《Demon with seven lives》


 Chapter 1: Fortune in the form of misfortune

    Two man in an alleyway, both barely visible as the street light and moonlight were blocked by the high rise buildings. One was wearing a hoodie and had a tattoo on his hand, that held a book for magic, Grimoire it was called. The other was holding a pouch of gems. "As promised 5kg of mana crystals, now hand over the Grimoire". The hoodie man laughed, "What''s the rush you and I have done business for quite some time now, that makes us doesn''t it". The other scoffed, "In the underworld there''s no such thing as friends". "So cold but I won''t hold it against you", he said as he received the pouch and handed over the Grimoire.


    "If you need anything else just let me know", the hoodie man said as he went further in the alley way and could no longer be seen. While the buyer left the alley way and entered the main street. The streets were empty but he could not help but feel anxious and kept looking behind him. What made him feel this way was that the Grimoire he was holding was in fact illegal. More accurately the form of magic was illegal, which was demon summoning magic. In this world of magic there exists magic towers that were the center of everything magic. And these towers had banned everything that is related to such magic. This was because in the past a demon that came to the human world had brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Fortunately in this world Angels also exist. The dying humans joined in prayer and managed to call upon angels. A pact was formed between humans and angels , people would stay away from demon magic and reestablish religion and offer prayers to angels and in return they would protect mankind from great disasters. Said angels had remained in the world of man and kept a close eye for those who got involved with demon magic. As he continued to walk down the street and was midway from crossing the road, light began to gather before him. Witnessing this bizarre event he stopped walking, not even 3 breadths later the light shattered. He blinked from blinding light and when he opened his eyes, he saw a full armored angel." You there what are you doing this late hour, do you wish to die or do you not fear nightshades". Nightshades the terrors of the night, also the reason the streets were empty with no person in sight. If not for not drinking blood and having a monster like features they could be the very definition of vampire. "No, I had an agent matter to settle, it could not be helped". The angel looked him over,"That''s a lie , your hiding something aren''t you. Come here if you have nothing to hide, let me read your mind". He took a step forward then stopped, he was debating whether to run or confess and hope for forgiveness. (There''s no way I I''ll be forgiven , I can only run). "Fine I''ll come to..." Before it could even finish speaking he turned and ran. "You can''t outrun me stop!", the angel said as it ran after him. He was running as fast as he could but the angel was closing the distance between them so he used the alley ways to prevent it from catching up and to also prevent it from flying. After a few turns in the alley ways he was back on the street and as he ran across the road a truck was driving through. He could not stop, same for the truck. He continued to run, the truck turned to avoid hitting him. It was heading towards the alley way he just came out of, the angel was hit as it was exiting the alley. He only back for a second and saw it was now stuck between the wall and truck then continued to run. (There''s no way an angel would die from that, but it''s bought me time to escape can''t stop running now), he thought as he ran like there was no tomorrow. He ran around to decoy residents to prevent being tracked back home. He then returned to his house, it was empty with no furniture in sight. The only lighting was from the moonlight coming in through the windows. As he closed the door behind him, he was evidently sweating and panting. He took out a piece of all purpose chock and got on his knees to draw on the floor. He opened the Grimoire and copied it''s magic circle and runes onto the floor. After completing the magic circle he placed 7 fist sized mana crystals at key points of the circle, with an eighth at its centre. "Sigh, with the mana crystals I don''t have to use my own mana". Magic circles and rune magic unlike other types of magic could be performed using anything as the mana source, with the runes and magic circle being well drawn of course. He stepped back to observe and as he was doing so the mana crystals began to give off light. As soon as all the Crystals were shining brightly the magic circle began to give off a red light, followed by the runes. "It looks like the summoning is successful". After saying that the red light engulfed the entire room. He had no time to react,"what''s happening no arghhh!". Those were the last words he had before being gone from this world. The light in the room returned to normal but he was no where to be seen. The magic circle began to disappear and the crystals turned to dust. The summoning had failed. (What happened, what is all this darkness around me? No, are my eyes alright, I can''t feel my body what is going on), he said as he tried to reach for his face to run his eyes. (The pain was intense but it''s over now, am I dead,in a coma. I just don''t know what has happened to me. What about the summoning did it fail. What do I mean of course it failed. But what was the cause, did it require a sacrifice or was the magic circle drawn wrong, mmmh it''s activation rules out this possibility though. A reverse summoning perhaps. The most likely cause for failure though would be a sacrifice. The lack of knowledge about demons and how they deal with sacrifices had lead to only there being speculation that a sacrifice is negotiated after summoning the demon. And there is existing evidence but there was also the hypothesis of pre summoning sacrifice to appease the demon but it lacked any evidence, could that have been it. There was no sacrifice so I automatically became the sacrifice or failure due to lack of sacrifice causing mana backlash. It''s too bad I don''t think I''ll ever find out the truth. Was seeking revenge so bad that I had to die such a pathetic death. Are villains destined to always fail not that I count, failing just before my great scheme to terrorise the world even began. I was already free maybe I should have let go of the past, I could''ve made it big as magic theorist.


    It all started with a certain tower master in his pursuit for greater magic potential, he conducted human experiments. He gathered the cells of magic beasts'' and a human with high mana affinity and implanted the beasts'' genes into the clones of that human. The children were raised then put to practice magic. The methods they used to awaken their magic potential were torturous, more so for him. He and some others were failed experiments. He was born with damaged mana circuits,, so he could not absorb or expel mana to create magic. But the tower did not care,he was their experiment and they had no plans to abandon him yet. So he continued to learn magic and magic theory, mostly magic theory alongside the other test subjects. Seeing his brilliance in magic theory he was officially integrated into the tower and no longer a test subject. Taking advantage of his fame after making breakthroughs in the theory of magic he was able to establish himself as an independent magic theorist. But gaining freedom was not the end of his plans, he also desired revenge. This was a world of magic, tower masters had both political and magical power with no one above them. So no amount of public confrontation work. And because of their destructive power from magic no assassin in the underworld dared to provoke them. Gaining support was also not an option, it was not a secret that the magic towers did human experiments and would join forces to stop anyone who would challenge them. That''s where demon summoning came into the plan. Demons were strong and the state of human society was irrelevant to them. He would summon it, make a contract with it to destroy the towers and kill the tower masters, such a simple act would be possible even with the presence of the angels. And when the angels deal with it he would not have to fulfill his part of the contract. A demon would never give in to the demands of an angel plus the contract prevents the demon from revealing information about its contractor.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    After being in this darkness for some time he felt warmth and he could feel his body. He opened his eyes and 3 pairs of eyes were looking down at him. "He opened his eyes,honey we are blessed with a second child", said the man who was standing beside his wife. She was sitting on a chair while holding a baby. The baby looked around the room, the first he noticed was the woman,then the man and finally the little girl. (I see, I have been reincarnated, they are my parents and she has to be my sister. "I hope our neighbors don''t think it''s strange for us to have a second child so soon", said the his mother. "We want 2 kids,we have ourselves two kids what''s so strange about that. If anyone''s strange it''s everyone else who seem to only want one child", his father and mother laughed. "Mom,dad can I hold him?". "Sure hold him well", she said as she handed the baby over to her. "When they tease you about having a little brother, tell them there''s no law that states demons should have only one child"he said, and she nodded in acknowledgement. (Did they just say demon and the language they are speaking is new to me and but I can understand what their saying. I''ll have to observe to clearly understand my current situation), he thought to himself. Two days after being reincarnated into this world of demons he had found out that this was a new world totally unrelated to his old world. First the demons here did not live in some hellish place not did they crave destruction and they were fundamentally different in every way the only thing they had in common was that both were called demons. (This demon race is really astonishing, it only took a day for me to grow this much, I can already walk and talk as much as I want), he said as he got up from his bed and looked out the window, he could not see much of the blue sky because of some of the houses. At present he looked like a child that''s more or less 5 years old. "It hasn''t been long since I got here and I''ve already opened my mana circuits in my body and I am absorbing the mana in the air". He said as particles of different colors got absorbed into his body. " And maybe it''s a demons nature to be able to see mana or I just happen to be blessed to be able to see mana. The best part is I don''t have to hide my level of intelligence as even my sister who is only a year older has reasoning skills superior to that of a common man from my previous world". He opened the window and looked out as he''d done on the previous day. The streets weren''t bustling but they weren''t empty either. Everyone in the streets looked like normal people but by their actions it was clear it wasn''t a normal human society. (I had asked yesterday about how some people only exist as services providers while the others only received those services, normally such an observation would be made over time but I realised this fact from looking out the window yesterday. And the answer I got from my father was, the serving class were not demons but homunculi made to serve demon kind, but that wasn''t really true either. They existed to increase the population and make the place function similar to any other town or city). The other strange observation was that this place was in a medieval state combined with modern style like the clothes and places like a cafe and with stops along the streets having display windows. Demons were the masters not having to do anything if they so choose. "I haven''t tested this out but the body of a demon is really blessed I have slept but I am certain I don''t need sleep nor food, which is great for survival. I really want to go outside and see what this body can do, ever since I got here I haven''t been outside, sigh", he withdrew from the window and went downstairs, it was still morning so everyone was seated at dining table. He exchanged greetings with them then sat down to eat. The reason demons still ate even though it was not necessarily was mostly for the taste of food, more precisely the mana that made up the food, different arrangements resulted in different tastes. (I wonder did I reincarnate as demon because of the magic or is it a coincident...at this point does it matter though?), he thought as he continued to eat. Ever since he had arrived he had felt that he was smarter, being able to analyse and understand phenomenon that occurred around him and this was in fact an inherent nature of demons to understand all phenomenon, it may not happen instantly but a day would not pass. This was a side effect of demons being natural mana manipulators to create their desired phenomenon which is called magic. Magic being the manipulation of mana to create phenomenon requires the user to be fully aware of said phenomenon, but at present he was not aware of this. After finishing his meal he went back to his room. Observing the workings of the town from the window was now his daily routine. "I wonder how much destructive power my magic has, one of these days I''m gonna go outside and see for myself, for now I''ll just try some simple non offensive magic ", he spread out a detection wave from himself, then pulled it back in and in that short time he had already scanned the entire town. "It seems magic is common place here in the demon world, seeing as how I''m unable to detect demons that I see and know are out there but I''m unable to sense them with detection wave, which I know to be blocked by presence concealment magic, but the most surprising is my sister is included among them. Sigh the only thing I managed to detect that''s alive and sentient are the homunculi. Maybe I am impatient it hasn''t even been a month yet, I''ve endured for much longer my time to actually practice magic will come. He left the window once more and sat at his desk. He opened his palms and a flame emerged, he played with it. First he made it into a ball then changed its form to that of a person. He controlled this half a head tall flame person to run around the desk. He then created a water person, after making the water person, he further molded the two, after being done both the water person and the flame person were armed. The two began to fight, both had a sword and shield. When the flame sword struck the water shield the water would evaporate. The water warrior pushed back with his shield, creating some distance while the flame warrior was recovering from the shield bash, the water warrior''s shield turned to ice. The fight resumed, now the shield did not evaporate from contact. When the swords clashed fire was extinguished and water splashed on to the desk then evaporated. The two were evenly matched chipping away at each other''s essence till they could not sustain themselves. "My control on water and fire magic is really good, what is left to check is the maximum scale of effect". He left the table and went to bed, as he laid there he thought about what he will accomplish in the near future. (As the days went by a week passed and nothing new had happened. I would wake up look out the window, eat with my family, practice control of my magic trying out different types of magic, earth, plant , wind and glass. I recently found out all demons have a G initial in their names, nobles though have longer names. And so far all the demons I''ve seen have black hair, while the homunculi have grey hair. And my name this world is Noir G).

 Chapter 2: Awakening first stage

    Day 1 week two since reincarnating, as usual he went downstairs to have breakfast with his family. While was eating his father called out to him.


    "Noir I believe you are ready, from today onwards you are allowed to leave the house alone. Tomorrow you and your sister will be going to the forest of slumber, for your right of passage, so I advise you to visit a weapons shop in preparation".


    "Yes father ",


    one could tell he was excited to hear the news and contrary to his short reply his thoughts were longer,


    (The time came sooner than I thought, and with this I''ll be able to learn more about this world and act more freely. I don''t know what this right of passage is but I''m guessing it has to do with fighting or survival).


    After eating he was heading back upstairs when he stopped and looked back at his father who was about to leave the house, "Father, wouldn''t it make sense for you or mother to go with me?". (I was a little too excited that I almost overlooked it she may be better than me at magic but it still doesn''t make sense).


    His father was silent for a while then answered, "Normally it is a parent who does the accompanying but in most cases it is single parents, besides she is capable, anything else?".


    "No, I understand".


    Having answered him his father left and he went back to his room to change shoes. After that he did not spend a second longer and left the house, as he walked he could see more of the town than before. He was walking around with no fixed destination, after exploring for quite a while he came across a weapon shop,


    (He said advise meaning it''s not really necessary but since I''m checking new places I''ll check inside).


    He opened the door and walked in, inside there was a group of 3 who were carrying a huge lion like beast, the beast was dead. But the most surprising thing was how big the inside of the building was compared to the outside, and if not for how big it was the beast would not even fit inside. Not letting this scene distract him he looked around and did not see any weapons so walked to what looked like a reception desk.


    "Excuse me, I was wondering if this was really a weapons shop?".


    "Of course it is, do not let the lack of weaponry fool you, everything is stored upstairs. Now come follow me".


    The female receptionist who was behind answered as she stepped out to lead him upstairs.


    (Now that I''ve seen a homunculi up close their hair though grey leans towards white), he thought as he looked at the receptionist hair as they went up the stairs. When they reached the second floor she went to one of the doors and opened it for him.


    "You may enter, and if you need anything please feel free to call", after saying that she went back.


    When he walked in the door closed by itself behind him. Before him were full body armor, swords, spears and bows displayed all around the room. As he was scanning the room at the back of the room he saw a man with black hair who was placing a sword in its display, (If he''s not buying, he must be the shop''s owner). Noir begin by walking around looking for anything that might catch his eye. After going through a few rows of weapons he came across two daggers a short sword, (Now let''s have a closer look...), his hand was already reaching for the daggers but before he could even touch them his hand was held in place. He looked at his right hand side, standing there was the man he''d seen,(What in the... I didn''t hear him approach).


    As much as he was surprised his face did not show, after the two looked eyes the owner spoke,"These are for display only so your not allowed to touch them".


    Hearing that Noir withdrew his hand when it was released owners grasp.


    "I''m the owner of this shop, you can call me Stephen, if you want these three you can come with me to the working area"


    "I do want them but I don''t have anything to pay with".


    (I was in such a hurry that I overlooked the most important thing currency and no one mentioned it).


    "That''s no problem since everything is free. The work area is just behind that door". (That explains why they didn''t say anything).


    He did not say anything this time and followed Stephen into the working area. The space was filled with raw material raging from metals, scales, bones, fangs and leather.


    (I guess his about to make them for me right here).


    "I''m about to begin crafting now watch closely", Stephen cleared a table leaving only one piece of metal. He began by making the metal float a 20cm above the table and a transparent sphere appeared around it. Though he couldn''t feel the heat he could see that the metal inside was heating up as it soon turned red and began to melt. As it was melting the sphere took on the shape of a short sword, molding the metal within. And just like it was never melted in the first place, it cooled in a few seconds. The newly crafted sword descended on to the table, and with a touch from Stephen the sword was further sharpened.


    "A simply crafted sword, nothing so difficult right and now you craft your own".


    "I can make one for my self but wouldn''t it be better to take the already made one?".


    "I guess you are young you wouldn''t know everything, so I''ll explain it to you. To put it simply a weapon will have the mana of its user as they use magic through it,or simply empowering it. But if it was not the user who created it the weapon will have two types of mana. Mana from its creator and the user, the two different mana will more likely to be in conflict than coexist, this prevents the weapon from bringing out its full potential. Of course you could over write the creators mana so only yours remains, but you would obviously be able unable to do that. But if you insist you can have it".


    Now that he knew this piece of information Noir wasted no time and began making his own sword. "So this is what they call magic crafting, I''ve never done it before". This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "You mean matter attribute magic", Stephen corrected him but to Noir it irrelevant so he continued to mold the molten metal in the same way he was shown, he did not notice himself but he was smiling.


    "Good you made it in your first try I guess your perception of magic is not lacking, let''s see if you can observe even the tiniest details", Stephen said after the sword was sharpened. Taking the sword he had made, Stephen turned it into a metal cube, he held the cube in hands, the cube was reshaped into a much more finer and detailed sword than it previously was. From the perspective of someone who had normal eyes and could not analyse magic it looked like the cube had just changed shape from cube to sword which is what Stephen had done to the sword when he turned it into cube but for the cube to sword transformation he had rearranged the atoms that made up the cube. Stephen placed the sword back on to the table.


    "Did you see it?".


    "Yes, though the approach was different both methods can achieve the same effect", while Noirs reply showed composure his thoughts were a in a state of confusion and not from witnessing magic work at the smallest scale but from the realisation that came with it.


    (All this time I''ve been absorbing air molecules thinking they are mana, does that mean...no I''ll think more about it later when I get home).


    "You can use either method to make your daggers". Hearing that Noir nodded then took two more pieces of metal to make his daggers.


    When he was done and about to leave Stephen called him, "Hey kid your very lucky to be born this year so make sure you are enrolled at Demon Academy by next week". Noir did not reply he would have to speak with his parents so bid farewell and left. (That kid if he wasn''t so young I would believe it if he said he''d been to the Holy Empire seeing as he knows about concepts of buying and currency, but from his age he must''ve heard it from his parents),he thought as he looked at the door Noir left from.


    "Speaking of the academy I should go to the capital before the academy opens".


    On the way back Noir was thinking about what Stephen had said about enrolling into academy.


    "What did he mean by enrolling, I look about six years old but even then it''s still young for academy enrollment. Then again my knowledge from my past life may be getting in way to accept what is the norm here. But it''s only been a week I have time to plenty of time to learn "


    Before he realised it he was already home, he was the only one home at the moment. He went straight to his room placing the daggers and sword on the table. Now that he was back home he resumed his thoughts on what he had discovered about mana.


    (When first got here the first thing I did was find out if magic was possible and it was. Then started absorbing mana, the thought that the mana of this world and my previous world are different hadn''t even crossed my mind. To begin with the mana I know is just an all purpose energy found all around us but here it''s different. This mana should be the building blocks of everything, meaning everything I see is mana).


    This was extremely shocking to him that he forgot to ask about the academy before the day past.


    "So we''re walking there", he asked as they past the town check point.


    "There''s no railroad heading towards the forest and a carriage would take to long, so yes we are walking there", his sister Nell said as she walked ahead. As they walked from town to the Slumbering forest they past by the forests in between. Taking this opportunity Noir asked, "Sister what do you know about the academy".


    "I don''t know much about it only that it only opens once in a thousand years because there are rarely any demons born, even decades go by without any demons being born. So it opening once every thousand years also serves as a guide to when demons should have children, mostly for those who want their kids to learn there".


    Hearing this Noir thought back to the conversation he heard when he first got here.


    "Also the knowledge you get there would take at most a hundred years, to learn just by observing the world. There are also two academies one is Royal Demon Academy for nobles and the other is Demon Academy which opens a week earlier but they close at same day. You and I will be going to the latter".


    "I get it know, but does the latter open earlier?"


    "It has to do with second stage of awakening. Today is also about awakening, your first stage of awakening, since we''ve arrived you can put your questions on hold, you can read a books at the library when we get back", she said after seeing him about to ask what awakening is.


    "I guess I''ll have to visit this library you speak of".


    He said as he took the lead walked into the forest.


    This forest was the one with the most magic beasts and it had an ominous feeling to it.


    In the forest he could sense and pin point the location of the magic beasts so they did not search around but went for the nearest one. As they tracked it and got closer they to hear the sounds it was making. With their presence concealed they could get close without being noticed, before them was their target a jet black wolf nearing 2 meters in height, and right below it was an animal it had just hunted. This magic beasts was an expert at hunting it could move between shadows and track its prey using its excellent sense of smell and it''s thermal senses that could detect even the tiniest change in temperature of an environment.


    (Now that I''m here I really don''t know what to do, should I just attack with...).


    While he was still thinking on what to do Nell stepped forward and unconcealed herself. This alerted the wolf and it raised its guard waiting for her to be its field of vision, the moment she was it jumped towards her. The wolf stood no chance against her, it was cut in half before it could even touch the ground.


    (Where''d that sword come from, I only looked at the wolf for just a moment and in that moment she pulled out a sword out of no where. What''s even worse I didn''t see her swing it).


    His eyes were wide from shock, he was aware the wolf was no threat to Nell but he didn''t expect it to be helpless before her. She walked back to him leaving the two piece wolf on the ground.


    "The next one is yours kill".


    "Will do, but what is that?", he pointed at a black crystal visible on one of the half parts of the wolf.


    "That is what enables beasts to use magic, a mana core. If you analyse one you''ll know what how and what type of magic the beast used".


    Noir could not suppress his curiosity so he went to the corpse, when he stood before it he did a throwing gesture towards it and a fire came out of his hand falling on the corpse. The wolfs body burned leaving only the mana core behind, Noir then picked up the core.


    (I can feel an incredible amount of energy from it, so I should analyse it then absorb it, everything is mana after all. I see now mana cores store mana in data form allowing magic beasts to use magic without understanding).


    With the mana core analysed he now knew how to use the same magic the wolf used.


    "Since this wolf beast was so underwhelming is it okay to go after one that seems strong?"


    "If your confident then yeah".


    With her approval Noir began moving west of where they were but not too far. Not long after they had found it resting under a tree, he could tell it was far stronger than that wolf but they too were much stronger than it so the thought of going back did not even cross his mind.


    It was a reptilian type beast, cousin to salamanders, silasmandra it was called. As tall as the trees, with two heads and its child being half the size of the wolf.


    "Those are silasmandra its magic primarily involves energy absorption and emission", Nell warned Noir who nodded while he took out his daggers.


    (There''s two I''ll have to deal with them both at the same time. Let''s try out this shadow magic, this makes me feel like an assassin).


    A dark shadow appeared at his feet, he threw the two daggers at the shadow and the daggers entered the shadow, appearing at tree''s shadow right beside the silasmandras. They had no time to react, both were stabbed at chest while for the young one the dagger pierced through. The dagger on the adult silasmandra did not pierce deep enough so it lived. Noir who had expected this walked towards it while unconcealing himself so it does not run in fear of a threat it does not see. While the silasmandra was rising and crying for its dead child, he took out his short sword. With him now visible to it, rage and murder filled its eyes showing no intention of fleeing. It snapped the trees while moving to face him, it raised its heads releasing a deafening cry, before facing him again. One of its heads opened its mouth and the environment began to get cold, the temperature was dropped so fast the trees and everything around them was frozen solid before he could make a barrier Noir was also covered in ice.

 Chapter 3: Awakening first stage 2

    With a draw of its single breadth everything before it was frozen. Frozen from head to toe, his movement was restricted causing him to worry that the silasmandra will use this opportunity to come and attack him.


    (Real life battles are full of surprises and not duals, I was foolish to not have a barrier around me at all times more so when considering why I''m here, I''ll melt this ice real quick).


    If he wasn''t frozen he felt he would have slapped himself but at the moment he focused on freeing himself conjuring a fire around the ice trapping him seeing as it was actually not thick. With the fire burning right next to it the ice began to melt, before he could even break free from it, the fire was sucked into the silasmandra''s mouth. Seeing the fire get sucked into its mouth he now understood.


    (It is absorbing the energy all around it, so this is what she meant).


    Nell had warned him but this is not what had come to mind. With that knowledge a plan came to mind, if it absorbed the energy before he could unfreeze himself then he just had to release an incredible amount of it.


    (Let''s see if you absorb this too, explosion).


    Thanks to the explosion and him being near its centre, Noir managed to break free from the ice. Now free he ran towards it with sword held in hand, the ground he was running on began to break and rise, when he looked around he saw even the trees and all the other flora were breaking apart and flying to the silasmandra''s mouth, deconstructing beyond dust to fine energy by the time they reached its mouth.


    "I was wondering why that head did not close its mouth even after everything was frozen but now I get it, and it seems the barrier is able to block it somehow".


    He looked at the fragment of the ground he was riding on, within his barrier the fragments stopped deconstructing and only flew. Seeing him getting close it stopped absorbing, this lead to him jumping into the air as the fragment fell and with him being high up he could reach its heads. Noir who was falling towards it brandished his sword preparing to slice off at least one of its heads. But what he did not expect was that it would not rely on it''s body to retaliate. The descending Noir was met with a beam from the second head, even while seeing it head straight at him he smiled because this time he had a barrier. The beam hit the barrier slowing his decent, he heaved a sigh of relief he was glad it did not send him flying back. Before he could loose his forward momentum he changed the barrier''s shape. Now it was at an angle in which the beam caused him and the barrier to rotate while falling beside it and it was redirected to fall onto the ground. The ground melted on contact, even turning it into plasma. But this did not concern him, it barely registered in his mind.


    (Damn thanks to that blast one head is out of range).


    Now that he was just beside its head, the energy emission head, he aimed at its neck intending to decapitate it. Using the rotational force he was able to do a descending spiral slash, as a result the slashes were not focused on a single spot but distributed across the neck and the head was not severed. Upon landing on the ground he barely had the time to evade the uninjured head that was in pursuit, chasing him as he rolled under it. Maybe from the pain of the neck being injured or because he was under it, it began stomping on the ground. This gave him no chance to strike its under belly. He was in the midst of jumping out to evade being stomped on when he was met with its tail. The tail came unexpectedly that he had no time to counteract, when it hit the barrier tanked the damage and he grabbed onto it. He did not know for sure if he could do it or not but going with his intuition he pulled the silasmandra by its tail throwing it. It crushed into the trees, as it was still struggling to get up he swang his sword towards it and balls of fire emerged and followed the direction the sword pointed in.


    "Let''s restrict it''s movement with this".


    With a wave of his hand the ground around the silasmandra rose up in form of pillars, trapping it in place. Even when the bombardment of fire balls struck, the pillars were not shaken. Even though it was still struggling and trapped in the fire, its absorption head drew in its breadth once more, the pillars froze and began to deconstruct while the fire grew small even with the fire balls that continued to bombard it.


    "Damn with that head I can''t rely on anything aside from my sword. It has to be dealt with first". This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    He looked at his sword only to see that it had corroded.


    (When did this happen, is its blood a corrosive type of poison, I''ll burn it away).


    After burning the blood on the sword the flames remained, with it being this way it would not continue to corrode. After successfully standing it stopped absorbing the fire and used its other head to shoot blasts of energy towards him. While thinking of what best way to evade while getting closer he saw the shadows of debris cast by the blasts that he deflected and thought of an idea. He''d never done it before but he already had proof of it working, the daggers. He jumped into the shadows and reappeared right below it. But the silasmandra was no fool, it was aware the daggers came out of the shadows. While he was appearing its heads were already descending on him. Its emission head was first, it was right above him about to have him in its jaws, he kicked its lower jaw snapping it''s mouth shut and sending the head back. This lead to an opening, which the absorption head did not miss. He was caught and stuck in its mouth, the reason he remained was the barrier and the sword he changed into a staff, preventing it from closing its mouth. And with his predicament another idea came to mind.


    "Now while I''m in contact with it I can manipulate its composition matter".


    While he tried to break down its molecular structure, it was trying it''s hardest to destroy the barrier and eat him whole. While it was succeeding as cracks began to form around it, he on the other hand was failing.


    "Damn it, it''s not working".


    There was a strong resistance that prevented him from changing its matter he could feel it. Looking at the barrier with cracks all over and close to being destroyed. He made one last move that served as both escape and attack. This move was only possible because he was in its mouth, making it impossible for it to absorb energy, he caused an explosion greater than the one he had done before. With it being right at its throat it involuntary loosen its jaws and the force of the explosion shot him out. It thrashed around from the pain, wailing as it did so. With determination in his eyes, the flames around the sword increased in intensity. Now was the best time to get rid of one head, its emission head was slow from neck slashes he had done while its absorption head was out of commission.


    "With the absorption head gone the emission head will be just a head".


    Unlike before when he entered into the shadows he appeared about 3 feet away from it and with his appearance a giant fist rose from the ground, punching its head, while another hand appeared beside it. The head landed into the other hand and was stuck in between, with the hands trying to crush it. At the same time Noir went for the absorption head, the flames of his sword increasing in length and width. Using its neck like a whip it tried to whiplash him aside but he was faster, with a thrust from him the flame sword pierced through its neck followed by a drag slash, effectively severing its head. It fell on the ground with a thud, but it was not over the other head still remained. He directed a vertical slash at the base of its necks. With its tail it broke one hand and used it as a shield to block the vertical slash. But Noir could see the end to this so he increased the intensity of flames, melting it at incredible speed but with one hand less restraining it, the head broke free shot a beam at him. This forced Noir to retreat before penetrating it''s defense, he had thought it would no longer be able to shoot anymore beams without the absorption head. Looking at himself he wasn''t that injured, he looked around him, the area behind him was barren for a good distance and the trees beyond were frozen, Nell was nowhere to be seen but he was confident she was safe. He took a deep breadth watching as his wounds heal and the silasmandra about to charge at him. It manifested blasts of energy like he had done with the fire balls, bombarding him with them one after another. Every blast it shot he intercepted with a fire ball. While busy with intercepting the blasts the silasmandra began to undergo a transformation. It became smaller, the neck of the severed head fused with the remaining head, the neck wound and all of it''s other injuries healed during the transformation. Noir had no time to interrupt this transformation, he was busy dealing with the blasts, and he could not use shadow maneuvering because the blasts suspended in mid air around it, illuminated everything leaving no place for shadows to form. Meanwhile Nell was watching at a distance ready to step in incase of an emergency. While observing Nell was impressed with Noir''s use of the barrier.


    "If he had used it from the beginning I wonder how things would have turned out, any way what was he thinking using fire to melt the ice around him when he can directly manipulate the ice itself. Sigh, he''s lucky it has low intelligence"..."Fool he should have realised its emission head was not reliant on its absorption. And its heads are actually a weakness, it cannot use both at same time and each head wants to wreak as much havoc as the other so they take turns. With one head left it''ll be much more fierce".


    She even wanted to shout at him, telling him to use his natural attribute, darkness, but this was an awakening ceremony she could not interfere unless his life was in danger. All demons had to go through this right of passage, the first stage of awakening in order to become full fledged demons. The purpose of the right of passage was to stimulate and cause them to develop in shorter time than needed.


    After its transformation the silasmandra was no longer overwhelmed and was instead on even footing with him, like Nell had predicted. That wasn''t all, it''s new form came with a regenerative ability. The battle went on for a long time that the day past, but at this place it was still just as bright perhaps even brighter, even though it was night.

 Chapter 4: Library

    Silasmandra shot 4 blast breaths, the first one he cut in half. The following however he used his barrier to reflect them back at the silasmandra, the reflected blasts collided with those suspended in mid air around it. Resulting in an explosion of light that prevented anything inside from being seen. Noir''s gaze was not focused on this light and for any one who who did not follow his gaze they''d think he was simply looking away from the blinding light. The silasmandra had jumped out at the moment of blast collision, using the light as cover to sneak attack. This did not escape Noir''s notice and that was where his gaze was directed to. The falling silasmandra used it''s claws to attack, and he used the sword to block, with their strength being roughly equal the silasmandra that had a larger build and assisted by the fall, overpowered Noir. He was knocked down and it was above him about to crush him under foot. The already damaged barrier cracked further on the first two hits and on the third it shattered and just when he was about to get hit directly, the light had died down and the shadows returned. He escaped into its shadow and its claws only dug into the ground. He reappeared partially with his lower half still in the shadow, with the flame sword once more he went for a clean cut to the neck. Body and head separated, the head fell on the ground and the body was left staggering, but he did not let his guard down because he was not aware of the limits of its regenerative ability. The moment he saw flesh growing on its neck he left the shadow and grabbed onto the dagger embedded in its chest, even after healing it had remained. And for the first time ever he used an attribute he felt an affinity to, darkness. Using the dagger as a medium he channeled darkness into its body, then let it go to use the flame sword, with a swift swing of the the sword he cut off its front legs. With the head fully regenerated it let out a cry, left with two legs and driven mad from the pain it shot out its beam indiscriminately. Since the beam was not aimed at him he did not bother to respond.


    "It seems it really can''t regenerate when something interferes from the inside".


    He was only trying out possible ways to stop its regeneration when he injected it with darkness, and this method worked, it could not regenerate until it had expelled all the darkness in it and that was something it could not do. It had lost control and without its legs to support it, its head was beam blasting even right below it. Where Noir stood. He broke a chunk of the ground and threw it in the air then used the shadow of the hallowed ground to move to the shadow on the chunk of the ground in mid air. By the time the beam struck he was gone, from above the chunk he had a good view of the surroundings, the place looked like lava was coming out of the ground. He returned his attention back to it, he threw his sword right at its back, piercing it so deep only the hilt remained outside. The sword not only pierced it but also had enough force to smash its chest into the ground this also caused it to face up. Natural the beam was also redirected upward and unfortunately he was in its line of fire. He had no escape method, using the chunk of the ground he could not not move out of the way fast enough, the barrier was not an option at the moment and he could not see shadows to move to. Nonetheless he jumped out of the way and like he had expected he was still within its range, he was struck by the beam and started to ascend with it. It felt so hot that standing next to the sun would be better, it was this pain that reminded him of his old world. The demons there were known to have wings and here where the demons though different were superior how could they not claim the sky as their domain. Not accepting such a possibility, wings made of darkness sprouted from his back. With his wings he flew upward while leaving it''s range, when he was out he stopped and looked at it as it approached and past him by and ascended beyond the sky. With it being so high it illuminated everything below to a point of it being brighter than daylight. Noir followed it with with his eyes till it was no more. A circle of darkness was present in the sky, the stars that once shined in the night sky were gone, the beam had blown everything in its path.


    "What a terrifying world this is".


    That was all he had to say on the matter. He flew back onto the ground as molten as it was.


    "Like I thought that was nothing more than a residue blast before it died, seeing as it did not last long".


    He said as he approached the corpse of the silasmandra, then pulled out his sword from its back. It was just a simple pull with a little force behind it but still simple, but the sword had even pierced into its mana core. By the time Noir sensed that something was not right, the sword was already out. Mana cores were more than just a way for magic beasts to use magic, it was also the energy of that magic, so when it is damaged all the stored up energy is released at once. What made matters worse was the amount of power a magic beast could exert at a time was only a very small fraction of what was contained in the mana core. Noir had no way to know this and even if he did it''s not like anything would have changed, afterall he was not aiming for it. But this also meant he was not fully aware of the danger so he did not immediately retreat until the silasmandra''s body began to bulge ready to explode. He turned and flew while looking at it as streaks of light came out of its body, which soon turned into a dome of light that incenarated everything on its path. He could tell that even flying at top speed he could not escape, it was at this moment that he felt a pull. He knew this because his body tried to resist this pull but it was futile as his body did not succeed and he was pulled away as the dome of light was moments away. At the exact moment he was pulled away he appeared just above the ground far from the dome of light. The already flying Noir crushed into the trees.


    "What was that ".


    He said as he got up and looked behind him at the dome of light where he was just a moment ago. What he saw was Nell, exactly where he was just before being pulled and crushing into the trees. He knew right away Nell had switched places with him, the relief he just felt for being away from the dome was gone as he witnessed what would have happened to him now happening to her. He watched as she was bathed in the light and faded away, he dropped to his knees and with a pained expression he clawed the ground,he could do nothing but watch.


    "Why''d you have go and do something like that without even saying a word". (It hasn''t been that long since my reincarnation and I still hadn''t recognised you as family, and here you are sacrificing yourself for my mistake, I won''t even get the chance to thank you).


    While feeling responsible for her death he continued to watch till the dome of light that had stopped growing at some point, gradually disappeared. Now he would have to go home and tell them they lost a child and that thought made him hesitant.


    [There''s nothing left for you here, go home it''s already late].


    He was sure it was the guilt talking, urging him to go home since he was hesitant, since the voice in his head sounded just like her. He got up and used his wings to fly back, from this height he could see that the affected area was in the range of kilometers. Before he even knew it he had already reached town, he dismissed his wings and walked passed the check point. Upon arrival he opened the door, walked in, his eyes focused on the ground.


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    (It''s best I tell them before they ask).


    "Mother, father...".


    "We''re back sorry for taking so long".


    A cheerful voice contrast to his own, interrupted from behind him before he could finish his sentence. He looked behind him and just as the voice had given away the answer, his eyes also agreed that the interrupter was Nell. His eyes wide from shock even promoting him to retreat a few steps.


    "How are...I saw you...".


    "Shhh", she gestured with her hand for Noir to keep quiet.


    "What are you two still doing at the doorway come in already, it''s late go to your rooms if there''s anything you wish to say wait until tomorrow".


    Said their father in the next room. The two did as they were told and went inside,Noir felt betrayed and demanded.


    "You owe me an explanation".


    "Sorry, I just wanted to see how you would react". She smiled as she said so.


    "The voice in my head that was you, wasn''t it. And how''d you do it, your illusion I mean, it was so real and I was clearly alone up until now".


    Nell who had reached her room stopped to answer his question then entered.


    "There was no illusion it was just as you saw it, and what makes it possible is awakening, being independent of your physical body. And yes the voice was me and the reason you couldn''t see me is concealment magic".


    Her answers did not help but he knew with magic anything could be possible and not everything could be understood. He went straight to bed, the time to understand would come.


    When he woke up the next day he went downstairs, in the dining room he found his father and Nell waiting on for him.


    "Morning father, sister".


    ""Morning to you too" your mother is out today so it''s just us three, now that you''re here let''s eat".


    "I''ll be at the library today incase you need me".


    He said as he sat down and joined them for breakfast. After finishing his meal he went straight out in search for their town library. The library was just as big as the weapons shop and packed full of books, categorised into major sections. What surprised him though was that there were no books about magic, after some time searching he found a book that stood out in the history section. It was alone on it''s shelf that looked to be made for decoration than use, the book itself even had an odd appearance for a history book, it was half black and half white with a duality symbol on its cover.


    "Old Ones ".


    He read the title as he traced his fingers along its golden edges, this book a copy of the original which is one of two books dating back to the first generation of Demon kind. He took the book to reading area, there he started to go through it. According to the book the World Tree, the world and everything that makes up the world and found within it was created by The One. And in this world everything was in equal pairs, making it so the world could return to nothingness when all the corresponding pairs meet. And in order for the world to not collapse prematurely, The One split into two beings, The Light One and The Dark One. This made the world to develop a boundary that prevents the world''s collapse to nothingness, when the two beings ruled over all that relates to them respectively. The Dark One ruled over all that which was dark and The Light One ruled over all that which was light.


    The two beings as equal as they were, they were opposites naturaly this lead to them wanting to be superior over the other. Their solution was to have a war through that which they ruled over. The Light One chose humans, who appreciated and valued the light while The Dark One chose demons, beings of darkness. This war had to have rules to be fair, the two races were not equal in terms of strength so there had to be representatives from each race. The two beings would grant an equal fraction of their power to their representatives, each had seven representatives and they would be called apostles and each faction of the apostles would have a leader, the leaders would be the deciding factor so they would have to fight each other no matter what. The war would be waged a thousand times in periods of one hundred thousand years, the one with the most victories would claim the right to be the remaining will when they return to being one. Demons being an ageless race decided the leading apostle would be their ruler, the Demon king, the other apostles being lords serving under the demon king were referred to as Demon lords. Humans though chose their apostles from those in high position in their place of reverence for The One, cardinals of the Holy Temple. Taking inspiration from other places in the world where demon kings had death battles against a chosen human called hero, the leading cardinal was given this title to distinguish them from the rest of the cardinals. Humanity united under one ruler claimed one continent, and the Holy Empire was founded and demons lived in their own continent. With the world having such places that held significance to the two beings, the branches of the World Tree were used to mark them and serve as protection to these places...


    "I was under the impression that this was a world of demons, this book has been very enlightening even if not all is fact. And this war thing, I wonder how many have been waged and how long before another war begins, I''m sure it''s a long way off and not something I have to worry about at present. The whole thing is absurd to begin with, but just to be sure I''ll ask ".


    Noir went on to read other books that piqued his interest and held useful information. When it was close to evening he returned home and found his mother preparing dinner.


    "Noir what are you doing here at kitchen, do you want a snack after a trip to the library or you want to help".


    "No, I just wanted to ask you something, sorry if I''m bothering you, mother".


    "No your not a bother I have time so ask".


    He was glad to know he wasn''t disturbing, so he asked without holding anything back and she answered his questions as she continued to prepare their dinner.


    "You want to know how long before the next Holy Demonic war, not long really just 5 weeks from now and it will be the 80th war. And you''ll be at the academy by the time it starts".


    After getting his answers regarding the war, named Holy Demonic war after the founding of the Holy Empire and Demon kingdom, he left the kitchen, he was unsettled by the idea of war.


    (Fortunately I''ll be at the academy and I''m still a child there''s no way I''ll be involved in it).


    That night he disappeared in his room, using the shadows he could see far beyond his eyesight, even to places he had not been to. Every place where there was shadow or darkness was available to him and he could travel there. After reading the book of the Old Ones his understanding of what demons were improved, enabling him to use darkness with more proficiency, making him invincible under the night sky. His destination the Slumbering forest, when he arrived he looked around for magic beasts that could help him improve his magic. His first victim was a lion type magic beast like the one he''d seen before, strips of darkness formed from its shadow and binding it, it struggled but the more it did so the tighter the strips got. There were still somethings he was unsure of so he would have to test them out on mana beasts. And like the silasmandra he touched it and tried to manipulate its composition matter, he felt the same resistance like before, this time he took his time and discovered with enough power behind the magic he could overcome the resistance. With no more use the lion mana beast was killed, after killing it he found that the resistance was gone and could manipulate its composition matter without much power, the lion was broken down to dust. What remained intact was its mana core, which after analysing he learned its size growth magic, he did not absorb it, the last time he absorbed one the increase in his own mana was not significant. He then tried the same thing with trees and found no resistance dead or alive.


    "So far only things that are alive and have a will have a resistance to their mana being manipulated, it may be a natural resistance in a world where everything is made of mana and there are those who can control it"


    (May be the reason I wasn''t that much affected by the absorption yesterday).

 Chapter 5: Encounter 1

    One by one every magic beast that came into contact with him was slain. They all seemed to fall to easily so he decided to go to one he had been avoiding this entire time, a silasmandra. He wasn''t sure how well he''d be against it considering yesterday, but he could not move on without a clear victory against it. After coming face to face with it he thought.


    (Should I go through with this, so soon after...?)


    The shadows all around darkened while moving to a single point fusing along the way, the silasmandra was alarmed and before it could decide whether to flee or fight, the fused shadow was already at its feet. It retreated a few steps back but it was already to late, the shadow had formed a spike rising from the ground piercing through its chest, exiting from its back as a hand with a twin mana core in it''s grasp. As the silasmandra collapsed the rest of his body emerged from the shadow after his hand. The silasmandra corpse had no visible wound, the spike made of shadows could pass through it unhindered by its physical body. After hunting magic beasts he had developed this fast method to deal with them, mana core extraction, without it they loose their magic and there is a 98% chance of them dying, no matter how tough they were non were able to defend against it.


    (I''ve improved my magic enough, time to head back home).


    Days past and the week was coming to an end, during these past few days Noir would go out and practice magic every time he learned new ways to apply it and today was one of those days.


    "Don''t forget tomorrow we are leaving for the capital, make sure you''re ready to go by the end of the day".


    His father reminded him as he left the house.


    (Finally the time to go to the academy has come).


    The thought of learning magic in ways he''d never thought of excited him so he could not help but grin. When he was outside the town he used the shadows to arrive at the forest in an instant. Today he was here to make observation of how the forest reacted to the free mana around it, he already had a hypothesis and he was here to confirm it. As he flew above the forest he looked around all the places that he knew were damaged, what he saw was that the forest had recovered, but this did not surprise him.


    "Like I thought the mana that remains after magic is used goes back to the environment, but it is faster than I thought".


    He looked at the destruction that the dome of light had caused, but now it was much smaller, the forest had grown new trees making it hard to believe that this part of the forest was a dead zone not to long ago. In the distance he could see a mountain with caves that were clearly man made having nothing else to do he went directly there to investigate.


    (Who ever they are surely they won''t attack for no reason, right?)


    After entering the mountain cave he could finally sense the presence of someone inside, he did not believe for a second that sensing one meant only one person was inside, even using darkness to see inside he could barely make out that person''s features. The cave entrance was wide, well built with lighting on the walls that went further into the cave, the further in the cave he went the more branching paths he encountered, each time he came across them he did not hesitate he chose the ones that led to the person inside. This brought him to a wide space in the cave, while entering this wide space he saw from the corner of his eye a beast or rather the fist of said beast, using his great reflexes and speed, he effortlessly side stepped to dodge and divert the fist. From where he now stood he had a clear view of his assailant, a robust beast that looked like a fusion of a lion and a minotaur, with blood shot eyes.


    (What''s this...)


    Noir was momentarily distracted by the fact that it was wearing clothes, as barbaric as they were. The beast as if it was anticipating his surprise punched with its other arm, though the barrier is what was hit the impact sent him flying to the walls.


    "I really need to alter the barrier properties after this".


    While in a crouching position he looked at the beast approaching at a steady pace.


    "So you have come to finish the job, first my kin now you want to end me as well, do not think for a second it''ll be that easy. If your not careful it will be your life that ends today".


    (It wears clothes of course it has to speak). "Let''s talk this out, I''m not who you think I am".


    Noir got up into a fighting stance, he was not sure what the beast was talking about and wished to find out but he would not dwell on such thoughts at this moment, not when it has no intention of listening to him.


    "Come demon let this dying king teach you why you should never corner a wounded animal".


    (Ah, I guess I am who he thinks I am, the demon part at least, if not the hunter of magic beasts).


    Without any further words the beast began his barrage of punches once they were face to face, with no room to counterattack Noir escaped into the shadows but just as he was about to use his new signature move, the spike of shadows, he was pulled right out of the shadow and thrown against the wall once more just as the spike was forming. This time he jumped back and slammed the beast into the ground, cracks spread throughout the cave. Unfazed by the sudden turn of events he tried something that he had never done before.


    (It was bound to happen someday, now let''s see if I can''t drag it into the shadows, should be fine though afterall it doesn''t affect the self).


    With that thought he submerged the beast into its shadow. But even that was futile as the beast bust out with enough speed to momentarily exceed Noir''s reaction. With the difference in height the punch landed right at his face ignoring his barrier, it had enough force to send Noir back a few meters but he did not fall.


    "Clearly you have not been well educated, you''re too inexperienced to defeat me with just magic".


    "You want to brawl magic beast, I''ll play along".


    "You vile demon dare to call me, king of the beast kin, magic beast. For those that came before me I will end you".


    (Doesn''t matter what you are I''ll test my new magic on you).


    Having said what they wanted to the two began their next confrontation, Noir clad his fist in flames which then turned black when he combined them with darkness, attribute fusion, which he''d wanted to test by fighting magic beasts. Both stood within reach of one another then began to exchange blows. Noir was at height disadvantage, blow after blow he had to jump to hit vital parts of the beast, with each passing exchange of blows the strength put in each one would increase. At first they were evenly matched but as time passed the beast was slowly pushed back, despite its superior build, size and using its tail to counter some of the attacks, it kept on losing ground. It may have been because of its weakened state but it did not change that it could not handle the attacks any further, if it was during its prime it might have been able to shake off the accumulating damage. It coiled his leg with its tail mid jump and threw him to create some distance. It was breathing heavily, it only remained standing through sheer will alone. Seeing how well Noir was fairing compared to it, it chose suicide, no that did not mean it killed itself but the result of its final move would be its death regardless of whether it wins or loses. Noir could feel it, whatever it was getting ready for was dangerous, he reached out before him as if to hold a sword and the ground rose forming a sword as it did so, the earth sword was turned to metal and encased in the black flames upon being held by him. They were both ready for the others last move, they moved at the same time, passed by each other and stood opposite to where they were prior. One fell to the ground, it was the beast, it lay there face down. During that small interval of contact Noir cut across it torso while its punch barely even struck his hair. Noir approached to confirm it was dead, after examining it he was relieved to know it was dead.


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    "Seriously though what was its deal, attacking me like that. And that last punch it was more than just strength, I guess my height saved me".


    He touched the area of his hair that was hit and saw that it had fossilised. Like it was waiting for him to check his hair the beast corpse fossilised as well. But this was of no concern to him he resumed his search of the cave, what he discovered was that the presence he felt in the cave was a decoy set by the beast to lure him to the center of the cave. What he was surprised to find was its diary, a magic one that records memories, from its memories he came to know who it was. Like it said it was not a magic beast, its race possessed intelligence equal to humanity and was just as civilised. Being in close relationship with humanity they fought alongside humanity during the Holy Demonic wars, living in the forest where the war mostly took place they suffered massive casualties from fighting in the war then remaining in the forest even when their military power weakened. Those that survived the war soon died from the continued assault of magic beasts, this beast kin was their last king and was also the last remaining beast kin alive. During the last war he was hit with magic that had madness attribute so over the years it ate away at his sanity. One could even say he was worthy of admiration, living for so long while under the effect of madness without completely losing his mind. He was indeed a great king, loved by his people during his time, what Noir met was a shell of his former self. Noir felt pity for the beast king, he was not sure who was cruel, the demons that fought the beast kin without consideration or humanity that wasn''t there in their time of need.


    "In the end being a race with long lifespans was the cause of their downfall, when they asked for aid from humanity, millenniums had passed after the war and the generations that would have cared and offered to help were buried by the time."


    Earlier that day on the neighboring continent, the Holy Empire was holding a grand ceremony. The capital city was filled with people, all the of them overflowing with joy because on this day the hero and six cardinals were chosen among the most outstanding members of the Holy Temple, ranking from archbishop and higher. This ceremony was attended by nobles and high ranking temple members from all over the continent, even the Holy Emperor, Xander, who attended as both emperor and pope. All these individuals had gathered here at the Grand Cathedral to witness a once in a hundred thousand years occurrence, the birth of a hero.


    "The chosen seven shall now enter"


    The already quiet cathedral seemed to get even quieter when the doors to the cathedral opened and 7 individuals dressed in holy robes walked in, one walked ahead of the others, he was the first prince and soon to be hero. At the end of their path the emperor was waiting alongside seven other popes. The first prince was the first to arrive and kneeled before the Holy Temple''s grail and beside it was the emperor and the seven popes, each holding a gold chalice. When the six cardinals to be arrived and kneeled behind the prince, starting with the closest one the popes each handed their chalices to the emperor, who then dipped them in the Holy Grail, the chalices were filled with the liquid light inside the grail.


    "Emperial prince, Dagrun do you accept the role, responsibility and hero name Lucius, as the next hero".


    "I do".


    Only after the prince''s response did the emperor hand him the chalice, the prince received the chalice and drank while remaining in the kneeling position. The emperor then proceeded to the other six, only he did not give them the chalices to drink from but poured the light onto their heads and it flowed into them, not even a drop touched the ground. When the seven stood starting with the hero then the cardinals, they give off a light that could be seen from anywhere in the cathedral. They were reborn as the light of the world, the light from the grail had changed their very being. When the light faded the seven then went around the cathedral greeting and being congratulated by the people. The hero went to his brother Faust, the second prince.


    "I finally understand you brother, more than I have ever had before".


    "It''d be strange if you didn''t, now tell me brother how does it feel to have access to the whole world?".


    Faust asked wanting to know how knowledge changed his brother.


    "It is very strange all this knowledge and power gained from just drinking from the Holy Grail. Moments ago I was just like every other high ranking temple member only seeing our immediate world of infinite space and several spaces neighboring it, thinking that was the complete world and now I realise that wasn''t even a fraction of it, and even now I can only see the branches of the World Tree, that are connected to the world and nothing more".


    "It just goes to show how great The One is I suppose ".


    "That is true, and you who was born an existence that rivals that of an apostle were robbed of your childhood. I remember I would always envy you who did not have to go to school, learn swordsmanship and magic but now I know with the knowledge you possessed no one would be qualified to teach you. You should go see the others I''m sure they feel thankful but are avoiding you".


    The hero said as he left to greet others. Faust did not bother to look for the cardinals, he did not get along with them. This began when he was ten and was made honourary cardinal of the Holy Temple, he would often act as substitute teacher at the cardinal training school, here those that wanted to be cardinals gathered to learn, they were comprised of people from different age groups, some were as young as the first prince at the time, 15 years old while others were in their 30s. Most were still just bishops at the time while some were already popes, so it was hard for them the supposedly elite to learn from him, more so when he made them feel ignorant even without factoring his age. To them he was like a know it all that did not consider the base knowledge of others. But it was also true that his teachings were of great value to them so they could only take it as a form of test to being cardinals, nine years had passed since then. Unlike normal cardinals the hero and the six cardinals ranked even higher than the popes, even though they were not actively involved in the managing and administrative work of the Temple. Faust who was an honourary cardinal held the same rank as them but had less authority in the Temple than the seven apostles.


    Noir left the cave and was about to return home when he saw smoke rising to the sky. He looked closely to trace its origin to find a train beyond the forests and that was heading in the direction of his town. It was being attacked by bandits, he could not ignore this so he used shadow maneuvering to arrive in an instant. Now that he was not limited to the already existing darkness he was able to make a shadow on top of the train and emerged from it. He had chosen the top cause that''s where the bandits were engaged in battle with the train guards. From the moment he appeared he could tell that all thirteen bandits were human, while the nine guards as expected were homunculi. It was apparent from the damaged carts that they had been fighting for quite some time and if he did not interfere the bandits would win.


    "This is the demon continent, bandit or not, I fight on the side of the guards".


    He threw all five mana cores in his possession at five bandits, the bandits in reflex catched them only to be hit by a gust of wind from Noir. And the guards as if in coordination with him pushed the bandits off the train. But his plan did not end there, while they were falling Noir used their shadows to damage the mana cores they held. The train was moving really fast so he was not worried about the resulting explosion catching up. He called the guards to attention.


    "I''ll handle one you take care of the rest".

 Chapter 6: Encounter

    Noir faced one of the bandits, wielding a sword and equipped with minimal armor. Noir controlled the bandits shadow, using it as weapon to counter and attack. After a few exchanges he cut down the bandit by splitting the shadow into two, one blocked the bandit''s sword and the other attacked the bandit from behind when he let his guard down. When the guards also dealt with the remaining bandits, their leader approached him.


    "Thank you, we''re in your debt. If it wasn''t for you we would have failed our mission. If you don''t mind please come with me and speak to the princess I''m sure you will be rewarded".


    Noir thought for a while before replying.


    "We''re heading in the same direction I don''t mind, lead the way ".


    The guard leader commanded the other guards to return to their stations then led Noir to the cart they were protecting. Inside was the princess, she looked no older than 12, but with demons their appearance rarely matched their age. The guard knocked on the door then she and Noir entered upon approval, he was surprised to see such a young person but he dared not to think of her as a child. The princess gestured for him to sit while listening to the guard who went out after, she looked at him with discerning eyes that seemed to see through anything.


    "I would like to reward you for assisting the guards and protecting me but I don''t have anything on me that I can give you. So will you accompany me to meet the Demon lord of the East, there I can find something suitable for a reward".


    He wasn''t sure how to act infront of royalty but so far she did not seem to mind his attitude and presence so he acted like he would when meeting a high ranking official.


    "You are too kind your highness and of course I will be happy to accompany you".


    Their destination the demon lord castle located at the heart of dukedom, which was on the east of the continent. The closest territory to the Holy Empire''s continent, his home town was on the outskirts of the dukedom, one of the areas close to the Slumbering forest which connected the two continents, having continental size but on the smaller scale. When the train finally arrived at the dukedom''s capital, at the closest train station they switched to a horse drawn carriage. The princess''s entourage now consisted of her, the guard leader and Noir, he and the princess shared the carriage while the guard drove the carriage.


    "Tell me what are you still doing here and not the academy?".


    "It hasn''t been that long since I had my rite of passage so the soonest I could manage is tomorrow".


    He was not sure if that was the case but he did believe it to be so.


    "Understandable but unfortunate, it would have been better if you left today or even earlier if possible".


    He couldn''t understand her words but one thing he was sure of she looked sorry as she said that and he didn''t have the courage to ask so he could only stare out the window. Not long after they arrived at the demon lord''s castle, the carriage doors were opened, and the man who opened them extended his hand to the princess, offering to walk her in. Last to get out was Noir, he was amazed to see how big the castle was, and not too far off he saw another castle of similar size and unbeknownst to him it was the Archduke''s residence, who was lord of their dukedom. As the man guided the princess with Noir following from behind, they passed the butlers and maids of the castle lined on either side on the way to the castle. At the entrance the lord of the castle greeted them.


    "Princess please come in and tell me about your journey here, your companion is welcome too".


    Along the way to where ever they were going the princess asked for the demon lord to give Noir a suitable reward for his assistance. The lord came to a halt and pulled out a scroll from his coat and handed it to Noir.


    "I hear you were of great help in train incident, even if such action is to be expected of a citizen of our kingdom it does not make it any less deserving of a reward. And as thanks I reward you with a prize meant for nobles".


    Noir received the scroll not sure what it was but as much as he wanted to open it he held himself back.


    "One other thing I suggest you stay the night, in fact I insist it is getting late after all".


    He could tell from the tone of the lord, he was serious about him staying the night but not the latter part, but he couldn''t stay tomorrow he would be going to the academy and it was likely it had to be in the morning.


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    "I wish I could stay but today it''s just not possible my lord".


    The lord had a regrettable expression for a fraction of a second and Noir failed to see it.


    "It cannot be helped then, you can be on your way".


    And with that Noir left, he could use shadow maneuvering to arrive in an instant but he chose the train, he did not mind wasting time.


    "Sigh, I guess I''ll be returning with you back to the capital princess".


    Back at the castle in the lords study the princess and demon lord had just finished discussing why she had come here.


    "Forgive me for not coming to deal with the trespassers in my domain and please don''t think ill of me for not doing anything".


    With a calm and understanding tone the princess replied.


    "From a logical perspective there is nothing to forgive I was never in any form of danger. It is too late to save them, if you went you would be another casualty before the war".


    "What about him then?".


    "If you told him would he believe you and if he did would stay. The meeting is about to start we should go".


    The two got up then teleported directly inside demon king''s castle, appearing in the throne room. With their arrival, the total number of people in the room were seven, the other four demon lords and the demon prince. They were gathered here to discuss their course of action which would affect the entire continent. The prince who looked to be just as old as the princess stepped forward.


    "Sister you and I are neither king nor lords, let us excuse our selves".


    The princess nodded and followed the prince out. The demon lords then moved to conference room within the castle, there the sixth demon lord was already waiting, he appeared younger than the others, 19 years old at most and his most prominent feature was his red hair. They took their seats at the round table, they all looked serious.


    "I assume you''re all aware of what happened during the princess trip to my domain".


    "We all know holy knights from the empire disguised themselves as bandits and attacked her highness'' transport, but we can over look that after all she is not some child in need of protection".


    Said the demon lord of the south.


    "Yes it was nothing more than a message signaling the birth of the hero. What matters is what comes after, so tell us demon lord Freign what does the demon king plan to do with the hero crossing into our land".


    The red haired demon lord looked at his fellow demon lords and with resignation he replied.


    "He says it''s nothing but a preemptive strike before the war and won''t act".


    "In other words the war will still take place as scheduled"


    Another demon lord said, this one a woman and lord of the west.


    "Yes and he wants the head of the cardinal behind the assault on the princess".


    The counterparts of the demon lords cardinals, were having a similar discussion. They sat around a similar table in private room of the grand cathedral. They had temporarily withdrawn from the night party of their celebration when the first prince disappeared to places they weren''t aware of.


    "Alright speak up which one of you is responsible for the attack on the demon princess?"


    "Does it matter, it''s unlikely to provoke them into starting the war early".


    One who seemed uninterested responded.


    "So you''re the reason we lost elite holy knights".


    The cardinal that called for the meeting said with anger, to him who was a pope before being cardinal, wasting the lives of fellow holy man was unacceptable.


    "I don''t recall admitting to that, what I was trying to say was our generations war ends with our victory".


    A third who wanted to know the source of his confidence asked.


    "What makes you so sure we''ll win".


    The second smiled.


    "Isn''t it obvious there are eight of us whereas they are seven, the second prince though not an apostle massively shifts the odds of victory in our favour".


    His deliverance of the matter made it seem like everything was fact and in accordance with his will.


    "You have no authority over him so you can''t force him and even if you did he is the future holy emperor and shouldn''t risk his life".


    The first cardinal argued against the idea.


    "Aren''t we here to discuss where the hero has gone?".


    "Your right..


    At the imperial palace neighboring the cathedral, Faust was returning to his book room. He wore the same uniform as the holy knights, if not for the behavior of the palace servents and guards he passed by, he could be mistaken for an imperial knight. He entered his book room, the number of books inside were comparable to a small library and he''d read them all. The only reason he came here was because few would come to disturb him, making it a personal space. He sat comfortable on couch, looking at the ceiling.


    "Of the seventeen honourary cardinals to ever exist, none have been this close to realising our dream. I cannot fail not when I''m this close".


    Back on the demon continent where it was not night yet, Noir was on the train heading home. Being the only passenger it was like he was reserving the whole train for himself.


    "What a crazy situation this is, running into human bandits and ending up aiding the the princess, how many can have such encounters, few if any I''d guess... I wonder what excuse I''ll need for arriving late but then again I may not need one".


    He looked out the window seeing the rapidly changing scenery making it hard to admire. The train stopped at his town station only to see it was deserted, he disembarked walking into town. He would see clothes on the ground every so often as he walked further in, running into other demons was rare but the absence of the homunculi gave him a dreadful feeling. While walking, there was a sudden pain, one so great it seemed to eminate from the soul, the pained Noir looked at himself. There were no injuries but the pain continued to increase that he fell on the ground unable to withstand it anymore, every part of the body hurt. Then the pain decreased that he could stand without issue, he got on his knees trying to get up, gasping for air as he did so. His walk was unstable he staggered while walking to the buildings planning to use them to balance his walk.


    "Let me help you walk no need to use the walls".


    He turned to look at the source of the voice, a man he had never seen before but he instinctively knew who he was, the hero and cause of the pain.