“I'll say it one last time,” her voice was like a knife to my skin. ”Give me the word, and I may let you live.”

My chest felt heavy. The word. What word? I could barely think straight, my thoughts were in pure chaos.

She’ll let me and Kiyara go. I just need to give her the Word… the Word… What even is this “Word” that she’s asking for? Thousands of thoughts started clashing against each other in my head.

The thoughts kept getting louder and louder, screaming at me to just give her what she wanted. After what felt like an eternity, her clear and steady voice pulled me out of my trance.

“Hmm, the time is up. I gave you a chance to hand it over, now I’ll have to take it from you.”

Her words were ice in my veins, freezing my body in place. My body felt like lead. I started trembling as I stared into her predator-like eyes only moments away from being her hunted prey. I wanted to open my mouth and speak, tell her that I didn’t have the slightest idea what she was talking about. But I couldn’t. The fear rendered me unable to breathe and transformed me into a panting and quivering mess.

“KUROOO!!! WAKE UP!!! What is that Word that she’s talking about?”

My master’s words cut through the fear and finally allowed me to breathe again.

“I-I don’t know! I d-don’t have the slightest idea!”

The mysterious girl narrowed her bright yellow eyes at me, and a mocking smile played on her lips as she heard the fear in my voice.

“Enough talk, I don’t have all night to spare!”

She cut our conversation off and dashed towards me with unbelievable speed. She reached me in the blink of an eye, buried her fist in my abdomen and sent me flying backwards.

Before I could blink she moved in a blur of motion and slammed her fist into my stomach. Fire spread through me as the impact threw me backwards. I crashed onto the ground. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth and stars exploded before my eyes.

Light fell into my eyes from the edge of my vision, but I couldn’t make out its source. It must have been Kiyara, fighting against the muscular man and his puppet. I tried to get up, but the pain was too great. Above the sound of my own heartbeat, I could hear the smacking noise of feet moving on wet mud. I was yanked up by my hair, and the girl whispered into my ear with her soft yet firm voice.

“You should have just given me the word when I asked for it, you foolish boy.”

Her hand reached into the pocket on the inner side of my coat and pulled out the book I took with me from the library. She purred as she stroked the cover of the book with her fingers.

“Finally… The Word… I found it…”

She let me fall to the ground and gave me a kick that knocked me off the ground and against a nearby tree.

“Now… let me have a taste of your soul.”

An animalistic hunger crept into her voice as she approached me yet again. I wanted to scream, get up and run away. I just wanted to get out of this nightmare. This could not be real, it had to be all just a bad dream. I tried to concentrate, tell myself this was a dream and wake up. Her foot crashed into me, and knocked the air out of my lungs again. My head was dizzy, and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears was gradually fading away. The merciless hands of unconsciousness grabbed my mind and dragged my thoughts into an endless void.

“Why don’t you fight back? Are you fine with dying, and letting your teacher and friend die with you like that?”

This voice sounded so familiar to me. The sound of my heartbeat was gone, as well as all the other sounds of the forest. Everything was gone, even the pain in my body and the muddy soil I was laying on. I opened my eyes and took in the scenery around me. I seemed to be inside a castle. The room was large, and there were four doors, one on each wall. A huge chandelier on the ceiling lit up the whole room. I was lying in front of a long table, with a chair on both ends. One chair was empty, on the other sat the source of the familiar voice.

The demon woman that I saw in my dream sat on the chair, her legs crossed and her arms resting on the table. She wore a black dress with violet and silver ornaments, black boots with high heels, and her white hair was tied up in a bun. I could spot a silver necklace, earrings on her ears and a few rings on her fingers. Her black horns and demon wings completed her appearance.

With the pain gone, I could finally get out a few words again. My tongue felt a bit numb, but I managed to get something out.

“Where am I? What is this place?”

As I spoke, I noticed that the weird metallic taste of blood that was filling my whole mouth was gone. I tried to sit up straight, and to my surprise it worked.

Her face lit up with a warm and genuine smile as she answered me.

“Now this is a good question. This place… it’s nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It exists in your mind, yet its origin is as old as the world itself. You should take a seat, we have a lot to discuss.”

I got up and sat down at the other side of the table, just as she told me. Even though we’ve only met once and only for a short time, I trusted her.

“Okay, now tell me about this. I thought I was about to die, why am I here now?”

Her expression was stern, but her eyes still betrayed a hint of kindness.

“Let me start at the very beginning, the creation of this universe. This universe was created by the gods of the first generation. The 4 gods of creation, destruction, space and time worked together to create the Universe, the planets, and the stars. But when they tried to breathe life into it, it prospered only on this planet. Even though they had created something amazing like that, they weren’t content. They created the skills, and bestowed them upon their creations. The god of creation wanted to be special among them, so he created unique skills, that could only be held by one living being at a time. The god of destruction became angry, because he didn’t want to lose to the god of creation. He created his own unique set of skills, which were corrupted by his anger and hatred. When he passed them down to us, they became cursed skills. The gods of time and space were content with the paradise they created, and watched the tension between the gods of destruction and creation with fear. Eventually, the god of destruction was changed by his hatred and he started a war between the gods. He lost, and the other gods decided to hide their powers and live amongst the humans, eventually having children with them. These children are known as the gods of the second generation. I know this is a lot to take in, but it’s important for you to understand the origin of our world. Our skill, the Anomaly skill, is one of the unique skills the god of creation created. That means, you’re the only one in the whole world that has this skill.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I listened to her story with bated breath. Her revelation that I was in possession of a unique skill shocked me. I didn’t even have the Status skill, so how could I have any unique skill?

“How can that be? I don’t even have the Status skill yet.”

The kindness that was hidden in her eyes before filled her entire face now.

“Your first skill, the first after your Status skill I mean, is determined at birth. You don’t need to have an awakened mana core to wield the Anomaly skill. I’ll help you awaken your mana core, and with that, the Anomaly skill should activate as well.”

I must have misheard her. She’d help me awaken my mana core? This couldn’t be real. As far as I knew, it wasn’t possible to interact with someone else’s mana core. But what if it was? If she really could help me… My knowledge of beginner magic was vast. I knew a few dozen beginner spells, so the awakening of my mana core would give me a considerable power boost.

“I'm begging you… please, help me awaken my mana core!”

I looked at her with pleading eyes when she suddenly vanished and appeared behind me. She put her hands on my shoulders and I could feel something warm sinking through my clothes and into my body.

“Can you feel it? I’m letting my mana flow through you, to stimulate your own mana flow. This may be a bit painful if your body doesn’t have a functional mana network yet, but please bear with it.”

It wasn’t painful at all. An almost ecstatic feeling filled my body and made me shiver. This feeling of utter bliss felt like a river flowing through me, leaving only warmth behind. I looked up into the woman’s violet eyes.

“I know this might be a little bit late but… My name Is Kuro. Kuro Moonshade. Could you tell me your name, miss?”

Before I could hear her answer, something changed inside of me. It felt like someone hit a reset button on my body. All of my senses turned numb, and the only thing that was left was a weird clicking sound in my head.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Conditions met. Skill: [Status] has been unlocked and added to the skill list.

Conditions met. Ability: [open Status window] has been unlocked and added to the ability list.

Conditions met. Ability: [close Status window] has been unlocked and added to the ability list.

Conditions met. Skill: [Anomaly] has been unlocked and added to the hidden unique skill list.

Conditions met. Skill: Luck (F) has been unlocked and added to the skill list.

I took a deep breath as my senses returned to my body. So that’s what an awakening feels like. My whole body was shivering from happiness and excitement, but also something different. This was the moment I had dreamt of for so long.

“Please don’t call me Miss, my name is Malvolia. Congratulations on getting your first skill.”

I had forgotten my question, so I was a bit taken aback when she answered.

“Malvolia, huh? Thank you. I’d love to hear more about this Anomaly thing, but there’s someone I need to help. Can I come back here and talk to you later?”

She showed me her beautiful genuine smile and nodded.

“As long as you’re alive, you can come back here anytime you want. You’re a part of this place, and this place is a part of you.”

I returned her smile, closed my eyes and focused. I focused on the forest and Kiyara. I needed to get back there. After a minute of concentration, Malvolia’s voice pulled me out of my focus.

“Uhm, what are you doing? You said you need to go, so why do you keep sitting there? There’s the exit.”

I opened my eyes and looked where she was pointing at. It was a big door behind me. I got up and approached it. Just when I reached or the knob to open it, the door opened up by itself, and revealed a white empty space. So that’s how the exit of a place as old as the universe looks like, huh? I turned around to thank her, but I didn’t get anything out. What she did for me is more than I could ever repay.

“You don’t need to thank me. Go out there. Save your teacher, and return home safely. Good luck, Kuro.”

I felt tears of gratitude well up in my eyes so I just nodded and turned away from her. Then I gathered all of my courage and walked through the door.

That’s when everything came back. The pain, the hard tree against my back, the mud beneath my body… and the girl, the Soul Eater, bent over my body. I could still feel the warmth in my body, so I gathered my hope that it wasn’t just a dream and tried to use a spell.

“Wind, heed my call. Remove what’s tainted and give me room to breathe. Wind strike!”

A gust of wind emerged and pushed the body of the Soul Eater off me. I finally found the strength to get up, even though I had to lean on a tree for support. My body was shaking violently. Even though I was in extreme pain, that wasn’t the reason. I was shaking from excitement. Finally, I had a means to fight back. I looked for the Soul Eater, but I couldn’t see her. The only thing I saw was Kiyara, fighting against the bear of a man that the Soul Eater introduced as Agony.

The shattered and burned remains of the puppet were scattered all over the place. I couldn’t help myself and laughed loudly. Kiyara was an incredibly strong mage. It would take a lot more than just a puppet and a mage to stop her. She blocked the man's attacks with a simple mana barrier and hit him with a fireball. It seemed like puppet control was the only form of magic he was adept in, because he wasn’t able to extinguish the fire. But even though he screamed in pain as he burned, he didn’t give up the fight. Kiyara’s face was distorted in emotional pain and sadness as she used another fire spell to deliver the final blow to him and burn a hole through his chest.

I wanted to run to her, tell her what happened, see if she was okay… But there was still something I had to do. She ruined this evening for me, attacked me on my way home, and stole from me what I had rightfully stolen from the library. I needed to make this Soul Eater pay.

“Soul Eater, come out. We’re not done yet.”

I shouldn’t have been so arrogant. Just one second after I finished talking, something crashed into my back and threw me over. I felt the weight of the Soul Eater get on my back and push my head down with her foot.

”Oh how the weak have become brave”, she purred. “You think a flicker of power changes anything? Don't forget you're still the prey, little boy. And I'm still starving.”

Her voice was dripping with contempt and not at all soft or melodic. I tried to get up, but her weight was more than enough to keep me down, and also hindered me from drawing enough breath to shout for Kiyara to help me. Despite this precarious situation, a quiet chuckle escaped me. My awakening left me euphoric, I felt so high on the bliss that I even forgot the pain in my body.

“Laughing in the face of death? You’re either insane or you simply accepted your fate. Either way, your life ends now”

I heard something sharp cut through the air towards my back, maybe a knife or a dagger. The next thing I felt was the weight on my back shifting and losing its balance, as a sword knocked the blade of the Soul Eater away. Thank you, luck.

“Took you long enough, Layla.”

I pushed myself off the ground and forced the Soul Eater to get off me. The Soul Eater spat on the ground and I saw hatred burn in her yellow eyes.

“You may have survived this time, but it doesn't matter. I’ll find you, and when I do, you'll wish I'd have killed you today.”

My precious elder sister pointed the tip of her slightly curved sword at her. Her voice was cold and emotionless as she spoke.

“Get out of here. Now. If you talk to, or touch, my brother ever again… I will kill you.”

There was no hatred or anger in her voice. This wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. Suddenly, Kiyara came to a halt next to me. We outnumbered her three to one, staying here and accepting that fight would be plain stupidity. She wasn’t stupid. A pool of shadows gathered at her feet and she slowly began sinking down into the shadows.

“I will enjoy killing you. Be cautious of dark alleys, for I will definitely come to take your soul.”

With that, she completely vanished into the shadows.

Even though I was just attacked by a psychotic girl in the night and have seen her partner burn alive, I was happy. I awakened my mana core, and got my first skill. But what’s even more important, I finally understood why my sister left the village when we needed her. What happened to me, could happen to anyone. And what if they didn’t have a strong sister to save them? Watching my sister drive the soul eater away, I finally understood that Layla wasn't just my sister. She was a protector, a force standing between darkness and innocence. She had the power to change something, so she did. She left Greenwood to save people like me, and tonight she showed me what it meant to be strong. For the first time I didn't envy her. One day I’d make her proud to call me her brother.