How did the ten temples were established?
—Nicklas Werfel
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Dogs barked.
Nick strode through a dark alley. A packet of pastry in his hand, a pleasant smile on his face. Dream Sprout floated inside his consciousness, absorbing his mana to replenish itself. To furnish that energy he’d need to kill at least three level 1 monsters.
With Dream Sprout, though, it was only a matter of time. The Windchasing Wolf might not even be his match in a head-on battle.
“Keep running.” A cackle of a man echoed through the darkness. “What happened, boyo? Are you tired?”
Nick hid behind thickets by the street. A group of four men surrounded a boy of around fifteen. The teenager held a sword in his trembling hands as he glared at his assailants. His face hard but also fearful.
“Why won't you let me go? ” he asked, sorrow leaking out of his eyes in the form of tears.
“Why should we? You know not your worth,” chortled one of the men. Nick decided he was the leader. “Quite valuable you are, boyo.”
“So you know nothing about me?” asked the boy with his shivering voice, his frame looked frail and weak, but Nick felt something out of place. He could not quite place his finger on it.
Therefore, he activated his Talent.
Name: [Ewan Clayton - Level 1]
Talent: [Night Shadow Possession] (Rare) - A shadow that wields the might of darkness, possessing the summoner with an unseen strength.
Evolution Paths: [3] (Click)
Contracted Beasts: [None]
Nick frowned. No beast. Only level 1. There was nothing wrong here. Then his gaze fell upon Ewan's Talent. Night Shadow Possession. Rare rank!
“Well,” At this moment, Ewan stopped pretending and chuckled. “Seems like you are just a clueless bounty huneter” He eyed the group and grinned. “Ever envisioned dying without a corpse intact?”
“Big tal—”
The man froze. Because at this moment, a dark smoke began rising from under Ewan's feet.
“So you are Awakened!” exclaimed the leader.
“Yes,” replied the boy. “Yes, I am. And now, I will let you experience it. My strength.”
The men took a few steps away from him as the smoke began entering into his body from his seven orifices. Ewan's eyes turned dark and deep.
“So what?” sneered one of the men. “Boss Lin is level 2 beastmaster. You think you can beat him with your Talent alone?”
Boss Lin snorted and then summoned his monster. A tall and robust bear with crimson eyes and sharp teeth. It stood over its back hinds, fire and smoke discharged from its nostrils.
Ewan grinned as he stared at the monster with his abyssal dark eyes. He exuded a very mysterious vibe. In the blackness of night he looked like a phantom. An apprarition. A ghost.
“Attack!” shouted Lin.
However, before his people and monster could heed to his command, Ewan vanished.
And then the mournful roar of the monster followed, reveberating through the creepy, silent corridores of grey alley, spreading over the dark cloudy sky of Aston town.
As the monster’s head soared towards the sky, blood burst out of its headless neck, sputtering all over the place. And then with a thud its body crashed in its own pool of blood.
Arghhh! Lin grasped his head and screamed in a horrifying voice, his rasping echoing through the silence of the night. The monster was connected with him through soul, of course it would affect him when Ewan killed the bear.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Boss Lin!” shouted his companions. Their faces had gone pale. Their legs had began trembling. They wanted to run, but their legs failed.
A moment later Lin came back to his senses. He eyed his headless contracted beast and uttered with a trembling voice, “Wha—what happened?”
“Nothing,” hissed a voice from behind him, like a ghost in a horror movie. “Just a sample.”
Lin swung his sword but failed to find his target. And then one of his companions lost his head, crumpling on the ground, lifelessly. Dead.
“If you are a man, fight me head-on,” shouted Lin, tears forming at the edges of his eyes. Terror had creeped into his heart. His henchmen had completely lost their will to fight and escaped like headless chickens.
But before they could flee the more than ten meter mark, they felt light headed, and their decapitated bodies collapsed like a sawed branch of a tree.
“What happened to a head-on fight when four people were trying to hunt a little boy?” Ewan whispered from behind him again, his voice cold and uncaring.
Lin waved his sword and a clang of metal hitting on metal rang out. Ewan grinned, peering back at the man. “Would you have done it if you knew your end?”
“I have a family. My wife and son—”
Lin's head glided through the sky. All the sensation in his body had gone, and then he spotted a headless corpse lying in dirt and blood, a sword resting a few meters away. Is that me?
And then everything went dark.
“Your wife and son?” Ewan sneered. “What's that got to do with me?”
At this moment, the black fog discharged from Ewan’s body. He groaned and buckled on his knees. His body was in immense pain. However, despite that, he climbed on his feet and stumbled away. This place was no longer safe. He could hear guards clamouring in the distance.
Nick was dumbstruck. Speechless. Ewan might be similar in age to Luna, however, he killed people as if they were radishes and carrots. Nick had seen something that he'd not forget for a long time.
Sucking a deep breath of air, he stood and began sprinting. The whole Aston would go under curfew. He needed to avoid any suspicion. The guards would not hesitate to kill a nameless guy like him to find the real culprit. That's how they worked.
Fifteen minutes later, he slammed the door of his house shut and fell on his bed.
Who the fuck was that kid? He couldn't fathom a reason for a boy like him to turn into a murderer. What had he gone through?
Knock~ Knock~
Nick sprang over his feet.
Are guards already here? he thought. But that's impossible. How long has it been?
Swallowing his saliva down his throat, taking a few deep breaths, he walked towards the gate. His heart hammered in his chest. Sweat dripped down his temples.
The door opened. Nick peaked out cautiously and froze, not knowing what to do. That grinning face of a teenager, his white teeth, curly hair, and his crimson hands covered in blood. How did he get here? Nick screamed in his heart.
“Hello,” said Ewan, continuing to smile. “I'm called David.”
Liar, Nick almost blurted it out.
The boy continued, “Would you mind if I stayed in your home?”
Yes, I do mind. Very much so! That’s what he wanted to say but looking at the bloody hands and smudged shirt, he swallowed. “No,” he said. “Please, com—”
Ewan pushed him aside as he walked inside.
“You call this a house?” he said, gawking at the ragged walls which hadn't been whitewashed for years, tattered windows that had been closed with the help of duct-tape. Ewan shook his head and fell on Nick's bed. “I’m taking this bed for tonight. You can sleep wherever you want. This is your house after all.”
Nick felt tired. He brought a mattress out of a cupboard and spread it on the floor before laying on it. He eyed Ewan who starred back at him with his grinning eyes.
“What?” asked Ewan.
“How did you know I was there?”
“Oh, that,” Ewan chuckled. “For the same reason my strength increased?”
So, his Talent not only increases his strength but also his senses.
“Why did you kill them?”
“What has it got to do with you?”
Nick took a deep breath and decided to remain silent. He’d lose his life for no reason if he made a wrong comment.
Half an hour later Nick heard a disturbance. People shouting and cursing. Nick's heart began racing. Fortunately the guards were nowhere close to his house.
Two hours later the clamouring increased, and it only became louder and louder as the time passed. They are coming in this direction, he thought, glancing at Ewan who lay on his bed with his eyes closed.
He was unable to figure out this guy.
Abruptly Ewan opened his eyes and unmounted the bed. “Fucking shit eaters. Can't even let me sleep,” he cursed. Then he eyed Nick and his eyes lit up. “Give me your shirt.”
“What?” Nick blinked in confusion.
“I do not like repeating myself,” Ewan's face was gradually losing its smile.
Nick clenched his teeth and unbuttoned his shirt before passing it to Ewan.
“Thank you very much,” Ewan said and opened the door before slipping out.
Nick sighed, but when he eyed the blood-soaked shirt, his heart chilled. He rushed to open the cupboard and pulled out another shirt and a shawl. He grabbed Ewan’s shirt and sneaked out when he found no one out. As he exited a torch fell on his face which he covered with his hand.
“Hey, stop right there!” A guard shouted.
“Fuck!” Nick swore and covered his face with the shawl and dashed in the opposite direction.
Two gunshots were fired. Nick literally felt a bullet flying past his left ear. His back was drenched in sweat, and his face turned pale.
He knew Ewan had fucked him up. Damn it!