February 02, 1410

Ray lost track of time while he held Charles. He just kept staring at his corpse, expecting him to move, but he never will. Ray looked at his surroundings, all the knights he killed, their blood leaving their bodies, seeping into the ground. The smell of blood and ash was strong in the air. He looked towards the cottage, but it was burned to the ground, everything inside of it was destroyed.

Ray gently carried Charles’s body towards the back of the cottage, where the garden used to be. Ray lay Charles next to the log that they used to sit on. He went back towards the cottage, grabbing the shovel.

Ignoring the pain in his arms, Ray forced himself to dig a grave. Afterwards he finally placed Charles into it. His tears made his sight blurry, as he gently placed the dirt on top of Charles’s body, until he was done. He planted the shovel next to it.

Ray's legs gave out, he dropped to his knees, he desperately wanted to rest, his body was aching, but he still had things to do. Ray went to the where the knights were. He gathered their bodies, and severed parts. He placed them far from the cottage, making sure to find every knight he killed. When he was finished, he finally realized the damage he’s done.

{Two, six, eight, ten, thirteen, sixteen, twenty. Twenty. Twenty knights. I murdered twenty knights. I took their life. If they had family, dads, moms, siblings… What am I supposed to tell Eda?}

“I have to get back.” Ray mumbled to himself.

Ray walked to the burn cottage, trying to find anything that survived the fire. He stepped on embers and burned wood. Ray and Eda's room were completely destroyed. All his clothes burned. He moved to Charles room; He looked around.

Moving the wood, Ray tumbled onto a metal statue. He grabbed it, and it was still warmed. It was a symbol of Sez. There were burn marks on the back side of it. The front side was almost untouched.

{Of course this survives. No, I should be grateful, I can put this with him, I’m sure it is what he would have wanted.}

Ray walked towards the burial, and planted the mark of Sez on top of it. Ray walked to the side of the grave. Ray looked at his hands, they were shaking, covered in mud, cuts, and dried blood.

{How did this happen? How did they find us? Was there someone else watching me? That knight is still unconscious, should I head up there and kill him? No, I already did enough damage today. Dammit, how did they find us out? It’s all my fault.} Ray cursed himself.

“It seems you’ve been busy.” A voice suddenly rang out, from behind Ray.

Ray’s anger quickly came back, his black aura engulfing him. Ray instantly threw a punch towards the voice behind him. But the person caught Ray’s hand, before it could strike him.

“Easy there fresh-blood, Your master Senya sent me.” The person said.

Ray was stunned hearing those words. Ray looked at the person who caught his punch. It was a man, he seemed to be middle-aged. He had light blonde hair. Green eyes, he wore a black tunic, with blue pants. The man was inspecting Ray, and the surrounding area.

“Hmm? You look really similar. What the! Well, it looks like my trip was a waste, you already awakened your mark.” The man said.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Ray said.

“Look at the back of your left hand.” The man said, as he let go of Ray’s arm.

Ray turned his hand, Ray could see his mark, it was a spiral that started from the palm of his hand, and reached the back of his wrist.

“How I, I don’t understand.” Ray started to say.

The man walked past Ray, checking the burial, and looked towards the bodies of the knights Ray had killed. “You killed those knights, because they killed the person who you buried here, correct?” The man asked.

Ray slowly nodded his head. Biting his lip.

“Is Charles the one who is buried here?”

Ray looked down; he didn’t want to answer.

“...I see, well we can awaken our marks through emotional distress. Seeing the person who died here finally pushed you to get your mark.”

“I wish it didn’t happen like this.” Ray sadly stated.

The man sighed. “Your master would know what to do, I will send her a letter as soon as I can. Look, we need to move, I have to get back to my place, until we know what your master wants to do with you, you’re staying with me.”

“No! I have to stay here, there might be more-”

“Don’t be stupid, you've been leaking your energy this whole time, you’re about to collapse.” The man told Ray.

“I don’t care.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I don’t care what you do, but I’m supposed to be your mentor, if you want to die then fine by me, but don’t forget you have a sister that wants to keep you alive.”

“You know about Eda?” Ray asked.

“Your master mentioned her in the letter I received. I also read the news about her mission, going by what she told me it would be best if the both of you are still alive.”

“What do you know of Eda?”

“I just told you, look I’m leaving, are you coming or not, I can’t be gone for too long. The knights back in my village might get suspicious if I am gone for too long. The last thing I need is more trouble. Bad enough I have to deal with that damn deacon.”

Ray didn’t understand what the man was saying, but he was still angry. His body was still shaking, but he didn’t know if it was from anger, or tiredness. He took a deep breath, he understood he needed to leave this place. Ray nodded at the man.

“Good, I can see that mostly everything you owned is destroyed, even so I have to ask, did you manage to salvage any clothes, or items?”

“No, everything was burned.” Ray answered.

“Ok, let’s go.”

“Wait! Can I. Can I say goodbye, please?” Ray begged.

The man looked at Ray. “Fine, I’ll wait over there, make it quick.”

“Thank you.” The man left Ray alone, Ray knelt down in front of the burial.

{Charles than you for everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I’ll get stronger, I will protect Eda. I… I know we will never meet again, but I will always cherish these memories between the three of us. Goodbye Charles.}

Ray wiped the last of his tears, and stood up. He jogged towards the man.

{Should I mention the knight I knocked out? No, he even said we need to leave already. Plus there is nothing he can do anyway, there have been enough deaths already.}

“Ready?” The man said.

Ray took one more look where he used to live. A burned down cottage, twenty knights laying in the ground, a grave with a shovel next to it.

Ray touched his neck. {At least Eda has something to remember you by, I wished I would've gotten one too.} Ray faced the man. “Let’s go.”

***

February 02, 1410

In the city of Arkaley, it was located next to the holy city of Adruil. The city had a stone wall defending it, in the middle of the city stood a grand church. The left lower side of the city houses the citizens. All of the buildings were made of stone. The buildings were packed together. The upper left side was the market district, while the lower right side had parks, and entertainment areas. The upper right side belongs to the rich citizens, filled with mansions.

On the rich citizens' side was a two–story mansion. Inside the mansion was Ray master. She was in her study room, she was going through papers. She heard a knocking coming from her window. She went over and opened the drapes. She saw a man standing in front of the window. She immediately recognized the man. She sighed, and opened the window.

“Hell mas-” She tried to say.

“No need for that.” The man interrupted.

“What are you doing here? It’s barely midnight, you really couldn’t use the door?” She asked.

“Didn’t feel like it.” The man said he walked through the window, and sat on the chair she was sitting on.

“So what brought you here?” She asked.

“I went to check on those kids you turn.”

“Oh! What’s your opinion?” She asked.

“Well I saw the girl after she finished the mission you assigned her. She has potential. On the other hand the boy needs more training. I can see he is still struggling with his humanity. He still hasn’t fully acknowledged he is still a hybrid. Which is ironic since you chose him.” The man concluded, as he let out a small laughed.

She ignored the last part of what he said. “I’m sure he will live up to the expectations I have given him.”

“Well he better, unlike his sister, Ray is still weak, he still hasn’t even awakened his mark yet. Did you assign someone already that will force him to accept who he is?” The man asked.

“Don’t worry, I already assigned Vincent. He may be easy going but he takes his job more seriously. Vincent will help Ray overcome his problems, after I receive the letter from Vincent, I will just send him on the same type of mission as his sister.”

“If you say so. If they don’t die on us, they’ll be useful, beside those two, there are also the other four hybrids that started at the same time. we need to make sure they reach the appropriate strength before they officially join us.” The man said.

“We can only do so much, at the end of the day, it is up to them to overcome their own obstacles. You said you saw them, did you just spy on them?” She asked.

“Yes, I didn’t see a reason to talk to them. I just wanted to see the people you turned into hybrids. After all this is the second time you ever turn someone.”

“You gave me the order to find some hybrids. Those two were the only ones I could find without a family to drag them down.” She explained.

“Are you sure that is the only reason you chose them?”

“Yes.” She answered.

“Hmmp, I half expected you to come empty handed.”

“I do take your orders seriously.” She told the man.

“For that, I am grateful,” The man looked at the clock in the study room. “Well I said everything I need to, I gotta get going. Busy man after all. Gotta arranged some more meetings.” The man hinted.

She sighed mentally in her head. “You still insist on that?”

“Of course, I have to make sure you guys get along, otherwise how do you expect me to have some fun? I always enjoy how the meeting escalates. Got to enjoy whatever fun I can get. Living for so long does eventually get boring. Otherwise I would have already brought down the church. I have no need to rush things. Going to savor every moment of this plan.” The man stated.

“Of course.” She said.

“Before I go, how is your granddaughter?”

“She’s fine, she’s already asleep.” She answered.

“Well that is good to hear. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

The man stood up, and opened the window, before vanishing from the room. She walked towards the window, closing it, and putting the drapes back to their normal place.

{Two years. Just two more years until we can finally start. I will keep my promised John. Even though I lost them a long time ago, I won’t forget it. You aren’t here anymore, but your home is. I wonder how I’ll feel once it's done.}