"Monsters! Monsters are attacking the town!"

"Aah! Somebody please save me!"

The winter air of Pastil Town felt even colder today more than ever.

Screams of despair and desperation can be heard throughout the remains of what used to be a peaceful and lively settlement. The scent of blood spread rampantly as groups of wyverns savagely butcher the remaining civilians while feasting on their corpses.

"Everyone, don't lose hope! The Deacons of the Genesis Church is here!"

Hope re-emerged as a voice can be heard throughout the ruins while a group of people wearing black and white colored robes arrived. Their numbers doesn’t exceed thirty and all of them had determined expressions on their faces. They were the Deacons, Tier 1 magicians under the Genesis Church and renowned as the protectors of humankind. Leading them was a middle-aged man with long black hair, dark blue eyes and a thin face. Down his neck was a luxuriously decorated silver necklace in the shape of a clock. The man is a Tier 2 Magician and a Priest of the Genesis Church, Phillips Walt.

"Mages, get into formation and prepare your magic. In 3,2,1.....fire!!" Priest Phillips commanded the legion behind him as dozens of fire, wind, earth and water spells headed towards the numerous wyverns in the sky.

Wave after wave of bombardment continued on as the number of wyverns gradually decreased. Some managed to escape the assault while most ended up as mincemeat from the barrage of spells.

"Huff... Is it safe to come out now?"

Not too far away, a young boy with messy blonde hair and beautiful golden eyes emerged from his hiding place. After examining his surroundings for a while, the boy finally decided to head out and explore the area. Although his clothes were tattered and his body extremely frail, the boy had a calm expression on his face.

"Heh, who would have thought that I would be transmigrated into such a dangerous world" said the boy with a slight grin.

This boy was no ordinary person. His name is Damien, a transmigrator from Earth who was reincarnated into the body of a 12-year-old boy who shared the same name. The original Damien was an orphan who died from malnourishment in the slums of Pastil Town. Astonishingly, the Damien from Earth woke up in the boy's corpse and was able to live normally, as if the body hadn't even died in the first place!

"I can ponder over the mysteries of my reincarnation later on.... the urgent matter now is to find protection!"

It had been no less than three days since his reincarnation when the wyverns suddenly attacked. All Damien could do back then was curse his luck and try to survive the assault. His frail and malnourished body wouldn't pose a threat to even the weakest of monsters.

"Look, a survivor!"

After wandering for a while, Damien was eventually discovered by the church's Deacons and led to a safe place with the other survivors. The number of townsmen who were still alive doesn’t even reach 40, testifying to the severity of the tragedy that had just ensued. Phillips Walt looked at the survivors in front of him and let out a regretful sigh.

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"To think that a group of wyverns would suddenly appear in this area, the people of Pastil Town are truly unfortunate."

Normally, wyverns would only appear in the faraway Draconic Mountain Range and was almost non-existent in the areas surrounding Pastil Town. The fact that a flock of wyverns suddenly appeared and raided the town was very surprising to say the least. By the time the Genesis Church heard of the news, it was already too late.

The remaining civilians all had varying expressions on their faces. Some were crying in grief while others were still in disbelief. Amongst the crowd, the one who stood out the most was a blonde-haired boy, Damien. Hiding from the winter winds under a thick coat, he had a carefree expression on his face, as if the tragedy that ensued before was something trivial. Intrigued by the boy, Phillips decided to strike a conversation.

"Hey kid, you look a bit lonely there, mind having a little chat with me?"

"I see no problems with that, sir."

"Great. I'll be frank, why are you sitting here all by yourself? Did you lose anyone close during the earlier attack?"

The boy was feeling a little troubled on how to respond. The original Damien’s mother died during childbirth while his father mysteriously disappeared when Damien was 6. Thus, the poor boy had to learn to survive in the unforgiving slums all by himself. After a few seconds, Damien finally decided to answer truthfully.

"I live alone... both of my parents are gone"

Phillips was quite taken aback by Damien's words. He was shocked to hear that a boy was somehow able to live in the slums all by himself and was sceptical of the validity of what he just heard. Phillips decided to temporarily supress his curiosity and continue the conversation.

"I'm sorry to hear that. After this, how about coming with us back to our branch in Symphonia? The Genesis Church runs an orphanage nearby so you will be able to make a lot of new friends. Even more, if you work hard enough, you might even be able to join the Church's Deacons!"

The Genesis Church has a tradition of recruiting raised orphans into their ranks. The motives of this practice is mainly to ensure the members will always be loyal to the Church. After all, these orphans had been with the Church for almost their whole lives thus the possibility of them betraying their home is very slim.

Damien's eyes lit up when he heard Phillip's words. Joining the Deacons! That meant learning magic! Ever since his reincarnation, Damien had always wanted to increase his strength. He realized early on that in order to survive in this world, he needed to be powerful enough to fend for himself. This was simply a golden opportunity!

"I will be in your care then, sir."  Damien said in the sincerest tone he could muster.

Seeing the boy’s sudden change in attitude, Phillips let out a slight chuckle.

"Nice response kid. You better start packing up your stuff, we'll be setting off to Symphonia tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll be on my way then. It’s been a pleasure meeting you.” Damien bade his farewells and was just about to take his leave until suddenly…

BOOM!

From a few dozen metres away, the sound of an explosion can be heard and dust clouds emerged from it. As the dust clouds settled down, the figure of a wyvern can be seen coming out of the rubbles, seemingly attempting to escape. Earlier on, this wyvern had beein hiding inside the ruins of the town hall from the Church's mages and had now finally decided to come out of its hiding spot in an attempt to flee.

The wyvern scanned its surroundings until it's gaze landed on Damien. Suddenly, the wyvern's eyes filled with killing intent and as it charged straight towards the boy, losing all rationality. It had completely abandoned its intentions of escaping and flew right into its death in order to kill Damien!

Caught off guard by this sudden change of events, the Deacons were unable to react. Just as the wyvern’s sharp claws was about to reach Damien, Phillips raised his palm and muttered in a low voice:

Metal Magic: Steel Spikes!

Suddenly, a huge spike made out of pure steel emerged from the ground and impaled the approaching wyvern, causing its demise. Crimson red blood gushed out of the wyvern's wound like a fountain as it continued to dye the surroundings red.

Damien was not spared from the blood spraying all over his face but was not even slightly bothered by it. His gaze was on the corpse of the wyvern, seemingly in deep thought.

"Strange...why was that wyvern targeting me?" He pondered in his mind.