-17 Years Prior-

His golden cape fluttered in the wind as he stood out on the balcony of his castle, waving to the masses. The spoken-of masses were packed into the small city square that faced the balcony upon which stood a man is pure white armour strangely made of ceramics. The armour was adorned gloriously by intricate designs of the same color as his cape, obviously made for royalty.

The people didn't seem happy. Their clothes looked impoverished. Their faces were sagging, and, for the most part, lifeless. Strange, as this was the day of a great event in the capital city of a great empire. A mage from the outside had blended into the procession, in attempt to get a closer look at the one known as the Tyrant King.

The mage was a spy of the empire's, or more accurately, the Tyrant King's enemies. He was sent to obtain information on the Tyrant King's current level of power and state of being. He had needed to get close to use an Analytic Mage's signature ability, a simple ability anyone could use really, but only an Analytic Mage could use it to it's fullest, as they had extensive training in it's use, on the man. The events for this day being the perfect opportunity to do just that.

The spell simply called "Informant". It was a spell painstakingly created by- no, now is not the time for a history lesson. Simply put, the spell analyses and calculates features of a target with pre-set measures, and then returns that information to the caster in the form of a window only visible to them self, that carries the person's "class" a general measure of how much power they possess, their name, physical age, and "Title", which is assigned by the spell itself, according to the target's traits and personality. It also includes the nature, or natures, of a person's ability, when an Analytic Mage, or someone else that happens to be highly proficient in it's use are the operators.

The mage had cast this spell a small time prior, the spell took some time before it would finish calculations and analysis of a target. Luckily for him, it seems the Tyrant King either did not think spies would get into his domain, or simply did not care, and put himself on display for all to see, as he did not have any warding magic active.

The window then popped in front of his face, transparent enough to allow him to see through it, and only visible to himself, as it should be.

Name: Ulric  Asgreyas

Rank: Arch-Meister

Title:  Tyrant King

Age: 31

Nature: Black Paladin, Arch-Mage

There was, involuntary be it, obvious shock on the man's face as he quickly retreated into the shadows, and proceeded to rush his way out of the city. Two pieces of information that made him run as if his rear was being bathed in flames. The first, was that Ulric's age had barely changed since the last time someone had managed to analyze him with Informant, 20 years ago. The second, and more important, his Nature of Black Paladin. Black Paladins are bad. Bad enough that it'd cause a seasoned spy to lose his composure.

**************

There was a village within the Empire's borders, nestled in the middle of three mountains, and surrounded by dense forest. It remained peaceful, just outside the Empire's terrible grip. Within this large village, which, honestly was more like a town, housed over 300 inhabitants. One boy however, managed to be different from all the rest. Whereas the rest had colourful eyes and hair, his hair was raven black, and his eyes were dark as night.

Not to be mistaken though, both the boy's parent's were residents, neither with similar hair or eye color. His mother had silvery-white hair, and golden eyes, while his father had green eyes and brown hair. He did, however, bear a distinct resemblance to both, such that none could deny he bore their blood.

This boy also possessed nigh non-existent Mana Reserves. It was hoped that his reserves would grow as he matured, as was the case with all people. However, his Mana Reserves did not grow at all in his seven years of life. This essentially meant he was a cripple, as the lack the ability to use magic, in any or all forms, in this world where everyone possessed at least some degree of proficiency in it's use, was akin to missing a limb.

He of course, did, have some small amount of mana. It was simply that this amount was so little, that he could barely even hold a fireball the size of a ping-pong ball lit for more than a few seconds. His near lack of mana, and his black features, led the rest of the children to call him "Void Boy" or "Blacky" and also to slight bullying, as much as children of age seven to ten were capable of.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The boy however, held no animosity for anyone. To the contrary, he was actually actually quite attached to all of the people he knew, from the bullies, to the teachers, the residents who called the village home, and especially his parents. He had no one he could call a friend however, and spent much of his time alone, not that he seemed to mind.

**************

"Erebus...."

A young boy lay in bed, sleeping seemingly without a care.

"Erebus...!"

The strange sound of crackling could be heard coming from somewhere. The boy shifted in his sleep.

"EREBUS!"

The boy jolted upright in bed, his eyes bursting open, as he surveyed the room with his tiny black eyes in shock. The boy's name was Erebus Noir. He was only seven years old, and, he was completely alone that room. He seemed not shocked by the lack of anyone there. Instead, what bothered him, was the distinct smell of something burning.

"So you finally noticed, you sloth."

That same voice that woke him spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Something's burning, and it's not in the house. Wherever this smell is coming from, the fire must be huge."

The voice spoke with all urgency. This prompted young Erebus to finally bolt out of bed. He first rushed to his parents room, to see if they might know what is happening. He found the inside vacant. It might have been vacant all night. The room was cold, no sign of having been slept in that night. A cold chill ran down his spine, as he rushed back to his room and changed, before rushing out the door.

The boy saw smoke, rising from all around the village. There was not a soul in sight. There was only black smoke, and the embers of flame rising in the distance. He, as any other child would, entered a state of panic. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he took off towards the black smoke.

**************

The village was under attack. There were hordes of Empire soldiers flocking all around, attempting to invade the formerly peaceful little town. However, the people, far from expectations, were not being one-sidedly slaughtered, but rather, they were holding out quite well. Considering they were fighting trained soldiers, This was quite an impressive feat.

"Impressive."

The voice spoke, as Erebus stood stunned at the sight that awaited him on the outskirts of the village. It was a sight of pure carnage. Empire soldiers, with a strange, unnatural fire in their eyes, charged at armed villagers, who pushed them back with great displays of skill and power. Yet, every time they fell, the soldiers simply got back up as if nothing happened, despite the grievous wounds that were obvious on their bodies. The Villagers seemed to be tiring, as if the battle had been going on for hours, yet the soldiers showed no sign of backing down. Some soldiers didn't even look like they were of the living any longer.

The shocked Erebus was grabbed from behind. He was quickly spirited from the battlefield before he got his bearings. When he realized, he was inside a small hut. He was faced with a teacher from the village's school. To be precise, he was the one that taught physical techniques, that enhanced the body with Mana to achieve powerful and destructive results barehanded. His nature was Monk, and he wore garments that complimented his nature, complete with a bald head and large beads.

"Erebus.... Did any of the other children wake?"

Erebus still hadn't collected his wits. He stared at the large, well muscled man like a cornered rat before squeaking out an answer.

"N-no.... I don't think so...."

"Then I thank the heavens none of the other children have to see this gruesome sight. I pray the village will still stand by the time they wake..... or they shall never do so again."

The words of the Monk slowly sank in, but Erebus couldn't entirely comprehend it.

"He means all their lives will be claimed by those horrors fighting outside."

The voice casually filled void in the boy's understanding. It finally dawned on him what was happening. Those horrors were attacking the village, and should they get past the first and only line of defense it had, then all would be lost, and the village would be reduced to a flaming wasteland. His eyes started tearing up. Fear gripped his heart. Before he could speak, he felt a sharp pain to his abdomen, and his consciousness faded.

________________________________________________

Yes, the chapter is meant to be chaotic. ish. 

Who wants a Magic System lesson? I may or may not make a chapter for it.