Black smoke filled the skies and blocked out the sun, Screams filled the air on the fated day. The day when the witches rose up against the humans, Tired of the hunts against their kind they decided to turn the tides.

The witches great covens gathered together on a night that the moon was stained crimson like blood, It was here that they preformed a ritual that would change the world. A ritual that shook the world itself as the dark energies twisted the lands around them, And the hell gate was opened.

From whence the beasts came, The goblins came first in great swarms. raping and pillaging the farmlands, breeding the human women like cattle and feeding the men to their whelps. Then came the orcs, Leading the goblins into battle and organizing them into a near unstoppable tide.

The beasts kept flooding out of the gate, Pushing the mortals to the brink of extinction. It was here that the mortals were pushed to the breaking point. Every nation evacuated the people it believed would rebuild the world into underground vaults before setting off a chain reaction of nuclear warheads.

The world had been warped, twisted and changed in what would soon be known as the days of Darkness. The former pinnacles of science and technology were forgotten as the world had been forced back into the dark ages by rash decisions of man.

The mass radiation and impact should have ended the world completely, but it was worse than any could have expected. The gates energies mixed with the explosions and the change occurred. The mix of energy's merged the human world and the world of the beasts

As a result the world effectively tripled in size but at the same time the humans who would emerge from the vaults nearly five hundred years in the future were met with a harsh fate. Having been raised in hypoallergenic areas and drinking from recycled water and processed and preserved foods their systems could not handle the air nor water of their new world.

As such many died within days of opening the vaults, Even sealing the vaults back up and praying their medicines would save them from the illnesses didn't work. But soon the last mortals drew their final breaths, But it was not the end for humanity as a whole. The witches had survived.

Through means of great magic on the scale of that which had created the gate the witches had given their young the ability to survive the new world, The ability to start a new, The vast increase of land mass and pure oxygen served to reset the world, The great magical energy merged with the harmful radiation and converted it into more mana.

Serving to richen the world as it had once been before the great industrial age, And to ensure the world would remain this pure and never again fall prey to the pollution it had once seen the remaining grand magi, Beings that had been since long before the revolution made a pact to wipe out any who would reach beyond a simple life style.

And so the world began with the Magi Council at the fore. Protecting the first civilization until it could stand on its own, teaching it magic and the principles of the elements. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Light. Teaching them to give more than they took from the Earth while using the events of the past to scare the young.

As a result there was peace for a time, the young humans would spread out and encounter the strange world and all of its beasts. The world had changed in some ways for the better, but others for the worst. There were plenty of resources so even the most lazy could survive. But as such humans grew lazy.

So when the monsters found the small settlements they were once again decimated and used, Leading the humans to realize that they would have to fight to defend themselves. In time things calmed down, THe monsters stayed away from the cities and towns once wards were placed, However once outside of the wards radius one was at risk of being torn to shreds.

You see the new world did not merely hold the goblins and orcs that had been seen as the forefront of the invasion against mortals, But with the great change came new beasts, The average house dog became massive wolves, and cats lions. Reptiles changed in many ways. Some became humanoid and others became dragons possessing great strength in wit.

But in due time the humans had found that a mage of even basic talent could manage a ward around themselves long enough to travel or gather supplies. And with time the wards were expanded around cities to where even the roads between them. And in time no one feared the beasts.

However as time came to pass some were born without magic, and as though they were a plague they were cast from their families, Treated as slaves to those who had magic. After all they should be grateful that they were allowed to stay in the safety of the wards when they contributed nothing to the upkeep of them and often managed to harm the wards. And it is here that our story comes to begin, With a slave with no magic.

Wilhelm Blackwater was a beast of a man, only twenty two years old and yet he stood at a solid six feet eight inches of height and weighed a sturdy three hundred pounds. But he was not fat, on the contrary his life of servitude lead to him remaining fit and lean. He was the slave of a blacksmith named Sven.

A man of great talent who was able to infuse weapons and armor with magic properties, He took pity on WIlhelm as he was abandoned at birth, thrown out in the wilds rather than given to the orphanage which would have raised him to an age where he could be sold to a mage family. As such Wilhelm became the man’s slave, and his only apprentice. Having found that the next generation was unworthy of wielding a hammer due to their poor temperament.

He however allowed Wilhelm to work the forge when the boy showed talent, At the age of five he forged an axe that while roughly done, was the same weight and general shape as one the boy had watched him forge earlier that day.

And by the time he was thirteen every blade or piece of armor was forged by WIlhelm only to be scribed and enchanted by Sven later. While one would think this would make people look at Wilhelm with a sense of awe or respect it only made them despise him, The upstart slave who was seen as better than their children who could make the same weapons with their magic alone.

It was when Wilhelm was six that his story truly began, Early in the morning before the pre dawn fog had the chance to lift the sound of hammer striking anvil filled the streets of the town. The diligent young boy had gotten up before his master and begun the work orders for the day, rough forging axe heads and daggers as usual.

Only six years old and already he stood at four and a half feet tall, weighing a solid eighty pounds. He had many burns across his arms and face from flares in the forge but he didn't stop his work. He had long black hair and brilliant firey orange eyes, If one could look past the flaw of not having magic they would be able to tell he would be a clearly handsome man when he grew up, He wore a pair of black leather pants and boots, a tattered white tunic that had the sleeves rolled up to the elbow to keep them out of the way, and a brown leather apron. He had just finished the last dagger he needed when he heard a scream from just beyond the warding line.

Despite the constant warnings not to leave the wards Wilhelm grabbed the hammer tightly in his hands and took off towards the sound. Charging past the wards and through the bushes to the edge of the hill the town sat on he saw a girl his age, a direwolf, and two boys his age standing on a ledge just down the hill.

The girl was backed against a massive tree as the wolf stalked closer to her, all the while the boys on the hill laughed and mocked the girl. THe two were well known in town, the twin sons of the mayor, and as such a pair of spoiled hellions. The girl was the daughter of the mayor and one of his slaves. Shockingly the girl was born with magic, though the girl was not properly tutored and could not ward as her brothers could.

Sven had raised Wilhelm to be a devout follower of the Flame even if he was not a mage out of respect to the forge. As such Wilhelm was not able to turn his back on the girl in danger. He took off down the hill at a breakneck pace, knocking the boys aside as he leapt from the ledge and let out as fierce of a warcry that a little boy could.

He came slamming down onto the beast's back and bringing the hammer down hard on its skull, A loud snap could be heard as the hammer broke and a loud growl, The boy was thrown from the beast's back and with a hard smack of its paw was sent flying into the tree next to the girl.

A large set of gashes running from his right shoulder down to his left hip, and while his face was twisted in agony not a single sound could be heard as one of the beast's claws tore out his vocal chords.

It was as the angry beast lunged at the boy that Sven appeared, Having heard his foolish slaves warcry he awoke and grabbed his own hammer to come to the rescue. Passing the mayor’s boys on the way down the hill he knew this was no doubt one of their cruel pranks on their sister.

And at the same time he saw his boy clutching his throat with one hand covered in blood with his other hand shaking and holding the broken shaft of a hammer while standing before the young crying girl.

With a roar of anger the aged smith slammed into the beast, knocking it to the ground before bringing his smithing hammer down violently. The hammer engulfed in flames as it slammed into the massive direwolves back, snapping it instantly and killing it, He then turned to run to where Wilhelm had now collapsed.

Looking the boy over Sven knew right away how dire it was, The boy would live but he would never speak again, While magic could heal him no one would waste their time healing a slave, Not even if they were paid a king's ransom as it cost far more mana to heal the non gifted.

Sven looked to the girl and ordered her to go and get back to town as he lifted his boy and grabbed the scruff of the dead wolves neck and dragged it up the hill. As they crossed the ward and entered the shop where Sven began bandaging Wilhelm cries and ruffling could be heard from the dead wolf.

The wolf had been a bitch, A pregnant one at that, no doubt out hunting when she came across the little one. But now from the dead wolf came a small pup, quite the lucky pup as all its siblings had been killed when Sven's hammer slammed into the mother. It alone escaped the fate.

Though Sven had every intention of snuffing out the pitch black wolf he felt a small shaking hand grab his belt as he stood up, Looking back he saw Wilhelm showing him a pleading look. A look that took the smith aback as he saw pity in the boy's eyes, Pity for the spawn of the beast that had harmed him so.

Sven could tell what the boy wanted and he sighed.”Alright lad, ill permit you to keep the beast as a reward for following the creed of the Flame. But it is your responsibility to care for it, and dont let your work slip because of these scratches…..”

As one would expect Wilhelm was not able to return to work for weeks, between being racked with fevers and the wounds keeping his body stiff. Despite this he cared for his new companion, The black direwolf that became known as Shadow due to its habit of following its master silently

The pup never left Wilhelms side, Even when the boy returned to working the forge. As the months passed and the pup grew bigger it even began predicting its masters needs, fetching hammers or tongs at the right times in the crafting process.

As a result of the boys loss of speech Sven taught him how to read and write so he would atleast be able to send the boy on errands once again. It was a full year when Wilhelm was finally moving like he had before the event.

In a mock celebration of this Sven had cleaned the direwolf and preserved the bones and fur. Leaving them in a chest until the year had passed. He gave it to Wilhelm and told him that the boy could make whatever he wanted from the body of the beast and the scrap steel around the shop.

so WIlhelm began saving the scraps of steel, for he had a plan formed in his head for what he would make in time. But another surprise faced him in that day. As he stood in the open air forge heard laughing, turning he saw the girl from that time and her brothers following the mayor.

Due to Sven keeping quiet about the run in with the wolf and the boys threatening their sister if she told on them the mayor only found out the day before when he heard a guard commenting on the smiths battered slave, only then finding out about the trouble his boys had caused the smith.

As such the mayor had come to speak with the smith about repayment, And at the same time it left Wilhelm with the girl he had tried to protect and the boys who caused it all. The girl noticed Wilhelm and her face flushed a bit, the young smith was standing with only his boots and pants on due to the summer heat, which exposed not only his bare flesh to her but also the scars.

The girl walked over and gave a very formal curtsey. She was a very small girl, standing at four feet tall and weighing what would seem to be forty pounds. She had long blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, and anyone could see that she was going to be a beautiful woman soon enough. She wore a far better dress now than she had before, and by her etiquette she had been accepted officially as the mayor's daughter now.

“Hello sir, My name is Nina Smith, I want to thank you for protecting me, and apologize for not saying it sooner....” As she spoke Wilhelm shook his head firmly and bowed to the girl, a deep proper bow from the waist, showing etiquette he learned from watching nobles when they bought something from Scen

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She smiled but was soon shoved a bit by her two brothers who were both laughing, both were in proper robes signifying they were already accepted into the magic school. ”Look he's so scared of talking to a girl he can't even get the words out..” The other laughed and pushed his brother.”What do you mean , don't you know that he's just too dumb to know how to speak!”

Before Wilhelm could even turn to grab his pad and writing stick Shadow had grabbed it for him, stepping out of his master shadow like a phantom and startling the boys. At the same time Wilhelm pet the large pup and wrote swiftly and cleanly, showing better penmanship than either of the boys. “I'm not dumb, Voice taken by the wolf that you two cowards ran from...” He then pointed to his throat where the scar seemed thicker than the rest of his body.

This response got a giggle from the girl and made the boys go red in the face. One yelled out as he flung his hand out, knocking Wilhelm across the open space and against the forge”You dumb slave!” Wilhelm winced as his back hit the hot stone and stood up before he charged the boy.

The young smith slammed his fist hard into the face of the boy who attacked him, a loud crack letting them know he clearly broke teeth. The other boy went to attack Wilhelm as he watched his brother hit the ground but Shadow growled savagely and knocked him to the ground and stood over the boy ready to tear his throat out should he attack his master.

It was at this time that the mayor and Sven came out to see Wilhelm standing over the first boy with a threatening glare and Shadow over the second.”What in bloody hell is going on here!” Sven shouted as he went to discipline Wilhelm, only the mayor was faster, a flash of light hit both Wilhelm and Shadow, sending them both flying.”It seems your worthless slave and his mutt are attacking their betters!”

The mayor was just about to hit the two with another ball of light when Nina moved between her father and the two.”No! It was Ryan and Alan who started it!, they insulted him and attacked him first!.” Alan the boy who was pinned under Shadow snarled and shouted.”Shut up stupid!”

The boy went to hit his sister only to be smacked by his father.”So you're causing mischief again!” He grabbed the boy by the hair and slung him over to his brother who was crying on the ground about his missing teeth. The mayor then looked to Sven who was now standing over Wilhelm with a scowl and his hammer in hand.”Many apologies Sven, i seem to have over reacted… Ill make it up t....”

Sven growled a bit.”Oh shut up Todd, you owe me nothing this time, You owe the boy...”The mayor looked disgusted at this notion of a mage oweing a slave any form of apology but grudgingly in the circumstances it was true.”Very well, What does he want?” Todd looked at Wilhelm who clearly was shocked at this.”Well spit it out boy i don't have all day.”

Wilhelm stood up and walked to where his pad was, he picked it up and turned to a new page and wrote down something shocking. While he could force the mayor to send a cleric to heal his voice he instead placed an order.”I want fifteen steel ingots, And ten pounds of black bone dust...”

This demand shocked both Sven and Todd, For many reasons, Mainly it was a very easy demand as the black bone dust was a common reagent for wards, and the steel was easy enough to tack onto Sven's usual order. And also it was what would likely be the boys only chance to regain the ability to speak.

“Hey hey hey now lad, think a moment about this, You could have anything in this man's power and you ask for things i could get you just for doing your job...” But Wilhelm firmly shook his head and thrust out the pad again as to say he was sure before writing something under his request.”Experiment, don't want to waste your money...”

Todd however was stunned, the boy truly wasted a chance to improve his life all for the sake of experimenting in his craft.”Very well boy, it will be done, you will find these things in a chest with my family seal on it next week with the usual supply train...”

The mayor then grabbed his sons by the backs of their robes and began dragging them off. Nina gave a quick bow before going to run off, but she stopped and looked back at him.”What's your name sir?” Wilhelm was shocked she would even ask a slave's name, But he soon flipped to the front sheet in the pad to show his name, Wilhelm, no last name which was common for slaves when they didn't know their parents.

She smiled and nodded as if making up her mind on something.”See you later Wilhelm!” He smiled faintly at the thought of seeing the girl again. But it never came, as the next day both the twins and Nina were sent to the Capital to study at the grand mage academy. As was the custom for young mages in a noble family.

The years passed quietly after this and soon enough Wilhelm was thirteen, The age of adulthood when he could legally drink and be called to war. But as a slave his rights were still restricted quite abit. None the less with his new age came a new body. Now standing at five foot tall and weighing a stout one hundred and eighty pounds the boy's strength was well known as he could be seen loading and unloading carts of coal and steel on his own without breaking a sweat.

And it was around this time that he began noticing annoyance in the eyes of customers as the looked at him, Not because he was a slave but because he did his job so well that Sven refused to take an apprentice from any of the mage families, effectively saying his skill of enchanting would die with him

As a result of this however the young men of the town would harass Wilhelm when he was out on errands, sometimes even attacking him from the shadows with the hopes of killing him by making him fall down stairs or off the ledge of some second story shops.

However Wilhelm never complained, he kept working hard and soon began making requests of Sven every year as he reached his estimated birthday, Books. Always related to crafting in some way or form, But the latest one was a shock, Warding. Something that would serve him no good without the ability to channel Mana, But none the less Sven bought him an old copy.

Time continued to pass and the boy continued making a name for himself, enough that soon people outside of the town would travel to buy the weapons and armor he and Sven made, High quality works that should be impossible without using enhancing magic during the crafting process.

But none the less the boy continued making great works and in time when he reached the age of twenty two he would shock the world. He took out the chest he kept all of the supplies Sven gave him over the years, The bone and pelt of the dire wolf, the countless steel scraps, the fifteen steel bars and the bone dust from Todd. And countless other seemingly useless things.

Now standing at a staggering six feet eight inches and weighing three hundred pounds of solid muscle the young smith decided to make something for himself using what he had been given. and so Sven sat and watched as the boy began his process. He melted down the scraps in the foundry to make new ingots of pure steel, He then took out a large mortar and pestle and began adding things to it.

Half of the black bone dust made from the weak scorched skeletons that appeared all over the world during the full moon, The claws of the direwolf that still had his own blood on them, a handful of depleted worthless mana crystals, The fangs of a hind bear, the beaks of ravens, All of these things were ground into dust and poured into glass jars he had collected, though they were only a third of the way full

The boy then turned to the dire wolf's pelt, stringing it up and trimming it, An act that was clearly done from memory as he cut it into pieces to be used in lining armor, making a cloak from the part that used to be the head and back, and a weapons wrapping.

Wilhelm then moved to the foundry, and looked over the crucible before he poured the steel out and let it cool into ten large ingots, As soon as it was solid enough he took the ingots to the anvil and began hammering them out and forging them into armor, but not like any armor Sven would have thought of.

It was heavy, thick, and clearly something he meant to use himself. Due to his lack of Magic Wil had to do things the hard way, and as such was many times larger and stronger than a mage his age.

As time passed and it came to a stage where Wilhelm would usually use fine sand as a flux to help remove impurities he dusted the pieces with the leftover bone dust, which had a surprising reaction. The pieces turned jet black rather than the usual dull silver, And by the way Wilhelm began moving they seemed to be lighter.

Unknown to Sven and many of the patrons Wilhelm had been listening to their conversations, picking up small bits of information on how certain reagents reacted to each other, such as a chef who said he once tripped while reapplying bone dust to a few of his wards when the dust hit a knife that was red hot from being in a fire, and the blade turned black as night and light as a feather.

Hearing things like this the boy began asking for the books, studying them and learning all he could about various things such as leatherworking, alchemy, botany, beast lore, and now he was rolling them all into his smithing, making what would be his greatest works to date.

As the boys armor began to take shape a crowd began to grow, They watched as the boy accomplished what should take weeks in less than two, a full set of pitch black armor that was minimalistic, there were a pair of boots, thick greaves, a pair of clawed gauntlets, a pair of pauldrons that had a unique stowable armor that would collapse on itself when not in use.

One was made from the skull of the direwolf and the other was made from black steel in a haunting resemblance. Down to the shape of his hammer when he hit the beast so long ago. He then began making a chain mesh from some of the steel and sewing it into the fur cloak he had made.

Once this was done he took the rest of the black steel and began forming a massive blade which one could only guess was an axe blade. It was nearly four times the size of a felling ax blade. thicker and broader, He then grabbed a long stave of ash that had aged quite well, turning a lovely grey, He then began polishing it before he did something no one had thought of.

He began etching all of his works with runes, like those used in wards. Though nothing truly stood out about this at the moment his audience and even his master were intrigued. All the mages knew etching runes into things would allow Mana to be placed into them to empower the object. Something Sven didn't need as he could freely enchant an object with certain effects.

However Wilhelm had learned something in all of his studying, namely in an old school book which explained how the ancient magi would use blood as a conduit, something that no one would use with the abundant mana in the air since the event so many centuries ago.

However this discovery made Wilhelms blood boil and so he prepared himself for this. He walked over to his faithful hound, Shadow had grown massive in the sixteen years with Wilhelm, now larger than most stallions Wilhelm rested his head to the beasts and pet him softly. He then drew a dagger and dragged it first across his left forearm, letting the blood flood into a bucket before he dragged the blade across Shadow's left fore leg.

Only a few grasped what the young smith was about to do and they grew angry, This slave was attempting to use magic. but before they could voice their outrage Wilhelm poured the blood into the jars of his ground components which began to glow with a bright crimson before emitting a black haze.

Cries of shock and fear tore through the crowd as Wilhelm took a calligraphy brush and began painting his blood mixture into the many runes on his armor and weapon. He then stood up a the last rune was finished, He then began painting not only his own body but Shadows as well with runes that none but an old man in the back of the crowd would recognize. But as the ancient runes pulled back into his mind it was to late for him to stop the boy.

With a sudden flash of an eerie black light the sun itself turned dark, An eclipse that had not been seen since before the gate was opened shined down on the boy, a hole blasting into the roof over the forge and down onto him and his works. And soon a savage howl could be heard ripping from the man's throat. And at the same time the armor began to move.

Rising from the table it formed into an armored statue before its owner, The blade of the axe rose into the air and soon the haft from the table rose and moved into it, the weapon was building itself in response to the dark magic the smith used.

Soon the armor reached out and took the blade in its claws as the leather bound the haft, And with sudden movement the hood of the cloak rose up to form a wolf like head for the armor which soon reared back and howled. Where the eyes would be shone black orbs of darkness.

Some would realize that this slave boy had created a truly magical suit of armor, while most would think he summoned a demon. And both would be close. He had made use of an element forsaken by the Magi Council, Darkness. Something meant to be forgotten was created from this one slave's desire to take his craft to the greatest height.

Wilhelm turned to Sven, clearly drained and tired but he gave a bow and a smile before he pulled himself up onto Shadow's back and the two bolted from the area and past the warding Having decided it was time to see the world for himself. The suit and axe stood there before the awestruck crowd, but as the sun returned to its normal state the works of darkness vanished into thin air.