《The Broken and Lost》


 The Deal

    I awoke within an old bar that had clearly seen better days, the mostly wooden interior was clearly worn but well used. Bizarrely enough the timber had dimly glowing embers within despite no char on the wood.


    There''s a low acoustic guitar playing a familiar but unrecognisable tune, whilst no one else is visible within the confines of the bar. I wander over to the counter and a glass appears with a golden liquid within, as soon as I touch the glass an ornate scroll rises from within the countertop emerging from the wood itself.


    Releasing the glass and unfurling the scroll the text within is harrowing, my soul was bought, my life is owned and I had to earn my life back. Upon reading the scroll it immolated and a manacle of smoke forms around my left wrist, taking a swig off the golden liquor I spy a cheery bartender.


    The bartenders red skin was disconcerting, but but his devilish grin was truly unsettling. Clearly he held the upper hand and was about to cash in my worth.


    "Greetings lost one" He enthusiastically spoke with his grin never leaving his smug mug.


    "So I''m yours?" I enquired with a raised eyebrow.


    "Indeed, you came at quite the bargain. You could even say wholesale"


    "What is the worth of a man?"


    "It varies... But you yourself not so much."


    This left me stunned, I was told I''m worthless and bought in a mass bundle. "Surely you wouldn''t buy someone useless. There''s a purpose behind buying things, you gave me drink and are actually talking to me alone. What are you after?"


    "Cheap but not stupid. There may be some use of you yet my boy, you see there''s a job that needs doing but I can''t quite go do it myself. So I bought the lot of you."


    After his words leaves his lips, the faint silhouette of a hundred odd people appear in the bar for a second before immediately disapearing.


    His grin enlarges "I may be talking to you now, but I''m also talking to them. You are not worth nearly as much as you think, your life was nothing. You didn''t commit to sin or uphold virtues, you just floated on life to wherever the world took you."


    "Surely my life had some meaning" I state "I lived and brought no harm, gave to charity when I could"


    He raised an eyebrow at that "Would you say your pittance of charity, the tossing of coins to a busker is a small act of kindness true. But did you think all the little lies and pinching from work weren''t going to weigh something"


    "If my life is so worthless then how can I do something you can''t?"


    "Simple, I''m in my domain here and it''s more convenient to have minions do these jobs. As for yours, you are to be sent to a world and lay down roots for me, place an anchor for me and my employees. If and that''s a strong if, you manage to accomplish this the deal is completed, our ties severed and you''ll be free of anything to do with me" The demon offered his hand.


    "How am I to do this, do I grow a tree? Steal a ships anchor? Or is there non-literal meanings here?" I take another sip to help calm my nerves, but the drink burns as if I was drinking literal fire rather than ethanol.


    "I''d be a poor lord to send my servants without the tools to accomplish the task. I''ll grant you access to the system, which''ll give you the power and knowledge to do my bidding."


    I''m not sure exactly what the system is, but he''s giving me the feeling that the less I borrow from him the better. He''s a loan shark with a captive audience.


    "This system gives knowledge and power? If I''m to lay an anchor is it truly needed? Surely the knowledge would be enough, I could borrow a book."


    His smile flattens for a moment.


    "You''ll turn down power?"


    His brow creases.


    "You''ll ask for a book?"


    And a wiry smile creeps onto his lips, though his eyes seem to have gained a harsh glow and the embers in the room grow in brilliance till they resemble the stars of the sky.


    "You''re a fool human, given a chance at life and the means to reach heights unimaginable, but you spit on my offer." The outstretched hand''s finger tips grow into claws.


    "I''ll do the job for my life, and I''ll happily take the knowledge to do it, but in all due respect I''ll avoid any undue debts. The more you give, the more you will take and I don''t want you taking everything."


    The embers fade back to a dull glow and his eyes return to just fiery orbs, his grin returns to his smug mug. "You didn''t fold, good. I''ll change the deal, I''ll give you a tome on the barest basics and awaken your spark but should you fail to be amongst the first ten to lay proper anchors, I''ll give you more power and the more you fail, the more I''ll give"


    "I''ll accept, but I won''t let you take all of me. I will see this through" as I clasp his hand his claws dig into mine and I''m enveloped by a burning sensation throughout my entire being, not just my body but my very soul itself.


    After what felt like an eternity of pain, I find myself still at the bar holding his hand.


    "The pact is sealed and off you shall go, please disappoint me."


    After his utterance my world disappeared and I felt as though I was falling through myself without a true direction rather than inwards. Several long eternities later I come to after having the wind knocked out of me.


    It felt as though I had fallen 5 meters only to land face down, everything hurt and what was worse, I had no idea where I was. I seemed to be in a clearing of some wood in the shadow of a mountain that seemed to be at least 400m high.


    A throbbing sensation entered my eye as text appeared within my vision:


    New user detected, initiating startup...


    As quick as the the throbbing had arrived, it was replaced by the sensation of my eyes and brain melting.


    "Nice try, but no. You said you didn''t want the system and as such I''ll fulfill that sentiment." An unwelcome and smug voice offered.


    My watering and treacherous eyes return to function as silence returned to the clearing, an unwelcome one. I''d always heard that quiet in a forest was a dangerous sign so I set out to find a decently hefty stick I could use as a club. Finding one wasn''t the problem, actually modifying it was. The wood was of an unfamiliar sort and these branches were rather more flexible than varieties back home...


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.Thoughts begin to drift back to the life I''d left before being wrangled by my little remaining psyche. The branches seemed to flexible to make a proper club from and I was lacking in a knife to make a spear so I take it upon myself to take my belt off to attempt to lash to the end of a branch. "There we go, I dub thee Stonestick"


    The crude craft is barely capable of being called a maul nor a sledge hammer, those tools would actually last and I''d be surprised to get anything more than a swing out of it and even then the head wasn''t very secure.


    Since waking up here and wandering the pain and shock had mostly faded to memory but there was still a warm sensation building up in the center of my chest. I raise my shirt and feel my back in search of any injury or blemish that could be causing this but don''t even find a bug-bite.


    Warmth still growing was becoming uncomfortable so I sat under the shade of a large tree, resting Stonestick next to me. "Unreliable or not, respect what you make and it may hold true, discard your crafts and see them discard you."


    Sitting under the tree with myself for company thoughts run freer than company would allow, only to be interrupted by a dull thud on the grass in front of me. A chunky leather-bound book the size of a textbook with the title of The Fools Errand for fools, "just great" I sigh. Flipping the pages reveals nothing beyond the first page, just a blank white book. I return to the front page and It seems absolutely delightful.


    Reading aloud for the forest and myself to hear"The Fools Errand for fools is a comprehensive guide for fools enacting the wills of their great master. We understand that undergoing such an arduous task will not be easy so we''ll prepare you as best we can to ensure maximum satisfaction.", satisfying me or Red? "This comprehensive guide will explain in great detail how to wield the arcane forces within you (that warm feeling) and guide you in being promoted."


    The book contained nothing else, no information on what the arcane forces were or how to fill in the rest. "Comprehensive my arse."


    Focusing on the warm feeling, I try to will it to move, but nothing happens. Instead I try to squeeze or compress it which gains some ground, focusing hard I compress it to about the size of a fist before it stops and grows cold. In a panic I immediately try to pry it apart but to no avail, the warmth completely disappears before I feel what seems to be a lump or mass of something pressing inside me behind my sternum. It''s an uncomfortable feeling that gets worse as it starts to pulse in tune to my heart.


    Nothing feels different, just weird, as if some fist sized mass was pulsing behind my sternum. "Probably safe to call it an arcane or mana heart I guess? Or maybe I somehow got magic cancer."


    "Speaking of cancer, I''d need a doctor but I haven''t seen any signs of smoke but my view isn''t the best down here." My thoughts seemingly just for me and this empty patch of land to hear seemed to be a great sign on my psyche.


    Gathering some smaller sticks and twigs as I walked towards the mountain in hopes of getting the lay of the land, whistling an off tune song to keep my company to the point I had neglected some knowledge I had recalled.


    Bending down to awkwardly grab another small stick for my growing collection-


    Snap


    Dropping everything I lunge to the right but I''m not fast enough, claws scrape my back peeling away strips of flesh. My ungraceful dive leaving me slamming into a tree aggravating my back and making my shoulder aching thoroughly. Scrabbling up desperately I face towards my assailant and see a big wolf, the size of a small hatchback, Circling me I can see it''s not in the best shape, otherwise I probably would of died a second time, It''s ribs showing through it''s fur are telling me this creature is mightily hungry and that someone had been ringing the dinner bell nonstop.


    I maintain eye contact waiting for it to lunge as I counter circle towards the pile I''d dropped, the beast crouches down ready to leap and I dive landing competently enough for a noncombatant. Thankfully the dive was able to avoid the jaws and claws of this wolf, coming up from the ground I raise Stonestick and hold it aside ready to swing. The pain of my shoulder and shredded back are distracting but the adrenaline is making it bearable, alongside my racing heart the manaheart tries to keep pace, sending pulses of heat throughout my body.


    Not letting the wolf dictate the fight any longer I charge forwards, this unexpected outcome surprises the wolf enough to give me to swing at it''s head but I wasn''t quite fast enough to secure the blow, narrowly dodging Stonestick''s strike the wolf weaves towards me so I shove the handle into it''s mouth to hold it at bay. Unable to keep a hold of Stonestick the thrashing wolf was able to tear it from my grasp and toss it a short distance away. Immediately chasing after my only weapon I hear the wolf bounding after me, scooping down I grab the handle and turn with my entire body, swinging with all the force I can muster. I pray the head doesn''t fly off and crunch. Stonestick slams into the beasts eye caving it''s skull into it''s brain but also completely shattering my mighty weapons head. Stonestick''s shards lacerate the belt into useless scraps whilst embedding shards into it''s cranium, the haft of Stonestick had snapped into a splintery point.


    As the wolf staggered from it''s daze I charge, thrusting the makeshift spear into the weakened skull and stirring it''s brain into useless mush and ending it''s life.


    The end of the battle turned off the adrenaline tap leaving my body drained and weak, so I lie against the fur of the wolf and let sleep claim me.

 Chapter 2: Shelter

    A sharp pinching pain brings me back from the dark clutches of sleep, I see a cow pecking at my arm. Shaking my arm scares it off, looking around I can see that the corpse of the wolf I''d slain prior had it''s head thoroughly eaten by the corvids now surrounding me. Seemingly they had gone after the easy to get to brain before giving me a taste.


    Getting up the birds scatter to the treetops, staring at me with hungry eyes, their black feathers giving an ominous feeling. Checking my possessions I see that I''d bled on the book that had been loaned to me, in a panicked turn I open the book to see if the pages were damaged. Thankfully the book was unharmed but there was a second page with red writing on it "Mana is the energy of reality, binding and..." the text fades off, but I get the feeling this book has a thirst for a grim fluid.


    Turning back to the wolf the grisly task of trying to skin it with a broken shard of rock was slow and difficult but needed to be done, I don''t know where I am and I knew anything I find could be of use. The messy task of an unskilled skinner left a decent puddle of blood son the ground, carefully dipping the book in the puddle to see if my instincts were right showed me that I was right. The book like a hungry sponge soaked up the blood leaving not a drop on the dirt. Putting the book aside I go gather some firewood so that the meat won''t go to waste.


    I attempt to butcher the wolfs meat but the shard didn''t really cut well into the meat properly enough to make steaks so I result in grabbing a rock and breaking the femur before hacking away the connective tissue, this results in a crude leg of meat for me to cook, I repeat the process on the other legs and spit roast the meat over a fire.


    I try my best to scrape the flesh from the inside of the best section of hide I''d managed to skin, it was a strip about a meter by two. I don''t have the means to tan it but there was still use in keeping it. Patiently cooking the meat I watch the birds return to the corpse to have their feast on it''s now exposed guts, I don''t stop them as I''ve got my harvest and hungry animals are problems. "Is this to be my life? Just beast and bird as food and company?"


    Watching the birds eat I see them expose a brown sphere behind the sternum, I walk over and the birds back off, allowing me to pull it out and wander back to my fire. Immediately the corvids return to their feast eyeing me warily.


    After overcooking the meat to dry it out I eat my fill before bundling my humble belongings in the hide and heading towards the mountain, by the looks of the sun I still have a couple hours before sunset and the idea of being out in the dark where there could be more of those monstrous wolves was not welcome in my head. As I walk away I can see the corvids watching me from their feast, "I hope they don''t get another chance to try eating me" I keep my ears primed as I walk to prevent another ambush but thankfully my journey is unmolested.


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    Whilst climbing a steeper part of the mountain''s base I found an alcove with an entrance about double my size and an interior the size of a living room. Deeming this alcove sufficient to my needs I go gather some firewood and start a campfire just inside the entrance. Standing out the front and letting the fire smoke out the alcove I listen for any sounds. After maintaining the fire for a long while I let it die out and start reading the book again.


    "Mana is the energy of reality, binding and warping the world around us, all living beings are subject to it whilst being able to exert limited changes to it. Within mana dense environments most living beings will subconsciously develop a mana core, this mana core is a reflection of the entity within it and the more mana proficient the entity the higher quality a core they will poses. Some beings (you) are mana deficient as their home (your dirtball) is in a particularly drained portion of reality. Creatures venturing from deficient areas to locations overflowing with excess mana are able to develop a core" Now they tell me, that must''ve been what I did earlier "Using this core and knowledge of the arcane you shall be able to complete your (fools) errand" This book has it out for me "This comprehensive guide will show you how to lay anchor for your most benevolent benefactor"


    "Red this is a bit much don''t you think?" I sigh


    To no ones surprise I get no response so I continue reading as the smoke is still leaving the alcove, "First step is to start the foundation, you are to place this simple rune in the center of a three meter circle of cleared flat space" The symbol it shows is an odd spiraling and whirling one with three focal points joined together with spiraling lines that go back and forth spiraling in and out of themselves on their meandering journey, looking closely in between the lines seems to be little symbols or writing that I can''t quite recognise.


    The fire finally extinguished and the smoke cleared out I head into the cave to see if there had been any occupants, to my displeasure I find the remains of many spider corpses that the smoke had killed. Some of the spiders were as big as dinner plates and I''m glad that I didn''t decide to sleep in there first. The sun setting down in the horizon encourages me to get some rest so I lay out my belongings and use the wolf pelt as a blanket to sleep. Though I had to sleep on my stomach as my back was still in no condition to lay on.


    I gladly embrace this uncomfortable sleep and like ways the darkness claims my tired body.

 Chapter 3: Falling short

    Awakening to a parched throat is far from pleasant, more so when you weren''t sure if there was water nearby. Crawling out of the alcove to see the sun rising over the forest, taking my time to properly look at the trees I see that instead of leaves they are covered in drooping needles which remind me of home.


    "Red did you know this forest would be a nostalgic sight?"


    "No, didn''t look too much into your past." A smug voice responds


    Surprised my head darts around looking for my employer but to no avail, he doesn''t seem to actually be here.


    "Calm down, I''ve just come to tell you to pick up the pace. It may come as a surprise to you but half of the top ten have been filled, I shouldn''t remind you that you need to be among them." I can audibly hear his grin. "Oh, and another slot taken... Times ticking"


    I wait a few more minutes but the silence remains he must have departed. Getting up I start hiking up the mountain more to try and find some water.


    I stop about a quarter up the mountain where the steep slope starts becoming more of a wall and the looming mountain becomes ridden with shear cliffs, turning from the walls of stone I spy what seems to be a lake to the North of the mountain at least a few kilometers. Circling the mountain northwards in search of a river I manage to find a small stream after a couple hours, filing my parched gullet with huge gulps I find some comfort.


    I''d procured some food and found a water source that hopefully won''t kill me along with a shelter I had a little time to work for Red, should I fail he said I''d gain more power. Giving me more doesn''t sit right with me, in fact it makes my hunch about this contract even more solid.


    I wander back to my humble abode having missed it a couple times as I hadn''t really set any proper landmarks to make it easier to find. The fire outside had long burnt out leaving me with naught but charcoal and ashes, an annoyance as I wasn''t keen on having to start another fire but finding water was worth it. Being of a first world constitution the idea of eating spiders was unpalatable to say the least and I''d heard bugs go bad quickly after death making the corpses of these oversized spiders less appealing. Using a branch covered in the needles as a makeshift broom I sweep the spiders and dirt outside, unfortunately the branch shed some needles and wasn''t the best at getting out dirt, but my little alcove was a little more homey.


    Near the back wall I start trying to copy the rune displayed in the book using some charcoal from my first fire. I had overestimated the challenge that drawing could be, my lines were messy and the small lettering merged together, not even mentioning how the swirling spirals looked like a bunch of tangled knots rather than some intricate spellwork. The book doesn''t say the next step but I suspect that mana must have something to do with it so I try something. Pressing my hands against the rune I will the heat from my core through my arms and into the rune, at first nothing happens, then I think I feel the heat moving but nothing still happened. I change my image from heat spreading through my arms to picturing and inferno streaming through a tunnel and suddenly I feel a burning sensation in my core, the burning builds up till it feels like I''m on fire before suddenly rushing down my arms and out of my hands into the rune.


    The rune glows Red for a few seconds before fading back to black smudges, the charcoal drawing seemed nothing but a blur lacking any and all linework I''d actually managed to put in. My chest starts feeling empty and all my energy leaves me, I collapse onto the stone floor, lethargic and unable to lift even a finger.


    "I felt something there, you really are stupid. Can you even talk? Doesn''t matter" The Smug bastard offers freely. "I commend you actually attempting your task even after turning down the offer of the system, you know some are already reaching level 15 whilst you are just still you."


    He crouches down in front of my head so I can see his smug grin plastered over his face. "You know the deal and unfortunately you failed to make the top ten in this first task, you''d actually activated this little circle in time but it failed and another took the last slot. I hope you know what that means..."


    He explodes into a puff of embers and like that he''s gone as if he was never here, but I''m not given time for much more thought. My right hand starts throbbing painfully and I can see massive bulging veins spreading from the scars left from his handshake, the veins spreading like vines up my arm to the shoulder felt like someone was pouring lava through my veins. After settling into place the throbbing stops and the burning begins, it feels as though my arm is melting and I watch in horror as the skin turns crimson and cracks becoming and a thick leather. After what felt like an eternity of agony I get up and look at my new arm, it''s not much bigger nut I can feel power coursing through it, even feeling as though I could crush diamonds within my clawed fist. Clawed? I''ve got claws instead of fingertips now, the black curved claws look sharp to the touch testing them gently on my other normal arm they prick the skin quite easily. I can even feel energy flowing from the arm back into my core, filling it back up beyond my previous capacity.


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    A cold seeping feeling grabs a hold of my chest from my core, it feels as though my chest is starting to freeze and go numb, it even feels as though my heart has stopped. After a long minute of cold and numbness warmth returns and everything restarts, my core now feels as if it has much more energy churning within then before. I get up groggily and have some more of the wolf meat, as I chew at the overly cooked hunk of meat I watch the corvids eating at the spider pile. The black birds see me but don''t really react too much must be used to humans?


    Having finished my meal I go back to the rune and reattempt to draw it, this time going twice as slow and thrice as focused on making sure everything was right. I had to erase and redraw it 5 times before it seemed good enough, I then tried pouring energy into it the same as before and the energy burst forth through my transformed arm far easier than before. The rune begins to glow a bright red before settling down to a slight dim glow, after watching it for a while and seeing no change I try pouring even more into it and the rune hungrily drinks it down till I''m almost dry and then it plateaus. A rift of swirling red opens above the rune, the rift itself is only about a meter in circumference which spits out a small red humanoid possessing rough red skin, long black horns and claws. Shortly after depositing the red critter the rift vanishes along with the glow from the rune.


    "I''ll deem thee imp" I state to the small red thing.


    Hearing my voice it stares at me with it''s pitch black eyes and bares it''s crooked fangs shortly before lunging at me, instinctively responding I punch it with my dominant hand which happened to be my changed right arm. As the fist makes contact with it''s bulbous skull, it just gives way and crumples into a mess of broken bones and flesh. The body of imp smudges the charcoal that was used to bring it here.


    "Disappointing" An angry voice booms in my head, making it feel as though it was trying to split me apart. "You summoned one of mine only to kill it, you''ve brought great waste upon you for you see the next step you are to undertake was to build a horde threescore and a dozen strong."


    I am still clutching my head in pain as he continues his tangent "The first summon is typically the most important as you can dedicate the most time to developing them into a second in command that alleviates responsibilities and eases the toll on controlling the others as the hierarchy forms. Knowing this in my generosity I tend to lend my contractees with greater quality summons as the first, that one you killed was a one in a hundred specimen with a higher growth potential then standard. Now you are only going to get the runts till you prove trustworthy, you''re days behind your competition and that charcoal circle is terribly inefficient, the next deadline will be missed and the deal is still in effect."


    After depositing that information the voice goes silent and the headache recedes I am left alone with the corpse of what was to be my first minion and a ruined summoning rune. "The charcoal smeared so I''ll need something that won''t, but my drawing materials are very limited." my focus returns to the corpse slowly leaking blood, "The book!"


    I prop the book under the corpse and it hungrily drinks the imps blood, turning to the new information after thee book had finished it''s glutenous feast I see that it mainly covers how the first summon typically goes. The lesser demons aren''t very intelligent and value strength so where the hierarchy is unclear they challenge in order to find their place, system worlds with levels typically remove the need for fighting when the level disparity is high enough  "I''m not a part of a system, does that mean I seem weak?"


    Continuing through the page on summoning I see a line that seems incredibly useful but vague "The summoning rune must be applied to a surface in order to perform the summoning" applied, it doesn''t specify drawn, maybe carving into the alcove floor might work?


    After resting for the night I reattempt creating the rune this time using a claw of mine, I''ve never carved stone before and it took a lot of practice but after an entire day I seem to have made a rune on par with the first successful one. I pour mana in and it drinks it in, consuming twice as much as the last summon and the imp that comes through is scrawny compared to the last, it seems as though Red was telling the truth about runts.


    "Hello imp" Same as the last imp this one immediately lunges at me, this time expecting such an action I catch it by the throat and throw it against the stone wall. Shortly after bouncing off the wall the imp gets up and kneels to me "Do you understand me?" It just tilts its head to the side responding to the sound but giving no further sign of understanding.


    "This''ll be a pain"