Waking up on my seventh birthday was even easier than usual, a motivated spring in my steps as I put the leather clothes on and left my hut to greet Pale, who was now brimming with a foreboding power I knew to be the necros within her.
Hannibal stood by my side, his body refined to the third tier, turning his body into a wall that even my stone battleaxe couldn’t pass through.
Nemo still resisted any kind of training as far as I was aware, entertaining us with her meows as our journey began.
During the month of lumen, the sky was much brighter than in any other month, my own affinity to this Arcana motivating me to walk a bit faster than usual, even as the sky began darkening in the early morning hours.
Our goal was clear and our stride unbroken as we dashed through the forest, rejecting any and all confines the forest dared to put in our way.
We weaved through ancient trees until we arrived outside the forest I had called home for one and a half years now, the agonizing training I went through necessary to have a chance against a villain of my own creation.
From there on, we walked towards my village of origin, the sky darkening a bit more as the moons aligned to perfectly blot out the sun, a gut curling scream emanating from within as I realize the darkness ahead of us.
As we set food in that place, I felt mocked by the phantom like images of my former friends and family, rushing towards us and complaining about their fate as I sucked them in, for I knew they were not the real ones, I had already consumed those.
But despite the ruins, it was quite clear what was not there, namely the titan we had come to face.
Ghosts and elemental specters attacked us relentlessly, and when my spells couldn’t tear through what I once considered an actual danger, I simply sucked them inside, my soul growing by the second as a 540-day-old hunger for souls was finally given the attention it needed, and nothing was more deserving of death than those who mimicked those who had died.
I fell into a feeding frenzy, casting spells like a madman to stop them from desecrating this sacred place.
It took me a full day of absorbing the raw phantasmal power of these fell creatures, the situation calming down when the sun became visible once more in the evening, at which point my allies had made camp and decided to wait out my episode so we could be at least somewhat productive.
“He is no longer here.” I stated, my look grim as I approached the campsite, my friends nodding as I did so.
“While you did the whole ghost sucking thing, I went ahead and searched this place for traces, and I have to say it isn’t hard to find them, boulder sized holes are everywhere that the ground is on the softer side, and simple dents everywhere else, even so long after you messed up.”
Pale stated, Hannibal grunting at me in concern.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Sorry guys, I lost my cool there. Where did it head if you have seen its traces?”
I asked, burning to get on with the hunt.
“We assume it went towards the west. I suggest we rest for the night and proceed on its path tomorrow.”
At this revelation, my gaze turned to one of shock, my hands trembling as I went for a quick search around the village.
“Did you notice that there isn’t a single piece of stone left in this place?” I asked, Pale confirming it with a nod.
“I didn’t think it as something I had to mention, given that it is quite obvious with all the wood lying around.”
A sigh escaped my lips.
“There are mountains to the west.”
It was a simple statement of mine, and yet it froze everyone at camp, Pales eyes growing wide as she processed that information.
“Any hopes we can catch up to it before it reaches them?” She asked, and I dashed towards my old mentors home, rummaging through the cellar she had made and procuring a map of the region.
“There are many villages in its path, with a few hills and two suspected tribes of giants that have their territory there, it might be held back on any of these locations, and it will take us a while on foot. My father once told me a story about teleporters in big cities, maybe we can use one of them to catch up with it, if they still exist.”
Thus, we turned in for the night, sleeping so we could progress at the next day, our first target being a nearby village that would take us about three days of travel on horseback, or two on foot if we kept up a somewhat fast pace, our goal reached mostly without problems.
“There are monsters outside the gate!” We heard them scream, arrows flying towards us before we could defend against them, my protect spell quickly outperformed by the speed at which they shot, thus prompting me to change my method into mass casting the redraw spell, gathering the arrows into my right hand, where I then cast ‘black hole’ on them to get rid of the material, the arrows ending at some point, which prompted me to dispel it, leaving an orb of pure darkness in my hand, which I then used in combination with ‘Condense gather’ until it was the size of my small fingertip.
“You should stop wasting arrows, or I will unleash this spell upon you Idiots, now open the gates before I open them myself!” I threatened the guards, my mana vision prompting me to cast a counterspell against the sudden surge of arcane power I noticed from one of the walls, the red robed young man widening his eyes as his magic was dispelled.
“Just because a mage is before your doors with his familiar and companion, it is no reason to call him a monster.”
I stated, a rather round man walking atop the gate, his fat making the wood screech beneath his weight.
“I am lord Aboley, current manager of this place, though it is rather unusual to find a caster of your strength out here, especially in these perilous times. Aren’t you aware that more and more monsters are coming from the west every month?” He asked, his face red with exertion as he leaned over.
“And how do we know you are not some monster that feeds on our dreams?”
My gaze turned to one of disbelieve as I watched the trembling soldiers, a grin displaying my sharp teeth.
“Listen, just because one of my experiments went wrong, and I lost my class, that is no reason to call me a monster. Firstly, wizards of my power have far more efficient ways to send all of you to sleep, and second, you would be dead if I had any sort of evil inclinations.”
They each nodded at that, slowly opening the gate as we headed inside, now quite a bit more careful about the surrounding strangers.
“You see, I lost quite a few things when that titan disturbed one of my experiments and stole my affinity for geos, and I will slay it and everyone involved in its current path, all I require is a direction and, given the way you reacted to my new look, a pair of cloaks to conceal us, I am sure I can make it worth your peoples time.”
Someone laughed, the other soldiers quickly joining in until my thin wearing patience finally snapped, and my willpower was no longer enough to hold my emotions from pulling a soldier off the gate, the man falling two meters straight towards the ground.
“If you need someone to awaken magic inside some of you, I can probably do that, and if any here are sick, I will heal them, all for the price of two cloaks and possibly masks to hide our Identity, so I do not accidentally slaughter some village down the line. What do you say?”
Quickly, they took me serious, and then the mage whose spell I had countered stepped forwards.
“I am willing to sponsor these things, if you agree to take me with you to the next village, so I can ensure nobody gets hurt because of your actions. Also, you will be required to heal three people during your time here, and make sure to advance one willing person to take my place once I am done.”
My agreement was immediate, and I was quite proud of my efforts until I was brought towards the first sick person, which made me reconsider my offer when they had trouble holding onto their own arm, but I was not someone that went back on their word, especially when I could evade a few deaths down the line.