《Lein Saviik》 Prologue - The summoning Ro labored to breath the thick muggy air. He hated summer. The rain and the heat was to much for him to deal with today. He only lived two blocks away from the convenience store to driving was excessive since he only needed some toilet paper but waiting for the crosswalk to change in the sweltering heat made him wish he had. The thick air was seriously irritating his asthma. Reaching into his pocket to garb his respirator he jerked at the sound of a sudden loud crash. A semi failed to stop at the red light and ran into the car that was waiting sending it careening into the crosswalk where he was. Not even having enough time to try and brace himself Ro winced as he fell down and the wreck rolled over him and waited for the pain of death. As he waited nothing came. His entire body was tense but pain and death never came. Curiosity slowly overcame the terror he had felt and he slowly opened his eyes. He was no longer outside but somehow was inside of a large dark cavern. The car, truck, the entire city was gone and replaced by stone walls barely list by torches. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Looking around in utter confusion Ro blinked in shock at the sight before him now. Numerous beings were all knelled down before him. A woman completely covered in flowing black robes save for her beautiful face gracefully walked through them towards him stopping a scant few feet away and bowing deeply. ¡°We have long awaited this day. Oh, great Demon Lord save our world and kill the one who lays claim to the title of hero.¡± A uncomfortable chill slowly crept up his spine causing him to turn around as he tried to stand up. The action seemed to be to much for him and instantly a myriad of images flooded his head causing him to stagger. His short pathetic life, even more so his death. The woman cried out and caught him as consciousness left him. His last thoughts escaping him as enrobed arms stretched out and caught him. [ Wait, am I naked? ] 01 awakening Ro groaned as he slowly woke up, his whole body was aching with an uncomfortable stiffness. Sitting up the silky black sheets shifted aside as he rubbed his eyes. Placing a hand down to steady himself Ro frowned, no wonder he was so sore. The bed he was on was just barley softer than a rock. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and begun to try and think. Considering how sore his entire body was it was safe to assume he wasn''t dead. The afterlife wasn''t supposed to be painful, right? Well, at least heaven wasn''t and hell was supposed to be horrifyingly painful. So by default he wasn''t in either, purgatory perhaps... Steeling his will Ro opened his eyes and looked around. It was easy to see he was in a rather opulent bedroom as he observed the impressive ebony furniture situated within it. Aside from the odd dash of red to accent something most everything in the room was sharp black or gray stone. As he looked around a bit of movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Turning around he looked through a door into another room and saw someone staring back at him. After staring for a few minutes Ro''s blood went cold realizing that it wasn''t a door to another room but instead a large ornate wall mirror. He was staring at himself but all he could see was a stranger. Standing up he walked to the mirror and placed a hand against it and then against himself. Calling his new appearance a stranger would be an understatement. He had always been on the pale side but now he was bordering on being almost white with only a faint hint of gray coloring his skin. Hair that was once short unruly black curls that could never be controlled no matter how hard he tried or how much product he used was now a silky pin straight deep crimson that flowed over his shoulders and down his back. Giving an unearthly look as if he just had a bucket of blood poured over his head. Dull muddy brown eyes changed to a mix of gold and ruby with cat like centers. Cruel sharp black ram like horns protruded from the side of his head and curled around framing long delicate elf like ears. Taking a step back his heart begun to beat wildly as a bit of panic begun to set in. Every single part of him had changed. Bad health and a myriad of allergies had keep him small and scrawny but now he had grown a few feet and although thin it was obvious his body had a fair amount of muscle on it now. He couldn''t help but breath a sigh of relief when he cautiously looked down to see that he was at least still male and normal down there. Although a small piece of him lamented that if every other part of him had changed why couldn''t he have at least become impressive there as well? Thin hands tipped with long sharp obsidian nails traced the strange black tribal marking that covered his body when a sudden knocking at the door startled him back to his scenes. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°My Lord, are you awake? I have brought you a meal.¡± Hearing a woman''s voice just outside made Ro all to aware of his own nakedness. Grabbing a sheet from the bed he tied it around his waist just as the door opened. Bowing slightly a familiar woman came in followed by an ugly tiny green man pushing a cart. It was a real life goblin, the kind of being only read about in fantasy novels or video games. Ro couldn''t help but stare at him as he gave a bow and left closing the door behind him leaving Ro alone with the woman who was covered in black robes. Looking at the silver cart with a plate of cooked meat and a glass of some red drink for a moment he returned his gaze to the woman. Mustering up all the courage he could Ro cleared his throat. ¡°You are... the one from, yesterday? Thank you, but I would have preferred clothes.¡± The woman bowed deeply. ¡°My deepest apologies my Lord. Although your soul was summoned to this world I failed to recognize that it was simply a soul that was being summoned and failed to ready attire for you. Properly cloths will be here shortly.¡± ¡°Why are you calling me Lord?¡± ¡°You are our Lord and savior, you are the one who was brought fourth by the summoning. An abnormality was born into this world and as usual the humans are blaming our kind for the chaos it''s continued existence is causing. A counterbalance to it was needed. With you we can truly fight back.¡± This was to much, Ro wanted to panic or at least deny everything. He was a bit of a misanthropist but to suddenly tell him to actually go out and make war with humanity was a bit much. More ever this whole situation was simply unreal. He should be dead instead he was somehow brought somewhere else and had a new body. Then being told he had to fight humans he never even meet let alone had a problem with? Wait, did they even know he was human before coming here? Frowning he weighed his options. His silence seemed to make the woman a bit uneasy and she looked up from her bow. ¡°My Lord?¡± Sharp golden eyes looked at him in trepidation. He was partially thankful for his inability to believe anything. Rather than having a panic attack he was taking thing in calmly, or was that because his body was no longer human? Folding his arms he sighed reluctantly. They were treating him well for now so it would be best to play the part at least until he was in a safer position. ¡°You may rise. I have some questions for now.¡± 02 Not a hero ¡°Of course demons and monsters use magic differently than humans. Demons and monsters have a magic core that produces magica. Monsters produce magica but only use it on an instinctual level. Humans lack a magica core can only use magic by taping into an outside source or drawing it from their surroundings through runes and chants.¡± Making a grand gesture the girl chatted happily as she waved around her staff showing off the glowing stone at it''s end. ¡°Although it''s efficiency is cut down drastically a magica core can be harvested from monsters and used for tools. Now demons are scary, they both posses a magica core and have the ability to use outside sources of magica just like a human. Even though I said they have magica cores like monsters their cores are on a whole different level. They produce much more magica and once harvested they barley loose and efficiency. I want to have one some day and I started saving up. Demon cores are really beautiful, they are always red and really small. They make the most amazing jewelry you have ever seen. I just wish they didn''t cost so much. Seriously! Even if I saved up every cent I earned and went only with the bares minimum living expenses I couldn''t even afford one after a year.¡± Ro nodded as the girl droned on with things he mostly already knew by now. The fact that someone was willing to listen to her incessant drivel seemed to really lite a fire under the girl and now she hadn''t stopped talking in five hours. Five Hours. He couldn''t blame her to much for latching onto him during the carriage ride. Modern amenities like cellphones, music players, or hand held video games systems didn''t exist in this world so the only way to pass time on a carriage ride was talking to one another. When he turned to watch her she got even more excited and launched into a long tangent about over charging for old cores and the market price of jewels. In truth he was getting desperate and looking for at least the smallest relief from listing to her. Watching her lips he payed attention to how her words didn''t always fit the movement of her mouth, similar to watching a dubbed foreign movie. Then it started to happen, bit by bit her words started to change to a language he couldn''t understand. It was honestly an interesting ability. It seemed he had an inherent ability to understand just about any spoken language instantly. Although it only worked smoothly at an unconscious level. The moment he tried to do it purposelessly he''d have trouble and be stuck for a while. Sort of similar to breathing. You are never aware you are breathing but the moment you think about it your stuck on manual breathing mode for a few minutes until you get distracted and autopilot kicks back in. Speaking of breathing when was the last time this girl stopped to take a breath? It had been a week since Ro had been brought to this world had finally managed to slip away. After figuring out how to cast illusion spells he had gotten his appearance more human looking. Nothing to grand, just a more normal flesh tone and eye color along with making his horns invisible. He was afraid to push it to far so that was enough for him. He had tried shape shifting but the results were unpleasant to say the least. Unlike most fantasy stories and movies the actual shape shifting of ones own body was an incredibly painful experience. The more he learned about this world the more unpleasant it became. Although it was what most people from his former world would call a fantasy setting it was far to real and cruel. His former life of a near total recluse had given him quite the base to go off of. Anything from video games to novels or even a movie now and again. He had always enjoyed the ¡°fantasy¡± setting but after seeing it in person he preferred his old world. It did have the internet. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°But Melinda said if I just took a few more side jobs and camped instead of always using a inn I would have gotten one by now. A girl needs her baths you know!¡± Ah, it had kicked back in. She was back. Ro knew he should be more polite to her since she was the one footing the bill for his ride but honestly she was just to annoying. After rounding a corner the wagon came to an abrupt spot. Causing the girl to stop talking in suprise. They had been traveling through a rather narrow road in the woods and a fallen branch now blocked their path. It wasn''t particularly large but it was big enough that they couldn''t simply go over it with ease so the driver got out and started to move it aside while swearing. Pondering whether or not he should bother with helping the guy Ro watched as an arrow came out from the woods and pierced the drivers back causing him to stagger in shock before collapsing to the ground. As the girl dumbly cried out in shock and stood up Ro dove for cover. He wasn''t in the mood to get in a fight with bandits. Finishing the chant she had started the air around the wagon shimmered slightly. ¡°What the hell? Isn''t the handsome hero supposed to protect the princess? Why are you hiding¡± She screeched shrilly looking down at Ro. ¡°You''re not a princess and I''m not the heroic type. I prefer fleeing to fighting.¡± While the girl was busy scolding Ro four armed men came out from their hiding places in the woods brandishing swords. ¡°hand over the wagon and everything you got and we just may let you live witch.¡± ¡°God damn it!¡± Ro swore while standing up. He had wanted to get used to his power more before testing them out but he was most likly going to have to use them to some extent. Thinking that he was going to back her up the girl laughed heartedly. ¡°We''ll die before we surrender to trash like you.¡± Placing his hand on the nape of her back Ro gave her a flashy reassuring smile and then shoved the shocked girl off of the wagon. ¡°Die by yourself.¡± Raising his hand in the air he called out clearly. ¡°I surrender, I''m just a poor beggar that this idiot picked up on the side of the road for her own amusement. I have no intent to die for her. In fact I would be deeply grateful if you killed her for me.¡± surprised by his action the bandits watched wearily as the girl stood up and faced Ro in rage. ¡°I saved you! You owe me you bastard!¡± making use of the bandits hesitancy to move forward at their fighting Ro carefully searched out with his magica to find the ones he suspected were still hiding as backup. ¡°You know, I never liked your type. You voluntarily help someone to your own conveniences. You then lord how much they owe you for the so called help that was freely offered.¡± ¡°You refuse to save a woman?¡± ¡°I''m against gender discrimination. I refuse to save you regardless of gender. Same goes with killing, if someone attacks me it doesn''t matter what they are I''ll defend myself. It''s just your bad luck you picked me up and put me in a situation I have to defend myself.¡± Putting his hands down a sharp spike of earth formed underneath the girl and speared her killing her in an instant. ¡°Sorry, I can''t risk witness right now.¡± Sighing he looked at the shocked bandits. He had planned on testing out his powers sooner or later anyway. ¡°I suppose you guys will have to do.¡± Not wanting to waste any magica he dropped the illusion that hid his true form. 03 learning Surveying the carnage Ro still couldn''t muster up empathy for any of them. The first one he burnt to death, the second he shocked with lightning, the third he had grabbed and heated his body until his own blood boiled, the archer that had hidden amongst the tree he killed by having the branches turn on him and crush him to death, and the last one who had remained hiding he hunted down and froze solid. Logically he knew he should have felt more than he did since he was a human just a few days ago. He had wondered if he could even kill a human but in the end it was surprisingly easy and effected him no more than it did when he watched it happen on TV or read about it in a book. He hadn''t particularly felt the need to help the demons and monsters that were pleading to him for help and thought he''d have more sympathy for the humans at least but ultimately that proved fruitless as well. In the end this simply wasn''t his world and didn''t have any attachments to it nor any one in it. Adding that on top of the fact he was a bit of a misanthrope already really dulled his ability to care for any of them. No, thinking back. Even though it was only a week he didn''t feel he disliked any of the so called demons he had meet so far. They had all been quite polite to each other and so honestly and openly respectful towards him it felt uncomfortable. Yet he abandoned them in order to seek the company of the humans of this world. As if summoned by his thoughts a large shadow passed him by before circling around. Looking up he watched as the black feathered harpy landed gracefully after weaving through the trees with wings that would put a hang glider to shame. It was quite an amazing sight to behold. She was a perfect mix of beauty and horror. ¡°My, Lord I have been looking for you. What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Ah, Viing. I wished to leave for a bit to exorcise my magic so I did. These humans even kindly volunteered to be my test subjects.¡± It was a crappy half-assed excuse for running off but it was all that came to mind at the moment. He had been quite shocked the first time he saw her without the flowing black robes she had worn when he was first brought to this world. Since all he had seen at first due to the robes she tended to wear he had thought she was a dark haired elf. He had only seen her true form by chance while looking around the dark temple that he now used as a home. Looking out a random window while walking one evening he saw the form of an enormous stretched out bird flying through the air to a nearby balcony. Viing stared at him with her normal unreadable face and he in turned stared back waiting for her reaction. It was a struggle to not only avoid looking away but to keep from staring at her body as he addressed her casually. Her head, neck and abdomen aside she was almost completely covered in feathers and only an ornate pair of necklaces and belt covered her more delicate parts. At first he had thought it was a bit shocking but after thinking about it dressing in ¡°normal¡± cloths would have been hard for her since she didn''t have hands and most cloths would have either been to heavy or interfered with her flying. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. After a long uncomfortable pause she seemed to accept his answer. ¡°I see, but we could have provided you with safer means to practice your power. Your body is still new and the attachment of your soul to this world is weak.¡± Ro smiled bitterly. They were treating him like a baby. Well, in a way he was. His body was born from pure magica. They were expecting an infant but his retaining memories from his last world seemed to influence his appearance. Of all the things he was the most grateful for that. He doubted his ability to go through being an infant and growing up and keeping sane. Although he was far stronger than most humans he was essentially an infant. He knew almost nothing of the world and his strength and powers hadn''t settled. He was told it would take a full year for him maturity by demonic standards. Closing his eyes Ro thought for a bit. ¡°I want you to return and gather a force. I will proceed onward towards that place. I wish to erase every thing there.¡± All demons could feel it, an unpleasant felling. A strange ping on their internal radar pointing towards something wholly unpleasant. Ro''s was far stronger than most who could only feel the rough direction. His located the area and was getting more accurate by the day. If he actually waited a full year he would prably be able to locate it with pinpoint accuracy anywhere in the world but having that feeling in the back of his mind the whole time wasn''t something he wanted to deal with. Looking at Viing he waited for her response. Maybe it was her bird like nature but he found her hard to read. Turning around she leaped onto a high branch amongst the canopy of a nearby tree in a single bound. ¡°Understood, I will gather a force and it will be at your disposal by sunset.¡± With only a few flaps of her great wings she left his sight. Turning around he once again set out towards the town where that detestable presence was. He had planned on trying to find it while in disguise and gather more information on this world but that carried it''s own risks. If he was to play the part of a villain he wouldn''t make stupid mistakes like the ones he always mocked in books and movies.