In a small village far from any major cities lived a man, this man was taught in the ways of the sword ever since he was a young lad. He not only knew how to use a sword but he could also manipulate mana but knew very little in the magical arts. All he knew was mana is in all living creatures but very few could manipulate it to their will.
The man in this story is me, my name is Rayn and I write this story to chronicle my rise to power. My journey started when I was in my mid twenties and our country was at war with a neighboring kingdom. I was a guard for a small village which was ruled by the empire of Luton grod.
One day while out on patrol a strange old man was making his way to our village. This is where our story begins.
The old man was wearing a beat up grey robe that looked like it had gone through many years of wear and tear. He had a walking stick with some kind of crystal attached to the top. The man had a hunched back and shuffled his way slowly towards me.
“Halt!” I shouted raising my left hand and grabbing the hilt of my sword with the right hand.
“What business do you have here in Ravensted?”
The man shuffled closer stretching out his right hand. Placing his palm over my chest and said “you will meet a great misfortune in the near future.” his voice was shaking.
“What are you some kind of Fortune teller?” We had always had people mainly gypsies wander into our village claiming to speak to the dead or see the future. Magic use was a rarity but foretelling the future was by far the rarest form of magic.
“I do not know when but you will meet your end very soon.” He said ignoring my question.
“Whatever you say gramps get a move on, I don't want you scaring villagers with your foretellings of doom.” I said shoving him away.
Without another word he walked away in the direction he came from. A guard walked up behind me and slapped me on the back.
“What was that?” He asked
“Just some old geezer trying to make a quick piece of copper.”
The man standing beside me was Garrett a knight sent by the empire to train our guard. He was the acting guard captain until the town's people voted for a new one. This man is the one who taught me to wield a sword. I considered him something of a father figure.
“How's the whole magic thing going?” Garrett asked walked beside me.
“All I know is how to move mana inside me, nothing else. There is only so much I can learn from a beat up book with half the pages missing.”
We walked and talked for about an hour or so before making our way back to town. On our way back we ran into a small group of goblins. Vile green things, they only stood about three feet tall and had skinny bodies. There were only about ten of them but where there are ten there are a hundred more.
We both drew our swords from their sheaths. The goblins backed up a few inches and growled at one another.
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“How's your sword arm old man.” I asked with a smirk on my face.
“I’ll be fine mage boy.” He replied
The goblins wore cloth to cover their privates, wielded rickety wooden shields and many sharp pointed sticks. Goblins are very primitive and stupid, the only thing that kept them alive is the fact they can breed abnormally fast.
The goblin who looked to be in charge growled at the others and five leaped forward the other five stayed behind throwing their sharp sticks from a far. Since the sticks were crudely made many fell short and the ones that did hit us just bounced off our chestplates. Garrett and I made quick work of the goblins who charged at us head on the only ones left were the rangers. We leaped forward and slashed our swords side to side slicing any goblin that was in our way.
The only goblin left now was the leader who was wearing actual clothes and a sturdy wooden shield along with a dagger. I noticed something happening to it, the goblins muscles were starting to grow.
“Shit he's shifting!” Garrett yelled
“He's what?” I asked
But Garrett had already leaped toward the goblin and stabbed his sword through its head. Whatever the goblin was doing scared Garrett enough to make him charge blindly at the thing.
“When a goblin shifts they become a massive ogre capable of crushing a small village in a few minutes.” Garrett said pulling his sword out of the goblins head.
After collecting the goblins dagger we made our way back to the village, no one had and idea what happened. We walked through the streets and a few people whispered to one another, we still had blood on our swords and uniforms so it made them curious. We walked into the pub that sat next to the guard barracks, as we entered a few of the men inside raised their mugs and cheered. The guards around here were a simple lot, they saw blood they cheered.
“What happened to you guys?” A man with an eyepatch asked.
“Goblins.” I said sitting at the bar.
“Nasty little buggers.” a man across the room chimed in
All the men in the pub nodded in agreement. Garrett and I ordered a pint of ale each and sat walked around the bar greet various guardsmen. We all chatted or a little more than an hour when the door to the pub swung open.
A man in a white and gold robe walked in with a dozen knights wearing full plate armor following him. Almost as soon as the man walked in everyone got on their knees and took a praying stance. The man before us was a priest from the holy church all the people praying don't pray out of respect it's primarily out fear.
The man looked to be in his mid forties. He had beady rat like eyes and a very pointed nose. His nose was pointed in the air as he looked down at everyone in the room.
“For what do we owe the pleasure?” The bar man asked.
The man turned his head slowly towards the bar man. He raised his skeleton like hand and pointed towards the bar keep. Without any hesitation a pair of knights grabbed him and dragged him outside. I got up without thinking.
“What is the meaning of this!” I shouted, everyone looked at me in shock.
“You have no right to take anyone you want away from their homes!”
Without a word the skeleton like man pointed towards me. Two more knights step forward but the one who was closest to me ended up with my sword in his gut.
“He fell.” I said wiping the blood off my sword.
“You dare defy god.” The priest said.
“Your god isn't my god.” I said brandishing my sword.
The remaining knights around the priest surrounded me and pulled their swords out. The holy knights of the church wielded claymores instead of regular long swords. Garrett was next to me and pulled his sword out as well.
“You don't need to fight alongside me.” I said but I felt relieved.
“I'm sorry Rayn.” Garrett said.
I felt an unbearable pain in my back. I turned my head around and saw a sword in my back. Garrett grabbed me as I fell over, I grabbed onto his sleeve.
“Why?” I asked gritting my teeth.
“I'm sorry, I am a man of God, I cannot let you become a heathen.” He said holding me.
The pain slowly faded. I lay there in a pool of blood, many of the guards were staring at Garrett and I. None of them bothering to come to my aid. All of them are a bunch of cowards, do friends not lay their lives down for one another. I always felt I would die for these people, but as I lay bleeding out instead of happiness all I felt was sorrow and vengeful.
My sight faded to Black. But I wasn't dead but neither was I alive. I felt cold and I could feel something moving around me. This feeling was mana it was flowing through the corpse next to me and through the people around my body. I remember reading how mana is what keeps life together, perhaps I could use some of the mana around me to keep me alive. I had never manipulated mana before so this will be risky. I concentrated and felt the mana flow to and from my body, I tried to force the mana to stay in my body.
My sight slowly started to return to me around me were the bodies of men and women, the holy knights and priests were dead as well. Garrett was not to be found among the dead. I felt different, I could not feel my blood pumping anymore. My heart stood still.
“Am I still alive?” I asked myself.
I could feel power flowing through me. I felt invincible. What happened here? What could cause this? Did I do this? All these questions crossed my mind as I made my way outside.