Chapter 1 – Good Morning Song

“A dry wind blows

Through the forsaken town

My eyes seek the light

Only to see despair---“

I was sleeping inside a cave that I called my home since I was born when I suddenly heard someone singing. It had a beautiful tone in it but the song felt kinda sad. It has been years since I heard something this beautiful. I stretched my stiff limbs as I woke and opened my eyes. I have no problems seeing in the dark and started to walk out of my cave.

Hmm. Something seems off.

When I first slept here, it was just a normal cave you would find anywhere and the place inside the cave I slept in was still the same as I remembered it to but as I walked towards the exit, the path became more refined. The floor became smooth like that of a palace I once visited where one can see one’s reflection. Well, that place is in ruins now because when I visited that place, I was in a rage. I don’t remember the reason though. And some strange writings I don’t remember writing are on the walls made of marble. I tried reading it but I could not make sense out of it.

I even saw an image of me in it. An image of a young man with two arching horns like that of a ram and a tail like that of a bull with its bushy tip. His hair are as dark as night and crimson eyes as red as blood. A long birth mark that looked like flames on the right side of the body can be also seen.

“Hmm…

Not bad… It really depicts the image of me… Ugh.. But what’s with that smile? It’s too sinister for it to be mine and what am I holding there?! A severed head?!

Am I that evil?! I only killed humans because of retaliation.. Is that the image humans had on me? Now that’s just sad…..”

I couldn’t help but clutch my head in sadness as I looked at that image.

I remember saving more humans than killing them though…. I even cured an illness that was impossible to cure with normal healing magic.

Well.. enough with this depressing thoughts. This time, I’ll refrain from killing humans without a huge reason.

I nodded to myself because of self-satisfaction.

“Now, time to get out of this dark depressing place and see whose voice it was!”

I got excited in knowing the identity of the one who was singing and increased my pace as I walked but…

“What’s up with this?! Did the person who built this place have a really huge grudge to me?”

As I walked towards where the exit is, a wall came blocking my way. And not just any kind of wall, it was made of mithril, a kind of metal that can purify “evil”. It was also magically reinforced.

I can easily break this but thinking about the effort that guy put into constructing this just makes me sad. Sorry for being “evil” in your eyes…

Ohh.. I want to cry…

I imbue magic energy at the tip of my forefinger of my right hand to create some heat and cut the wall with it. I cut it in the middle, top side, bottom side, left side and right side cleanly and I didn’t even feel any resistance from it. I did not want to destroy the wall and only cut it.

Like a huge double door, I pushed the wall (door?) open and closed it again.

I then fixed the wall again with the same process I cut the wall. I melted the cut so that I could connect it again. I also repaired it to its original form with the writings still in place and I even reinforced it with an even stronger magic. Another image of me was drawn on the wall I just fixed. It’s an image of me sleeping…..  

“Hmm… All done… Time to see that songstress…”

As I continued to walk towards the origin of that beautiful voice, I see it that the whole cave, but the place of my slumber changed. Unlike the path out from the place where I slept where the floor was made of some kind of precious stone, the floors and walls here were made of bricks but to the point of crumbling. Much like a hallway of a ruin than a simple tunnel of stone in a cave. Some writings are also carved on the walls. There were also some kind of orbs that gave of light as if the sun was shining inside the cave and some kind of vines or roots connected at the back of the orbs.

Strange….. Eh?

“Who’s there?!”

I looked at the ceiling as I felt some kind of stare above me. An eye. That’s what came to my mind first. A huge eye was fixed on the ceiling and I could see the contraction of irises as it looked at me. I got slightly  uncomfortable at the feeling of being stared at by this unknown creature. I could see the same kind of vines connected to it.

As I got irritated with the feeling of being stared at, I destroyed the eye.

*crunch**crumble*

“Eh?”

I was dumbfounded. The squishy feeling of crushing flesh did not transmit but the feeling of crunching metal like the armors of knights who once opposed me. I also found that some of the pieces of that eye was made of something other than metal. There were some glass and some kind of brittle material. Small veins with different colors and at cut end of the veins, you could see thin copper protruding and would produce some kind of spark.

Wondering about the strange thing that I just destroyed, I heard the voice again.

“I shout but it’s not reaching anyone

Find me and make me stop---“

The song is getting clearer. Maybe I’m getting closer to the source. I can see the end of the hallway and the light shining from it is brighter than the orbs in this this hallway. I also broke all the metallic eyes I came across as I walk.

The song was sung in a language I had never heard before but with the help of my abilities, I began to learn the language.

I then lean on wall and peek through it. It was a room with a round ceiling with images of four humanoids with wings on their backs. What are those guys? Is what I thought when I saw those images. All of them were wearing pure white cloth. Some tattoos on the body. Each are wielding a type of weapon depicting on what they specialize at.

The first is a man who is wielding both sword and shield and looked like he was the one who held the highest position of the four. His hair is as a red as flames and had a scar on his cheek. He has a huge build and sharp green eyes. The sword looked like it was made of adamantium with its majestic appearance with gems decorated on the hilt and in the blade. The shield also looked like it was made of the same material as the sword with gems decorated all over it. Both the sword and shield was covered in flames.

The second is also a man holding a spear. His a little shorter than the man wielding the sword and shield but his build was that of a person with quick movements. His hair was black and same with his eyes. The spear he wields might be made of mithril with a mix of adamantium. It was also decorated with gems. One can see the tip of his spear had wind swirling on it. The penetration power of that spear might be quite high. Enough to would me I guess?

The third is a woman drawing a bow and arrow. She looked like a beautiful queen looking down on her subjects. She has long blonde hair like the golden sun, blue eyes like the cold waters of the north and red lips like roses. She has smooth skin and a pair of huge mounds that anyone would doubt if the cloth she was wearing is enough to cover it. Smooth with skin and a thin waist. Long supple legs. She has all the dreams of man.  The bow she held looked like it was made from the highest quality of wood. Might have been made from the branch of the oldest tree with magical properties, like the firewood I use when I cook. The string might be made from thin mithril. A huge gem was embedded at the center of the bow where one loads the arrow. The arrows are made of ice.

The fourth one was an androgynous youth. Long white hair like snow and red eyes like rubies. I could not tell if it was a he or a she but I’m more inclined that it was a she. Hope that it is……. She would be on my type if it was. She’s so cute. Porcelain white skin, unblemished. Those flat chests that contains everlasting hope and a frail looking body that one would make one’s instinct to protect. I wanna take her home if I saw her. The thing she held is a staff made of orichalcum with a mixture of silver and mithril. The tip of the staff had a design of two twining snakes and a cross. A weapon that specializes in purification. Light was glowing from the staff.

Ugh…. This four… I think that if I ever meet one of them it would cause a lot of trouble for me. Well, I would like to meet the white hair one though. At the center of those four images was a huge azure jewel.

“In this completely broken world

Where I can’t figure anything out

I was surprised of the kindness you showed me---“

I saw four torches on each corner of the room. Not like those that need flames to illuminate a room but for black torches with orbs the same kind I found along the way but much bigger than that. All the light is focused in the center where a young woman or girl sang the song I have been hearing.

The most noticeable thing on the girl was her hair. Amber… The color of summer. And her eyes are color brown. She was the most beautiful girl I have yet to see other than the women drawn on the ceiling. She has the right curves in the right places. A little short that makes her quite cute. And by looking at her, she looked like a very energetic girl who can make other people smile unconsciously when they see her. But the thing that most intrigued me was her voice. The way she sung made me forget she was human and thought of her as one of the fairy kin. Her voice, if not more, can be compared with the fairy queen’s that I once heard during a festival in some elf country I passed by. My eyes was caught by her beauty and my ears by her voice. I was in a trance.

She wore the same white cloth as the ones on the ceiling.

“You’re the one who can fill the gap in my heart

My Only Love!”

The girl must’ve finished her song already as she stopped and went to a certain direction. That was when I noticed that there were more humans inside this room and they are wearing odd clothing. A woman in her middle ages came to the girl and put a robe around her. The woman also gave the girl some kind of transparent container that contains clear water.

A man then shouted with some kind of tool that could amplify his voice.

“All right! Let’s wrap it up! Good work Alice, congratulations for your debut music video.”

The girl then came near the man and was about to say something. I then cast magic in order to hear their conversation but even with the use of this, I can’t hear them properly so I just judge what they say in the words I know.

“Ohh.. Thank you Mr. Velasquez for giving me this chance to reach my dream of being an idol.”

The girl then bowed towards the man.

“No.. It was my pleasure to work with some with great talent and potential. If you continue on with this, I’m sure that you’d be popular in the world of idols in no time.”

The man said so with a smile and put a hand on the Alice’s, the girl’s name, shoulder. The girl then raised her head to face the man and smiled back at him.

“Thank you again Mr. Velasquez for this wonderful opportunity you gave me.”

Hmm.. She became quite happy being complimented as such, huh?

“But Alice, what will you be doing about your studies starting now? I heard rumors that the education in magic are both hard and expensive. How will you fare in both your studies and job now? Will you drop out of school?”

Said by Mr. Velasquez.

“Uhmm… No. I’ll still continue on my studies and at the same time do my job. As long as I get a passing grade, I’ll be alright.”

“Heh~~. Nothing less from the prodigy of the Reyner Family.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Suddenly said by a young man as he entered their conversation. He has silver and golden yes. Quite good looking for a human. He has this arrogant aura that’s kind of irritating like that of the king of the country I crushed out of anger. It isn’t my fault, ok? It’s not that I have a bad temper, or anything. Well, atleast the guy has dignity. Or is it pride?. That I could tell from the way he acts.

“Hello Alice. I was asked by your father to get you and take you home.”

“Fe-Felix, wh-why? I already asked told father about my recording and that I’d be home late. He already gave consent. Plus ms. Dela Rosa already promised father that she would be the one responsible of my safety.”

The girl became flustered. What? Why?

“Come now, Alice. I told father that I couldn’t let my beloved fiancée outside so late with all the dangers in the street. Especially that terrorists have been quite active these days. Kidnapping people of noble blood and asking outrageous demands. Luckily the police have been quick in taking actions to save them. So it’s better if I stay close to you so that I could keep an eye on any danger that might befall my fiancée.”

Heh…… Quite a gentleman are you…. Wait… Gentleman? The heck does it mean anyway…

“ Felix…..”

The Alice muttered Felix’s name while bowing down with a red face. Hmm… Miss Alice, your heartbeat’s becoming faster you know? Is that alright? Will you be okay?

While thinking about such idle things while lying down and watching there exchange, a man suddenly came running towards the Mr. Velasquez and was frantic. I then heard them say something about chimeras being broken and that before they broke, the chimeras caught a glimpsed on what the attacker looked like.

Heh~~ so humans can control chimeras now.

He said that the intruder looked like a human but they couldn’t get a clear image of who it was. And the man pointed at place I have been peeking to.

Eh?

What? Huh? They couldn’t have found me, right?

Still clueless as to why the man pointed here. I continued watching them.

Then Felix came to Mr. Velasquez.

“Mr. Velasquez, I would like to ask if you would now excuse us? I would like to leave and take Alice back to her home. I think that her father’s now worried.”

“Oh. Sir Felix can you wait for a moment?”

Puzzled as to why he was asked to wait, he inclined his head. Mr. Velasquez then rubbed his eyes.

“Sir Felix, it looks like someone other than staff is in here. He’s already broke 6 cameras that were used to film the video. Would be so kind as to help us search the person responsible?”

“Why? I have no obligation in helping you and I have no time to waste to search for someone vandalizing other people’s property just for fun. If that’s all, may we please leave?”

“But if it were those terrorist, our group would be killed. I don’t want to die in a place like this you know?”

“No such thing, didn’t you say earlier before you left to this place that you already checked the area here. You even put surveillance cameras in every nook and corners of this ruin just to survey the area.  And you did say that the perpetrator is alone based on the videos that have been caught by the cameras before it was broken so with the number of people here, I think you can handle it on your own.“

Saying thus, he looked at the hallway which looked like the path to the exit. Seriously, I’m starting to hate that guy. Couldn’t he just atleast help them out for a little while? Well, if I were him with that amount of mana he has, I’d also hesitate a bit but I think it’s enough to protect everyone here if the opponents are a hundred or so normal soldiers if he had some decent spells that is.

“My, my, is that so Sir Felix? What if the intruder was a terrorist with magic capabilities? I don’t believe a normal one would go alone in situation like this. Like you said before to Alice, those guys would kidnap children of noble blood and ask their families outrageous ransoms. What do you think might happen if they kidnap little Alice over there? They even disabled some of the cameras that are placed all over this ruins. That means they knew that our little princess is here with only civilians, well except for that miss there who takes care of her. Other than her, who’ll protect Alice now, huh?” Mr Velasquez said to Felix as he pointed at Alice. “And now that you’re here, what do you think his father will do to you once that happens? You are the one who is now entrusted of her safety until she comes back to her home, right?”

Felix suddenly shuddered. Is Alice’s father that strong or influential in their country?

“Alice Kathalina Von Reyner, the only daughter of the duke who governs this city. If that terrorist caught her, she’ll be used as an object for negotiations and I don’t even want to imagine what those guys would do to her before the demanded ransom is given.”

“…”

“Ooooh. And they might even kill all of us before taking Alice. Imagine, the grief, guilt, and sorrow that she will bare once the idea comes to her that she was the cause of all this… Ohh. The mental trauma….”

Mr. Velasquez said those as he exaggeratedly covers his eyes with his right arm and acting like someone who’s holding their tears in fear of what’s to happen.

“….do it.”

“Huh? What is it sir Felix? I can’t hear you properly if you just mutter like that.”

“I said I’ll do it. The safety of my fiancée is my priority so I’ll eliminate any signs of danger in her surroundings. Be grateful for I will also assure your safety for you’re an acquaintance of hers.”

“Thank you for your consideration Sir Felix.”

Mr. Velasquez smiled wryly at Felix as he thanked him.

“Well then….. I feel the presence of living things, !”

Ooh. A spell I haven’t heard or seen before was just casted. But I think it’s really that practical for me though. It’s a one-time kind of spell that  sends a wave of magic from the caster and every time the wave pass through a person or any living being, it sends some kind of feedback from the location where the being was passed through back towards the caster. It’s a bit different from the one I always use.

Hmm. Well, let’s cast some spells that may help them a bit.