Nico reacted to the intense murderous feeling he felt. He pulled a book from the shelf right before a knife hit his throat. Opening the pages, he shut the book around the knife. The attacker added a hand to push the knife further. Nico twisted the book.

The knife and book spun into the air and Nico punched the man in the neck. The man stumbled back coughing. Nico threw several heavy books into the man’s face and summoned Whispering Reed. The copper blade hissed in the wind and Nico felt tremors in his mind as the blade spoke.

‘A noble of the Jaogin family, Joshua Jaogin’ Nico leveled the blade and stabbed.

“Wait!” The main knelt down with his hands up and open, tears forming in his eyes. Nico skidded to a stop and swung Whispering Reed away from the sobbing man. “Please. I-I…don’t want to die.” The man drew several shaky breaths as he spoke and bent over, kowtowing to Nico.

“Spare me. If I had known you were a Ui’geran, I would have never tried to harm you, oh venerable pathfinder.”

Nico straightened, a little shaken by the situation playing out before him. ‘This shameless man.’

“Why did you attack me?”

“Because you have a key to the prince's room. It is the only way inside. Please, they took my family hostage and forced me to do this. I’m innocent.” Nico lowered his sword and began to speak. Nico cursed himself for his naivety. His flaw did not detect any fear, remorse, or anger. Only cold calculation. The man sprung forward and ran Nico through with a translucent blade. ‘Glass.’

He fell to the floor, holding his abdomen. A pool of blood formed. Nico guessed he’d have a minute before he died, less if his guts fell out. There was no change in the man’s emotions. It was almost surreal to Nico, feeling the man’s monotone gaze as an anchor to the reality of his situation.

The man threw Whispering Reed away and slit Nico’s throat with practiced hands. His blood was warm, and all that warmth was drained from his body like a broken dam. His mind wandered and he thought back to a pleasant time.

“What are these words on your arm?” A small boy pale as the moon leaned on the picnic table and touched his brother’s exposed arm. Rio looked over and smiled. He removed his overshirt revealing his tanned skin, stylishly framed by a black tank top. Indicating with his finger, he said, “It’s a language that has long gone out of use. Latin.” Rio read off the words in a melodic rhythm. “It’s a serenity prayer Helianthus gave me.”

“To who?” Nico asked as he ran his finger over the inked words.

“I don’t know.” Rio grinned. “But whoever it is must be pretty happy. I pray for it a lot.”

“A god?”

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“Maybe.”

“You don’t want to know?” Nico looked at Rio disapprovingly and sat back down as he looked at the other tattoos on his brother’s arms. Rio shrugged. “I’ll find out when I die. I’d just forget the answer if I found it now.”

“I can remember it,” Nico proclaimed.

“Then you need to live longer to find out,” Rio pulled Nico by his neck into a hug. “At least longer than me.” Nico pulled away and looked up into his brother’s eyes.

“How can words give you something?”

“Words are very powerful. Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can do so much more.”

Nico let out a voiceless scream and writhed on the ground. The wounds from the knife were nothing compared to the sudden agony he felt. A voice called out in rage, shouting curses and his mind tore itself apart. He stood facing the assassin in a stone courtyard with nothing other than a dim blue sun above them. Nico stood there bewildered as he tried to puzzle out where he was.

The assassin grappled Nico and threw him to the floor. Nico pulled the man close and kicked up off himself, reversing their positions just like Rio had done to him before. Two throbbing arteries bulged under Nico squeezing grip. A little more and it would be over. He hesitated.

The man scratched and punched. True fear shone in his cloudy eyes. The line between life and death was slim.

“DIE!! Wrench!” Nico pressed harder with his waning strength. “Say hello to Solace for me, Joshua Jaogin.” For some reason, Nico was able to overpower the struggling man. Eternities passed in seconds as he crushed the life from the man.

A small surge of warmth resonated through Nico’s body. He was laying on the ground in his own blood, staring up at the ceiling.

[A soul was sacrificed.] Then the voice of the spell boomed.

[You have unlocked an Aspect Legacy: Lord’s Dominance.]

Aspect Legacy: Lord’s Dominance

Mastery: 1/7

First Treasure: Claimed

[You received an attribute: Fathom the Uncanny]

Attributes: [Wildborn][Mark of Divinity][Fathom the Uncanny] Symbols can be translated and encryptions can be broken.

‘I’m alive.’ Slowly, Nico sat up. Birds passed by the window, fleeing from the crisp chime coming from outside. A glass knife laid alone on the floor. Nico reached up to his neck, fearful of what he’d find. A long wound remained on his neck, seeping blood. His wounds had healed considerably, but remained prominent..

Nico crawled around and ripped pages from books, pressing them against his wounds. Eventually the bleeding slowed and he regained some motility. ‘I can’t move too much.’ Nico leaned against a bookshelf and looked off into space. Help was unlikely, and he’d already lost a lot of blood. Nico resorted to a rather childish act.

The library was empty and from the dust and decay, nobody visited often, giving Nico free reign over all the knowledge packed inside. He crawled to the book he initially took and looked at the open pages. ‘The Mark of History. Monarchs of Ensenspareo.’

The book was too heavy for Nico to try to lift to the table in his condition so he pushed the book towards a window and leaned against another shelf. Giving the paper he used as dressing a studious look, Nico made a note to read them fully later on.

Whispering Reed vanished in a pool of light and Nico began to read.