All:

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second witch:

Fillet of fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,

Lizards leg, and howlkets wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

[Shakespeare]

With the past full of ingredients and witches, Fordin was groomed in a rhadamanthine way. The quality of mercy allocated to him was really munificent that it led to his another life in another world.

With a deep sigh he retorted himself. His cerulean eyes shined even in pitch black night. 'Will these people never understand?'

This was his meditation, his life. 'I would rather go to hell in a hand basket than to follow one to a fool's paradise'.  Even despite all the hardships his resolution was as tough as adamant.

Soon the magnificent scortching sun pierced the night sky and vanquished the darkness. With this another day of his struggles begin. But no one knew this was the day his merry life would come to an end.

Birds were chirping, the frogs singing and the kids giggling.

Located on the banks of the poetic Thu Bon River, in central Candis Nam province, 30 kilometers south of Da Nang, Hoi is an ancient town. With the strategic location on the banks of the great river, with one seaside border , it was one of the major trading centers in Candis.

Coming here, people could see a series of old-architectured lanes and houses with mossgrown walls, deeply plain roofs, old furniture that were way past their age.

In midst of this there was a man standing. His build was fairly good and his presence was not

overbearing. Slowly but steadily he walked towards the crowd.

'O people of Candis hear me, for I, Fordin, speak only the truth, don't send your children over to the 'Holy church''

With deep mock clearly reflected in their watery eyes, people detested this man from all their heart. Even little innocent kids followed in their steps and cursed this vile disrespectful man.

After all he challenged not only their beliefs but their Gods.

This man was standing on a pile of packed wheat, using it as a platform to interact with these seemingly heartless people, paying their scourge no heed and continuing with his preaching just like before.

This man was Fordin. These people could lash him with countless verbal daggers but they never once dared to attack him physically, they knew, when this man was agitated butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

In the twinkling of an eye some people came rushing in pushing the crowd aside wildly, as soon as they saw Fordin, they charged straight into him.

Fordin maintained his usual calm only now his body was releasing a terrifying amount of blood red baleful aura which made him look like a devil that came from hell to people that saw him.

'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, Fordin you dared go against our Holy church, today you you shall fade away' sprouted a man in shiny gold colored armor that quickly halted his charge.

Seeing their commander halt, these solders simply followed. This was what happened before bloody battles. A fight of words.

'Fine words butter no parsnips' said Fordin languidly. His arrogance was  undeniably reflected in his speech. He calmly raised his right hand in the air and taunted as though saying 'come and get me'.

Even though they were scared motionless they knew they had to move or a fate, fate worse than death would be waiting for them at Holy church. They charged like madmen and attacked Fordin with all their might.

This was an elite squad of ten to twenty people, on the surface they were the face of peace but in reality they were actually the salesmen of devil. They gathered people from all around the world in the name of 'Lord' and brutally sacrificed them.

In the blink of an eye those wheat packs were tainted with thick blood. In an instant

almost twenty experts died, this is how fearful this man was.

The metallic smell  rose in the air was carried away with the breeze.

But sadly no matter obstinate he was, he couldn't convince these bird brain people.

The wise man once said 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'.

'No matter how hard I try, these fools still send their children to the butcher in

silver wrapping whats more' he really was perplexed over this.

People's belief in Holy church didn't just one day came out of the blue. This was their culture, more like a tradition. Since birth they were taught about how majestic and truly extravagant it was. Simply put they were all being brainwashed.

Holy church had its roots deeply buried into this world which couldn't even be compared with the depth of oceans.

Even if someone suspected that Fordin was telling the truth, he wouldn't dare think an extra second about it. It was a huge disrespect for them and the punishment of that was death by extreme torture. Fordin could afford to stand against the world but these poor peasants couldn't. They could only go with the flow.

Fordin never had a family to begin with. He was found in a trash-can by some beggar who felt pity and raised him to what he could. When Fordin became three years old, the poor old beggar finally died of a terminal disease which was haunting him for quite sometime.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He chewed rubbish and ate grass to survive, the grass would be very chewy while rubbish could only be eaten if he blocked his nose, the stench alone was enough to make someone sick. He was a natural born survivor. He grew up in the dumps of garbage and when he was eight, that cramped up place became too small for him.

Despite his unfortunate circumstances Fordin was never ordinary to begin with. Fate connived and Fordin was spotted by a Holy church priest.

When he first arrived there, he was very jubilant and almost abandoned his demure. Not only was he provided with clean and healthy food which could take one to heaven but was also taught 'Holy arts i.e fighting style for Holy church'.  He as happy as Larry at that time.

But sadly this couldn't last forever. When he became a rank 5 Holy artist only then was he exiled out of his little self-made paradise.

A curse was placed unto his body just like everyone who became a rank 5 Holy artist, he was then told about the cruel merciless sacrificing plot. In case one revealed the secret to anyone, the curse would activate and eat its host from within.

What could he do? He abhorred Holy church but that changed nothing. His intestine would burn as though hell flames had took refuge in them.

'I repudiate that I can't change this world' he would howl these words with feral eyes in the night sky filled with countless beams of small continuously flickering lights.

He hated himself for being so guileless. He was but a child with 14 years of age at that time. His eyes shone with deep resolution and he became rhadamanthine with himself. Through his cohesive efforts after only 3 long years he had the power to rival a second ranked Holy artist.

It has to be known, as one's rank improve so does the difficulty to go unto the next rank and without any teachers or guides this young and tender kid achieved second rank.

He had nothing to offer but his blood,toil,tear and sweat. After countless efforts he managed to lessen the effect of the curse implanted on his chest. After this foolishly he thought 'Finally, Finally I can reveal your truth you scoundrel satanist people' but his joyful dreams were once shattered by the callous reality.

No matter how hard he tried to cajole the people, all they had for him was endless scorn which tormented his soul as though insects tearing it apart.

His methods couldn't stop the curse but the effect only became cumulative. Only through relying on his endless abhor for the Holy church could he maintain his little life.

Soon Fordin knew his end was near. The curse had already weakened him into a very terrible shape.

'I can't die, I am...NOT ALLOWED TO DIE!' he would scream in pain and agony. He was the only one knowing this cruel enigma, at least before dying he had to pass it on to someone, someone who could do what he couldn't.

He retired to dumps he first came from. The Church never came after him, this showed how insignificant of a threat he was. There he found a homeless dumpster kid. He was living on that horrible garbage, the smell was enough to paralyze his nose.

He raised that kid, the kid was previously 13 years old. He taught him his arts and didactic his precious knowledge accumulated over the years. In less than five years the kid became a rank 4 Holy artist.  

Just like usual one day, Fordin was staring hard at stars. His body had shrunk to a feeble size over the years but his gaze was still as trenchant.

Howaf had grown into a muscular figure, his face was average while he was as tall as a giraff. With time Fordin discovered the avarice within Howaf and tried his best to inhibit it. But for Howaf, his greed for power was insatiable.

That day, Howaf sat beside him and gazed at stars. 'Master why do you look so deep into the sky?' he asked with curiosity in his eyes.

'Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?' Fordin threw a maieutic question at him.

Instead of a reply he got a stab through the chest followed by countless slashes by Howaf. Disbelief was obvious in his shiny eyes. 'How? why?

He wanted to ask many questions but all of them were answered once he saw the same cursed mark on Howaf's chest.

Behind Howaf there was a man will tall stature and handsome face, there was an evil grin on his face as he watched Fordin die.

Betrayal, failure and endless contempt filled his heat. His many emotions quickly became unstable. But he was tired, if he closed his eyes he could rest.

Ignoring everything else he once again shifted his blazing gaze towards the sky. With a cool and gentle breeze his life was swept away as though a small fish by a giant wave.

Thinking he failed, he had many regrets. Now he could do nothing so he may as well rest.

But he was flabbergasted when his vision cleared promptly. He noticed a stench that was actually coming from his own body, he was very familiar with it, the stench of blood. After further realization his small body was covered with hot blood which made his body extremely slippery.