[POV: Silver Davis]
Silver found himself in a white room. Everything was white, the walls, the ceiling, the floor. Except for the chair. She asked him to sit down and maintain his posture. It was brown, the chair.
Alisha asked him to smile, and there was a flash of light.
So that’s the magic device that can capture your image, that’s so cool. His eyes sparkled to see the object. Silver had always read about magic items, but he had never seen one in real life. Well, not something that cool, anyway.
After taking his picture, she asked him to follow her again. They weren’t back at the counter after going through the door. Instead, Silver found himself in another room again. There was an enormous structure with a door, no more like a huge pillar with a door. Alisha opened the door with her right hand and asked him to get inside once more.
“Get inside the door, please.”
What’s up with this place and doors. This time, she is not even going inside.
Even though silver had some doubts, he went inside without hesitation. He knew he could take care of himself. As Silver walked inside, Alisha closed the door behind him. It was dark inside and there was hardly any room inside. There wasn’t even enough room for him to sit down. He heard some kind of sound from outside and then there was blinding white light and he felt a wave of heat washing over him. After three long beeps, the light faded, and the heat receded.
“You can come out now.”
“What was that all about?” Silver asked as he came out.
“It was to check your power level. 563 units. That’s the minimum requirement to join the Hunter corp.”
Cold sweat was forming on Alisha’s forehead as she was looking at data that was being displayed just above the door. Silver cocked his head back to look at the data that was making this woman sweat.
Approximate Stat:-
Grace: 1173
Life Force: 272
Physical Strength: 26
--------
Power Level: 1471
Alisha wiped her sweat from the forehead. Alisha was looking at the numbers, transfixed, lost in thought. “Excuse me ... Miss Alisha, Miss Alisha?”
“Hun!” Alisha finally snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head.
“Is there something wrong? Miss Alisha?”
“What? No...” With a brief pause and a long sigh, Alisha changed her answer. “There is, actually.”
As she was talking, two chairs materialized in the room; one behind him, another behind Alisha. She sat down without looking behind. A book and a small sheet of paper also materialized in her hands.
Seeing such a phenomenon occurring, Silver’s eyes grew wider and wider. The only words that uttered out of his surprised mouth were, “Undine’s hair! How is this even possible?”
True, one can just say that it’s magic. But even magic was governed by fundamental laws and boundaries.
“Never mind that, take a seat because we have a few things to discuss.”
Alisha didn’t even give much thought to his reaction. Such reactions were probably everyday occurrences to her. After Silver sat down, Alisha handed over the sheet of paper she was holding.
“That is the ranking system we use for the bounty hunters or petty much anyone. But there are other requirements too.”
As Silver gazed at the content of the paper with curious eyes, he grew more excited and his complexion brightened. His lips curled with a smile.
HUNTERS/MAGIC knights ranking system;
1.) Squire: 530-PL: Rank D
2.) Officer: 845-PL: Rank C
3.) Knight: 1150-PL: Rank B
4.) Commander: 1450-PL: Rank A
5.) Supreme Commander: Rank S
6.) Vedic Knights.
PS: PL= Power Level.
***
I am already A-Ranked, only two more to become one of the strongest Knight in the world. Am I great or what? Such thoughts flooded his mind. Why wouldn’t it? It was his dream to strongest in the world. That was the only way to get what he wanted.
Everyone would be happy if they were told they are only a few steps away from fulfilling their ambition. He must have never been this happy in his entire life. But he knew deep down that it was just a spur of the moment. It would not last, not for him.
“I know what you are thinking, but it simply is not true in your case.”
Silver’s world came crashing down. He frowned, and his complexion darkened. “Why would say such a thing?”
“Yes, it is true; your power level is more than enough to make you a commander. However, you haven’t considered two factors about yourself,” Alisha said with her index finger on her lips.
“Two factors?” Silver responded with a confused voice.
“Number 1, you lack experience,
Number 2, you’re physically weak. Your physical strength is just 26, which is too low.
“Even D-ranked mage have physical strength greater than 80. Your grace doesn’t matter at this point. You will exhaust yourself even before you can use your grace. Hun! Rank A, don’t make me laugh. At your current stage, you will barely be able to win against D Rank hunters. No, you might even lose to them.
“However, I’ll assign you Rank C. You have great potential to become Rank A, which is stronger than most of our members. You will have to work hard though. You must train hard and go on a frequent group mission. Only by raising your physical strength by 200 points, can you hope to become that strong.”
Silver stood up from his chair with a bright smile as he heard Alisha. He was relieved inwardly. All he had to do was raise his physical strength by 200. That’s what he thought, at least. “All that blabbering and all you said was that I have to raise my physical strength by 200. It will be as easy as pie.”
Alisha had a dangerous glint in her eyes that sent a shiver down his spine. What is the woman thinking?
“What kind of magic do you practice?” She asked Silver as she showed both of them back to the counter.
“I practice water-based magic. And I know a thing or two about potions.”
“Just water?“
Silver nodded.
Alisha paused for a second. “So you are a pseudo-mage?“
Pseudo-mage? Now, what is a pseudo-mage?
His confusion must have shown in his face. “Ah! You don’t know what a pseudo-mage is. Not a surprise, only a handful know about it. You see, most mages are born with two grace attributes out of five, sometimes more. But just one rarely happens, and we call them pseudo-mage.”
Silver nodded. Silver thought that calling people like them a pseudo-mage was an insult. Of course, silver wasn’t a pseudo-mage. He was something else entirely. He didn’t intend to tell her that.
Silver yawned so deeply that his Adam’s apple must be open for public view. It didn’t come as a surprise after all that travelling he was forced on. “I’m exhausted. I should be on my way and get some rest.” After a brief pause, he added. “Out of curiosity, what type of magic do you practice?”
Alisha Chuckled. “I use spatial magic didn’t you notice the door? It means I can use all five attributes. Ah! I almost forgot you may receive your membership ID by tomorrow morning.”
Their conversation ended after they exchanged short pleasantries. Silver then found a place to stay with the rent of 3 gold beads per month near headquarter. It was a complete rip-off deal. But he argued little and went straight to bed as he was exhausted after all his continuous journey.
[POV: Narrator] Silver woke up yawning deeply as the sun spread its shimmering rays. There was a window beside his bed, from which he could see the city beyond. There was a shop with a young and incredibly stunning lady selling fruit and vegetables to the people. Watching those crowd, he recalled his own home and his terrible destiny. Sizen, his homeland, was a closed nation surrounded by the land of pólemos and was on the top of Elohim's plateau. The population of the nation was roughly 225,000. The country had a palace, one on each land. Fire Village to the North, Wind Village to the East, Lightning Village to the West, Earth Village to the Southwest and Water Village to the Southeast, Capital to the Middle. Each village was about a hundred miles away from the capital and had a population of about 20,000-28,000. Whereas capital had a population of 100,000; (50,000 humans). The land of Sizen was mostly occupied by Elementals like him
[POV: Kara Davis] “What is it? Is something wrong?” She asked the messenger with a concerned look. “Well, Um... Ahh... the... Umm...” Kara Frowned. The messenger was staring at the table and kept shifting his legs. But most of all he was trembling visibly. What could have made the other man so terrified? This can’t be good news. “Well? Spit it out already.” Guard stepped back, nearly jumping on his tiptoes. He shifted his eyes to his feet. “Forgive me, my lady, to be the bearer of such sad news, but his imperial majesty is dead and your husband along with him. I was told that both of them were poisoned to death.” His mouth worked and quivered as he passed the horrid news. For a second, her mind went blank. What was the messenger saying? He must have mistaken. Yes, he was probably too nervous and said the wrong words. But one look at the messenger and realisation hit he
******* Disclaimer ********** This is a fictional work. Any names, places, events, organisations, characters, religious beliefs, cultures, and philosophy are either made up by the author or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events or people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.This work contains mature themes such as violence, torture, and abuse. The author does not promote or condoneany of the actions depicted in the work. Please read at your own risk! *************************** Abbreviations: MIDD: Magic Items Development Department WARG: World Allied Ria's Government. Members of WARG: 1. Republic of Fortuna 2. Speir - 3. Pretas - 4. Fallen Lake - 5. The Sky Kingdom - 6. Naraka - 7. Tiryak - Other Kingdoms: Sizen Everlasting Kingdom Andruss
“Sir Jones, Sir Vlad. Please, sir, we welcome you to our village.” Sir Thomas urged them through the village gate. Vlad, being Vlad, walked into the village as if he owned the place. “You invitation warms my heart, Sir Thomas.” Kara had a hard time stifling her scoff. “It is but my pleasure,” Thomas said. Why were these two acting so formally? Something is going on here. Or am I just reading too much into things? “Where are the councillors? Are they really not here?” Kara inspected the mass of the army in front of the village. There were no luxurious wagons or palanquins that indicated the presence of the councillors. “They are on their way. We just left early to help prepare,” Sir Jones Said. Kara nodded. After walking through the street paved with cobblestones, they finally reached the magnificent castle of the water village. They entered the castle through th
[POV: Kara Davis] Echoing screams still hung in the air. Why did at times like this, everything seem to slow down? It made everything that was happening even worse. Two hulks of the man climbed up to Kara and grabbed her from either side, forcing her on her knees. Her hands pulled behind her back. Kara felt the weight of a leg pushing on her back. She tried to struggle, of course, but these men were bloody strong. Her body didn’t even twitch. Ria’s forsaken bastards. The vampires pulled their head back, mouth open wide, their fangs sleek with drooping poison. The ever-present screams in the air increased. Some wailed, some collapsed, children clinging to their parents, eyes clamped shut. “No, not them. They have done nothing wrong. Just kill me and be done with it. But please, have mercy on them. Kill me instead. Please, I’m begging you... NO... Please, don’t hurt them. NO.” Despite her wails for mercy, nobody heard, even she barely heard it.
Silver woke up to a throbbing pain in his forehead. Why was everything so dark? Silver groaned. Ria Above! The pain was killing him. He tried to rub his throbbing forehead, but he immediately pulled his hands back, wincing at the pain, motes of dried blood sticking to his fingertips. What the hell happened to me. Where am I? Silver pulled on his grace and held and held that torrent of power within him; the power that allowed him to create and manipulate water constructs. Of course, the fact that he could pull on his grace surprised him. It could only mean that the summer solstice was over. With the power of grace within him,, he could finally see his surroundings. When one pulled on grace, they would be surrounded by blue ethereal light that could illuminate the surroundings to some extent. He was greeted by walls of earth surrounding him. All the herbs he had picked were scattered around him. There was a stone with dry b
[POV: Silver Davis] The vampire hesitated for a second but quickly spoke. “You have to understand. I had no choice. We are by the order of…” The vampire made a choking noise as if he was trying to form a word, but it was stuck in his throat. Silver thought it was just an act to distract him, but then he felt something brewing in the other man’s neck. Something that chilled his spine. His primal instinct took over and Silver jumped back, pulling on as much as Grace as could. Silver was not sure what was going on, but the energy was building up in the vampire’s throat. Is this some kind of attack the vampires have? The vampire’s neck exploded in the torrent of red energy, his head spinning high-high into the air. Silver put up a wall of water in front of him in the nick of time. The force of the explosion was strong. His wall of water barely protected him. Just as the wall of water dropped, something round crashed into th
[POV: Vlad Davis] “Give me the report,” Jones Davis said. Vlad Davis inspected the parchment in his hand for a few moments. “The total death count is 26,324. We have raided 5,000 gold beads worth of accessories and other utensils from the houses. We have yet to raid the castle treasury. This will be a huge boost to our funds.” Vlad said those last words proudly as if he was the one who was spewing all that money. Jones nodded absently as if all that money meant nothing to him.“ Did you find anyone else around the houses?” “Yes 400 or so peasants.” Jones arched an eyebrow at the comment. “And were there any children?” “Children? Yes, most of them were children. Some of them grandpas and grandmas too old to get out of bed. Few adults.” “And where are they?” “The vampires sucked them dry.” Vlad puffed up his chest proud to have taken care of the nuisances. He waited for the complement he deserved. Jones backh