FANE THE ONE-EYED WRAITH:
Fire. . . Fire everywhere! No matter where I looked, everything was ablaze. Having my hand sliced off apparently wasn’t enough so they had to set me on fire as well. It was humiliating to endure the burning agony of having my skin melt while I walked through the smoke struggling to breathe. Not only did I groan but I had to listen to every other cunt screaming like a girl. Why couldn’t they just die silently?
“I’ll kill them!” I swore angrily as I reached a barrel of water, knocking off the lid and diving in head first.
If I didn’t get caught off guard, I could’ve used magic to demolish that mongrel. Instead, now I only survived for as long as I did because I was able to infuse mana to protect myself.
There were only two ways out of the inferno I found myself in and that was out the door or the tunnel. While I wanted nothing more than to chase them, I would’ve bled out before achieving anything. Desperately in need of healing, I looked around for the nearest cunt alive that was still dying on the ground. Luckily I didn’t have to look far as there was one crawling on the ground just a few steps away from the barrel.
“Save me!” he screamed miserably, twitching as his body cooked slowly. “Please, it burns!”
If I wasn’t so badly injured and barely surviving I’d be laughing at the sight. He was so badly charred that I couldn’t even recognize who he was. Despite that I was willing to give him one last chance to be useful as I kicked him over on his back, grabbing his throat.
He tried struggling as I choked him slowly, but it was too late. I’ve chosen him as my sacrifice.
“Draining Touch!”
The obsidian-colored mana that surged out of my hand and passed through his body was known as necrotic energy. The spell I used drained the victim of its vitality and gave it to me. While it wasn’t strong enough to restore my hand being only a simple first circle spell, it was able to heal some of my wounds and stop the bleeding which was enough for me to survive until I reached a proper healer. Necromancy was always useful like that.
The euphoria of watching his body wither away under my grip passed as the insufferable heat around me persisted. Letting go of his corpse I made my way to the door, noticing that I was the only one left alive. The idiots on the other side kept pounding at the barred door, blocking me from lifting the wooden beam easily.
“Thunder wave!”
Extending my hand toward the door and chanting the necessary incantations, a wave of thunderous force swept out of me, blasting the door open. It ended up knocking the people behind it into the stone wall, but not that I cared. Walking out of the burning kitchen, I was finally free.
“Fire! Control the fire,” many of them yelled while watching my scorched face.
Each one of the cunts that dared look at me should’ve been killed on the spot. However, my revenge was a priority.
“Bring me some fucking ale!” I yelled out, shoving people away from me. “And bring me some fucking healing potions.”
Once the dust finally settled everyone gathered around me to hear what happened. Chugging on countless healing potions, I waited for the big fish to come and complain, never imagining how furious they would be for letting that mongrel escape.
“Fane. . .” I heard my boss’s voice, irritating me with that mask of his. “I thought you were competent, unlike the rest.”
“We were caught by surprise,” I growled furiously. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch them and make them regret maiming me.”
“You fool!” he yelled out kicking a chair over as if it were something impressive. The old man hiding behind the mask had nothing other than money. He couldn’t even scare a child. “The kid that escaped you was none other than one of the slaves intended to be sold to our VIPs. Not only that, but he managed to kill Yavor. Do you know how hard it is to replace a captain? Ha? Do you?” Had we been alone in a room I would’ve killed the old man, slowly rotting off his balls and making him swallow them. Despite that, I had to keep my cool if I wanted my revenge. “The Reapers aren’t here so you have to go clean up the mess. If you don’t bring them back by tonight I’ll make sure that your disfigured head rolls on the floor. Do you understand?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll catch him for sure,” I devilishly laughed, anxiously waiting for our reunion.
“I’ll make sure to send out multiple teams to capture him so make sure to take someone along with you.”
“I don’t need anyone else.”
“Take them,” he sighed in annoyance.
“Fine, I’ll pick someone useful then,” I rolled my eyes. “What’s his name anyway?”
“Alexander Kallis. Make sure to bring him intact.”
“It shall be done,” I said, watching him leave.
Now that the boss was gone all that was left was to prepare for departure. The old man was a fool if he believed I’d let the boy live once I’ve caught up to him. No matter how many teams he sent out, I’d be the first one to find him thanks to my bloodline gift. Whenever someone inflicted pain on me and I swore to kill them, they would be bound by an ethereal thread that allowed me to know their exact location. Fools believed they were safe now that they were out in the forest, traveling northwest. Necromancy truly was superior to all other magic.
“Alexander Kallis, I swear I’ll fucking kill you.”
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ALEXANDER KALLIS:
Fresh air. Oh, how I’ve missed it.
For years I’ve wondered why the Sun was chosen as the symbol of worship, but after having not seen it for two weeks, I finally understood. Escaping Tartarus opened my eyes to many things I took for granted, making me more appreciative of life.
Anna and I wandered through the forest with a set goal in mind, headed northwest knowing we were likely on the same continent. The aim was to reach the shore and follow it until we saw a port.
“Alex, come here.” She crouched down next to a bush. “These should be edible.”
“You sure they’re not toxic?” I asked, a bit skeptical of white-colored berries. “Aren’t these snowberries?”
“Have you ever even seen snowberries?” she chuckled. “These are belaberries and I’m pretty sure I know where we are now.”
“Sounds like a made-up name if you ask me,” I joked, trusting her seeing as she was confident about it.
“Guess you really are a noble,” she sighed teasingly, plucking one out and throwing it to me. Holding it made no difference. “If we managed to bring these back home, we’d make good money out of them. They’re quite wanted on the market. I’ve had the pleasure of eating a few myself while working at the tavern.”
“What makes them so special?” I looked curiously.
“Try it.” She saw that despite trusting her I still hesitated. Her teasing smirk kept taunting me. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of a fruit? I mean I sort of understand seeing as how if I’m wrong, you’d end up dead. Guess this is as far as your courage goes.”
Letting out a sigh I popped it into my mouth and swallowed. It took me by surprise that’s for sure, but not because of its sweet acidic taste. What I hadn’t expected was for my hunger to subside along with muscle soreness.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“What the heck?” I looked at her confused, reaching for one more. However, before I could pluck it Anna slapped my hand away.
“Don’t,” she warned me with a stern look.
“Why not?”
“Once you’ve had a taste, they become kind of addictive and you’ll end up eating them all at once. You could even call it a party drug,” she explained. Considering how invigorated I felt after a single bite, I understood what she meant by addictive. “The plants that grow them absorb a large quantity of mana.”
“Then why would you let me eat one?” I looked at her puzzled, taking a step back from the berries before I did something dumb. Assuming they were dangerous made it a lot easier to manage the desire to devour them.
“Relax, you can eat as many of these as you want and be fine. It’s not like anything bad happens.”
“Then why’d you stop me?”
“Listen, okay?” she sighed. “These berries only grow in mana-rich places and mana is often said to boost one’s vitality. Eating them reinvigorates the body and heals minor injuries which is why they’re highly valued for medical use and that’s not all they do. A single one of these provides the body with enough nourishments to last a full day so consuming more than one won’t cause any harm. I stopped you for two reasons though. Firstly, there aren’t many of them and these could save us from starving while we make our way back home. Secondly, the reason I called it a party drug is because it improves blood flow.”
“Blood flow?”
“You know. . . Helps with erection?” She chuckled after having to explain it to me, making me wonder how innocent I must’ve looked.
“So, it’s a sex drug.”
“Yeah,” she plucked a few more. “It’s an aphrodisiac that works on women too. We should be fine eating one or two without going at it like animals, but just make sure to keep yourself in check. Okay?”
The more we traveled together, the more apparent it became that without her I wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving.
“You mentioned that you knew where we are.” I looked at her curiously.
“Got a pretty good guess,” she said, searching around the bush. ”As I said, these berries require to be grown in mana-rich places. They were first discovered in elven lands since they grew them.”
“I get it now,” I sighed, missing the obvious. “What you’re saying is that we are likely between the Beastlands and the Elven forests.”
“That’s just a guess though,” she commented, taking one of the berries for herself.
There were three major elven kingdoms on the continent of Nuia and bordering the Kingdom of Eleron was Thysa. Thanks to our king, we have established peace with them lasting a few decades already. There’s still a bit of bad blood, but we’re slowly getting there. Within the mountains to the east was Ulfon, the only elven kingdom to never see war due to their unique strategic location that made it impossible for anyone to invade. Vinilada was the last major kingdom, boasting the strongest elven military and some of the most talented mages, including the current headmaster of the Grand Academy of Nuia.
Beastlands on the other hand were a vicious place filled with mysterious monstrosities that roamed around its forests. The creature we found in the cave likely wandered a bit too far and caused trouble even for Tartarus. It wasn’t uncommon for monsters to reach settlements, but they never numbered more than a few. To keep them in check, mages from the academy which floated above the monster-infested plain were often tasked with hunting them. It wasn’t a place Anna and I wanted to be in.
Monsters possessed what was known as a monster core which had the same properties as a mana crystal that I was forced to mine in the cave. While mining was safer, the quality of mana within a monster core was significantly higher, especially if we looked at legendary creatures that we’re told could destroy kingdoms.
“If we do end up meeting elves, we might end up in a bit of trouble,” I pointed out despite my kingdom having decent relations with them.
“I’d rather meet elves than risk running into a monster if you ask me. Anyway, since we got to enjoy these berries, we should just continue moving. Make sure to grab a few yourself.”
“How unlucky for you to run into a monster already!” A maniacal laugh stole our attention. Turning around we saw the one-eyed man again, joined by two others. “Did you really believe you could escape us?”
“You,” I mumbled, looking at the man whose arm I chopped off.
“Fane! Remember my name Alexander for it shall be the last one you hear,” he devilishly grinned, pulling out a longsword.
“Make sure to take them alive,” said one of the men dressed in all black, armored by a breastplate.
“About that,” Fane chuckled, swinging his sword toward him. The cold steel sliced his neck, killing him in an instant. “Change of plans. Sadly, you all tragically died trying to capture him.”
“Have you gone mad?!” yelled out the man to his left.
Before he could even draw his sword, Fane stabbed him in the leg while demonically laughing.
“Mad you say? Did you forget that they call me the one-eyed wraith?” He stood over him as the man helplessly rolled on the ground, bleeding out painfully. Stabbing the ground, he grabbed the man’s head. “Draining touch.”
“Anna. Run,” I whispered, looking as Fane unleased dark energy that surged through his ally’s body which soon turned into a wilted corpse. “Run and don’t look back. Survive.”
“But,” she hesitantly said, trembling in the knees knowing that Fane was a magic caster.
“Run!”
My penetrating voice scared her off, getting her to run as fast as she could. However, I wasn’t sure she could get away if I failed to stop him.
“What a hero,” he chuckled, turning to me after killing his friends. He pulled his sword out and licked the blood staining it. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. At least not yet.”
I readied my blade taking a deep breath, preparing for a tough fight. Sadly I didn’t know any spells that could help me, but at least I was reinvigorated by the berries.
“You survived,” I tried getting him to talk.
“Blood Frenzy,” he chanted, engulfing himself with crimson mana that quickly got absorbed by his body. “One cannot escape a wraith!”
Fane didn’t give me a chance to say anything else as he charged toward me, swinging wildly at my leg. I didn’t know what the spell he used did, but his movements became faster. Deflecting his supernaturally strong blow turned out harder than I thought it would be, but luckily his speed and power didn’t seem to exceed mine. If anything, I felt like I was a bit faster.
He tried kicking me in the chest, but I managed to sidestep and counter. Our blades clashed repeatedly over the next few intense seconds and while it seemed as if I was managing to hold on, even appearing to threaten his life at times, the truth was that he held back. Fane wished to capture me alive so that he could torture me while I desperately aimed for killing blows.
“To think that you’re so fast and strong without casting spells. Don’t tell me that you too possess a mana core?” I refused to answer, but the lack of surprise on my face as I focused on survival gave it all away. “Are you perhaps a martial artist? No, it seems you don’t know anything and are just reaping the benefits of mana. However, that won’t be enough. Hex!”
The spell he cast took me by surprise as his mana affected me directly. However, I couldn’t feel the effects of it until he ran up to me and our swords clashed again. It became apparent that it was a curse that reduced my physical strength to a certain degree as my grip weakened, making it a matter of time before he managed to break my guard. I was forced to focus on dodging rather than deflecting his flurry of attacks.
“Dance for me. Dance!” While I struggled to maintain composure, he laughed in a rather peculiar way. “Show me what you got Alexander. Draining touch!”
He stabbed the ground, letting go of his sword before he tried to reach for my arm with his hand that was surrounded by necrotic energy. I managed to dodge and even cut him across the leg, but sadly it was too shallow to slow him down. He simply laughed it off, pulling out his sword and charging at me again.
Lacking knowledge about spells still didn’t limit my ability to speculate what they could do. Draining Touch was a spell that stole one’s vitality while Blood Frenzy increased pain tolerance and physical strength. Hex was the worst of them as I did not know how to counter it.
“There’s no escape! I’ll gut you like a pig after torturing you,” he scornfully yelled, but he meant every word he said. “You’ll feel unimaginable pain and then I’ll catch that whore that escaped.” He kept attacking the entire time he explained his intentions. “I’ll make sure that she screams into your ear as I rape her in front of you, slowly turning her into a corpse. That’ll be my final gift before ending your life.”
We’d been at it for a few minutes already and I made no progress in taking him down while my strength and stamina depleted significantly. Three more hits were all I could take before dropping my sword, making whatever opening I find crucial to my survival.
“Do you ever shut up?” I grinned, hoping to make him reckless.
“You’re right. It should be your screams that we listen to,” he chuckled, rushing forward with his sword raised to the left, leaving me with quite the opening if I managed to deflect his blow. “Wrathful Smite!”
Casting another spell, he engulfed his blade in flame-like shadows that took me by surprise. However, it didn’t matter how powerful his attack was if it didn’t find its mark or so I thought. When he charged at me, I believed that I was the target, but he stopped right before reaching me and swung at the sword. On impact, the energy burst and sent powerful vibrations that made it impossible to hold on, and before I knew it, I was disarmed. The last thing I heard before passing out after he pummeled me in the face was his maniacal laughter signifying my defeat.
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“It’s time to wake up,” I heard Fane’s voice from the deep void of nothingness. “Draining Touch.”
My eyes went wide as I screamed in agony upon feeling my life force being stolen away. My heart burned followed by a severe headache, muscle spasms, and the moisture being sucked right out of me, leaving me dehydrated. Feeling fatigued I gasped for air while looking him in the eyes.
“Good. You’re awake,” he chuckled, gripping my jaw. “Draining Touch!”
Again I screamed as my throat tightened, eyes burned and my tongue went limp. Tears soon ran down my cheeks as I wanted nothing more than to die. Once he let go of me, all I could do was pathetically sob. My arms which were bound around the tree trembled due to my muscles deteriorating. If he kept at it, I would’ve died within two or three more attacks.
“Don’t worry,” he stood back up and reached for the pouch strapped to his belt, pulling out a vial with red liquid inside. “I understand that it hurts, so I’ll help you out a bit.”
I shook my head, unable to utter a single word before he grabbed my chin. It took him no effort to force it down my throat. Within seconds it had me revitalized as I realized that it was a magical healing potion and that we were just getting started.
“Please,” I sobbed. “Please stop. . .”
“Yes! That’s what I wanted to hear. Oh my dear Alexander,” he spat in my face each time he raised his voice. “Plead for my mercy you worthless cunt. Draining Touch!”
My helpless screams echoed throughout the forest. His method of torture proved to be quite effective as it had my spirit breaking slowly from unimaginable pain that no creature should ever have to endure.
“This isn’t enough,” he said, chugging a blue potion down his throat before pulling out a smaller vial filled with a dark brown liquid mixed with the color green. “Are you ready for the next surprise?” I kept looking at the ground, knowing that pleading wouldn’t do me any good. At the very least I could deny him his fun until he decided to kill me. “Looking away is no fun, but you’ve given me a splendid idea.”
He removed the lid and pressed his knee to my jaw, forcing my head in place by pinning it to the tree. Having one hand made it difficult but he managed to hold the vial and force its contents into my eye which he held open with two fingers. Even his Draining Touch felt like nothing in comparison to the searing pain that followed. It was so bad that I tried biting my tongue off but couldn’t due to how weak I was. While I suffered, he looked ecstatic.
Once the pain stopped in my eye, I noticed that I couldn’t see him anymore despite it still being open. Whatever was inside caused near-instantaneous blindness that slowly spread to my other eye which became blurry moments later. Fane forced another healing potion down my throat, helping ease the pain, but by then my sight in both eyes was completely gone.
Lost in the darkness, I gasped for air filled with terror, anticipating what might happen next. All I wanted was to go home to my family.
“You know,” he whispered in my ear making me whimper in suspense. “They say that once you lose your sight, the ability to feel intensifies. Shall we put it to the test?”
“Please, let me go!” I wanted to yell, but my voice was brittle and wheezy.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something,” he kept whispering, grabbing me by the throat. “I’m only getting started.”
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.
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