(Author: Hello! The ritual is finally complete. Now, Regis finally awakens and begins his one year of preparation to infiltrate the human and human-allied lands. Just what is his inner spirit? How will he prepare? What is the consequence of his rampage during the ritual? By the way, a two star magical beast ( for his clan) develops a human form. This is the last of the five chapter spam release. Back to The Necromancer King. This is a side project so expect another delay before another chapter spam release. Enjoy.)
----------Chapter 6: Emperor's Blade---------------
Regis awoke with a start as his soul returned to his body. The water swirled around him and he could see molted skin and a vile, smelly black liquid around his body. He tried to swim out, but only succeeded in moving his arms. Shocked, he thought something was wrong with him and looked down to see two human legs and other human lower body parts exposed beneath the short white robe.
He looked around and saw that two girls hastily sat down on the ground as they awoke. He realized that in succeeding the ritual, they had become two star magical beasts and attained human form. The other one was nowhere to be seen. It made sense though as Regis killed him or her as he was attacked. When someone's trying to kill you, you hardly have the time to care who they are. The third one didn't seem to be their brother or sister as they did not glare at him at all.
They left first as they crawled to shore from the bottom of the lake as the strange water allowed them to breathe normally. After they left, Regis discarded his robe and mask and admired himself. He really did look human. He knew he could bring out his dual blades and wings, but didn't dare to do so. Right now, he had a problem he must deal with: learning how to walk on legs.
As he was underwater, it was easier to get to his feet by waving his arms. He first practiced how to swim. He knew that moving his arms allowed him twist and turn and the humans used their legs to empower the velocity and speed in the power. After a few minutes of practice, Regis was able to swim naturally. As for walking and running, the water pressure was heavier so he instinctively focuses his strength on his legs. He moved them as if he was swimming without moving his arms. After about an hour, he could walk and run.
He jumped out of the lake by pressing down on the ground and pushing his legs like a spring. He put on spare clothes as he let himself dry and sat down, staring at the crystal lighting the ceiling of the heart of the mountain. He had done it. All his life, he watched his siblings practice and got bored. Now he would be cultivating and improving his own power too
He stood up and closed his eyes. He could feel a weird energy circulate in his body. It was different than the energy he absorbed from the comet, but contained pieces of it. He knew he didn't have the power he had on the battlefield and closed his eyes and entered his Spirit Realm. Inside, he saw an ice white wolf with a slight blue hue the size of an tiger howling at the moon as it stood in the middle of a plain of snow. It had strange golden marks on above its legs and back and turned as it noticed him.
"So you are the one deemed the most worthy by the Moon Goddess," the wolf said as it stared at him. "I am the Slaughtering Saint Wolf, one of the Guardians of the Moon. It would seem that another of your clan has been given one of Her guardians. I will tell you now: I know not any knowledge of how to wield darkness. I am a spirit with affinities of light and water. I am more than powerful enough to bestow upon you the ability to use the element of ice. Your power over darkness was granted to you by the comet. I can feel its energy inside you. It has changed your bones, empowered your flesh and changed your eyes. You are worthy to learn my techniques of light and ice."
"So how does this all work?" Regis asked. "How will I learn from you?"
"As you sleep, you venture here, in your Spirit Realm. As your real body rests, I train you to master your new profound power. I cannot teach you how to fight as your true form as it is extremely rare to see a monster contract with a spirit instead of a human. When you die, could be hundreds of years, your Spirit Realm releases me and I return to guard the Moon Goddess. The more powerful you are before you die, the more powerful I become when you die. Think of this as the training method of spirits. We are not beings of flesh like you. We are not born, we just...are. Some don't find a purpose and become malignant. Demons and life forms with nefarious motives often contract with those spirits." the wolf answered. "I see that you have an ancient, bladeless sword in your spatial ring. It was the first immortal rank sword made on this planet in the Mortal Realm and belonged to the first human to ascend. It is indestructible and was once known as Emperor's Blade. When man first existed, he was the first to be considered a monarch and ruled over all the humans. The very first human emperor of this world and the only human acknowledged by your ancestor, The Star Dragon, under its former name and lineage with a snake and human body like your before ascension."
"I must learn how to use dark magic from my grandfather. I will also learn how to live like a human," Regis bowed. "At night, I will learn from you. Can other people sense you?"
"Whenever you wield my power, they can sense it. However, they will believe that I am a different spirit. They will believe me to be a Frost Light Wolf as it is a spirit that also grants light and ice. However, humans would not dare to mess with you anyway. Humans value their nobles highly, based on my previous encounters with them before I became a guardian. Only humans and other life forms more powerful than you will dare to disrespect you," the wolf said. "You look human in that form and humans call people who contract with spirits: sages. Sages have more spirit energy than humans without a spirit. Sages are feared and respected as it is very difficult to contract with a spirit."
"The Ritual of the Moon Goddess that I did right? It was...too real. The choices were hard to make and I think a part of me was born while another part died," Regis shuddered.
"That is correct. Those who contract with spirits are reborn mentally and physically. Hence, you attained the power of a two star magical beast and gained a human form. It is fitting for you to wield the Emperor's Blade as the human I first contract with was the owner of that sword. I suppose that is the reason I was chosen among Her guardians to be your spirit. I look forward to your development," the wolf said and watched Regis leave his Spirit Realm and return to reality.
"Had a nice chat with your spirit?" Vizog asked as Regis awoke.
"Grandpa! You're here!" Regis cried and jumped into his arms. "It was so hard. I experienced so many things."
"I know," he replied softly and held his grandson tightly. "I'm sorry your experience was so hard. Your blood is purer than others so it would be the hardest for you, but we must press forward. The humans and their allies have been driven back this time as we used the Moon Statues outside for the first time. I must train you to use your dual blades, human etiquette, background story, and teach you how to use dark magic. You hardly see your father so I decided not to tell him about your appearance. Your mother will be here shortly. She will greet you for the last time and pretend to be in mourning, saying that even though you succeeded the ritual; your spirit rejected you. The two girls from earlier will prove her alibi as they, no doubt, saw you. Say your goodbyes and we will begin your training in the Forbidden Grounds of the Star Clan. We only have a year before you enlist. The sooner you enlist, the sooner you can send information through the voice transfer bead I gave you. I'm sorry I can't give you more time, but I have reached the peak of an eleven star magical beast. Once I break past it, I ascend. I won't be given the choice to choose to or not and must decide which Immortal Realm I will go. Your mom will also break through soon, as I said earlier. She will receive your reports and when I am gone, but she cannot talk to you. These can be tracked and, to make it undetectable, I modified it so that the voice transfer only works one way. I'm sorry, but I can't risk your safety. One day, you might be able to return."
A little while later, his mother appeared and hugged Regis, tears flowing down her face. Regis was unable to say anything and just cried as he held his mother for one last time. They both knew how dangerous his task was and how vital secrecy was. The less people who knew, the better. However, it could also mean that he might be forced to kill some of his clansmen who would believe him to be human when they saw him.
"Oh, Regis. I'm so sorry. If only our clan were strong enough without depending on father, I..." she began but her voice broke as she held him tighter. "I'm a failure as a mother."
"Father wasn't around much to begin with," Regis shrugged. "Even though you are a Scion of Darkness, you cannot live the life of greatness you could have as you need to leave because of your affinity to use light. It is obviously weaker than your darkness and you're not even allowed to use your real form."
Mother," Regis said softly as he pushed her away. "I've seen horrible things and made difficult choices. Our clan needs me to do this, so I will. Who knows? I might even enjoy living among them and never have my identity unmasked."
"It's possible," Vizog agreed and began to whistle and look at the ceiling as he was glared at by his daughter.
"Sometimes,, I wish your grandfather had slaughtered them all and be done with it, but there are rules in the Mortal Realm. They are absolute and eleven star magical beasts are not allowed to destroy kingdoms or kill the reigning monarch," she sniffed and turned away, no longer able to bear the pain. "I'll always be waiting for your reports. Know that I love you and....I....."
Regis watched his mother run out of the heart of the mountain, a trail of tears behind her. He sighed as his grandfather sighed about his daughter being too soft for her age. He looked down at his grandson and his grandson looked up at him. There were no signs of grief and sadness left. They only had a year to train Regis. The family spies, before they were annihilated, said something about many powerful recruits being enlisted.
Every day Regis would spend the day from dawn to dusk learning from his grandfather. As he was magical beast, he didn't need to work out his body so long as he ate meat. He wasn't human anyway and spent most of his time learning about darkness and reading ancient scrolls containing descriptions of several techniques that his grandfather witnessed in his life from dark magic to all the other elemental magic spells or warrior techniques. He couldn't do them, but it was wise to study familiarize oneself with them in order to know how to counter them.
The world began in darkness and Darkness was the Void. When the sun went down, one could see the darkness in the sky and realize that the world was mostly all darkness. No matter where one went, there was darkness. Blind or not, one would see darkness if their eyes were closed. If there was light, darkness would always shadow it. Darkness was not the most powerful element, but it was the most versatile. It could be shaped into any image one could imagine. It was nowhere and everywhere. In the end, even planets were swallowed by the Void.
From dusk to dawn, he slept. While he slept, his body naturally absorbed spirit energy as he was a monster. His mind would be in the Spirit Realm. There, he would learn how to fight barehanded and with a sword. He also learned more about light and ice and realized that he was also a Scion of Water because his spirit was one of the powerful Guardians of the Moon. The spirit said to keep that fact an absolute secret as there are many people who would kill a Scion of the Elements out of jealousy.
His affinities were simple.
WaterLightDarkness 93%77%102%
It made sense for his light to be a little over average as it was a miracle he could use it in the first place. As light magic was valued more, Regis decided primarily learn ice and water sword techniques besides the usual barehanded techniques. As a spy, his goal was not to stand out. He would learn only the bare minimum of light techniques and focus more on learning defensive spells and healing magic when it came to using the element of light.
The wolf spirit agreed it was the best choice as learning less techniques and spells would enable him to have more time to master the few he did learn. Learning a lot of techniques and spells was good, but it was useless if you could not use it effectively and efficiently. Regis studied hard under both veterans and the year passed by as quick as it had come. News of his demise only caused grief for a month before the clan returned to normal and focused on increasing the defenses of their borders for a future invasion.
No one noticed two people teleport from the mountain and appear in the middle of a forest in the south just a mile away from the city gates. There, a rank 3 magical beast and a rank 11 magical beast said their goodbyes. Shortly, a young, fifteen year old teenager appeared from the forest. He had abyssal black hair and dark purple eyes. He had a lean, muscular body and wore a grey cloak that covered his body and a hood that partially covered his face. He wore a black spatial ring on his left hand and had an ancient sword hilt hidden under his cloak. Once wielded, a blade of white wood with azure energy would emerge from the sword hilt.
He was Regis Empyrean, a fallen noble and refuge from the war a year ago when the invasion failed. He had chosen the city where his brother slaughtered all the innocent people during his ritual. The city was known as Lovar and while it was not one of the major cities, it was secluded enough that no one would be able to realize the truth of his alibi. He had received his inheritance from his father before he left: one hundred thousand gold coins, one million mithril coins, and one hundred adamantine coins! 100 copper--> 1 silver. 100 silver--> 1 gold. 1 gold--> 1 mithril. 1000 mithril--> 1 adamantine coin. What was money to a monster? Nothing. However, the humans highly valued money and his grandfather was ascending anyway.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Regis wished he received magical items and armor instead, but he only got two things. One was the grey cloak which was a mid-grade holy item. It would shield him from almost any attack in the Mortal Realm, even better than the necklace in the dream! The second was ademonic core of a seven star magical beast dragon! Although the ranking was not high, demonic cores are absolutely essential for anyone who used spirit energy.
It was the sole reason monsters were hunted. Regis and the Star Clan were able to cultivate spirit energy and contract with a spirit because their bodies were incapable of creating monster cores. It was why their young were closely guarded and never allowed to leave their territory as they were one star magical beasts until they completed the ritual and were even weaker than other monsters before it. Dragon cores were exceptionally valued for their profound ability to not be absorbed upon being swallowed.
Within his Spirit Realm, Regis had a small, black and crimson demonic core resting on a small pile of snow with the wolf spirit resting next to it. This demonic core belonged to a Venomous Sky Wyrm, a rare breed of dragons able to breathe poison. Not only did it make Regis immune to poison, he could create a small black energy made of the poison on his left hand that had a powerful corrosive effect. It was a useful trump card. He was also given a sea green metal ring to wear on his right hand. It had the image of three eyes in the shape of a triangle. His grandfather said that it had a certain history according to one of the humans he ate during his younger days. Regis didn't care and simply wore it as it was a token of his grandfather.
If Regis had one fatal flaw, it was the Curse of the Moon Goddess. On the back of the left side of his neck, black veins surrounded five different colored spots on his skin. It granted Regis the ability to extract someone's soul from their body. The thing was, he no longer needed to eat or drink. The only sustenance he needed as substitute was souls. He had gained the same curse as his grandfather. The stronger the soul he devoured, the longer his hunger would be sated. Thus, Regis decided that if he needed to kill someone, he would take not just their life, but their soul too. If there was an after life, his victims wouldn't be there to see it.
Among humans, it was possible to extract someone's soul sphere. Slave traders were usually people who had those abilities. They would take out the soul of the slave and bind it using mysterious methods. Slavery was permitted in some kingdoms as it was necessary due to the lack of manpower. However, they couldn't devour souls like he did. Nor did they have a need to. In Regis's spatial ring, he had a variety of soul spheres given to him by his grandfather. If he ran out, it would be up to him to collect more.
Regis was walking down a dirt road in the forest to the city for twenty minutes when he finally saw the city gates. He was not Regis Star anymore. He was Regis Empyrean. He was only a spy if he uncovered vital information. If not, he was to enjoy his new life, free from the worries of his clan. Regis tilted his head a little as he went over basic human interactions. He walked up to the city gates and waited in line as the guards inspected the people entering the city. When it was finally his turn, Regis tried his best to greet as a human would.
"Halt," the guard said. "State your business here."
"Uh, I...I am a refugee from Lovar, the city along the border to the demon lands. My entire house was k, killed. I heard about the knights and other occupations here and wanted to join," Regis said, feigning sadness in his voice while looking at the ground. "I, I can still pay the toll fee."
"5 gold. Our fair city is the main headquarters of all the most powerful academies in the land. Pay and get inside," the guard said softly. "Don't worry. You're safe here. I suggest heading to one of the inns here. If you tip one of the keepers there, they'll tell you a lot more about the city. Try not to cause any trouble okay kid?"
"Thank you," Regis said with a smile and tipped the guard with an extra gold for his kindness, but didn't need to go to the inn as his grandfather told him everything he needed to know.
Regis was kind to those who treated him well. If they didn't, they would end up on his personal vendetta list for souls. Of course, he was in the territory of humans and their allies so he could not kill them openly. They had something called laws so he couldn't just kill, torture, devour, or leave his foe for dead. He would go to something called jail and would have to kill a lot more people to escape. Doing so would blow his cover if not, disallow him from entering the echelons of their forces. He could live the life he wanted, but still had to make reports.
He walked into the city and was amazed at all the things he saw. So many humans and humanoid creatures, like elves and dwarves, roamed the streets. All kinds of goods were being sold. Regis was tempted to go and buy some, but did not want to reveal how much money he had despite his appearance. He didn't know it but he had a lot more money than many minor kingdoms. He only knew about mithril coins and didn't learn about the value of adamantine coins. His grandfather just said not to use them at all as they could be melted and made into adamantine items for enchantments.
As he walked by, he passed by a large crowd who were staring at a podium. Above it, people in dirt rags and lifeless faces wore collars on their necks as they were being sold. He realized that he was staring at a slave auction. His face hardened as he saw a member of the sub branch of his clan being sold. Every cell in his body screamed to slaughter them all, but he had a mission and couldn't risk it for some weakling who got enslaved. It might even have been a traitor who ran away from the battlefield. He could see many fat, rich humanoids staring at some of the female slaves. Sometimes, even humans were more of a beast than an actual beast.
He would have also bought one of the fine beauties, but he wanted to become a knight and it was unbefitting of a knight to have a slave. In the city, there were five academies, each specializing in an occupation. They were knight, marksman, mage, assassin, and cleric. Each occupation had its advantage and disadvantage with the most popular one being the mage, and the most luxurious being the cleric.
Knights were primarily warriors who wielded their blades in the name of honor. They were the elite fighting force on the front lines and were more powerful than other warriors. They could wield spirit energy in battle and fight the demons and monsters on equal grounds. Having a slave would not bode well for Regis in the future. Mages were the main offense force of any army with their long range spells which were highly destructive and could attack a wide area at once. Clerics specialized in barrier and healing magic, making them the defensive pillars of the army. So long as an army of clerics were present, it would be hard to defeat them.
The two other occupations were both unorthodox. Assassins specialized in killing a foe quickly and efficiently. They learned how to make traps, stealth magic, poisons, nets, crossbows, and any other method they deemed fit to be useful to become a better, stronger killer. Marksman were mostly archers, but some very rare marksman got their hands on something called a spirit cannon. They were portable cannons that shot giant spheres or rays of spirit energy, the element, power, and speed of the projectile dependent on the marksman in question. Spirit cannons were extremely rare and the simplest one was worth at least a hundred mithril coins. That's 10,000 gold! It was because each part was made from mithril and their manufacturing methods were the most closely guarded secret among dwarves and dark elves. Marksman usually had slaves to protect them in battle as they fought.
The city he was in was actually fifty miles in diameter. The city consisted of three rings. The Outer Ring was where the commoners, guards, and merchants lived and did their business. The Middle Ring was somewhat larger but had the least population as only the nobility lived there. The Inner Ring was thirty miles in diameter and almost half of the entire city comprised of it. Even though they were called rings, it was more like a crescent, or half circle, formation in an oval shaped city.
This was the location of the five academies: the Knight Temple, Mage Palace, Assassin Tomb, Marksman Hall, and Cleric Sanctuary. Members of all races gathered in hopes of joining those great academies. In the entire southern continent of Marzul, they were the best out of six other rival cities with their own academies within. Marzul was the largest continent and over a third of the world comprised of it. Even though people claimed they were five separate academies, they were all under the same alliance known as the Radiant Alliance, the name coming as a comparison as being as bright as the sun and outshining all others.
Regis gathered along with many other youths who were waiting outside the Inner Ring. Many guards were watching them as they were not residents of the Middle Ring and did not want any stragglers to have any funny ideas or cause mischief. The guards mentioned something about an attribute and spirit test and Regis sighed. His grandfather said his darkness attribute could not be detected as he could not use it in his human form. Humans had no darkness attribute without a spirit anyway and his wolf spirit was not of darkness, but of water and light. He was warned to avoid attribute test, but Regis realized that it would be quite obvious for an academy to have an attribute test.
"They will know that you are a Scion of Water, but that can be considered a blessing. You will receive higher treatment and have a much better chance to learn of vital secrets for your clan," the wolf spirit said. "Remember what I said about lying and calling me a Frost Light Wolf. You'll be fine Regis."
"Right," Regis said as he breathed deeply and waited with the other applicants.
A large man in a bright crimson robe appeared and said, "Greetings to all the applicants. On behalf of the Radiant Alliance, welcome to Radiant City! The application is simple. You must pay fifteen gold in advance. Whether or not you pass, no refunds. Second, you must choose one of the five academies and take the attribute test. There is also a spirit test for those who qualify. Those who have elemental affinities below forty should not even consider being here. I know, that elemental affinities of forty is a high requirement, but our Radiant Alliance is the best in all of Marzul! Only the best of the best are admitted here and even the best are considered trash as you will soon realize how wide the world really is. You think you are talented? HA! There will always be someone more talented and powerful than you! Unless you're a Scion, don't even consider yourself a true elite."
"That's crazy! No lower than forty affinity?" someone cried.
"No refunds? You know how hard it is to even make fifteen gold?" an obvious commoner cried.
"Shut up peasant! There's no tuition fees so you should be grateful they prioritize the talented over the rich!" a noble snapped.
"Alright. Settle down," the man said. "Once you have your elemental affinities tested, you will then have your spirit energy level tested. If you contracted with a spirit, the requirement will be higher as we expect more from you. Unlike monsters, we do not have an extra star, or tier, in order to ascend to the immortal realm. We have ten stages of spirit energy cultivation. The requirement to enter the academy without a spirit is to be at the first stage of cultivation. It may be the lowest, but there are many who are not even at the first stage of spirit cultivation! For those with spirits, the requirement is to be at the second stage. Furthermore, the final requirement is that you must be under the age of eighteen upon entering the academy. We need talented youths here. Line up and be ready to be tested!"
A few applicants grumbled and were led away from the Middle Ring as they knew they didn't qualify. Regis's eyes widened as he recognized the girl in front of him in line. It was that elven princess that stabbed him with the adamantine sword. He sighed at how funny his situation had become. His former enemy was now in front of him and they weren't even killing each other. He chuckled while some of her guards stared back at him, wary. All they saw was a handsome youth who was tall and with lean muscles. He wore a grey cloak, but they could detect various runes enchanting the cloak. This was no ordinary youth and they remained on guard while they stayed by their princess.
"Okay. Next fail-, I mean applicant, come up please," the man laughed and lazily pointed to a glass sphere on a pedestal to his right. "Oh? This lass has got some elven guards. Well, go on then. Put your hand on the crystal and state your name, age, and spirit if you have one."
"I am Princess Irene of the Forest Kingdom of Izlancar. Age fifteen and I have a spirit. It is a Bright Wooden Stag," the elven princess said as she put her hand on the crystal. "I want to join the Knight Temple like my sister, Qing."
"Oh, f*ck! A Scion of Light as affinity 94%? Wood affinity is also 89%! Talent! Pure talent!" the man said, steeping back in shock as he evaluated her more highly. "Seems to be at mid-stage of the second rank. Brilliant. You pass! Welcome to the Radiant Alliance. Someone will lead you to your assigned room and tonight is the General Assembly. Be sure to remember to attend."
"Thank you," Irene said and walked into the Inner Ring with her guards. Many people stared at her with looks of jealousy, envy, adoration, and worship. The man kept staring at her in shock as one of her guards gave him the money before leaving.
"Ah, f*ck me. I need to remind myself not to underestimate those brats of royalty," the man cursed in a low voice before beaming and staring at the crowd. "Okay, next person. Chop, chop."
"My name is Regis Empyrean, age fifteen, and my spirit is the Frost Light Wolf. I wish to become a knight and avenge my house in Lovar," Regis said, reciting his alibi, and placed his hand on the crystal.
"This one seems to be just a rich brat with a spirit. He shouldn't be....WHAT! He's a f*cking Scion of Water with 93% affinity and 77% affinity for light! The hell is this? Everyone is a Scion Day?" the man cried aloud as he stared at Regis in shock as he was given the money. "Who are you?"
"Regis Empyrean?" he answered, shocked at the man's stupidity. He began to think: are all humans like this?
"I bloody know that! I meant how did someone like you have so much affinity?" the man said. "Lovar's just some isolated city near the border. Hardly anyone ever leaves that place for who knows which idiotic reason."
Regis snarled as he thought the man was blowing his cover and quickly grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him in the hair. The man chocked as Regis held him and everyone saw the man's feet dangle frantically in the air. Regis let the man go and he coughed hard as he fell on the ground.
"Never insult my house. If you dishonor me again, I'll challenge you to a death duel," Regis said coldly and left the man and the other applicants staring back at him in shock.