Everything hurts. No one taught me how to use bandages, so I tried my hand at improvising which did not work unfortunately. I had bite marks and wounds all over my body, but as time passed I grew weaker and weaker until I had fallen asleep, neglecting my wounds.

"Get up!" And with only those words I spring up from my bed, knowing the voice clearly and what the consequences would be if I did not follow precisely. I did not hesitate. "Your training begins. Follow me" he exits, and I scatter to find my weapons bringing a worn out dagger, a short sword and a buckler. I depart with great speed.

"May I ask where we are headed?" As I ask my adoptive father. He stays silent... Staring off into the distance, and he points forward to the great volcano In the distance...

"There... You will fight a demon hound." Surprised and terrified of what he said, I stay silent. Knowing the fact that, getting terrified and scared will only petrify me and get me killed. That much I know. 

After walking for a very long while, we reach the boundaries of hell, the heat destroys my confidence of even the thought of scratching my opponent with my blade. But on the other hand, Andour, my father does not seem to care either way. It is as if the heat does not affect him.

"Remove all fear that you have from your body, and the heat will not burn you. Show fear while inside, and the flames will burn you alive. Keep that in mind." And without a moments notice he continues his walk towards the entrance.

To enter the lair of the volcano, you must climb its slope and enter through caldera. And from the inside there consists of stairs heading all the way down to the abyss as you will not see the bottom.

"We will slay the beast Marchosias." And as he says the name of the beast written only in books and scriptures. I fear for my life. I feel a burning pain, but I had no choice but to steel myself for I would burn otherwise.

Marchosias is the great marquis of hell, a gigantic fire breathing hound with the wings of a mythic Griffin and the tail of a serpent, commands 30 legions of demons and reign over the 7th circle of hell. Though I thought these beasts were only myths, clearly something is amiss. 

Andour brings out a flask that glows pure red. He looks to me and says. "The moment I break this flask is the moment the beast will emerge. Be prepared, for this battle is merely is the easiest compared to the others that will come." As if dazed, I desperately put up my guard,and try to conceal any opening from which I may be felled by. But who knows if my training will work against a beast as large as the volcano.

Finally, he breaks the flask, and as he does a deafening scream echoes throughout the chamber, and it is then followed by a fierce tremor.

The chamber grounds of the volcano open, and emerges Marchosias engulfed by flames and lava. The marquis of hell releases a roar that compared to the loudest clap of thunder ever heard by man. He sets his sights on me, and lunges forward with his mass and his speed is amplified as he lunges forward to me.

I am unable to comprehend what had just happened. I never felt fear as all types of emotion escaped my body long ago as well entered the lair of the beast. I see the beast Marchosias rushing me with, but as I blink I feel a slight breeze, but as I open my eyes once again the beast disappears from my immediate sight, and is in turn replaced the sight of my father Andour whose blade is soaked with blood.

Still at a loss for words I look around for signs of the beast, and I find the beast pinned to the chamber walls. "Move!! Don't stop moving." Andour shouts with urgency. Just as he shouts at me to move, the beast recovers from the strong blow that pinned him to the wall, and rushes me once again with a more latent ferocity.

Andour pushes me with great force, sending me away from Marchosias's line of sight. Andour then leaps bring ing down his great sword down from above, mortally wounding the hound. Instead of backing down, it grows even more fierce, cloaking itself with fire. It's fur becomes darker. Marchosias the marquis of hell goes all out.

 Marchosias and Andour have each other's full attention, as I merely watch from the sideline, the decisive battle begins! 

The demon hound takes to the skies with its wings, breathing fire upon the ground in the process, Andour merely fans the flames away with his brute strength. The obsidian clad warrior squats down, and jumps exceeding the height that Marchosias has flown to. He grabs onto the hounds right wing, then clips the monsters left wing off clean with a horizontal slash. 

The demon, with great speed, grabs Andour by his arm from his left shoulder, making him let go of his great sword, bringing him to the ground and burning him with scorching flames. Andour unable to move because of his pinned position, simply  swings hard with his left arm, from which the blow to the face could be heard very quickly.

Marchosias rushes forward yet again, but this appears to have a plan. He rushes Andour who grips his blade, ready for a counterattack. But the beast flaps his remaining right wing, and sends Andour flying the hound left. He hen grabs him by his  tail, bringing the warrior to his mouth, and chomping down on him, but... The resilience of the warrior intensifies. He holds its mouth open with his arms and legs, he then looks to me without saying a word. I move as if by instinct.

Taking a hold of my bearings, I grab my short sword and buckler. Rushing forward using the only edge I have in this battle is my speed and agility. I throw my buckler at the beast, confusing it for a split second as it is the only time I need to rush for the great sword that my father had. (" it's all or nothing from here on out")

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With great speed and my momentum to help me rush the beast, I strike my short sword into the beasts's left hind leg, the blade separates from the handle. I disregard that and turn my attention to the tail. I swing the great sword to my back and using the momentum of the heavy great sword, I swing it with force downwards cleanly cutting off the tail.

The beast goes wild, spewing fire everywhere, hounding erratically. It lets its captive go. The rush of adrenaline leaves my body, and once more I grow weak, But it seems that it was enough. Still.. I force my eyes open as to see how to the battle will end.

Andour picks up the great sword by my side, and signals the wild beast to attack him with his hand gestures. The beast in turn rushes him, while breathing fire. And in three swift movements the victor was decided. Andour cuts down the flames with his great sword, bringing it vertically downward, and with his right arm he jumps to slam his fist downward on the beast, forcing its mouth shut, rendering it immobile, and with his final move. He brings his great sword upwards and plunges it upon the beasts's head. 

It breathes fire weakly, but it breathes its last.

He leaves his sword on top of the beasts head, and approaches me carrying me by his arms. He speaks. "You did terribly, but you did better than I expected you would."

He comes closer to the beast with me in his arms. He lays me beside the deceased hell commander, and proceeds to remove the sword from its head. He cuts open the gigantic beasts's body and enters, and with a moments passing, he exits with an odd object in hand.

"You were born weak, and I forced you to become stronger. You persevered without question not the slightest sign of backing down, and for that I praise you, but at your state. You can only go so far with that frail body of yours. I give you the soul of this demon, learn how to use it for I cannot teach you any longer. With this power you can use the abilities of this demon however you like. Humans were born without the capabilities to use the arcane arts and magic. Man can only use these kinds of powers through the blessing from the gods, or if you were the son of a god or goddess. 

As he finishes, he pauses, and brings a bottle towards me. He opens the bottle, and I inhale the soul of a defeated hell demon, Marchosias, the marquis of hell, commander of the 30 legions of demons. As I take its soul in and I black out, but still hear a faint voice

"I believe in your strength, and the possibilities that you will achieve, you're his son after all, the king of the ro---." I could not hear it clearly as I trail off into a deep slumber. As I slept, it felt very long, but I was at peace.

*Aargh* I spring up suddenly, my chest swells with heat. My whole body, burning up from the inside, but that could only mean one thing, the beast whose soul I took in. 

The voice speaks from inside my head. ("Human, you are... Awake.") "who are you? Are you the beast Marchosias?" 

("Yes, I am, you are using my power, and you are my flame reincarnated, get yourself together and cease all thoughts immediately and focus!") 

I follow his directions, not even thinking if he had hidden motives in mind, but all I knew was I had to find a way to calm this fire within my body.

("Clear your mind, do not fill your mind with any form of thought, other than my voice. Now breathe and command the flames as you see fit.") 

Within moments of following the daemons commands, I can slightly control the flames, well only not to burn me at least, but it is a start nonetheless.

"But why do you aid me? Should you not be angry that I took your soul?" I ask the demon, concerned about many things, but mainly about his cooperation.

He responds right away, with a clearly different behavior that, while we were battling, and at that moment clearly, he did not speak at all. ("I have been bested. In return for defeating me. I will be loyal to my new master, obeying all orders given to me. Until someone else beats you in battle of course. The victor may claim me if you give my soul away without a fight")

But as I speak with this being from within my head, I notice something rather odd. Andour is not here, no sign or trace. The beast speaks, knowing my thoughts from inside. ("You are trying to look for that monster of a human? It seems that he had gone somewhere, but left a note.") 

I believe Marchosias, and proving his words to be true, there lies a letter, and within it contains...

If you are reading this letter, know that I have left. Bound by reasons and guilt

I must return to face judgement. if you are truly curious to know what I speak of,

then come to the home of the gods, and here you will find your destiny.

Become stronger, build your own life from this point onwards. And soon you will

see the reason of why I took you in to become stronger. 

The beast sealed from within you will not be enough. Prove to me that you can surpass me.

I will be awaiting your arrival.

The letter ends there, but why leave so suddenly? With so many questions, I fill my mind with many thoughts. What to do next, how should I continue my life, why the heavens. And as I think, my body heats up once again. Remembering what the beast taught me, I manage to control it right away.

("So, what will be your objective?") asks Marchosias

"There's no need to ask that question. isn't it obvious? I want answers, and to get those, then... I must become stronger.