would never betray him as long as its light kept shining upon the world. It was through his star gazing that he fell in love with the sky. He''d dance under the moonlight, swaying to and fro. The other prisoners would sneak glances to fill their boredom that engulfed them in prison. The aging man looked like he was bonkers. The way he moved was disorderly and unorthodox. It was through a wide set of weird movements, meditation, and star gazing that gave the man hope. It was through his apprehension and perception of the universe that he came to grasp power. Being over the age of 80, he looked fragile. You''d think he''d be just like any other elderly person but you''d better think twice. His movements were unfathomable. Breaking through the cellar, he made his escape in the blink of an eye. It didn''t take long before the continent was shaken by his existence. People everywhere would remember him as the Magistrate. Volume 1: Chapter 1-Sarah In the town of Renuit, a group of young kids are practicing their combat abilities. With the supervision of twenty adults, the kids were able to practice safely. "Hey Kale, have you seen the new girl Sarah?" An elven boy around the age of 12 asked. He had the typical light green hair with decent looks in elven standards. His eyes were light green and his pointy ears were four inches long. His frame was pretty slim but polished. "Oh, I haven''t gotten the chance Roi." Kale replied bluntly. As for Kale, he also had a slim build and long pointy ears. What set him differently from Roi and all the other elves were his hair and eyes. All elves had green hair and eyes. It was only in rare instances that you''d find an elf that was different from the norm in this aspect. His hair was black and his eyes were also pure black ( No, not brown! Black!). It was due to this characteristic that he was an oddball in the eyes of others. "Man, you must be living in a box. Why else would you not pay heed to the arrival of such a pretty girl." Roi shockingly replied. "So what have you been doing?" Roi asked. "Oh, just the usual Roi. I''ve been trying to find some different ways to release my mana." Kale sadly replied. Roi noticing the atmosphere becoming gloomy tried to cheer Kale up. "It''s okay man, at least you''re the strongest in a fist fight. No one can compete against you in a one on one brawl." Roi said excitedly. "Yeah, I admit that my body is strong, but compared to your ability to use magic, it''s not much. In a war, you''d be able to kill hundreds, if not thousands! While I on the other hand have to run around like an idiot to kill just one guy." Kale remarked. "Don''t say that, warriors are just as good as mages. Although mages are really good at large scale attacks, they are not as good as warriors in close combat." Roi quoted what he learned from one of the teachers. *sigh* "Whatever you say Roi. Can we go see this new girl you''ve been telling me about?" Kale asked. "Oh, now you''re talking my language my man. She should be eating lunch about now. Let''s go!" Roi said excitedly. As the two ran towards the cafeteria, they made sure to bow towards their teachers in respect. Wherever you went, the common populace in Vahsil all venerated their teachers and masters to the utmost of their abilities. This gave sense to the idea that the strong were the ones standing at the top of society, not rich businessman. As the two arrived at the cafeteria, they could see that there were a lot of people staring at the new girl. She was beautiful. Plain and simple. Her lustrous flowing green hair and blue eyes were simply captivating. She seemed so delicate with a figure of only around 4''2. As Kale stood staring wide-eyed at the gem in front of him, Roi was chuckling to himself. "I told you she was pretty. A beauty huh? You don''t find elves with blue eyes often. Heard her dad was a human." As Kale did not respond, Roi tugged and pulled Kale to get their afternoon lunch. "Huh? Oh yes, let''s get some food." Kale finally responded. After they got their food and were sitting at a table not too far from the girl named Sarah, Kale asked his friend why she decided to go to a town such as Renuit. "Well...how to say this...some nobleman tried to force her parents in arranging a wedding between their son and Sarah. Of course the parents refused and so they decided to move to a town far from the capital." Roi replied "Makes sense..." Kale nodded. "Also, she''s a really good mage man. Even better than our school''s prodigy." Roi announced. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Hearing that, Kale was shocked. Who was Drek? He was a young teen at the age of just 13 but was already capable of rivaling the average adult mages in the town of Renuit. For Sarah to be even better than Drek meant that she was better than most adult mages. Kale stared at the petite girl in front of his eyes. Looks can be very deceiving. If an adult elf were to pick on the young girl, she''d surely give a "pleasant" surprise. Kale made sure to engrave this in his head that you can''t judge someone by their cover because if you did, it may just be your downfall. "Hey look, here comes Drek." Roi exclaimed expectantly. Drek was probably the most handsome elf in their age group. Not to mention, the most powerful...well...at least before Sarah arrived. "Sarah, want to hang out with me after school today?" Drek asked politely. "Sorry, but I just moved here and have lots of errands to tend to." Sarah politely refused. Drek looking very disappointed nodded and left. "Haha...Even our prodigy isn''t able to swoon her." Roi exclaimed happily as he was very amused at what he just saw. "Yeah..." Kale said dreamily. For Kale, this was the first time that he''d ever felt his heart beat so fast. This truly was his first love. "Let''s get back to class before Calion scold us again. Especially when today''s the monthly school wide sparring day. He''s always bugging us to train harder even when we train the hardest. That Calion...one day I''ll beat him senseless and say train harder. See how he likes it." Hearing that, Kale couldn''t help but chuckle. Calion was a persistent teacher that loved to push the kids to their limits. Out of their twenty teachers, Calion was one where you''d have to watch out for or you''d be greeted with blood, sweat, and tears. "Yeah, let''s get back before Calion weed us out from the rest. That wouldn''t be fun." Kale said with fright. As the two were leaving the cafeteria in a hurry, they accidentally bumped into someone. "I''m sorry, are you okay?" Kale cried out. As he turned around to see who he bumped into, the world suddenly froze in time. It was Sarah! Kale immediately panicked in his mind as he thought of a million ways to get out of this situation. "I''m okay, just watch where you''re going next time." Sarah remarked. "W-w-will d-do!" Kale stuttered shyly. Kale''s face truly was just like a tomato. "You''re really peculiar. I''ve never seen an elf with black hair and eyes before. So is one of your parents also not an elf?" Sarah questioned. She really was curious, for this was the first time she''s seen an elf that was so abnormal in appearance (aside from herself of course). "W-well...no...my parents are both elves. I was just born this way." Kale replied honestly. Sarah was immediately taken back. As here she thought that she''d meet an another abnormal elf like her, but it wasn''t the case as here stood someone even more abnormal than her. "Well, I''ll be going now. I have to get back to class before I get scolded. Maybe we''ll talk next time?" Kale nervously cried. "Okay, talk to you later." Sarah disappointingly replied. As Kale rushed outside to catch up with Roi, he couldn''t believe his luck. She said "Talk to you later." This was what went wild in his head as he made his way to class. AN: Well my series may start slow but that''s how I personally like it. As for the prologue, the elderly man will be introduced later in the story. Hope you enjoy! Volume 1 Chapter 2: Sparring "Today is the monthly school wide sparring day." Calion announced. "Yeah right, it''s more of like the boys versus the girls day." Roi mumbled. Immediately, Calion glared at Roi as if he had heard what Roi just said. "Damn, why does he have to have such good hearing." Roi groaned. "I don''t care about how much you improved, but I do expect to see much more effort in all of you. There will be no wussies saying but she''s a girl this or I can''t hurt her that. I expect all of you to know better." Calion glared at the boys. "You know how to impress a girl? Show that you are superior. Strength will speak for yourself and that will make them fall for you. That''s all I have to say for today and as for you, come with me." Calion pointed at Kale with a stern look. "Since you were the last person to be here today, you''ll be faced off against any girl I choose. Is that clear?" Calion barked. "Y-yes..." Kale whimpered. "I said do I make myself clear?" Calion barked once again. "YES, MASTER CALION!!" Kale shouted at the top of his lungs. Calion then turned around and signaled the kids to follow him to the arena. Although the arena wasn''t as tall as the other arenas that were closer to the city. Its walls still stood 10 meters up from the ground. It was circular and had a circumference of 20,000 meters. So it was pretty decent as not all places had arenas. Go to the ballot and draw your cards. You''ll be facing whoever you draw today as your sparring partner. As all the boys went up to pick their cards, Kale stood watching. Once the boys were done, they headed out to their assigned area waiting for their opponent to come. As for Kale, he was led to a separate area 10 meters away from the rest. Kale stood waiting patiently as he watched how one by one the girls were coming out. He then noticed a girl with beautiful blue eyes coming towards him. It was Sarah. "No...it couldn''t be..." Kale suddenly prayed hard that it was just all coincidence that she was walking towards him. "Meet Sarah, she''s new so you''ll be sparring with her. Don''t let her looks fool you now as she is said to be stronger than Drek. Good luck kiddo, you''re probably the best practice partner for her we''ve got." Calion chuckled. "Damn, I should have known Calion would set up something like this." Kale grieved as he stood watching her come over. It was a happy convenience for Sarah as she walked in to find the unique boy that she bumped into not long ago. "It''s a coincidence that we meet again huh?" Sarah tilted her head to the side. "Y-yes coincidence" Kale agreed. "I believe we haven''t introduced. I''m Sarah, you?" Sarah asked patiently. "I''m Kale." Kale replied feverishly. "Now that you two know each other''s names, you can spar now. Chit Chat later." Calion bellowed. "Sarah don''t go easy on Kale. Out of all our students, he''s probably the best opponent you''d find at your age group." Calion said convincingly. Stolen story; please report. "Okay..." Sarah replied. She was happy to hear that there would be a kid around her age to compete with her because in the past she''d have to spar against an adult to be able to make her serious. "Hope you live up to my expectations Kale." Sarah said cheerfully as she began to cast magic. As Sarah cast,a simple fireball to test the boy, the boy just stood there with a wry smile. As the fireball made contact with him, it suddenly dissipated out of thin air. Leaving Kale completely unharmed. "Huh?" Sarah was dumbfounded. She immediately cast several fireballs to see if he could do it again, but the exact same thing occurred when the fireballs touched him. It just disappeared? "Ummm...how to say this. You can''t hurt me with low tier spells." Kale scratched his cheeks nervously. "Oh, then how about this?" Sarah got serious and used quagmire to immobilize Kale. She then had the ground shoot out hundreds of rocks. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kale cried in pain. "....." Sarah was completely confused. The boy that didn''t get hurt from fireballs got hurt by rocks? It just didn''t make sense. "Can you not send so many rocks at me? Although my body''s endurance and tolerance is much better than others, it still hurts." Kale winced in pain. "So can you explain how you weren''t hurt by my fireballs?" Sarah puzzlingly asked. "Yeah...about that..for some reason whenever magic comes into contact with my body, it just gets engulfed by my body. This may sound weird but it''s true. My body just nullifies all low tier spells. Only with much more mana will you deal damage on me with magic." Kale explained. "As for why I got hurt by the rocks? It was physical." Kale answered her thoughts. "I see...your turn to cast magic on me now. Since I hurt you pretty badly, it''ll only be fair." Sarah beamed in dignity. "Sure, if I could." Kale replied sadly. "You see, I''m unable to cast magic at all. Sounds crazy right? An elf that can''t even cast a single ounce of magic. Although I can feel it." Kale became downcast. "What? No way!" Sarah cried shockingly. This kind of news was indeed shocking to the people that heard it for the first time. "Then won''t it be hard for you to spar me? Because if you come close to me, I''ll just shoot rocks at you." Sarah became even more confused. "You''re best sparring partner? Yeah right! What master Calion really meant was that I''m the number one training dummy of Renuit, maybe even the whole continent of Vahsil. Since I''m probably the best indicator of your magic power as I''ll only be hurt the more mana you have." Kale jokingly mocked himself. "So I''ll be casting fireballs on you all day? As long as it''s not a physical attack?" Sarah jokingly asked. "Pretty much...." Kale replied bluntly. "I was kidding, but if you meant it then excuse me if I do. Huhuhu." Sarah used her right hand to cover her chuckling mouth. The two then continued on with their spar. Volume 1: Chapter 3-Fuga "So Kale, how was your day today?" Roi asked mischievously. "Don''t play with me Roi. Of course it was as good as being in heaven." Kale pronounced. "What was that? Can you say it louder?" Roi asked while staring off to the distance. "Of course, today''s the best day of my lame 13 years of life!" Kale shouted out with vigor. "Pffffffff hahahahaha getting hit over and over by me makes you happy?" Sarah laughed mockingly. Kale instantly became hot red. "Yeah, Kale is kind of a masochist." Roi joked. "Shut up Roi!" Kale glared at Roi. He knew he was had. Roi had set it all up. "Roi is only joking, today I found a book that could lead me to finally be able to use magic." Kale lied. Although Kale had read almost every single book related to magic he could find, he''s never been able to use any at all. "Oh, sorry I misunderstood you." Sarah became flustered. "It''s ok, you only misunderstood because of Roi." Kale replied calmly. "This Kale, I see how it is. Lying and then blaming it all on me." Roi thought. "So you two want to guide me into learning more about the town of Renuit?" Sarah asked while holding her hand behind her back and leaning her face towards them with her bright green eyes. "Sure, but I thought you just moved and had errands to do?" Kale replied feverishly. Sarah''s pose was very provocative as Kale caught a glimpse of two radiant Suns. Although Sarah was 4''2, she wasn''t flat. It was two c cups, which was just Kale''s type. Not too big, but not too small. "Sure, we''d love to show you around. So where do you want to go first or should I guide you to Renuit''s landmarks?" Kale asked. "Anywhere is fine, just introduce me to the places you like most." Sarah replied. "Okay, how about visiting the town hall, library, commerce area, nature garden, and the town''s guild quarters." Kale exclaimed. As the three were walking around the town to get Sarah to familiarize herself to the town of Renuit, Kale made sure to impress her. He''d describe in details of how the town had one of the best nature garden and library. The nature garden had a special kind of tree called the Fuga, which the residents of Renuit took pride in. It was a rare type of tree that could send a person flying in the air miles away from the town. It was pretty easy to use. All you had to do was jump on top of the tree''s leaf which extended 3,000 feet from the ground upwards. The Fuga''s leaves would grow out from the the root and then its stem would grow upwards. This made it so that if you were to cut the root of the tree that latched onto the leaf, you''d be sent flying miles away. Although this was pretty cool, the rate at which the leaves grew were definitely slow. So using it as a means of travel was definitely frowned upon. Also, the elves were nature lovers. Who in the right of mind would dare jump on one of the Fuga''s leaf and cut its root. As for the library, although it couldn''t be said that it was bigger than the capitol city of Vanese, it was definitely in the top ten. To the other races, it seems as if elves are the most knowledgeable. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Though that is only due to the case because of their long life span and enormous library. Was it not for these two factors, they wouldn''t have been so knowledgeable. As the sun came down the horizon, it was a signal for the trio to head home. "See you both tomorrow!" Kale cried out as he ran towards his house. Like most elves, he also lived in the hollow trunks of trees. The trees that they lived in were pretty common in Velven (country of the elves), but if you were to search elsewhere, you''d never be able to find trees that grew hollow. The country of Velven was known for its boundless landscape teeming with life. Another way to describe it was obviously the land of trees. All sorts of tall trees stood in which the elves used it as necessity, utensils, and shelter. As Kale entered his house, a warm hug came to greet him. It was his old pop who could be mistaken as a young elf with his freakishly long hair and pale skin. If you were to ask his pop how old he was this year, he''d reply by saying an amazing number of 463 years old. "So how was school today?" Hane asked. "It was pretty good pap. I became friends with the new girl, Sarah." Kale replied happily. "Good to hear, now go clean your room and yourself up. Your books are scattered throughout the floor." Hane gave Kale a gentle pat on the shoulders, pointing at the books laying around the house. "I will dad, good luck at work today." Kale grinned. His pap was one the elves that had to watch the night shift on top of the tree walls. Although it was unlikely for there to be invaders, dangerous creatures still come by from time to time. "See you kiddo." Hane said casually as he walked out the door. As Kale cleaned up the place, he opened up a book to reread its content. "What is mana?" Kale read aloud. "It is the foundation of life. Mana is energy you may say. It shapes and form everything in the universe. Every living thing has mana inside of them, but the ability to bend mana under your will only exist in some individuals and races." This is where Kale got upset the most. Although all elves are able to use mana, that isn''t the case with Kale. This would mean that Kale is an individual that just can''t use mana. Kale continued reading. "The more mana in a living being, the smarter they are at apprehending the world." "To use mana, the individual has to will the mana in their surroundings to shape and form." "If you were to name the magic you tried to cast, it would be able to form quicker and easier. The strength of the magic attack depends on the amount of mana you used to form the magic." "Although you''re able to will mana into doing anything, the more complicated and powerful a magic spell is, the more mana you''d need. Failing to supply enough mana will make the living organism use its own body as a source of mana." Kale read tiredly. Putting the book back on the shelf, he went to his bed and stared at the moon smiling down at him between the tree leaves. Being tired, he stretched his hands and legs. The young elf tired, slept like a log. Volume 1: Chapter 4-The Woods As the morning rays flew across the city of Renuit, a young elf was changing his attire. "Hmmmm...I think this will do." Kale stared at his green shirt and shorts. "Wonder if Sarah will be free today. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! She just moved in....of course she''s not." Kale thought to himself. Kale then rushed out of his room and out the front door. ***** "Roi, what do you want to do today? I''m sooooo bored. Wished we had school today." Kale said as they were walking from one bridge to another. Typically, elven homes were all in trees and so it was common for there to be bridges connecting one tree to the next. The elves also built flat platforms and buildings on top of the vines that connected one tree to the next. You could say that the elven cities were usually big and confusing as they had several floors starting from the ground up. "Want to go to the outer perimeter?" Roi asked. "Sure, though what are we doing there?" Kale asked. "I don''t know, though it could take the boredom away." Roi replied. It has been a while since the two went outside of Renuit. So Kale didn''t mind doing something different for a change. As the two arrived at the outer walls, they made sure not to let the guards notice them. Kids weren''t allowed outside without adult supervision as the elven council was worried that their kids would meet danger. Though Roi and Kale would always be able to sneak out through a hole. The outer wall was built entirely out of foot long vines which were really durable and solid against attacks. Due to the tremendous amount of mana from the outer walls, the elves would be able to use it to their advantage and decimate their attackers. Now to find a hole big enough for a person to go into was impossible. The elves would surely see it and fix it, but that was not the case. Roi and Kale noticed one day while they were playing that a vine was loose. They push it out of the way to the side and then sawed the vines to get to the other side. The hole wasn''t big, only a feet in width. So the two would have to walk through sideways. Roi and Kale were careful. They would check the guards and their surroundings first before they ran for it. When the two ran towards the hole and got to the other side, they scurried their way towards the woods. "So what do we do now?" Kale asked with panted breath. "How about just exploring the woods? You never know if we discover something interesting." Roi was gasping for air as the two ran for a mile away from Renuit. "There should be a river down there. Let''s go, I''m thirsty." Roi pointed south. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. As the two were approaching the river, they noticed tons of smoke and gargling sounds. The amount of smoke stretched from far to the northwest, to the south, and then to the north east. You could say it looked like a U formation. Though they couldn''t be sure as they couldn''t see far to the north. Who knows if the smoke enclosed Renuit. Approaching slowly, the two peeped at the river. "What the hell! Do you see that Kale?" Roi exclaimed in utter shock. Along the other side of the river laid thousands of packed draconians. They were each 3 meters tall with reptilian-like bodies. They had tough lizard scales glistening as the sun''s rays touched upon them. Two black protruding horns upon their heads. Their scales with all shorts of colors depending on the element they used. Being draconians, they looked just like a dragon in the form of a human. "You can''t be serious...." Kale muttered in bated breath. "Kale, y-you think they are planning to invade us?" Roi asked nervously. "If they are, we''d better tell the town. If they are that densely packed a mile or so away from the town, there has to be millions encompassing us. Who knows if they got us surrounded" Kale replied in a shaky tone. "Grr...look who we have here. Dinner perhaps?" A red draconian stood behind them, battle axe at the ready. Roi and Kale were both startled. They''ve been found. Immediately, Kale turned around to meet an axe coming towards his neck. "Ahhhh!" Kale screamed as he was about to get sliced in two. But suddenly, the axe missed by just a hair''s breadth. Seeing the opportunity in from of him, Kale did a jump kick on the draconian''s stomach. A dozen stakes soon emerged from the ground as it impaled the draconian. *splat!* With enormous amount of blood oozing out of his body, the draconian used what''s left of his body as mana to send a surge of flames at Kale. As the flames touched Kale, although it would''ve incinerated any living person it wouldn''t be able to against Kale. Since the amount of mana from the draconian was enormous with its dying breath, it gave Kale first degree burn all over his body. "Huff...huff..." Kale was gasping as he almost lost his life. "I owe you one Roi, if it wasn''t for that gust of wind to make him miss..." Kale rejected the thought. "No problem man, let''s just get back before we''re noticed by another draconian. Also, let''s get that body of yours all fixed up. Get on my back, you can''t run with that kind of damage to your body." Roi said as he picked up Kale and ran towards Renuit. Volume 1: Chapter 5-The Band of Wazerath "Arghhh it hurts!" I wailed in agony as every time Roi moved, the burns would obviously burn. "Hold on Kale, you''ll get treated in just a moment. We''re almost there." Roi tried to comfort me. Although I could see the walls a quarter of a mile ahead, it seemed so far away. It was the moon. No matter how much you yearned to touch it, it couldn''t be done. Oh how I wished I was taking a nice cold bath. These burns were like thousands of needles being injected into my skin. I could have sworn all my skin was gone. As I probably looked like a lump of meat in elven form. "Halt, why are you kids outside of Renuit." A soldier yelled. "Holy mother of god, look at that kid''s injury." Another soldier yelled, shocked at my injury. "Is that Roi?" A familiar voice rang out loud. "Uncle Hane, Kale has received some nasty burns and if we don''t get him treated now, it may take away his life." Roi yelled urgently. "Open the gates! NOOOOWWW!" Pop yelled at the guards. As the gates opened, several elves came and used healing magic on me. Man it felt like heaven. It must have been heaven as I''ve never felt so good and so happy in my life. You could say that it felt better than drinking water after you ran a marathon. As the adults were gathering around to see what the commotion was, I could faintly hear the conversation between Roi and my pop. "Uncle Hane, you need to alert the town. There are thousands of draconians surrounding Renuit a mile away." "Kale and I saw thousands of draconians surrounding Renuit. So we estimate that there are millions as we only saw a part of their army." Roi informed pop in a serious tone. "If what you say is true, we''ll need to prepare for war. I''ll ask Berah to send some scouts to watch the enemy''s movements as we can''t see them a mile away due to the trees." Pop replied firmly. It was then at that point that I blacked out from fatigue. ***** As I opened my eyes to stare at the wooden ceiling, Roi was right there next to me...sleeping. Usually, I''d make a joke or make fun of him, but today I''ll let it slide. After my near death experience, it wouldn''t be nice of me to joke around when Roi was the one who saved my ass. Thinking back, he''s always been there for me although I was different from the other kids. I don''t know why, but Roi was always there for me. You could say that he''s one of the most important person to me right after my dad. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "Hey, you finally woke up. So how do you feel?" Roi grinned as he just woke up from his nap. "A bit better. So how''s the incident with the draconians coming along?" I asked. "It''s becoming grave. The draconians really are going to invade us. The scouts came back saying that they''ve gotten us completely surrounded." "For all we know, it''s impossible to really win against them. I heard the adults saying that we''ll just have to put a valiant fight if we can''t make a peace treaty with the draconians." Roi replied nervously. You could see that the draconians could slaughter us anytime as we were just sitting ducks inside their trap. "Do you know the reason for this whole invasion?" I asked hoping that Roi knew something. "I don''t know but whatever the reason is, just hope we can make it out alive." Roi made a point. "Everyone, to the town hall!" Several elves were screaming. I watched as one by one, everyone moved towards the town hall. Getting out of my bed, Roi helped me walk by letting me use his shoulders. As we got there, everyone was mumbling about the draconians. The news had spread like wildfire to the town of 30,000. When our great elven elder Berah came out of the town hall, everyone was silence. "My friends and children. We are now in grave danger." Berah spoke solemnly. "We have identified the draconians as the band of Wazerath." "The most powerful slave trade organization in all of Vahsil." "The city''s guards and I have decided it''s best to fight with glory." "For those who fear death and wish to go down a road of suffering, stay here at this town hall where you will be gathered like herds and chained like dogs." "If you wish for a quick death, go to the guild quarters, where we will have elves who will send you into the afterlife in but a flash." "That is all, may we meet again brothers and sisters." "For I shall fight til my last breath." Berah cried out with tears rolling down his eyes. Immediately, 20,000 elves whether children or adult wanted to die valiantly on the battlefield (Roi and me included). As for the other third of the elves, they either wanted to become slaves or have a quick painless death (which made plenty of sense). The drums of war were ringing through my head as I prepared for battle. Whether I live or die, fate shall decide!