Karnage: Hello Hello, Guys sorry If I take long to write chapters, truth be told I don't have a plot written out actually. I free-write this stuff and I have a theory that writing out the plot beforehand; kind of limits the level of your work. That's why I think as I write and go along, I more or less have ideas saved but I never fully plot the story and have to do brainstorm in between chapters. So sometimes it may take a bit longer than usual but have no fear, the chapter will indeed come.
I have a feeling, if I plot my stories beforehand; it'll end up a generic Xianxia story lol. Sometimes I need time to think and get some inspiration. Writing something original is never easy; generic plots however are a dime and dozen and very easy to reproduce if you don't know what you're doing. I'm sure other authors here know what I'm talking about, blessed love my peoples and I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment if you do, I get high off comments after all; thats why I write!
Wild Forests, Road to the Kingdom of Nar.
On the back of a black-scaled horse, was a young man with emerald-gold colored hair. A smile of magnificence plastered on his elegant face as he inspected the horse below him, his bewitching eyes reflected in the sunlight like jewels of the purest jade as he inspected all around it's body.
Naturally, this was Sol.
Beside him, a black-masked man with dark eyes and dual blades on his back; rode respectfully beside him on a common horse. Now and then he would also glance at the horse beside him as he had started feeling a weird aura being emitted from the horse. Judging by the expression on his master's face, he was sure it was something good.
Narcissus pondered as he gazed at Nightmare.
The horse's look had suddenly changed during their travel, it no longer had thick fur and seemed to be covered in black scales, it's red eyes became like a golden jewel and it's pupils were dark emerald in color.
The pupils were shaped like a serpents and gave the horse an even more gruesome gaze. It also grew two fangs that were more like tusks that grew outward from it's mouth like two curved steel swords. It's tail had suddenly grown longer and it also seemed to be shaped to be a weapon as it took the form of a stinger with a fang at the end.
Judging by the gleam on the stinger, it was surely venomous to a degree. He was also surprised to notice that it advanced to the Saint-Rank and gave off a feel of boundless strength. The horse Nightmare, who seemed like a type of chimera; certainly had a new look that fit it's name perfectly.
'Why...do I suddenly feel a connection to that horse? Should...I tell master?' Narcissus pondered again and again.
For some reason, the horse had felt as though it was a long lost cousin and this strange sensation made him feel extremely weird. He gazed at his master's back and saw he was in an incredibly good mood and figured he would speak up and not hide anything from this new master of his.
"Master?"
"Hmm? Narcissus? What's wrong?"
Sol turned to his side, and noticed the awkward looking retainer with his questioning eyes.
"...For a while now, I've felt a strange slight connection to your stead" Narcissus calmly said as he noticed an incredible smile of wonder surface on Sol's face.
"What? Really?!" Sol visibly shook for a moment, his bewitching eyes flashed as he begun to twirl a strand of his hair and sunk into deep contemplation.
"It seems...it's finally taking effect on them both. Strange...I didn't think this was possible" Sol muttered as he threw a glance at his retainer as he furrowed his brows and once more began to think.
"...Master, there's also another connection I can sense. I feel as though there's another connection though it is very far away in the direction we came from. It's so slight, I have to empty my mind in order to sense it" as the retainer finally said these words he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest.
"Ah!" Sol was once more shocked, but after an array of emotions; he smiled radiantly as if a suspicion had been confirmed.
'It seems my blood will create a strange familial connection...Really, my parents were complete monsters. To have created me this way, what exactly did they do?' Sol pondered as he inwardly laughed; he was extremely grateful to his parents.
'It's quite possible if I sent him to Serpent Falls, the young ones will feel a connection to him that is of the similar level' As Sol thought this he couldn't help but laugh as he gazed at Narcissus with a strange light, making the latter's back shiver.
'I can sense them all, as clear as day. Julius, Narcissus, and even the young ones of Serpent Falls, it seems they were too young to be activated and only a month ago did I start sensing them. It's not strange he can't sense Serpent Falls, after all that is even further away...' Sol pondered.
Sol brooded for a bit, as he thought of something and grinned mischievously.
"Narcissus"
"Master?" Narcissus gazed over at Sol showing curiosity.
"You don't have a Soul Beast right?" Sol asked with a smile.
"No master, this one never had such fortune" Narcissus replied with a bit of dejection, one could tell it was something he had sorely wanted.
"Good! Today we are going to get you one!" Sol laughed as he urged Nightmare forward.
He could sense a Serpent Familia nearby, this is what gave him his confidence. Sol's Emperor Mark was always quite accurate, and had never led him wrong.
"Hm? Master...Isn't a Soul Beast either gained through Runic Summoning or chance encounter with a beast?...Can it be given?"
Although Narcissus had blind faith in his lord, this was something that had never happened before and was quite skeptical inwardly.
"...Hehe, that was until today" Sol confidently said as he gazed at a particular direction.
**
The two decided to take a short break so the stead of Narcissus could rest, as they sat by a bonfire eating some Diamond-Clammed Shells Sol had previously bought; Sol's thoughts couldn't help but wander on Claire.
'I hope you are safe...wherever you are...I'll be there shortly' Sol thought to himself. He had given himself a year to become powerful enough to wander and now he had to fulfill his duties.
His mind similarly wandered on Zee and her cold face appeared in his mind, making him chuckle quietly to himself.
'I wonder if her belly is swollen...*chuckle* I hope she's eating a lot and not worrying too much. Once I find Claire, I will return before the young one is born. Ten years is a long time but I will certainly be back before then' Sol solemnly declared to himself.
Suddenly, Sol noticed something strange on his right arm. Hydrian's tattoo had begun dimly flashing in an emerald color, Sol saw something that made his draw drop.
The golden tattoo suddenly grew wings, and it continued to grow while constantly flashing until it took up his entire arm. Sol noticed when he probed Hydrian, there was no response as if she were in a deep slumber.
Hydreas seemed to have felt something, as a tiny head poked out from Sol's left arm and gazed at the tattoo with a questioning look which shifted between Sol and the tattoo. Sol laughed and rubbed the little head.
"Don't worry little one, one day your time to shine will also come" Sol could feel a bit of jealousy from Hydreas' eyes, but ultimately knew it wasn't born of malice.
It seemed as though Hydreas also wanted to become more helpful to Sol, and wanted to become even more powerful.
"Ya! My little baby is growing! Hehe" Suddenly a feminine voice entered Sol's mind, it was a young and mischievous voice.
He was quite accustomed to the tone of this person, which belonged to his Intelligent Weapon and mother of his Soul Beasts, Lilith.
"It seems your predictions were spot on, Lili"
**
Sol remembered the story Lilith had told him, about the serpent that wanted to fly...The Heaven Devouring Serpent, a sub-species that held a connection to dragons.
This serpent had dreamed of the blue skies and white clouds. It would hunt only beasts with wings in the hopes that one day it would grow them, this continued until one day it had found the body of an decaying ancient dragon of strange origin.
Everyday it would consume a part of that dragon and fall into a sleep. Until one day, it had entered a slumber and slept for a thousand years. Everyday for a thousand years, it would dream of the skies, flying though the clouds and hunting sky-born beasts. It would gaze at the sun and the moon, and dream of devouring them as if they were eggs.
One day after another this continued and slowly the serpent shed it's original form and became a beast of the skies. Not just any beast, It had become a serpent that had deviated from it's original path and had claimed the sky as it's kingdom. It became a lord of the sky and it's position was among the unrivaled.
Some records of Primal Humans indicated that there was once three suns, until one day a sun disappeared overnight along with the appearance of this strange Serpent-Dragon.
Primal Humans were humans of the ancient times, although they weren't as intelligent and informed as current humans; people believed they were even more powerful than current humans.
One of the ways Primal Humans indicated dangerous beasts, plantlife and other dangers were by using exaggerations. As they did not have access to cities like the current humans do, information was passed down via exaggerated stone carvings and weird drawings.
Even today, Primal Humans was a widely discussed topic among humans. No one knew what happened to the Primal Humans, and how they met their end but most knowledge about them had become forgotten and lost with time.
The only thing that proved their existence were these records of exaggerations and weird symbols that even till today could not be deciphered. However, Images were clearly understood. The more exaggerated something was, the more dangerous it was.
Ever since, the tale of the Heavenly Devouring Serpent had become a famous tale among Serpent Type beasts that were above the S-Rank.
Humans on the other hand, were fairly skeptical about it and found the tale to be a bit too exaggerated. Hence it became a Nightmarish tale humans would tell their children who behaved badly.
Lilith also seemed to indicate that it was an exaggeration, but she believed that the Heavenly Devouring Serpent was indeed a powerful type of beast that could not be looked down upon.
Sol had his own thoughts on the matter, he figured the disappearance of a sun was meant to symbolize the size of the creature as it blotted out the sky. Still, he also had a feeling such a creature was indeed very powerful. He believed it disappeared because the atmosphere of mana surrounding the beast had become too little to sustain it and therefore went in search of a higher density area.
'Well...If Hydrian can become such a creature, hehe that wouldn't be too bad' Sol mused quietly as he stroked his tattoo as if he were rubbing Hydrian's head.
'Primal Humans huh,...I wonder what they were like'
**
Sol and Narcissus once more departed on their journey towards the nearby Serpent Familia, his Emperor's Mark flashed a few times and seemed to emit a translucent wave that was not noticed by Narcissus.
Suddenly what appeared before them was a huge tree, as thick as building and as high as a sky scraper. The strange thing about this tree, were the grooves around it. It seemed almost like a screw as it spiraled down the tree.
Trees that grew this big were never ordinary trees, they were imbued with mana and were incredibly tough. Whatever could leave such intricate markings was clearly something that wasn't weak.
Sol dismounted and motioned for Narcissus to do the same.
"Stop here and wait, do not come over. They are watching us" Sol commanded.
"Master?.." Narcissus seemed shocked as he hadn't noticed a single presence.
Sol walked up to the tree, and he could feel quite a number of gazes roaming about his body. None of the gazes were hostile and seemed to be rather alarmed, except for one that was merely curious.
"Hi there, are you going to come down and greet me? Or should I come up?" Sol smiled as he spoke in a rather friendly manner.
The tree shook heavily as a huge silhouette emerged from the tree, it slithered down the huge tree that was as wide as a building with ease.
Narcissus was half scared to death as he noticed the silhouette, whose body was a shining diamond like color. It's scales were diamond and almost translucent.
In Narcissus' eyes, the diamond colored serpent as thick as a building seemed extremely vicious. It's facial features were akin to sharp rocks and if one looked closely, they would notice the scales under it's stomach perfectly fit the grooves as it slithered down.
Narcissus knew the serpent was of Earth Affinity very much like himself as he could feel the earthern aura surrounding it.
A boundless majestic presence surrounded it, as it touched the earth below the tree it's eyes lit up and confirmed his suspicion.
Narcissus was shocked as he noticed Sol beckoned it nearer to him, and it obediently and slowly slithered over to him. What he also noticed, was that it kept an obedient posture an didn't seem to be agitated at Sol's appearance.
Where else could he possibly have seen such a sight? Were beasts not known for their savagery and hate towards humans? Yet it acted in such an obedient manner towards his master who it had clearly never met before.
'Master...? Just what sort of person is he?'
'I've always hated beasts, how is it that I don't feel any hatred towards this one?' Narcissus quietly pondered these things to himself.
Sol smiled at the huge guy and gently rubbed it's head, it seemed to be of the Saint-rank and could not speak yet but it could understand it's words.
"Little one, aren't you lonely in this place? Do you want to become powerful? Do you want to join a Familia? I doubt that you are content in this place with so very little mana..." Sol asked.
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Narcissus didn't know what to think, any other human would be scared stupid standing in front of such a beast yet Sol seemed happy as if he had met a long lost cousin as he rubbed it's head. Not only was he completely unafraid, but the manner in which he called it "little one" shocked Narcissus.
Then he remembered Sol's three Soul Beasts, and his body shook. Those three were just as big, but were even more terrifying.
The Diamond Serpent's eyes flashed with a pure white shine that couldn't be ignored as if agreeing.
"Hehe, I understand. You see that guy over there? He's my....well I guess it would be fine to call him my "little brother"
"Will you take care of him for me?..I will give you the power to do so" Sol said with confidence, his smile seemed to hypnotize the huge Diamond Serpent. It seemed to agree before it cast it's eye over to an even smaller tree.
"..Oh? Are those your little friends? I was quite curious about them" Sol's eyes flashed over towards the little tree, and surprisingly quite a few heads poked out from the tree.
Narcissus was dumbfounded as they seemed to be tiny little needle like serpents which one could barely see from afar. Their heads were shaped like drills, which gleamed with a cold light.
What surprised him was the rank of these tiny beasts, they were all at the 9th Order.
"Aren't those Needlespine Serpents?!" Narcissus couldn't help but blurt out and was sure of that particular species as they were quite famously known among humans.
As he gazed at the tree, he became even more certain as he noticed that around the tree were quite a few corpses of other beasts and their bodies were riddled with holes.
The Needlespine Serpents were quite well known in Narcissus' hometown as they were quite a dreadful force. Just like their name implied, their bodies would stretch producing a terrifying piercing power using their own heads like an arrow tip.
They could easily make holes in steel without even trying, this innate ability coupled with their sheer number would make most beasts steer clear. If that wasn't enough, they could camouflage to their surroundings and become totally unnoticeable adding the element of surprise which increased the chances of a one hit one kill.
The Diamond Serpent seemed to be calling them over as it's eyes flashed with a light. The Needlespines immediately started falling off of the tree, and seemed like clear raindrops as they fell from the trees with their similar translucent bodies. Roughly a thousand droplets of rain fell from the trees as they slowly and cautiously moved over towards Sol and the Diamond Serpent.
'Needlespine serpents huh?' Sol thought to himself, he threw a brief glance at the corpses around the tree as his eyes flickered with a strange light and seemed to understand their combat abilities.
'Zee's mom told be about the many different kinds of serpents, she never mentioned about these. Could it be exclusive to this area alone?' Sol pondered.
Sol stooped low as he picked one up to eye level in the palm of his palm, he noticed it wiggled around as it wasn't used to being picked up and he couldn't help but poke it a bit making it panic a little bit; yet it dared not bite.
Sol laughed as he observed the weird reaction, seeing that Sol meant them no harm; their alarmed gazes turned to curiosity as they surrounded him and stared at this human with such a weird aura of familiarity.
Sol suddenly had an idea as he looked at these guys whose length was equivalent to two fingers and smiled.
"I will personally take care of them, how's that?" Sol laughed as he looked at the Diamond Serpent.
The Diamond Serpent's eyes flashed as it once more bowed, being the King of this area it naturally had to look out for it's tiny Familia and was grateful another more powerful King would take care of them.
The feeling this Diamond Serpent got from Sol was as if Sol was a walking ancestor, it could feel it in it's bones and this is the reason why it submitted so easily. Serpents were loyal to their bloodline alone, they would never shun their own bloodline; especially since they were hunted by particular beasts.
Sol bit his wrist, as his blood spurted out and he directly placed his hand inside the Diamond Serpent's mouth. It's eyes flashed with a strange emotion as it seemed to be shocked by the contents of Sol's blood.
'Ah...Master is doing it again' Narcissus thought.
"Narcissus come over here" Sol waved his hands motioning him to come over.
Narcissus began walking over, and strangely enough he did not feel any fear at all. Seeing Narcissus' weird reaction, Sol laughed.
"Whats wrong with you?" Sol asked in a provoking manner with a slight smile.
"N-Nothing master" the black masked man replied.
"From today on, you do not need to fear serpent type beasts. Just never offend a Serpent King, and you should be fine" Sol said confidently, as he did so he retrieved a clean steel sword from his runic ring; turned it to the side showing Narcissus his own reflection.
The black-masked man was shocked by what he witness, his own dark colored eyes were completely changed. His pupils were reptilian in nature, and were as white as snow.
He was even a little scared by his own image, he subconsciously touched his mask making sure it was his own reflection. Unlike Sol who could hide us own double pupils, Narcissus could not.
"Master? What...am I?" he asked in confusion.
"Does it matter?....Take off your mask" Sol commanded.
"Master...my face is.." Narcissus' face had actually become disfigured during the war in gaining his Kingdom and was the sole reason he wore a mask, Sol had naturally learned of this plight when he talked to Narcissus.
However, he knew Sol would never ask something like that without reason and still managed to remove his mask as if expecting a miracle. He gazed slowly lifted his gaze to the sword and was shocked by what he noticed.
"M-my face! It's back! No...something has changed..aren't I...much more handsome now?" Narcissus was shocked by what he noticed. It was indeed his face, but the defects he possessed in his natural face was all gone!
"Hahaha! Now you're the third most handsome man in Magnolia!" Sol gave a brief clap as he smiled and he burst out laughing at Narcissus' reaction.
"T-Third? Master who's the second?" He couldn't help but ask as he knew Sol was obviously the first, and it wasn't just self confidence; Sol was indeed the most handsome man he had ever seen.
Narcissus didn't swing that way, it was just something that anyone could tell just by a glance.
"The second huh...he's sleeping right now, one day you shall meet him" Sol was all smiles as he thought of that little furball who had yet to awaken.
Suddenly Sol's laughing expression suddenly changed as eyes violently shook, both Narcissus and the Diamond Serpent noticed this reaction and followed his line of vision.
In a flash, Sol appeared near the bottom of the tree and picked up quite a familiar piece of metal. It was a piece of metal...that was similar to his own ship that came to Magnolia!
Sol's eyes flashed all over as he examined it, noticing the weird numbers on it and the way it was created Sol was absolutely sure.
The Diamond Serpent nudged Sol's hand, garnering his attention.
"Little one, you know where this came from?" Sol asked with a hopeful eyes.
The Diamond Serpent nodded it's head, it had clearly remembered when it had seen the fireball piercing the air, and a tiny piece dropped nearby. It was quite curious and ventured out to collect the tiny piece. Being on top of this huge tree, it had quite a good view and the flying meteor like object could not escape it's view.
The Diamond Serpent once more started climbing the huge tree, Sol hopped on it's head and the two reached the top of the tree. The serpent pointed towards a certain direction as it's tongue flickered.
When Sol's eyes landed on the direction, his eyes visibly shook. He could tell that the forest in that direction had an intense density of mana, most likely powerful creatures resided in that area and the thought suddenly filled him with dread.
Looking at the huge flying type beasts that circled the air above the particular area, the gigantic trees that towered in the sky and the ferocious roars and howls that pierced the air suddenly made his blood boil.
'Is Claire...in there? No...What have I done?! I must find her immediately! Please be alive!' Sol's mind was in complete disarray, he had hoped Claire would have landed in a low mana density area such as himself and now his wishes were completely a dream.
Sol bit his lips, a violent expression emerged in his eyes as his blood leaked onto the Diamond Serpent who began shaking under the feeling of this intense fury.
Sol hopped off directly from on top of it's head and landed on the floor below, yet did not make a single noise.
Narcissus could tell the change, and kept quiet. Sol entered a brooding mood, as he begun thinking. Sol then shifted his gaze to the Diamond Serpent who quietly slithered back down the tree despite it's size.
"Little one, become Narcissus' Soul Beast and protect him well okay?" Sol gazed at the Diamond Serpent who nodded it's head and moved over to Sol's retainer.
Narcissus stretched out his hand and touched the head of the giant Diamond Serpent, a bit of nervousness in his eyes. A light flickered where the two met, and a strange scene occurred.
The Diamond Serpent and Narcissus' directly merged into one being!
Narcissus' body become almost ten times larger, his clothes were ripped to shreds and his spinal chord actually started showing;
the strange part was that it was completely diamond in color, spikes were produced on each vertebra and gave off an impenetrable and sharp piercing feel. Narcissus could feel fangs growing from his lips as they protruded from his mouth, giving him an even more terrifying look.
Earth Soul Beasts had this particular trait and it was the first time Sol had seen it, the aura he gave off was equivalent to the God-Aura. However, this didn't last long before the two were once more separated revealing a shocked Narcissus.
"S-Soul Resonance?" He couldn't help but say this in a flabbergasted manner, a symbol of a white snake tattoo appeared on his chest. He could feel the unbreakable connection to the Diamond Serpent that coiled around his body in a protective manner.
He subconsciously touched the white tattoo as a look of glee appeared in his eyes.
"I have my very own Soul Beast now..and I can actually do Soul Resonance!" He had never believed that such a day would come. A look of worship appeared in his eyes as he gazed at Sol and gave a soldier's bow as he stomped his heels.
"Thank you! My Lord!" this voice was filled with reverence and loyalty that could never be broken.
Sol smiled and waved his hand as if it were nothing.
"Fool, no thanks is necessary. This is only natural" Sol responded yet his mind drifted elsewhere, Narcissus could also tell something was on his Lord's mind.
"Narcissus, there's something I have to do of utmost importance. You cannot accompany me any longer for now, where I'm going; you would probably die" Sol spoke in a serious tone.
The Diamond Serpent nudged Narcissus as if confirmed Sol's words, although the former knew it would probably be something along those lines; he still couldn't help but feel a little down.
"Don't worry, it's not like we won't see each other again soon; Haha" Sol laughed noticing the expression.
"Return to Earthernvale, most likely; the King will come and greet you. Tell him you want to visit Serpent Falls and he will show you where to go. Once there, be respectful to the Guardians who live there; no one will obstruct you as they will sense the familiarity in your blood.
There are other children there who will probably come to meet you upon sensing your arrival, once you can control your Soul Resonance perfectly; make sure to come and find me. I will be waiting for your return" Sol said calmly as he gave Narcissus a mischievous smile.
"However, before then; there's something else you must do for me first!" Sol's face suddenly became ice-cold as his pupils flickered with a cold light.
"Your first order as my retainer, Go to the Kingdom of Nar. Kill the King, his subordinates and any that stand in your way! Anyone that offends me must die!"
Sol's voice was imposing and his grace from before could not be seen, instead a blood thirsty aura emitted from his body so much so that Narcissus felt the emotions begun sprouting from he himself as well.
"Yes Lord!" Narcissus immediately hopped onto the Diamond Serpent, who gave a quick glance at the thousand Needlespine serpents; as it's eyes flash seemingly saying goodbye.
In truth, Narcissus left this quickly because he knew his Lord wanted to similarly leave early. He could feel his Lord's emotions as if they were his own through the special connection they shared and could feel his impatience.
"Well...what do I do with you little guys now. Heh" Sol smiled.
He once more bit into his wrist as he cupped his hands and created a fountain of blood in his own hands.
"Drink" Sol motioned them, as they one by one begun drinking his blood. Surprisingly they had drank quite a bit and Sol's face became a bit pale. Only after making sure every single one had it's feel did he allow the Light Element to close the wound on his hand.
Sol then picked them up, and then placed them into his hair as the colors on their bodies adjusted and they seemingly vanished into his hair; but if one looked closely they would see tiny emerald eyes peering out from within Sol's hair.