“Ah!” Leland blurted, pulling the blanket off his weary form.

He quickly threw on trousers and shoes, rushing as if he went too slow, he’d miss it. He paused, however, at the door of his family home. A quick check couldn’t hurt, right?

His grimoire appeared from the back of his hand, popping into existence already opened to the first page. There, he read the words he had been dying to see since he could remember. Even though he was not the Legacy of the Lord he had aspired to be, he could still marvel at this moment. He would cherish it forever.

Leland read, along the thick stale pages in deep black ink, his personal information.

Name: Leland Silver

Legacy: Curses

Archetype: Initiate of the Curse Lord

Overall Rank: 1

Initiate of the Curse Lord: Mana costs are significantly lowered for all curses at the expense of the caster’s regenerative lifeforce.

A bizarre sound formed and flew out of Leland’s mouth. It sounded between a startled cat and a giddy child, something that would normally embarrass the young man. But, as long as his parents didn’t see, the excitement of finally having a Lord trumped any mature countenance he was trying to maintain.

Having his lifeforce be used as fuel was a scary thought, however. But then again, any spell played with lifeforce technically. A bolt of lightning could easily be rebounded and kill him, so Leland didn’t think that the negative aspect of his archetype would be all that bad. Not when mana costs were significantly lowered. His parents always complained about lack of mana, having the problem somewhat removed seemed like a good tradeoff in his eyes.

Gently, Leland flipped the page. The pages, for a moment, felt stuck but with a bit of leverage the next set of words came into view. He gave them a brief glance before trying to skip ahead to the next. The pages didn’t budge, in fact, Leland couldn’t go beyond page two.

This, while disappointing, was completely normal. The grimoire was a window into his soul, his Legacy. It would unlock in time, as his body became more accustomed to the Lord of Curses’ gift.

His frown twisted into a smile when he went over the information on page two. It was exactly as he was hoping, a spell. And not some boring thing like dust removal or automated sweeping. No, no, no, the spell on the second page of Leland’s grimoire was a combat spell. His smile only grew as he realized he was one step closer to following his parents into battle.

If only they were here with him today.

Fracture:

Type: Curse

Rank: 1 (C)

Call upon the Lord of Bone to shatter those in your way.

55% chance to break a random bone in a single target.

Hmm… Leland thought.

It wasn’t quite what he was expecting. But then again, he had been studying the general path of the Lord of Magic. Of course curses would be different. The dark aspect of the spell scared him a bit though, especially with the Lord of Curses warning about Witchhunters. But that was for future Leland to deal with. Right now all he wanted to do was experiment with his new Legacy.

As Leland exited his home, he quickly saw the potential of his first spell. As his proficiency in the spell became greater, so too would the effects. Maybe, with enough practice, he could break every bone in an enemy’s body. That, surely, would make adventuring easy, right?

Right now, he had to get to the town’s walls otherwise he’d miss all the action. With his grimoire stashed in his hand tattoo, he took to the streets in a hurry. As he powerwalked, movement in his periphery pulled his attention.

“Oh hey, Glenny,” Leland said to the open air.

A semi translucent humanoid shape abruptly stopped, causing Leland to do the same. With a deep sigh, the form of Glenny revealed himself.

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“Not good enough, huh,” the newcomer said, his head hung low.

“You’ll get there,” Leland said, patting his friend on the back. “Come on, let’s get to the wall. Is Jude around?”

“Yeah, he should be. He said he wanted to practice jumping—”

Glenny’s words were cut short as a young man fell from the sky. He landed with a dull thud, dust and dirt flying away like clumps of frightened moths. Slowly, Jude straightened his legs and back, pops and cracks echoing from his strained bones.

“Hey Jude,” Leland said.

“Happy birthday Leland,” Jude responded, a smile appearing despite an obvious grimace.

“Ah, right. Happy birthday Leland,” Glenny added.

“Aww, thanks guys! But after last night, I don’t want another slice of cake ever again.”

“So, did you have your Dream Ceremony?” Jude asked, smirking at memory of cake.

“Sure did.”

“Well, don’t leave us hanging. Did you become a Legacy of Magic?”

Leland’s smile faltered for a moment, but he kept his head high and raised the back of his palm. “Not quite. Legacy of Curses.”

“Curses?” Glenny asked. “Never heard of it. I mean, I’ve heard of curse magic, of course, but not the Lord of Curses.”

Leland nodded. “As had I, but she seemed nice enough. I kind of felt bad for her. The way she spoke made it seem like her Legacy was not very popular. Her Legacy wasn’t quite what I wanted, but she laid out a path that interested me. And now that I think about it, not copying mom and dad has some merit all on its own. It's kind of freeing if I’m being honest.”

Jude shrugged. “Well, as long as you have magic. Otherwise we may have had to search for a fourth.”

“Yeah… Speaking of which, let’s head to the wall!”

Glenny and Jude each nodded and followed Leland to the town’s wall. Together they rushed along the street, passing other friendly faces as they went. The three of them were rather well known in the town and had been friends since each could remember – after all, their parents made up a highly renowned inquisitor team for the Queen.

Slaying monsters, investigating disturbances, maybe even the occasional dungeon delve. Their parents were slated to be the protectors of the town, at least when they were around.

It had been almost two years since any of the three had seen their parents, or in Glenny’s case, parent. A travesty for the families, but a sacrifice that each young man understood quite well. In fact, it was time to make their own mark and follow along.

Glenny was the more subdued of the bunch, ever since his mother died at least. He said it was an homage to her, choosing the Lord of Chameleons as his Legacy. While the early ranking of such a Lord was generally regarded as weak or slow, it was his mother’s Legacy – one she proved to be more powerful and stealthy than the best of the Lord of Shadows or even the Lord of Assassins.

He was a thinner young man, often sporting light leather armor and carrying a set of daggers around. Glenny told the others that it was one of his Legacy’s boons, and that simply wearing armor at any given time progressed the skill. Still, that didn’t stop the others from making fun of the contrasting darker toned armor and his bright red hair.

“You look like a bruised orange,” Jude had said after Glenny’s birthday.

Jude was always cracking jokes or teasing, something the others found oddly endearing. He never went too far, something he couldn’t say about his Legacy. The Berserker Lord was a deadly and quite rare warrior archetype, one dead set on rushing into battle or taking on more than his fair share of enemies.

He was a bit bigger, his Legacy adding to his muscle mass like wool to a sheep. Since his birthday, Jude had bulked up two, maybe even three, shirt sizes. Something the others pointed out quite often.

Together the three strolled up the wooden staircase leading to the top of the town’s walls. They bypassed guard and adventurer alike, their tattoos prominently on display for all to see. A chameleon for Glenny, a crossed set of battle axes for Jude, and a flying crow for Leland.

Their three marks left little room for argument despite their young age. Their team was finally complete, all three with marks, all three present and in prime health. The guard couldn’t stop them, not like last time when they attempted to help out.

All three stopped cold when they reached the top. Looking out into the vibrant spring forest, greens and pops of colors clashed in the form of flowers or buzzing Rainbow Bees. The beautiful scenery under the midday sun wasn’t what froze the young men, however. It was the carnage below.

A decently large troop of Trihoof Wolves had all but been dispatched.

“We’re too late!” Leland cried.

Using the heightened senses of the Chameleon, Glenny scanned the area. “One right there! See it?”

Leland and Jude looked, straining to see a smaller wolf treading carefully around a town guard. The three friends looked at each other and shrugged. Jude was first, he jumped off the wall and landed with his knees bent. Glenny was next, slipping into a semitranslucent form before clambering down the wall’s edge like a rock climber descending a cliff.

Leland frowned, shaking his head. He’d break a leg if he jumped and he didn’t think his body was strong enough to slide down a straight drop. So, he took to the stairs, his face reddening as he went.

Hopefully my curses make up for this, he thought.

Eventually Leland exited the town and found Jude arguing with a guard about rite of the kill. The guard was saying he arrived first, so he should have the say over who killed the beast. Nearby Glenny watched the wolf, eyeing it in case of attack.

Leland sighed. “Glenny we talked about this. Jude can’t be the one to interact. He’s too much of a brute, all he does is try to pick fights.”

“I do not!”

“You do.”

“Fight me!"

“Anyways,” Leland turned his attention to the guard. “May we take this battle? It is our first, you see.”

“Nuh uh,” the guard responded. “I’m not giving you special treatment just because your parents are famous.”

All three of the boys grimaced at that. They hated to be compared to their parents, specifically living in a shadow that seemed impossibly deep.

“No special treatment needed,” Leland continued, feigning a smile. “We will give you all reagents from the wolf, we just want the experience.”

Seeing the guard’s hesitation, he spoke quickly. “Glenny here will even gut and skin the beast for you. How does that sound?”

“Hey!”

“Deal,” the guard said, pulling his short spear to his shoulder and walking off a few steps. “I’ll be here if you need me. Can’t have the town’s star trio dying against their first monster, huh?”

Again all three frowned, but a low growl pulled their attention. The wolf stalked closer, its meaty trihoof paws elongating as it bared its claws. It lunged, aiming for Leland’s throat but an equally meaty fist punched it, sending it off course.

“Woah there, Leals, got to watch out,” Jude said, eyeing the red mark across his knuckles.

“Yeah thanks,” Leland said, summoning forth his grimoire. “Let's kill this thing.”