It took Cedric a whole night to come up with a concept for his doll but after a the whole night he still wasn’t able to find a good energy source. In his miniature dolls that the spirits would posses the power source and core are all done by the spirit. But Cedric made it his goal to not use spirits but create something like a core.
“Hmm~~Ah! I could use this!”
The floating dolls possessed by spirits gathered around Cedric and looked at the page he was staring at. On it was the image of a demon beast, demons beast are beast consumed by demonic energies in the world. But there are some that came directly from the abyss but that is a story for another time. Anyway all demon beast have magic cores, these cores generate and release mana thus making demon beast a frightening existence. Imagine a gigantic wolf suddenly pouncing on you but when you try to fight back it releases a fireball from it’s mouth.
“But where could I see find one?”
Cedric didn’t mind the danger but what he wanted to know was where he could find a demon beast. After all demon beast are frightening creatures that’s why villages are normally built away from the forest they inhabit.
But Cedric doesn’t want to give up. He took out a map of the kingdom that he found in his father's shop. The map clearly shows where his village is at. It was a few kilometers away from a supposed beast sanctuary.
“Oh I might find some here!”
He said as he pointed at a the sanctuary, these sanctuaries are places that are covered by a barrier. Only humans can freely enter and exit it the beast inside on the other hand are left inside for the materials on their bodies.
In the world there are 3 types of beast Demon, Mystical and Spirit beast. Spirit beast are beast who have failed to transcend to become a nature spirit. But they retain their original species and instead gain powerups. These beast like demon beast have magic cores. But unlike demon beast that are normally mindless animals, spirit beast have their own consciousness.
“Hey do you guys know of a fast way to get to this place?”
Cedric asked the spirits but what he got was a no. First of all the spirits want to help Cedric and they know that he can’t take this sanctuary on.
“What should I do now?”
Cedric was in a slum and didn’t know what to do but as he was down (knock knock) he heard knocking on his door followed by a sweet voice.
“Cedric it’s time for breakfast!”
“Coming!”
Cedric replied and hid all his work so his mother won’t see it. He then opened the door and made his way to the dining room. In the dining room his father would occasionally take glances towards Cedric, he did this almost everyday but today he was unusually glancing more.
“Uhm… dad do you have something you want to say to me?”
Cedric already knew the reason for his father’s strange behaviour. His mother saw what he made yesterday and it is most likely that she told his father about it. After all Cedric wasted most of his time in his room.
“Well I just wanted to say… I’m proud of you son”
Clarence said that and patted Cedric’s head, this was not the first time that Clarence patted Cedric but this was the first time it was for his achievement. Normally he would be patted because he was down or bullied. It was simply done to comfort him but now it was due to his hard work.
“Don’t worry dad, I will surely make you proud someday!”
He said as he smiled towards Clarence, this smile looks normal but to the couple this was something they rarely see. Cedric since young was despised by the village people so seeing him smile due to genuine happiness is rare. So seeing this smile filled with his feelings the couple were enveloped in joy.
“Are you sure about this son?”
The couple said as they looked at their son that was heading to town. Today Cedric said he would go around town and look for friends. The couple really wanted their son to have confidence and hoped that he wouldn’t come running home with a face full of snot and tears again. But with the change in Cedric’s atmosphere the two couldn’t help but believe in what he said.
“Okay now I’m out of their site let’s go guys!”
Although he told his parents that he would go around town the truth is he was heading for the forest. Cedric knew his strengths and weaknesses and that everyone has a flaw but there is no saying that there are no ways to get rid of these flaws.
Cedric followed the floating dolls as they led Cedric into the forest, soon after a walking a decent amount of distance they arrived at a cave. The cave entrance was small making many large animals and not notice it. Even humans just brush it off because first of all who would fit in there second is what would type of thing would be in there lastly snakes hide in small tight places.
“Uhm… I will go in there?”
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Cedric was hesitant as he knew that there would normally be snakes in this place but the spirits entered and so he put his trust on his friends and entered.
“Wow…”
Getting inside the cave and looking around Cedric was filled with awe as he looked at the scenery unfolding in front of him. There is a large lake in the cave, the top of the cave is filled with crystals that release a soft glow illuminating the water and making it sparkle.
The spirits again gathered around Cedric but this time they carried him and threw him in the water. At first Cedric thought he would drown after all he couldn’t swim but most importantly his physical strength was lower than the weakest person in the world.
“Huh?”
Cedric then realized he wasn’t drowning but instead his body was filled with energy like he can do anything. He looked at the spirits and seeing them his eyes slowly filled with tears but before they started falling he wiped them off and smiled.
[this is not the time to cry, they did this so I can try I should not betray their trust!]
With newfound motivation Cedric began training. He started by feeling the energy in the pool. The pool was not any normal pool it’s a pool of condensed magical energy. In other words mana that took a liquid form. He tried drinking this and when he did he felt his body was revitalized.
“But I also need Aura energy”
Hearing his small mutter the spirits dejectedly lowered their heads. Cedric comforted them saying, “It’s alright”. Well he can’t wish for everything to just magically appear right, especially aura. This type of energy is part of the bodies of all living beings and without this they will lose their energy or power to live.
This is one of the most important differences in mana and aura, mana is circulated in the atmosphere but this aura is not. It only exist inside living beings and taking it would require killing. Cedric would never want to have the blood of another living being on his hands well… at least for now.
“Wait if I do this I could reinforce my body using mana!”
Cedrick happily yelled out but after a few trials he immediately found a flaw. Reinforcing his body would require the mana in the lake in other words he would need a huge reservoir of mana and something like this won’t always be present.
As Cedric was thinking a spirit entered his body. He didn’t mind but then he felt energy circulating around his muscles and blood vessels. He felt his soul was refreshed and his whole being changed. He carefully analyzed this state and began thinking of a way to replicate it.
The spirit soon exited from Cedric’s body and instead of staying in the water Cedric walked to a corner of the cave and started meditating.
A few hours after Cedric started meditating he opened his eyes and grasped for air. He then saw that in front of him are the spirits and a pile of fruits. With a smile Cedric partook of the food and began saying his impression.
“I found that magic circulates in the atmosphere fairly fast and at massive amounts. With this I might be able to use magic but to do this I need to be one with nature. But to do this I need to be a spirit but becoming a spirit is impossible”
The spirits with their doll bodies sat on the ground. Cedric saw this and was taken under the spell of cuteness. He then slapped himself and began thinking again of how to manage the control of mana.
“Well time to continue”
With those words Cedric began to meditate again.
A Few hours passed and again Cedric opened his eyes but he was now calm. The reason he stopped meditating is because it was already afternoon and the sun will set soon so he has to get home.
“Hey have you seen it yet!”
As Cedric was walking back unnoticed he heard the exchange between two adults of the village.
“No well it’s turning dark so we should head back”
“You’re right but seriously why would a demon beast suddenly appear here?”
“Well this does happen once a year, just pray that you don’t get killed”
“Heh… I’ll pray that useless kid with Letonia get killed”
“Shush, you know who his parents are? Those two are very important to our village what would we do without a woodcarver and a blacksmith”
“Yeah yeah let’s just go I don’t want to be demon food”
Those words were directly targeted at Cedric and he knew that he was hated. But since he had his parents he could still have hopes on a good house to return to.
Later that night Cedric’s parents didn’t come home, with the new he heard about a demon beast Cedric can’t help but worry all night he prayed that his parent would come home safely.
“What are we gonna do now!”
“Are you serious?!”
“It’s by the gate”
Early morning Cedric woke up because there was a commotion outside. He looked out and saw that a lot of people were crowding in front of his house. Cedric’s world stopped at that point and his heart was beating fast. He turned pale and did his best to walk out of the house.
“Hey it’s that kid”
“I heard they went out looking for him because he went missing yesterday”
“Ehhh so he’s the reason for this huh”
Lot’s of voices converged and all said the same thing. Cedric didn’t want to believe it he didn’t want to. They say it but he knew that it was just the town playing tricks on him.
[It couldn’t be possible right that they died looking for me...]
Cedric’s mind went blank and he mindlessly walked towards the gate. There what he saw was not his parents smiling at him. But a horrendous bloody pile of flesh and blood, what’s more the clothes on the recognizable body parts were clearly the clothes his parents wore yesterday.
Cedric didn’t want to believe it and looked around and at the side of the gate there was the proof. Two heads ripped from their bodies were at the side of the gate, they both belonged to people Cedric knew very well it really is his mom and dad.
“MOTHER! FATHER!”
Cedric screamed as he ran to the two heads but he stumbled on a rock and fell. He raise his head and what he saw was the face of his parents covered in their own blood. Cedric looked at his father's face.
[Well I just wanted to say… I’m proud of you son]
He remembered his father’s words at the same time just yesterday they were happily eating lunch together now he wakes up seeing his father’s bloodied corpse. He then looked at his mother and remembered how she would try to comfort him. Making his favourite food and making him smile his mother did everything for him…
“Mother… Father...”
“Uwaaa~”
He cried the villagers soon went away and headed towards the village chief's hut. No one cared about the boy crying over his parents death the all simply wanted to run away.
Night fell and the boys stopped crying, the villagers were all packing their things and putting them in wagons. It is pretty obvious that they plan to leave and run away. Cedric didn’t mind them, after all it was obvious to him that they had no plan to bring him along. The only reason the villagers accepted him was because his father and mother are important to the village. But now that their dead they have no use for the kid.
“Hey hurry up or the beast might just attack”
“Heh kid you could prove some use now, be the bait and keep the monster here so we could escape. Doing this will give value to your pitiful worthless life”
The village chief told Cedric and soon the caravan left. All that’s left of the village are deserted houses and Cedric. When the people left the spirits gathered around Cedric and were releasing a very apologetic feel, Cedric understood.
The reason his parents died was because they were looking for him and the reason he wasn’t in the village is he was training with the spirits. Although that was the case the spirits knew nothing of this demons beast and furthermore he knew if he only told his parents the truth then it wouldn’t have turned out like this.
“Don’t worry instead could you help me bury my parents”
A light brown ball of light flashed and the ground moved to cover his parents. His parents bodies that were mutilated were put back together and buried in one piece. A cross made of stone popped out of the ground and the grave was completed.
A dark green light flashed and flowers grew on the grave. Cedric thanked the spirits and after paying his respects he made sure that he would get revenge.
“Tomorrow I will get that beast, even if it’s the last thing I do”
When he said this the spirits went into a frenzy but Cedric calmed them down and asked, “Please help me”. The spirits knew that Cedric was serious and they could do nothing but say accept his plan. But if things turn out badly they would do all they can to make sure that Cedric doesn’t die.