(Author: Decided to write this story now that my experimental stories are on hold as The Necromancer King will resume soon out of hiatus. The heat wave hit me hard and I was on the couch feeling dead yesterday. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story. I meant to release it sooner but I wanted t0 experiment some plotlines and made stories I don't care much about while my main story was on hiatus for personal reasons. Enjoy.)
-------Chapter 1: The Star Clan---------------
A little boy with glowing cerulean eyes and black hair felt relaxed as he sat within a pool inside his mountain home. The little boy was member of the main branch of the Star Clan. He was the fourth child of the current lord of the Star Clan. He heard from his mother that the Star Clan was descended from the legendary Star Dragon that became one of the first Sovereigns in existence. The First Sovereigns were the reason the Creators made the Immortal Realm so that they would not terrorize the weak.
They were just stories to the young boy and he just endured the history lessons from his mother to relax in the hot springs within the mountain. They lived in Star Point Mountain, a mountain deep in the north with nothing but snow for thousands of miles. The land was abundant with frost essence and the reason the Star Clan lived in seclusion. Most members of the Star Clan were ice shamans.
Shamans were people who are able to use essence from nature and use it to perform feats no ordinary people could. The feats were generalized in a universal term everyone in the planet could understand: magic. The little boy would often see three elder siblings meditate and practice using magic on dummies or during a sparring session with his father.
His name was Regis Star and the fourth child of Remus Star. He had the same eyes as his father, but had the hair color of his mother, Isabelle. On the night of the full moon, he would have his affinities tested and begin his training. Regis didn't want to train as he liked a relaxing life and enjoyed playing around and exploring the caverns inside the mountain. The Star Clan had no choice but to train as they were not completely human.
Members of the Star Clan had dominant genes in their blood from their ancestor. No matter who or what they married, they always had the upper body of a human and had a snake body instead of human legs. Only when they absorbed enough essence to evolve, were they able to gain legs and walk among human without them knowing what they are.
Humans were biased on "non-pure" humans and legalized the sale of people, like the Star Clan, as slaves. It was another reason many members constantly meditated and to grow stronger as some did not want to live in the mountains forever. Regis did not know the dangers of the outside world as a member of the prestigious main branch of the family that were allowed to live inside the mountain while the branch families lived on the foot of the mountain.
Little Regis got up from the hot springs, water dripping from his trunks and body as he stood up. He left the springs and dried his body with his towel before heading off to explore a tunnel he discovered on one of his journeys. He quickly changed into an azure robe with silver seams, silver cuffs, and a silver collar. He went to the back of his house nearby and entered and entered the caverns.
No one ever ventured into the caverns as they had been empty since the Sovereign ancestor of legend left with most of the clan. Still, Regis dreamed on ancient treasures hidden within and spent many years exploring it since he was seven. He was ten now and it might be his last time exploring before the full moon in five nights. He would be too busy being supervised by his mother as he would begin learning about magic.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
His robe was made of a material from a snow monster so Regis felt nice and warm as he ventured into the tunnels. He carried a small candle lamp as he made his way down the dark tunnel, his every breath resonating and sounding louder in the tunnel. Three years ago, he was too scared when he first entered the tunnel, but now he wasn't. The tunnel floor and walls were cool to the touch as he went deeper and deeper until he found the new tunnel he discovered recently.
He put the lamp down and put his hand on a white spatial ring on his left hand to pull out a meat bun. Picking up the lamp, he began eating the meat bun as he continued to slither until he saw a light. Curious, Regis quickly finished eating his meat bun and hiccupped thrice before he exited the tunnel.
His abyssal black and white under-belly scales glistened as he entered a strange cavern. Inside was a giant ball of ice that seemed out of place with a strange fire burning it, yet the ice did not melt. The fire was a dark purple that seemed abundant with energy. Overcome with curiosity, Regis slithered up to the burning ball of ice and put his hand on it.
The little boy screamed in pain as the ice began to shrink, as if he was absorbing it into his body. As the ice shrunk, cracks of purple energy appeared all over the boy's body and he felt as if he was burning. He kept tugging and tugging, but his hand wouldn't move. His legs constantly trembled on the floor as the pain got worse and Regis was overcome by nervousness, pain, and fear.
His vision blurred as the ice disappeared and the cracks of purple energy on his body also vanished without a trace. His glowing cerulean eyes turned into a glowing dark purple like the fire as Regis collapsed onto the floor. His breathing was ragged as if he had slithered inside the mountain for days without rest.
Regis's skin felt itchy and he began scratching his skin before he realized he was shedding. He was stuck inside the cavern for three days as he kept shedding his skin, his body shivering from the tingling sensation where the skin shed. Regis also became bald with no eyebrows which slowly grew back quickly and until it became normal. It was strange, but Regis didn't know much about his own body to begin with.
Regis also sprouted two crimson wings on his back, the sign that he was indeed a son of the main branch as his family also had wings. Regis realized the ball of ice was a comet, but didn't know what it did as he was already going to shed and grow wings. His wings slowly disappeared into his body as was customary and Regis pushed himself upright.
He took out a small mirror to admire the changes and saw nothing except that his snake body was longer with even tougher scales than before and that his human body also got taller with lean muscles. The only difference was that his eyes now glowed a dark purple. This was not normal.
"I wonder what my mom will think?" Regis said aloud as he picked up his lamp he set aside and lit it with a spark stone before heading back home. "I probably shouldn't say anything. Mom never liked me exploring on my own. I'll just distract her with my new wings. I'm the only one who looks like her and she'll be even happier knowing I have crimson wings and abyssal black scales like her instead of azure scales and golden wings like dad, Isaac, Caius, and Beatrice."
Excited, Regis slithered on home to tell his mother the good news and prepare for the affinity test. For now the effects of the comet were minimal. Regis didn't know it but the comet would affect his life as the effects became more prominent in the future. One such example was his affinity test which would change Regis's life forever. In two night's time, Regis would learn that the Fates had other plans for him.