(Author: Hello all. Odin had become considered an ancient evil after he viciously took over the sea bandit leader's body and killed people with it. The Chaos took over one of the precious dwarven mines and Odin heads to slaughter the trolls to prepare for the coliseum. The emergence of heroes were always accompanied by tides of change. The forces of evil only become stronger when discovering the emergence of heroes and a lot of horrible things happen. The Witch King is angry and new forces emerge from the shadows to take advantage of the Chaos attacks. Enjoy.)
---------Chapter 7: Tides of Change-----------
"Why did you help the monster hero so much Lana?" a wood elf asked as Lana returned home.
"Father, he is the Avatar of Beasts, the champion of the Primordial Beast. His name is Odin Argent and was summoned in the Kingdom of Baos," Lana said silently. "He is also a hero of the Thousand and has been courteous since he awoke. He knows I have high elf blood and, most of all, he carries the Dread Ring. The ring that was stolen from the Witch King. One of five all-powerful rings, two of which belonged to the Witch King."
"He has the ring? Does he know of its powers?" her father asked. "He is a monster so he can harness it."
"He does not know how. He was changed into a monster by a beast kin mage named Harker," Lana answered.
"The crazed mage who is a follower of that accursed church," the wood elf cursed. "Then this, Odin, is being used. He just does not know it yet. If people find out he has the Dread Ring..."
"No one has seen it and lived to tell the tale but our people," Lana assured him, sorrow in her tone. "We should be glad that only two Rings of Power remains among the Chaos. I led him to the trolls so that he may slay them to prepare for the coliseum. He wishes his alias to be Witch Blade."
"If he is slaying in the troll territory, no doubt he will enter the cave and discover the dragon sealed there. He looked like a child of a demonized dragon. No doubt his presence will stir the dragon in its slumber."
"It cannot escape its crystal prison, but perhaps he may be able to slay it in its weakened state," Lana said. "Arkilay, father, I do not believe that Odin is the ancient evil you sensed in the ocean, but I admit that he has the potential to be one."
"No doubt we believed him to be an ancient evil if he used the power of the Primordial Beast in a malevolent method," Arkilay agreed. "The sailors claimed the sea captain leader was a beast kin and slayed his own men before killing the passengers, sparing the sailors. Observe him for now when he returns. Follow him on his journey from now on. Lead him to the high elves who have moved their kingdom to Uzalga. Do not let him meet with Harker and his fellows."
"I, I understand father," Lana said and bowed slightly before she left to finish the request Odin asked of her.
"I should return and inform my wife," Arkilay muttered. "I have now met with fourteen of the heroes who passed by Sea Wolf Cove, the major power and trade center in the sea. I also need to inform her of the Dread Ring."
Arkilay immediately left his home and the cove after turning in his resignation to the island guards. He had much to report and longed to see his wife once more.
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In a black crystal palace on the other side of the planet, five individuals knelt before a throne made of dragon bones.
Each individual was in charge of an army with separate objectives. One looked like a human clad in brilliant black armor, but his eyes were completely black, as if his pupils fused with his irises and overcame the whites of his eyes. He radiated black mana and had a pure black sword at his belt. If one leaned in closely, he could hear screams coming from the blade. This individual was Cuortag Black Sword, a fallen warlord of ancient times granted immortality by the Fallen God. He was the leader of his army of orcs and goblins. He army was in charge of invasions.
The second individual was a large gorilla-like creature with blazing red fur and a third eye on the middle of his forehead. He was the leader of an army of demonic beasts and was known as Gorjak. His army was in charge of subjugation and breaking the wills of rebellion in the hearts of the populations successfully invaded by Cuortag's army. The third individual was called Yazala, an arch lich who was responsible of creating more undead to protect the realm and summon dangerous beings to serve their Fallen God's will.
The fourth general was a dark elf dressed in black and crimson fur armor with a giant staff in her hand made of twisted wood and blood crystals, mana stones created by sacrificing the living through a dark ritual. Dark elves had skin the color of stone and lived in the darkness and were superior in espionage and smithing of mithril. Her army was her God's eyes and, sometimes, the dagger he covers in blood. Her name was Izlara. The fifth general was a demonized dragon in human form and was in charge of creating weapons and armor for the other armies. His army alone was responsible of protecting the Fallen God. His name was Venos and he was the Right Hand of the Fallen One.
"Something has awakened me," a low voice said from an orb made of shadows that permeated from the bone throne. "Izlara.....did you find out what it was?"
"Fallen One, your servant has indeed discovered the cause," Izlara bowed, her voice full of utmost respect and devotion. Before her was just a speck of the Fallen One. That speck alone granted immortality to the five generals. They could only be killed if the speck was killed, but the Fallen One would remain unharmed. Not even the five generals know where the true body of the Fallen One was or the depths of his power.
"It came from the sea between Uzalga and the Baos Kingdom," Izlara reported. "Each of the heroes was granted a weapon by the Primordial Gods, but very few were made champions. The one in the ocean was a champion who used his powers for a malevolent purpose."
"Only the first act of malevolence can be detected. The power of the Primordial God the hero used was one that belonged to a higher echelon. It belonged to an ancient Primordial God I haven't felt in a long time: The Primordial Beast," the speck of darkness said. "It felt changed. The hero was obviously not a beast as it would have been even more powerful and received more powers. This one was a hero and a monster, thriving with planetary life force."
"It must be the hero who stole the Dread Ring from the Witch King. My spies have confirmed that the WItch King is frantically spreading his forces. It seems like he lost something important to him. If a hero has life force and he was located between Uzalga and the Baos Kingdom, then he wields the Dread King," Izlara bowed.
"So another Ring of Power is taken from the Chaos....." the low voice said, pausing for what seemed like an eternity as the hearts of the generals beat furiously. "...I have decided. It is time to invade the land. Cuortag and Gorjak, I turst you generals have not lost your skills since the last invasion?"
"Of course not, Fallen One," they cried in unison.
"Very good. Invade the lands near my kingdom. Yazala, it is time for you to summon fiends once more. Venos, you will train my forces here and enlarge the numbers of my army. The Chaos will try to stand in my way. Only the weak can be infected. If they remain weak, feed them to the stronger ones alive," the voice ordered. "As for you Izlara, send the dark elves after the champion who owns the Dread Ring. Capture it and bring him to me alive and without any of it missing. As it is a monster, I can use my power on its core and subjugate it to my will. I will soon have two Rings of Power. I must own the Dread Ring and its master! Do not fail me."
"By your will, Fallen One!" the five generals shouted and left the throne room in a flash.
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Odin felt a shiver down his spine and shook his head as the moment passed. He had spent the last hour running back and forth to the bridge while he fought the trolls.
He had two major problems and three facts he learned about his body. The first problem was that the trolls had a heightened sense of smell for blood and killing one troll attracted dozens more. The second problem was that the trolls used ice magic. Odin's true worm was a purple king slime and he realized his body was highly vulnerable to ice magic as he was light magic. He was never harmed by the sea bandits' ice magic as he overpowered it with his lightning, but they came from a singular direction. Even the bandit leader attacked him from the front.
Trolls had fur layered with ice and life force. Not only were they brute strong, but they could freeze a target on contact. Odin's demi-human form felt and looked like a half human and half demonized dragon, but it was originally slime. His hand froze as he met a troll's punch and Odin staggered back as it was blasted to pieces. Thanks to his resistance to pain, he felt only a numbing sensation. In his rage, he blasted all the trolls with lightning, killing enough to escape to the bridge.
The second fact he learned about his body was that he regenerated rather quickly as a hand of purple slime would appear followed by transforming to match the appearance it had before of a demi-human hand. One time he even had his head bite off as a troll bit him from behind. His vision went dark once before his head regenerated. He realized as long as his core was undamaged, he could regenerate his body as a slime monster did. To people who didn't realize he was a monster, he would seem as if he was immortal.
The final fact of his body that enlightened and excited him the most was when he devoured the corpse of a dead life form. He could transform into a perfect likeness of that monster, just like his demi-human form. So far, he could become his true form of a purple king slime, a crimson slime, his demi-human form, and a troll. Trolls were fifteen foot high brutes with the body of a muscular human with white fur and the head of a baboon. They had low intelligence unless they were in groups. It seemed that the more trolls were gathered together, the smarter they became. Odin decided that if he saw a cool monster, he would kill it and devour it in his slime form.
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With each race he ate as a purple king slime would gain a fragment of their memory. Odin learned more about trolls and about how they lived. The trolls on the island were guarding some sort of sacred creature sealed deep in their crystal cavern home. Only the weakest of trolls were sent to the bridge to discourage the people on the other side to stop them from trying to free the creature. Odin very much wanted to eat it if it made the trolls fight to free it to such an extent. Perhaps the monster core of the creature would make up for the weak cores of the trolls.
"Seems like this training will actually pay off quite nicely," Odin murmured as he began eating monster cores as a slime before turning back to his demi-human form. "Thanks for the meal."
As he saw a fragment of the troll's memories, he saw what he looked like through the troll's eyes. Odin was a five foot ten demi-human with light brown hair, black dragon horns pointing back above his ears, and glowing blue eyes that sent chills down the troll's spine. He saw himself incinerate troll after troll with lightning. He saw himself laughing as he skewered a troll with Hex Lance. He saw one troll frantically tear at its chest as it was hit by a Hex Bolt, its eyes full of terror just before it blew up. He saw troll after troll blow up, vaporize by lightning, or destroyed by the lance.
All the while, Odin was shouting with bloodlust and adrenaline on how much experience he was getting. He saw the trolls attack with fervor as his hand shattered, but quail in fear as his head also shattered only to see it regenerate out of a purple liquid of sorts.
Level Up
Level Up
Level Up Current level: 15
Current stats unused: 15
Class stats awarded.
Racial stats awarded.
Odin shrugged as he didn't gain a title, but he didn't expect to get a title for every little thing he did. Now that he was the same level as the weaker trolls, he moved deeper toward the crystal cave, leaving fields of dead trolls behind him. One horrible truth he learned that eating a body of another race not only gave him the ability to transform into it, it also increased the amount of experience he needed to level. Even after killing fifty two trolls only gave him three levels as he ate the body of a troll after his first encounter. If only he knew the side effect before eating the body.
As he decided on the alias of Witch Blade, he would become known as Witch Blade or Odin the Witch Blade to those who knew his real name. They would see Hex Lance and assume he was a very powerful warrior. He was not known as a hero outside the capital of the Baos Kingdom save for the shop keepers, guards, Thomas, and the royal family. No one would know he was a hero of the Thousand unless he publicized it and he would be a fool to do so. He was summoned a s he hero but he didn't want to be one. He wanted to be the most powerful knight and his OP stats and abilities were slowly taking him there.
He spent the following day resting to improve the ancient runes on his mithril chain shirt and black robe. He copied the instructions in his ancient rune books and, under the additional guidance and knowledge of Trillion, was able to modify the ancient runes even further. The shields he could summon were now made of mithril as well as the curved swords he could create from his robes as spikes and control at will.
As for his mithril chain runes, he couldn't come up with any new additional rune enchantments or effects he deemed necessary. He quickly used pure mana to dispel the dirt from his body as he changed his clothes and put on the chain mail shirt and robe again along with the rest of his clothes replaced. By the time he was done, it was night fall and only six days remained. Before he went to sleep, he summoned his golem. It now stood at five feet but all other characteristics were the same as before. It moved a little faster but was still slower than the average human. He was blissfully unaware of the danger coming his way as he fell asleep.
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Marcus was distraught as he returned to the guild in the Baos Kingdom and reported the news to the guild attendant there. They were also shocked about the loss of a dwarven mine and gave Marcus some gold as the mission became a solo rank B mission upon the appearance of a scouting party of the Chaos appearing.
"Welcome back Marcus," Mariko smiled as she saw Marcus return to the palace to sleep. "How was the guild mission?"
"I failed it. The Chaos are getting more aggressive in their assault on the dwarven kingdom in the mountains. Does it even have a name?" Marcus asked.
"There are so many that we just don't say the name as there is no need for it," Thomas answered as he arrived with Toshio. "How goes Hero Johnny? I heard he suffered a horrible accident."
"He has...recovered," Marcus said silently. "Not what he once was physically, but he has mentally improved. Is the Witch King still leading the charges here in the Baos Kingdom?"
"Not since an ancient evil was detected by a church down in the town," Toshio answered. "It would seem that a hero who became a champion of the Primordial Gods is misusing his power. I heard that such a hero would be destroyed in the Immortal Realms according to some of the higher tier priests of the church and that they were instructed by the immortals they worship to find and withdraw the power from the hero and place it in someone more worthy. I'd avoid the churches and temples on this planet. They are more like a cult of fanatics than they are people of religions."
"More than that, it seems that whoever misused that power also owns the Dread Ring," Thomas continued in a hushed tone, beckoning them to a more secure location so that the guards could not hear them.
After they arrived in the throne room with only the king and Princess Reina in their company, Thomas continued saying, "The Dread Ring is one of the five Rings of Power. The Witch King used to own two of the rings, one of them being the Dread Ring. Each of the Rings of Power have devastating abilities. No one but the wielder knows what it is as they change per wielder. So the hero who now owns the Dread Ring will access a different kind of power. What it is, I pray we do not find out. I wouldn't worry though. The Dread Ring could only be used by those who can harness life energy. No one but the Witch King and his ancient foes know what it looks like. It could very well look like your special spatial rings you each own."
"So people are looking for this dark hero?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, but most nations and empires are investigating why all the heroes who should have become heroes of the knight class, in your words, were killed. I believe that Hero Odin chose to be a knight in the future? He has not appeared in the Hero Circle during the attacks so I assume he is either dead or still within the Baos Kingdom. It is a long way to the harbor to catch a ship to Uzalga. It takes about two years on foot unless he hired a mage with enough power to cast a greater level teleportation spell."
"He's alive. He's still active on my friend list like Johnny," Marcus said as he paused a moment to read something invisible in front of him. "My friend list says that he is a level 12 knight. Too bad it doesn't say if he got a hidden class or not. Johnny is still a level 20 berserker but I know for a fact he has the hidden class Golem Berserker. I guess the friend list only indicates their main class, level, and whether or not they are alive. Should I contact him?"
"No," King Reyard warned. "Only we know that he chose to be a knight in the future and a few more who know that he is a hero. Whatever killed the heroes who wanted to become a knight must have had a reason for it. So long as Hero Odin does not reveal that he is a knight, he should be fine."
"I will have our spy network investigate their deaths father," Princess Reina said.
"Marcus, you should continue your guild work and please notify us of any significant events that transpires during your journey. I will send one of my spies to notify Elizabeth of what we discussed and to continue to support the troops on the frontlines. According to Mariko and Toshio, she is leveling at a tremendous rate there. It is prudent that she remains there. Mariko and Toshio will continue their instruction here and assist in the evacuation of civilians when help is required. I will summon you all once I have more news."
"Yes, Your Majesty," they all bowed and left.
"The Witch King has not attacked and the kingdom is calm on the surface at least," Thomas said as he and the king were left alone. "We need not worry about him personally appearing for now."
"Thomas, how goes the research on the corpses of the infected? Have the mages found a cure or some kind of method to prevent the change?" the king asked.
"No, but some of our best medical mages and light mages have gathered and I will personally assist them in the task. Worry not, Your Majesty. It will be done," Thomas bowed. "The we can launch a counter offensive and drive out the Chaos from the kingdom permanently without fear."