Shin stared out of the window at nothing in particular. In the four years he'd spent confined to this room, there shouldn’t have been anything he hadn’t seen before, but he never truly looked at the outside. Day after day, month after month, he stared, always beyond what could be seen, always fixated on nothing.
A gentle breeze flowed past the drawn curtains and ruffled his hair, his light blue robe unmoved, worn tight as it were. Silk of the highest quality, as were the sheets on his bed of a value to match. The clan had spared no expense for his comfort though he had never asked for it.
The soft click of an opening door saw the first reaction of the day since he had awoken. He turned his attention to the woman in nurse’s attire, early twenties and beautiful, sporting a loose classy dark blue bob cut and eyes too sharp for a simple nurse to have, as she walked into the room paying no effort to conceal her disdain.
“Good morning, Fuyumi.” Shin greeted her with a casual tone, close and friendly.
His expression had not changed since he turned away from the window, a calm subtly distant face behind a slight welcoming smile. By all accounts, he was beautiful, ethereally so. Long silky black hair, slightly curled, and skin like jade, it would not be out of line to call him outright bewitching, were it not for his most distinct feature.
Eyes, just as empty and focused as they had been, sported pitch black irises, deep and dark as the night forest, and pupils of pure white. Unassuming at first, as they always were, but the more one truly looked, the more they would find themselves drawn into the deep eerie certainty until it threatened to swallow them whole.
A slight frown was the only response Shin’s greeting received. “The young masters and ladies are here to visit.” Fuyumi said as she stepped to the side of the door at attention of sorts, her tone indicating she only spoke even those few words out of duty.
No sooner had she finished, a tall young man entered the room. His black hair styled and professional and an impressive physique evident even beneath his expensive clothes aided his stern commanding expression in projecting the bearings of a leader.
Behind him followed another man, seeming a few years younger, with shoulder length curly red hair and a smug attitude, two children not yet ten, blonde haired and mischievous with identical faces, a young woman in her early twenties, beautiful with color streaked blonde hair tied in a fashionable twist and a clear desire to be anywhere else but there, and finally a girl closer in age to Shin’s appearance with long silky black hair and the only one among them bearing a genuine smile.
“Shin.” The first and eldest of them greeted him first.
“Renzo.” Shin returned the greeting.
“Congratulations on your nineteenth.”
“Thanks.”
It was an utterly sterile and corporate interaction, as one would give a unrelated associate. Professional but distant, though it didn’t seem to bother Shin in the slightest. Renzo turned to his younger siblings with a certain look to which they mimicked his words with even less effort and affection.
“Happy birthday, Shin.” The last girl being the only one of them to congratulate him as a normal family member would.
“Thanks.” It was subtle but the tone of his response differed from that given to his other siblings, more friendly and genuine.
The older sister glanced around the room, which only made her frown deepen. Barren and devoid of personality, had the occupant not been sitting right in front of her there would be no indication that someone even lived in it.
“At least make an effort to pretend you’re normal.”
“Mai.” Renzo calmly admonished, to which she went silent.
Shin glanced over at her, bundles of resentment slowly coming into form only he could see. “Three?”
Mai’s face twitched, more annoyed than creeped out. “I’m leaving.”
“You will stay.” The oldest once again reproached her.
She hesitated for a moment but held her tongue and walked over to a seat in the corner of the room opposite his bed, seemingly no longer intending to participate in this visit beyond the absolute bare minimum. This seemed to be enough for Renzo. His intention as always was merely to make a showing of what was expected. He himself only remained for that reason.
The room fell into silence but not ten seconds of that passed before Yugo lost his patience. “Why are we even here?”
“Control yourself.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be a gold star student.” The red headed second brother glanced at Shin whose expression still had yet to change in the slightest. “Look at him, he doesn’t even care.”
“I look forward to this every year.” Shin’s tone so casual it was impossible to tell whether that was sarcasm or not.
“Yeah? I can tell.” There was no doubt to Yugo’s sarcasm.
“Shin can’t be normal because he’s a demon.”
“Everybody says so.”
The fraternal twins chimed in having moved by the bedside. From the start they seemed eager to mock him, only emboldened now by Yugo ignoring Renzo’s orders.
“Hey, turn into your true form.”
“We can be heroes if we kill you.”
Renzo was about to open his mouth to keep the twins from going too far but Shin spoke first. “I already am?” An eerily casual tone.
“Huh?”
“You can’t tell? That’s not good.” The twins couldn’t respond, out of confusion and a little fear. The look in his eyes, calm and indifferent and so sure, threatened to draw in and smother all in its gaze. “If you keep looking, you’ll see it.”
“S-shut up! We can kill demons like you. Idiot!”
“Idiot!”
The twins ran out of the room, clearly unsettled behind the shallow bravado. Mai rose from her chair and calmly walked to the door.
“It isn’t time yet.”
“It’s been long enough.” She rebutted, not missing a stride as she took her leave.
“Stop pretending like anyone gives a shit.” Yugo jabbed at him far less tactfully as he too left.
Renzo seemed slightly displeased but not all in disagreement with the sentiment. “I’ll take my leave, then.”
“See you next year.”
Renzo paused briefly at the response before exiting the room, leaving just Shin and Yuna.
“Less than two minutes this time.” She said, more as a compliment than a report.
“Renzo’s less strict now.”
“Yes… How have you been?”
“The same.” Shin didn’t seem too interested in talking about himself. “Shoko said your dissertation was approved.”
“Unofficially.”
It did the clan no good to be more public than necessary and a 16 year old earning a doctorate would draw far too much attention. She was the smartest of them, not just among the siblings, but the clan as a whole. Possibly the whole world at that, but Shin couldn’t exactly say he was well traveled enough to make that claim. Still, he was proud of his sister. His smile seemed more genuine.
“The Rhun proved Stonehenge was a rune circle a few weeks ago.” Yuna changed the topic.
“Hm?”
“A magical ritual to call spirits of the dead. Undeniably the domain of the Rhun. The Pendragons are quite displeased. It’s revived some friction between the two houses over which bloodline is the true successor to the predecessor clan-”
“Can they do the ritual?” Shin’s calm focus seemed to deepen unnaturally.
“...not fully. The circle needs to be repaired and runes redrawn, but the Pendragons are preventing further study.”
Shin thought in silence for a few moments, his casual demeanor unchanged even now. “The clan could kill them.” An unseen, vague tension emanated from his words, a strange pressure that could only be felt in the back of one’s mind. The subtle hint of seriousness wrapped around him.
“There would be consequences… Grandfather would not consider it.” Yuna answered carefully, her posture unbroken.
“Mm.” Shin sunk back into thought, the tension fading with it. “I guess not.”
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A silence and calm fell over the room again.
“Well, I should be going. There’s a gathering later.”
“Yeah.” Shin’s tone almost seemed downtrodden. “Yuna.”
She delayed her leaving and turned to Shin. “Yes?”
Shin tilted his head, very uncharacteristically seemed to have trouble finding the words to speak. “No... See you next week?”
“Yes. See you next week.” She smiled before taking her leave.
No sooner had Yuna left the room, than the nurse reentered, her cold attitude unchanged from before. “What would you like to eat this morning, young master?” The same generic words in the same irreverent tone as she had done hundreds of times before.
“Where do people go when they die?”
“...what would you like to eat this morning, young master?” Fuyumi pretended she didn’t hear him.
Shin looked at her in thought for a few moments, tilting his body slightly. “Are you still mad at me?”
“What would you like to eat?” Her words were more strained, more hostile now.
“Don’t be.” It was Shin’s turn to ignore her now. “I don’t hate you.”
Fuyumi’s scowl twisted into outright hatred. “You bas-”
The world froze. Colors turned to inverted negatives. Time returned and Shin found himself standing in a dark space that seemed to stretch on without end, surrounded by amorphous silhouettes. He tried to move but found he couldn’t take a step from where he was. The same seemed to be the case for the crowd of silhouettes, which stretched on as far as this limitless strange space they inhabited.
Before Shin could think more, a brilliant light shone in the distance up high and from it emerged a towering woman adorned in silk and jewels and a circlet of light above her head with eyes to match. With beauty and bearing no mortal could ever hope to match and a somber gaze, she emanated the majesty of an infallible Greek goddess.
Just as she seemed to be about to act, something caught her attention, her eyes slowly shifted to the direction of a boy with eyes of piercing focus and bottomless greed. Her gaze lingered on Shin’s unnatural deepening aura enveloping an unassuming posture, as if waiting for something to happen. But only for a moment before returning her sight forward once more.
“Rejoice. You are among the worlds chosen to enter the Tower. Blessed be your salvation from the outer sea.” Grand words delivered with a tone of apathy and without hint of further explanation.
“As Initiates, you shall receive a number of gifts. Assess them along with your status.” The goddess raised her hand and a transparent screen appeared in front of Shin, the strange overwhelming presence fading as his interest focused on this new development.
[Human - Lesser Peasant]
Strength - 18
Agility - 25
Constitution - 28
Vitality - 24
Dexterity - 27
Perception - 29
Force - 21
Spirit - 42
Control - 33
Willpower - 36
Skills:
Traits:
Body Supremacy, Eyes of the Spirit King,
“Race and… level? Grade?” Shin guessed. He looked down to the most striking section of his status board. There was nothing he could properly compare his stats to, however, based on Strength, a normal person’s max would be around 10 or 11. “The others’ physical stats should look more like the numbers at the bottom…” Shin focused his desire on two of the attributes.
[Force - Potency of magical abilities.]
[Spirit - Sensitivity, Capacity, and Resistance to mana.]
The Igarashi clan was not one blessed with magic so their numbers were unusual, although Shin himself wasn’t exactly the most usual member. He gave the other attributes a cursory glance before moving on. There was not a single item under the section labelled ‘Skills’ but the two items under the ‘Traits’ category were more pressing to him.
[Body Supremacy (mythic)]
‘Manipulate one’s body with extreme precision.’
The clan ability, without a doubt. All other members would have this as well, but the second trait…
[Eyes of the Spirit King (mythic)]
‘None among the ethereal may escape the gaze of the king of spirits.’
There were other clans who could perceive ghosts like Shin but with far less ease and depth than he could, and none within the clan could claim the same ability. Though the description of these eyes Shin had from the time he was born indicated they could do more than he had experienced. The ‘tiers’ next to his abilities did not escape him either but he moved on with nothing to compare them to.
The final sections held no great revelations. Under Titles there was only ‘Initiate’ which tripled the ease of mastering and improving abilities as well as granted a Universal Translation perk which seemed to be automatic, and Identify, which allowed a surface assessment of a target. Under Achievements there was nothing at all. But there was something more demanding of his attention.
[Bloodline of the Banded-Eyed Tyrant]
‘???’
A name and a name alone. The status sheet gave him nothing else, but there had to be a connection between it and his eyes. Shin could feel it.
As if on cue, the emotionless goddess spoke again. “Now, choose your class. Choose wisely.”
A different screen appeared in front of Shin, with eight options to choose from, all Common tier. Warrior, Priest, Mage, Rogue, Ranger, Bard, Druid, and Monk. Shin inspected the warrior class just for comparison but it only gave a description and nothing else. Without hesitation, he chose the priest class, not even bothering to check the others.
[Acquired common tier class Priest.]
[Acquired common tier skill Treat Wounds.]
[Acquired common tier skill Holy Screen.]
Shin gave the skills a cursory inspection. The first sped up the natural healing of bodily injuries slightly and the second a weak magical shield made of holy energy. But those were not what he was interested in, as another prompt appeared, asking him to choose a third option.
Shin scrolled through the long list before trying to focus his will on what he was looking for. A desire for anything including ‘soul’ was met with a blank screen. ‘Ghost’ netted a skill to detect undead and another to temporarily raise the spirit of the dead to talk, neither of which was what he sought.
He thought for a moment before searching for ‘Spirit’. Call Petty Spirit caught his eye but upon reading the description his interest cooled. Shin wouldn’t be able to admit he wasn’t disappointed, though it didn’t show on his face. But he was not discouraged. Based on the traits he started with, he had little doubt there would be opportunities to access higher tier skills in the future, and those may hold what he seeks. For now he should focus on increasing his power. A quick inspection was all he needed to make his choice.
[Acquired common tier skill Summon Angel.]
‘Summon a celestial warrior to control as you command. Duration: 15 minutes. Limit: 1.’
The summon seemed tied to his own grade-
[Rank has advanced to Lesser Peasant. 10 Attribute Points awarded.]
[Class has upgraded to Inferior tier. 5 Attribute Points awarded.]
[Class has upgraded to Common tier. 10 Attribute Points awarded.]
…Rank. And its stats were the best physical ones among his choices. Only slightly better than Shin’s, but he wasn’t planning on enhancing his physical attributes beyond the bare minimum, so a warrior type guardian would become more necessary as he ranked up, as the notifications had just kindly confirmed his assumption of it being possible.
In fact, he could just about do so with the 25 attribute points he was just granted, however he held off on using them. The goddess had given them no hints as to what exactly was waiting for them beyond this dark space nor had he anyone else to compare himself to properly. It would be best to wait and see what the best course of action would be.
“The Tower is just. All mundane ailments will be healed.” The goddess spoke again the moment Shin had finished. It was impossible for all initiates to have finished at the same time. Something grand must be at play. “The Tower is wise. All will be granted the privilege of entering the baptismal zones where power flourishes.”
“Ready thyselves. Glory awaits all who seek it.” The goddess spread her arms out at her sides, her tone grander and absolute. However, she seemed to linger for a moment before speaking less formally than she had been. “Do not waste your time.”
A few sparks of red lighting shot around her body as she vanished. There was no time to assess that incident as the dark space illuminated in an instant, enveloping everything in pure white. The light receded as quickly as it came, revealing a green sunlit woodland.
Shin did not even have time to take a breath before the earthy green was shattered by a prism of shifting colors. Pain shot from his eyes deep into the core of his being. He tried and failed to suppress the pain. It wasn’t physical, but something deeper. Pain he had never had to endure before brought him to his knees, the pitch black irises on his blank face replaced with iridescent splendor.
“Hey! What’s wrong?!”
A woman’s voice sounded from his side and he felt a hand on his shoulder, but paid no attention to it. The pain that threatened to split him asunder was all he could focus on. A feeling in his gut told him he could suppress his eyes themselves but his efforts so far had solved nothing, a tiny nudge in the direction of soothing but little more.
He closed his eyes and the pain started to fade but reopening them brought it back in full force. Keeping his eyes closed forever was not an option. He needed to find a solution. With his attempts bearing no fruit, he opened his status by the will of his mind, the screen visible to him without need for sight. He scanned it quickly before inspecting two attributes.
[Control - Accuracy and precision in wielding abilities and mana.]
[Willpower - Mental tenacity, resistance, and endurance.]
Control seemed to be the most suited of the two. He put 5 of his 25 stat points into it. A drop in the bucket was all it felt it amounted to, but Shin felt it clearly.
[Rank has advanced to Intermediate Peasant. 25 attribute points awarded.]
“Hey.” The woman lightly shook him, concern in her voice.
“What’s the problem here?” Shin heard another voice speak up, this one a man’s, gruff and stern.
He ignored them both, as well as the prompt asking him to choose two more skills. All were less pressing that his current troubles. He put 10 more points into the Control attribute receiving another two drops of ease in suppressing his eyes. It wasn’t enough. Shin put the entirety of the remaining 35 points into Control, bringing the total up to 83, not far from three times what he started with. The difference was noticeable but still not enough.
“I asked what the problem is.” The man spoke again, his tone lacking patience.
Shin looked in his direction. Through the swirls and flow of colors he could make out a rough glowing outline, contrasting the world around. Tall and a solid build. His posture was good, trained, one that displayed confidence. Shin cast his Identify.
[Human Warrior - Lesser Peasant]
No indication of stats, let alone abilities. “A curse. My eyes.” Shin lied.
“Ailments were supposed to be fixed…” The warrior’s tone was suspicious.
“The angel said mundane though…” Another man’s voice sounded.
“Angel?” Someone else spoke up, his tone slightly mocking.
“What the fuck else do you think she was, then?!” The first snapped back. “Anyway, this whole shit is magic, right? His problem might be too.”
“What if it’s contagious…?” A woman’s quiet voice spoke up amidst the tension. The others fell silent and Shin could feel their focus on him.
“Well? Is it contagious?” The first man asked Shin.
“Don’t think so.”
“That’s that, then.”
“What?”
“Why are you making the call?”
“Because someone needs to be in charge.” The man put assertiveness into his voice. “In case you haven’t noticed, the kid’s the only priest here. You have some kind of… magic that heals, right?”
“Yes.” Shin didn’t have to lie this time.
“Alright then. That woman wouldn’t give us these weapons and armor if we weren’t meant to fight something. Which one of you wants to get injured without a medic nearby?” The rest of the group fell silent. “Didn’t think so. Now, we need to get moving and find shelter before the sun goes down.”
“Ahh!” One of the members shouted in fear, falling on his back, giant rat the size of a dog lunged out of the the bushes, gnawing at the bow the man was desperately using to keep it at bay.
Before anyone else could react, the warrior bashed the giant rat off the archer and split its head open with his axe, blood spilling onto the ground. He wrenched the axe out of the twitching rat’s skull as it died.
“Any objections?” None dared raise their voice. “Then let’s move.”
All others stood in awe of the violence they just witness, save for one, a boy who lost interest the moment he saw how the warrior moved and drank in another prompt that appeared in the midst of confusion.
[First Trial]
‘Duration: 30 days.’
‘Move.’