《Hearts Of Sin》


 Ch-0 Birth of a Hero

    Ch-0 Birth of a hero


    A world drowned in the poison of war; The Continent, as the people called it. Governed by the power of three Empires: Arcane of magic, The Steel Vanguard and The New Dawn, and other kingdoms spread throughout. The old fought but the young lost their lives. The wars never ended and the rivers of blood, never ran dry.


    The bloodshed fed families of many, but the money drenched in blood didn¡¯t last long.


    Those wars got fiercer, but the people grew weary. Kingdoms fell and rose everyday, and there was another kingdom slowly inching closer to the same fate that was faced by many others, The Greythrone Kingdom.


    The constant fear of losing everything that he lived for made the king take a step that sealed the fate of that poisoned world. He begged the gods for help. He gave them tributes, but the mighty gods didn¡¯t pay any attention to the agony or belief of another one of their children. When the gods paid no attention to him he turned to ones who definitely would: The demons.


    Seven souls and bodies were sacrificed to the pentagram to bring forth a monster of unparalleled power. The demons rose up from the depths of hell and asked ¡®What is it that you desire human?¡¯


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    Awed in the beauty of the demons power the king spoke ¡®I wish for the destruction of every Ruler on this land.¡¯


    The Demon laughed, ¡®Human your desires are not hard to a hard task, but what is it you offer?¡¯


    ¡®Take whatever you want, all that¡¯s mine is yours.¡¯ Spoke the king.


    The demon laughed, ¡®Don¡¯t you worry human your desires will be fulfilled soon.¡¯


    With this a new era began on the continent. A new era of destruction where kingdoms fell but no new rose to replace them. The demon brought destruction with every step, and blood was spilt and souls of warriors were damned. Most of the opponents were no more than a pebble in his path.


    But there were some that stood their ground in front of him and actually made it fun, The masters: people who excelled in the three widespread powers of the continent.


    Yet in the end the demon smashed through these boulders that stood in his path. The only ones who could actually stand up to him amounted only to seven, These were the people whom he actually respected and the only ones who couldn¡¯t be found after the battle.


    With time the number of masters who perished at the hand of the demon increased. Now even the empire began succumbing to the power of the demon.


    After 2 years of struggle humanity came to an end. Now the only ones living on the death continent was the Demon Monarch and his slaves, the Greythrone Royal Family.


    The screams of people still ringed in the minds of the family.


    In this world only despair ruled. Spontaneously one day the world they lived in turned upside down. Time and space folded on itself, the souls were pulled back from the underworld.


    The continent reverted back to its former self, the damned souls forced to inhabit their older shells with clear memories of the day they died. They all cursed this cruel world.


    Resentment and anger of these souls gave birth to the hero meant to liberate them. Our hero, Eryndor.

 Ch-1 Living Mans Grave

    Ch-1 Living Man¡¯s Grave


    The Day was like any other in the Continent¡¯s biggest bazaar, with the ringing of opening bells and merchants setting up shops. Eryndor jerked up from his sleep and clenched his chest in an attempt to overcome the suffocating feeling he was having. Eryndor sat there, clenching his chest and gasping for air. Soon enough he was alright, he lied down on his bed there was a heavy feeling weighing down on his chest.


    He exclaimed ¡®That Dream Again!!! Every single time, why does this dream repeat? I am no hero!¡¯


    With this he was calming down and fell asleep once more. Time passed and the sun was almost overhead, rays of afternoon sunlight seeped through the holes in the curtains. The rays light up the room and made visible a dusty unkempt cabin with damaged furniture, and Eryndor lying naked on his bed with the sheets barely covering him.


    The rays caressed his face and woke him up from his sleep. He sat upright on his bed and with a sigh stood up. Eryndor was pretty muscular, at least for people like him.


    He put on some clothes and grabbed his old sword before he left.


    He was greeted with dimly sun light alleyway. There were a lot of high rise building around making it hard for the sun to reach his doorstep, except at noon.


    Eryndor walked toward the sound of crowd and merchants, in the way he saw many drunkards lying there in the alleyway. He also found a, Dagger.


    He took a look around before picking it up. Eryndor held up the dagger in his hand and spoke ¡®Finders- Keepers.¡¯ And put the dagger in his pocket and continued.


    Reaching the end of the alleyway he was greeted with crowd. ¡®Too many people today.¡¯ He spoke with a sigh.


    Eryndor cut through the crowd looking around the stalls in the bazaar. In this market it was harder to find something that wasn¡¯t sold here, whether legal or not. You just had to find the right person.


    The stalls had everything that one might need from everyday goods to magical equipments and weapons. Eryndor moved to a less crowded part of the bazaar before pulling out the dagger from his pocket and began inspecting it.


    He saw some rune magic carved onto it. ¡®Oh! Whoever lost this would be quite angry.¡¯ He spoke as he put the dagger back in his pocket.


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    Making his way through many stalls Eryndor finally reached the one he thought he could sell the dagger to. There was a tiny old man sitting there, his face was enough for anyone to tell he was thief. There was someone already standing at the stall, from her red robes it looked like she was a mage of the Crimson Tower.


    He walked up to the stall and slammed the dagger on the table. ¡®How much for this runic dagger?¡¯


    The old man put on a monocle and grabbed the dagger, he examined the dagger and the spell written on it. The old man spoke ¡®Look kid this isn¡¯t that good of a spell but I can give you, Fifty Arcaninan gold¡¯


    ¡®Sorry, I didn¡¯t want to interrupt.¡¯ The mage chimed in. ¡®But that is a pretty complicated runic spell and it could go for at least a few hundred Arcaninan gold.¡¯


    Eryndor looked at her then back to the old man and immediately snatched back the weapon. ¡®Thanks.¡¯ He spoke to the mage.


    Eryndor put the dagger back in his pockets and began making his way through the crowd. He passed many people and stopped in front of a pub like building with a huge sign on top of the door.


    ¡°Adventurers Guild: Evermarket¡±


    Eryndor pushed open the door and was greeted with smell of old lumber and booze. People sat around the tables in group or alone, drinking in broad daylight. He passed through the rows of table to reach the reception desk.


    He was greeted by a lady in blue uniform, who was missing an arm, and had a big smile on her scarred face. ¡®Welcome! How can I help you today?¡¯ She spoke with a cheerfully.


    ¡®Can I get a form for the exam.¡¯ He spoke.


    She bent down and grabbed a paper and handed it to him, ¡®Please fill out the details and submit it.¡¯


    Eryndor took a pen lying there on the table and began filling it out, he looked at the girl and asked ¡®So, What¡¯s your story? Madam.¡¯


    The girl gave a shocked expression and in a cheerful-teasing voice spoke ¡®Its pretty rude to not introduce yourself first, you know?¡¯


    With a chuckle Eryndor spoke, ¡®My name is, Eryndor.¡¯


    ¡®Jasmine here.¡¯ She spoke. ¡®As for me, nothing serious happened. We just faced Krathul¡¯s Wrath.¡¯ Eryndor could feel her sadness in those words.


    In his mind he thought [Another adventure ended early by the ¡°grace¡± of gods].


    Not willing to let this talk spiral into a depressing conversation he immediately handed back the form, and left without looking back. Jasmine picked up the form, took a look at it and gave a baffled look before hastily returning to her smiling face.


    ¡®See you soon, Eryndor Greythrone.¡¯ She spoke with a slightly devious but polite smile as he left the vicinity.


    -break-


    Deep within a forest Eryndor was swinging his sword relentlessly, he was trying to shut his inner demons up. The voices in his head never left him alone they always wanted something from him.


    These voices wanted him to save ¡°his¡± family, the one he never met. And to kill the ¡°monster¡± he didn¡¯t know.


    When slashing the air didn¡¯t work, he began cutting everything in his path.


    With every slash the sword chipped more and more slowly coming closer to its inevitable end. The sword clashed with a rock a split in two.


    Eryndor chuckled and picked up the broken pieces. ¡®You are also leaving me behind with these voices.¡¯ He spoke. Eryndor was on the verge of breaking down.


    Eryndor began walking, carrying the broken sword in his hands, passing through many trees he reached an open field. A graveyard.


    About 20 swords were arranged around a single gravestone. Eryndor placed the handle part of the sword in ground and placed the other in front of it.


    He then walked towards the gravestone, he stood in front of the grave and paid respects to the ¡°dead". The grave stone was engraved with a name.


    And the name was, Eryndor Greythrone¡­¡­.

 Ch-2 Ashen Requim

    Ch-2 Ashen Requim


    The exam was just two days away and Eryndor had no weapon or money. He looked around the house and found a single gold point. Eryndor was dead broke.


    He took out the stash of herbs and potions he had stored for the exam. He picked up all this and put it in a bag and left to sell it. Eryndor tried his luck at many apothecaries trying to get a good price, but all of them tried to undermine him thinking he was a warrior.


    Eryndor had enough of the treatment, he finally decided to try a merchant group. He hated these merchant groups, it was just overwhelming to do small talk with others.


    Eryndor walked through the crowd to reach a four storey building right next to his home. With a sigh Eryndor stepped through the modern looking gates of the building.


    On entering the building the atmosphere was completely different from that of outside. It was empty. There was no crowd and everything was systematic. He walked towards the front desk, the man there greeted him with a smile. ¡®I would like to sell all this.¡¯ Eryndor spoke. The man took the bag and examined the contents before returning it to him. ¡®Please wait over there someone will be there to help you soon.¡¯


    Eryndor walked over and sat down on the chair and waited.


    Within minutes a man dressed in black formals approached him. ¡®Welcome. So you are looking to sell these herbs and potions.¡¯


    Eryndor stood up and politely greeted the man. ¡®Yes!¡¯ He spoke afterwards. ¡®Please come over to my office so we can discuss the price.¡¯


    After that Eryndor spent an hour negotiating the price of the goods he was selling in the man¡¯s office. He left the office with 5 Arcaninan gold and 25 Arcanian silver. Eryndor let out a sigh ¡®It is way less than what I need.¡¯


    6 gold and 25 silver of no currency could get him a decent sword. As Eryndor was passing through the porting area of the building, he overheard a conversation.


    Two men were talking. One spoke ¡®Hey, you know there are rumors there is a famous blacksmith looking for a person to worthy of his last best creation.¡±


    Eryndor was immediately interested in this.


    Eryndor walked over to them and asked, ¡®So do you know where this blacksmith lives?¡¯ They gave him a confused look, then one of them smiled and spoke ¡®Yes, We know but you have to buy something from us first.¡¯


    The men were out to rob Eryndor, but he couldn¡¯t give up on knowing about a blacksmith who could make a sword suited for a person.


    ¡®What do you sell?¡¯ spoke Eryndor.


    ¡®We sell anything you want. But we think you should buy some liquor from us.¡¯ The man spoke.


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    ¡®Huh! I¡¯d rather to a tavern.¡¯ Spoke Eryndor with a confused expression.


    ¡®The smith likes some good old wine.¡¯ Spoke the man with a shrug.


    Eryndor took out 10 silver from his pouch and spoke ¡®Four bottles of mana grape wine.¡¯


    The man took out the bottles and nicely packed them up and gave it to Eryndor. ¡®You will find his smithy in a back alley of the smith street between XX and YY Smithies.¡¯


    With a small bow of thanks he left the establishment with more five gold and four bottles of wine.


    He was happy. Eryndor hastily made way to the smithy. Finally he reached small alleyway, it was like he was going home. Eryndor walked straight in the dimly light alleyway until he reached at the smith¡¯s doorstep.


    Eryndor knocked the door to smithy, only to find it open. He pushed the door a little more to take a look in, The room was dark not even a single light ray. From the darkness emerged a small well built man with a beard almost as big as him, he was a: Dwarf. He was holding a hammer in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other.


    ¡®Who are you?¡¯ The dwarf asked. ¡®I am Eryndor.¡¯ Eryndor introduced himself.


    ¡®If you are here for a sword, I stopped making them.¡¯ He spoke with shrug before continuing to drink again.


    ¡®I have some alcohol. If you would like.¡¯ Eryndor spoke trying to get the Dwarf¡¯s attention.


    The Dwarf gulped down the entire bottle in his hand. He looked at Eryndor, his eyes were shining blue. The dwarf was using innate soul magic.


    Eryndor jumped back and pulled out the dagger from his pocket.


    ¡®You are incomplete.¡¯ Spoke the dwarf with a sad expression on his face.


    Eryndor was confused and didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡®Follow me,¡¯ Spoke the dwarf as the glow in his eyes faded. Eryndor didn¡¯t know what to do. He sheathed the dagger he was holding and followed the dwarf.


    As Eryndor passed through threshold of the smithy the darkness evaporated, bright lights and flames of fireplace were completely visible. The dwarf sat down on the table and pointed to Eryndor to also sit down.


    Eryndor sat down as per the instruction. The sheathed dagger still in his hand.


    The dwarf¡¯s eyes light up once more. ¡®Don¡¯t worry Eryndor, my innate skill just lets me know a bit more about a person by peeping into their soul.¡¯


    Creepy, but at least it was better than him trying to crush Eryndor¡¯s soul with magic. Eryndor put the dagger back in his pockets.


    ¡®I am the former ¡°Smith of Victory¡±, Vulcan.¡¯ The dwarf introduced himself. ¡®Eryndor, Why did come to this random alleyway to look for a sword?¡¯


    ¡®I heard about you while shopping.¡¯ Eryndor spoke trying to not come out as rude.


    Vulcan laughed ¡®It¡¯s true, you are quite a guy to believe whatever you hear in this endless bazaar.¡¯


    Eryndor put up the bag of alcohol and spoke ¡®So will you sell me a sword?¡¯


    Vulcan with a serious expression spoke, ¡®You cannot choose to buy the sword, the sword must choose you. Eryndor Greythrone.¡¯


    Eryndor was confused, he continued his questioning. ¡®What did you mean by me being incomplete?¡¯


    Vulcan was surprised, ¡®You didn¡¯t know your soul was incomplete?¡¯


    Eryndor not knowing what to say, just nodded. Vulcan was quite surprised.


    ¡®Eryndor, I don¡¯t know how you, despite having an incomplete soul are still alive. But I can tell you about more about your soul¡¯s state.¡¯ Vulcan tried to comfort Eryndor with his words.


    ¡®Still we have a lot of time on our hands. Shall we see your new possible partner first.¡¯ Spoke Vulcan as he jumped off the chair, that was clearly too big for him.


    Vulcan walked over to the far end of the room and Eryndor followed. They reached near a chest. An old wooden chest, a kind that could be classified as an antique. With his hammer Vulcan broke the lock and popped open the chest to reveal a beautiful sword wrapped in silk velvet, and without a speck of dust on it.


    Eryndor was mesmerized by the beauty attempted to pick it up. Vulcan immediately shooed his hand away and picked up the sword. After being removed from the velvet, the beautiful yet sharp edges of the sword were visible.


    Vulcan mumbled while holding the sword. ¡®Here this is my last masterpiece, Ashen Requim. I hope she likes you.¡¯ Spoke Vulcan while handed Eryndor the beautiful long sword, with long black handle and a thorny rose pattern engraved on the blade.


    Eryndor still in the awe of the beautiful sword didn¡¯t give Vulcan any reply. Suddenly he heard a new voice in his head. It sounded like the voice of a girl.


    The voice spoke, ¡®Hello, Brother.¡¯