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Elseworlds Story: Scourge in the Shadows
By: Zorbak the Ebil Moglin Date: April 3, 2025, 12:13 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Prologue:
Prologue Theme: Broken Baroque (
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiUfySjmP3s
)
My name is Kindron Darkfire... And I am a demon king from
another world. Now, I know your first instinct is to think I'm
one of those Hades spawned Kindrons, specifically one of those
from another timeline that was split into multiple beings. But
I'm not one of them. I am my own self, a version of Kindron from
the multiverse.
In my world, I was a demon who found his way into the human
world, and lived among humans while most demons were stuck in
hell. I became a dangerous enemy after I gained the power of
darkness, while I was training my power when I was young. I
sought power, and I found it. When I gained the power of
darkness, I began absorbing dark energy and the souls of others
thanks to that power. I wanted to become the strongest being in
my universe... Well, before I found out about the multiverse at
least.
I became known as the Demon King. My power grew to the point no
one could stop me as I mastered my dark energy power. My shadows
were able to absorb souls from entire groups of people at once,
and I could use the shadows to bind someone with my shadow hands
with a simple glance. There was no one who could stop me. And I
even learned to twist souls into demons to create demon
servants. Most became mindless monsters who sought people to
eat, but some retained their intelligence.
My dark energy grew to the point where I dulled out the light
from our world. Our world became permanently shrouded in a cloud
of dark energy of my own making. My cloud reflected most of the
sunlight, and the only light that made it through was the red
light of the permanent Blood Moon that was a result of how the
light was reflected away from the planet that as constantly
bouncing off the earth. The sky became a permanent scarlet
color, and my demon servants flooded the skies. No matter when
you saw the moon, it was always a full blood moon, and it left
humans in a state of fear knowing that they were no longer in
control of the state of their own world.
I was the monster the entire world feared. Most didn't know who
I was. The only knew there was a demon king with a darkness so
powerful that it could consume entire cities of people. No one
that saw me ever lived to tell about it. I was a rumor. However,
armies did start eliminating my demon servants. But I put an end
to most of the armies of the world to protect my demon servants.
I was smart though. I never wiped out humanity completely. I
went city by city. And after a city was devoid of people, new
people eventually moved in to replace the old people. By the
time I made it around the world and back, years would pass and
the people would repopulate the town. When that time came, I'd
wipe out the town again. I was methodical. I wasn't going to
wipe out humans, and give them chances to rebuild and
repopulate. The more humans that spawned and I killed, the more
power I'd gain.
However, that all changed one day. The last thing I remember in
my world was when someone or something struck me down in a flash
of light from the sky, and that light shot right through my
cloud of darkness like it wasn't even there. I thought that
light had to be from a deity... Because it came from the sky,
and effortless overpowered my own power. And I suspect that my
shroud of darkness over the world was probably destroyed by that
light. Despite my ability to reflect light, this light surpassed
my own darkness abilities.
The next thing I knew, I was a small child in a new world. I was
a human born to a human mother. From what I was told, I was born
with magic potential. This world was different from mine in many
ways, as I came to learn. In my old world, supernaturals were
few and far in between. It was mostly humans, with occasional
supernaturals like me. And almost everyone in this world is born
with a unique magic skill that becomes the basis of their magic
skill. Basically, if you have a magic skill, your survival
depends on how well you can utilize it, and how creative you can
be with it. And how well you can visualize magic, since magic is
about visualization and magic energy control.
But in this new world, I was not the demon I was before. In
other stories where other reincarnations of me have retained
their demonic power and overpowered everyone, I was not born
with the power I had in my previous life, and I could not awaken
it no matter how hard I tried. My disciplined mind training
didn't help, and I couldn't even seem to access my own magic
this new body supposedly possessed. I was as weak as any other
human... As weak as the humans I prayed upon. Even my collection
of souls amplifying my power were gone, as though they were
ripped from me. I felt like there was a hole in my soul, and I
had to learn to live with that hole in myself.
This world is different from the one I come from. In this world,
magic is the main source of power. There are those that can use
it, and those that cannot. You'll learn more about that later.
What I did want to mention is this: In each kingdom there is a
magic academy. And the magic power of the Magic Academies
determine how powerful the country is. Only those with magic can
attend these academies. Magic is everything in this world.
While I have magic, it is not at all powerful, and I keep it a
secret. It is for my own survival. I aim to reawaken my full
power and take over this world in place of the one I left
behind. And for that, I need to reawaken the dark energy power I
used to have and grow stronger.
But alas... Nothing is ever easy in life. While I have regained
some power, my dark energy is limited. And that limited my
growth as well. I have the ability to absorb dark energy and the
souls of others, but sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn't. On top of that, the power I gain is nowhere near what
it should be.
It's hard to control my powers. It's like I'll be in control,
and then suddenly it's like my powers give out. My mental,
physical and spiritual training I've done in the past should let
me control my powers, but I can't control my powers easily, and
I don't know why.
This has become an aggravating phenomena, and one that I cannot
figure out how to fix. The worst part is... I have almost died
multiple times in my life because I can't access my power. If it
weren't for my powers coming in at the right time in
desperation, or quick thinking on my part, I would never have
survived this long. And so far, I've only fought normal humans.
I haven't even fought any magic wielders yet.
It seems that even those without magic in this world can be
formidable. I thought I was strong, but I learned just how weak
I was...
A few years in this world, I watched my human mother die. And it
wasn't even people with magic. Just humans with normal weapons.
My mother tried to fight them off, but they killed her and stole
everything she had. I suspect some of these human gangs operate
on a "no witnesses" policy when they go after people, because
they seem intent on not leaving a single living person behind
whenever gangs like this appear... Almost like they're trying to
stay hidden in the shadows. And when they found me, they almost
killed me too.
Thankfully, I awakened my shadow bind just as one was about to
kill me, and some of my ability to absorb energy that day.
But my mother was dead, and I was left to live alone after that.
My mother was a kind woman. She did not deserve to die. But
nevertheless, I was alone. Alone to simmer in the grief, I
suffered and tried to continue on.
But there was a ray of hope in my childhood life. One of my
teachers at a school took pity on me. Most of the school knew my
story and how my mother was killed. But she was the only one
that did anything to help. She checked in on me, acted like a
mother more than a teacher, and helped me enroll in the magic
academy of Benchmark, the kingdom I live in. I live alone,
living in my own apartment where the students of my school live.
The school funds our living at the magic academy, so thankfully,
I don't have to work for the moment.
Despite not having visible magic power, I relied on my martial
arts training and my assassin skills from my previous life to
supplement my skills. I may not have been as skilled as my twin
brother from my previous life, Hei, but I was still skilled at
using a knife and throwing knives. Though getting used to moving
in my smaller body was difficult at first, and I still have
trouble trying to retune my instincts in combat so that I adjust
to my body being smaller. I was fast, but I was not strong
enough to overpower most people. I had to rely on counters and
parries, and pressure point strikes to take out people. And I
started to rely on my knives. Just like Hei used to. Thankfully,
martial arts is something I can use despite not being able to
always rely on my own dark power.
I don't use what magic power I have, because I don't want anyone
to know what I can do. I want them to think of me as just a
weakling they can beat. So that way no one will suspect what I
desire to become, and no one will be ready for the power I gain
when I one day regain my full dark power.
However, that has made things difficult. I cannot overcome magic
yet in this world. I rely on my physical combat skills, and it
is not always enough. The worst part of it is, humans are not
the strongest power in this world... And I may find myself
fighting beings even stronger than the humans I cannot defeat.
But as I said, so far I've only fought humans with no magic, and
I've barely survived those fights. To think I have to learn to
compete with humans with magic, and learn to compete with things
stronger than humans... It's not a pleasant thought.
I want to be stronger... I have to be stronger...
One day, I will regain the power I had before. And then I will
shroud the world in darkness as I did my world as I reclaim my
place as the strongest being in the universe.
But until then... I must bide my time. And make sure no one
finds out what I can do, or what I plan to do.
I am a shadow. A shadow hiding in a Magic Academy.
Main Story:
Kindron's Theme: Rachel (
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Gcn20nkvQ
)
Divine Dragon Theme: Stars (
HTML https://youtu.be/3D_9jCGq9rA?si=g2TfB1xhQlgxDkyC
)
Demon General Fight Theme: Lotus (
HTML https://youtu.be/FsY8rCfGKaI?si=9l9IIOfpIFAMvitw
)
Kindron and Divine Dragon Talk Theme: Time (
HTML https://youtu.be/wcGv01nDJ0U?si=ZsubdqKsvQLkS5ue
)
I still don't know how I ended up in this world. Or why my
powers are nowhere near as strong as they should be. But I have
survived this long. Even though I've nearly died a couple of
times before.
When I came to, I was a child. A young one. I had a kind and
loving mother. She cared for me, and tried to help me find ways
to awaken my magic. Supposedly, when I was born, my mother said
the magic analysis orb that they had in the hospital showed that
I possessed magic (There was a magic orb in every hospital so
they could analyze newborn children for signs of magic). Nothing
about how strong it was. It wasn't like I shattered the orb or
anything with my magic power. It was just a standard reading,
and they don't really tell you how strong your magic is when
you're born, just whether or not you have it so they can pick
out the people with magic for noble life. I have no idea how
strong the magic affinity I have, actually is, and I still
don't.
But a few years after I awakened in this world, I found myself
in my first dangerous situation. As I said before, my mother was
killed. And this incident was committed by humans. They were
normal humans working as a gang, having knives and other normal
weapons. They didn't have magic weapons since they couldn't
wield magic. But a knife is still knife, no matter what world
you live in.
They killed her and robbed our home. But the problem came when
they found me. They attacked me as I tried to avoid them and
escape. But my small body wasn't as polished as my older body,
so I couldn't move with the grace and technique I had in my old
life.
When one caught me, I tried hard to use my shadow bind on him,
despite knowing I couldn't do it in this life (By this point, I
thought my dark energy skills were gone and I couldn't reawaken
them).
But when he was about to kill me, it happened. My dark power
reawakened. My shadow bind activated and caught the guy by
surprise. He was stopped and I was able to absorb some of his
energy. But not much.
Here was the problem. I could only stop one of them at a time.
My dark power had reawakened, but nowhere near the level I was
at in my old world. I didn't get it, because when I gained this
power in my old world, it was far stronger than this. And it
took effort to keep this one guy bond.
But when I saw the knife that the man dropped, I knew what I had
to do to survive. I picked up that knife, and slit the man's
throat while he was bound. I then tried to bind one while
another charged at me. I threw the knife right into his throat.
Yeah, I stole my twin brother Hei's (Twin brother from my
previous life) favorite method of killing enemies. I then
grabbed that man's knife, but missed the slash because I
couldn't keep my attention on the shadow bind, so the man got
free of it.
I was running on adrenaline. I wasn't thinking about why my
shadow bind was so weak, when in my last life, I could bind
entire groups with a glance.
As I fought the man, I used my martial arts training.
Thankfully, my martial arts still worked as it did before. The
only downside was that I wasn't fully adjusted to my small body,
so some movements were not quite right.
But I did it. I got behind the man and slashed out his spine. He
fell to the ground and I then jammed my knife into his brain
stem with all the strength my little body could muster.
I grabbed the knives from the men I had beaten. If I couldn't
shadow bind them well, then I'd resort to one thing I knew how
to do fairly well, and could do even in a smaller body. I wasn't
as good at this as Hei was in my world, but I can throw a knife
pretty well. So, I started taking them out one by one as they
were searching for me. I would throw a knife into them, and when
it stopped them, throw another knife to disable or kill them.
Sometimes I had to slash out their spine or stab their heads to
finish them, but I didn't hesitate to do what I had to do.
However, some of them managed to also throw knives and cut me.
After a few men managed to get the drop on me, I had a knife in
my shoulder, and in my stomach. Thankfully, I knew not to pull
them out, and just tried to not move around much.
The last one though... I cut his spine and severed the nerves to
his limbs. I was careful not to cause any fatal injuries.
Thanks to him being helpless, I had some time to test my dark
energy skills I had regained. And I used this man as my test
subject, though his screams and begging for mercy got quite
annoying while I was working on trying to use my power.
What I found out about my power both frustrated me and made me
happy.
The good news was that I could absorb energy again and absorb
energy from the man, which I tested by absorbing small amounts
of energy. I could absorb energy without physical contact, but
not much. But if I got a hold of him, I could absorb his energy
directly.
Now for the bad news... I tried to test my shadow bind on him,
all the while he was begging for his life. I couldn't hold it
for long, and it wasn't strong enough to be used on more than
one person.
If this was the magic I was supposed to have, then I was very
disappointed. My skills were nowhere near where I was hoping.
And I was lucky to stop a normal pack of humans. How would I
last against someone with real power?
It frustrated me, but on the positive side, I was alive... For
now. I had at least two knives and other cuts on my body, so I
was bleeding.
The last thing I remember before passing out was absorbing the
soul of the man I was testing my power on. And it barely
enhanced my power at all. Souls in my world amplified my power
much more than this. Were the souls not as strong? Or was my
power just not strong enough to be amplified? I had no idea, nor
was I conscious long enough to figure it out.
I woke up in the hospital a few weeks later. I told the police
force what happened, and how the gang murdered my mother.
Thankfully, my shadow bind didn't leave any traces of power
behind. Either that, or the people who investigated didn't know
how to detect traces of magic left behind...
Wait... Was my shadow bind and energy absorption my magic? It
was only at this point that I started to think about it. I had
magic, but I never figured out how to use it. What if this was
my magic? Maybe that made sense why it started out small if it
was a different power from the demonic power I used before... If
so, I had to learn a whole new power. Maybe that's why my powers
weren't working the way they should.
Over the next few weeks as I recovered in the hospital, I tried
to absorb little bits of energy from people. Not much, just
enough to help my recovery. But it wasn't like I could absorb
souls if I tried... My energy absorption was limited, and the
energy I was absorbing wasn't helping at all.
This was really starting to tick me off at this point. Nothing
made any sense anymore. Sometimes my power worked, sometimes it
didn't. And my energy absorption was almost useless.
When I got out, I was able to go home. They took the bodies, and
I was stuck living alone. Since I was someone with magic, it
seemed like the magic academy was willing to pay for my living
if I was dedicated to going to the magic academy when I got
older. I wasn't old enough to go to the school yet, but when I
got older, I agreed to go. Maybe learning magic at a school will
help me understand my power more.
So, I lived alone for some time until I got older and started
going to the magic academy.
So now we skip to when I got older and was going to the magic
academy.
While I was at the store one day, I fought another gang...
Another gang of normal humans. But before they acted on the
place, I had something strange happen.
The TVs acted up, and something it seemed only I could see
happened. In multiple screens, I saw some kind of shadow spirit.
And no, this wasn't a dark spirit. I knew the difference, and
not to mess with dark spirits.
I immediately tried to absorb its energy, as it seemed like it
was trying to give me energy as it reached toward the screen
almost like it was reaching toward me.
But the gang members noticed something weird about me and
started killing everyone in the small store. It was strange, but
it was like the moment they saw I could use some form of power,
they immediately went into fight or flight mode.
Thanks to the first gang I fought, I had refined my combat
tactics, and started carrying knives in my jacket, and in my
sleeves. Yeah, I looked more like my brother Hei than I wanted
to admit. But I came to realize that physical combat was
something I could rely on, whereas my powers only worked when
they wanted to. Over the years, I started absorbing energy and
souls, but only got minor boosts that were barely noticeable. So
I started relying more on combat skills rather than magic. But I
did gain a few abilities using my dark energy at least. A few
abilities I didn't have in my last life.
I had trained for this. I was ready. Or at least... I thought I
was...
I did kill all the gang members. Throwing knives, cutting their
nerves, or just jamming my knife into them over and over again
until they stopped fighting.
But these guys still got hits in on me. As untouchable as I used
to be in my old life, it was strange that these people were able
to be on par with me. Once again, multiple knives stuck in my
body, as I took out the enemies.
However, this time there was a magic user among them. His
ability was copying weapons and summoning them. It was a pretty
useless skill to him since he could only hold so many weapons,
and he could only summon 3 weapons. But I killed him with a good
knife to his abdomen, leg, and then to his neck.
But something strange happened when I killed him. I could sense
a new skill gain. This was something I was used to, since I had
awakened a few other skills (usually not knowing how I gained
them).
This time, I got a weapon summoning skill I came to call
Infinite Blades. It was a variation of the guy's weapon
summoning skill. But for me, I was able to summon unlimited
amounts of blades. Only problem was, like him, I could only hold
so much.
So I tried a few quick things with my new skill. I summoned four
knives in each hand, holding them between my fingers. I then
threw them all. Another trick I took from Hei. All I can say is
I'm now thankful I trained with him so much in my last life. He
was one of the people who survived my takeover of the world, but
that's another story.
When I through the knives though, the knives either didn't hit
at the right angle, or bounced off the wall I threw them at. It
was weird, I thought I threw them all correctly, but I guess
not. Either I didn't account for the knives correctly, or my
body wasn't as good as I thought at using knives.
But then I got another idea. What if I tried pushing the
summoning to the limit? I wasn't limited by the man's three
weapons if I was able to summon eight knives. So I tried
something. I summoned knives from the sleeves of my jacket, and
worked on firing them like bullets. Guns don't exist in this
dimension, and it's all magic power and magic technology. So
many don't seem to figure out how to visualize projectile
attacks very well when using magic, I've noticed. Which is good
for me, since I have the advantage here.
Anyway, I pulled my hands into my sleeves and visualized a
machine gun. I then fired masses of knives from the darkness in
my sleeves. It seemed to work great. I could fire multiple
knives at once, and fire them at people. I could make it look
like I'm slipping the knives from my sleeves, but in reality I'm
summoning them. And if I play my cards right, I can fire them
while covering my sleeve to make it look like I'm throwing
multiple knives, but actually firing them. This was something I
could use.
I was elated. This meant I had a more dependable way to attack
people. Of course, knives are only gonna help so much,
especially against strong magic users. And if I fight magnetic
or earth users who can control metal, this technique would
probably be useless. Though I could summon other weapons, knives
have become my life in this world since I can use them without
needing magic. I know I've said it a lot, but my powers only
working when they want to has frustrated me to no end.
But as I thought about it, I had a thought that may explain a
lot of my power, and explain the problems with my power...
What if my unique magic skill is copying other magic skills? I
have awakened skills I haven't gotten in my last life, and it
seems like my powers work differently. What if they're not my
old skills, but instead new skills I copied from myself in my
old life? It doesn't copy the skills exactly, as I learned with
this one (the man could only summon three weapons at a time).
But I may gain special skill variation based on other skills I
understand. That may explain why my dark energy powers don't
work the same. And why I've gotten a few other skills that I
can't figure out where they came from. That would explain so
much. Maybe as I understand skills, I'm able to create variation
skills using those skills as a base.
I started to think. It made sense. And now that I have some
useful skills, I can start building myself up. I'll have to
build myself up into something new. It seems I can't fully
become what I was before, at least not until I find a way to
gain better amplification from the power I take, and find a more
dependable way to use my dark energy abilities.
But the problem is that even with unique skills, I can't build
up as quickly as I did before. At this rate, it feels like it's
going to take the next 100 years before I build myself back up
to being a demon king level. I need my darkness skill, and I
need to figure out why it only operates in certain
circumstances, and how to make the skill stronger more quickly.
Those are my biggest problems right now. But I think the shadow
spirit who's energy I got before the fight with the gang may be
a hint... It feels like it was giving me energy, which is why I
tried to extend and take energy from it. Something about that
has to be significant... I just don't know how yet. There's
multiple possible explanations, but I don't want to assume
anything.
So... Remember when I said I had more knives that were stuck in
me? Well... I spent more time in the hospital because of it. I'm
kind of surprised the police brushed it off. They didn't care
that these people died, or that I killed them. Something didn't
feel right about that. But I sometimes have to remind myself
that this world operates on different rules than my old world.
Anyway, I spent more time in the hospital. It was about the same
length of time I spent in it the first time. Nothing really to
note.
What I wouldn't give for a regeneration skill... I really want a
skill that creates black flames that heal me. I wonder if
there's a way I can get a skill like that? But alas... I don't
have regeneration skills. At least, not yet. I need to find
someone with regeneration abilities that I can copy (maybe to
test whether or not I can copy skills or if I'm wrong about my
skill).
So,I spent my time in the hospital, recovering. Once I
recovered, I went back to school.
I felt a bit stronger when I recovered, almost like my power
jumped a little.
So the first day back, I was on the transport bus. You see, I
live in one of the apartment buildings where the students at the
magic academy are granted living spaces. And every day, there's
a transport bus for us that we can take to school for those of
us without faster ways to get there.
Since I let people think I have weak and useless levels of
magic, I don't use my magic. Not that I have a teleportation
skill anyway... Even though I wish I did.
Back to what I was talking about though. I decided to try an
experiment on the bus. I tried to absorb energy from people from
a distance. I can do it on a limited basis. Sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn't. I know you're probably tired of
hearing about my problems trying to make my powers work, but
it's hard to get away from it when it's the biggest part of my
life right now.
But anyway, I tried to absorb energy from people. I wanted to
absorb energy to make myself stronger. Not enough to kill anyone
or take their souls. Just a little bit of energy. However, I
couldn't absorb energy from even one person. I could have
touched them and absorbed energy that way, but there's a good
chance they'd have noticed if I started taking their energy
while in physical contact with them. I can't help but wonder if
all of the people on the bus are more powerful than me, and
maybe that's the reason my skill doesn't work on them from a
distance.
The girl sitting in the seat in front of me though... She was
the one that worried me the most, and the one I needed to avoid
problems with. I kind of wanted to reach past the seat and take
her energy now so she wouldn't be able to fight me later.
Her name is Sera Benchmark... As in the Benchmark Kingdom. You
can probably guess the gimmick here from her name... She's the
princess of the kingdom, with the Benchmark family being the
royal family that started the kingdom. And she's the strongest
in the kingdom currently. At least, as far as we know.
Yeah, I know. It's cliche. The princess is the strongest and I'm
the guy that should be getting stronger than everyone in the
kingdom. Yeah, it's one of those isekai tropes.
She's known as the Divine Dragon. It's said her sword skills and
her holy light abilities surpass any other magic in the kingdom,
and she can cut down any opponent who stands in her way. When I
take over this world, she'll probably be one of the strongest
people I'll have to face. She wears golden armor over her blue
school outfit. One of the people who has a modified outfit since
her armor is technically part of her magic ability. If she loses
a piece of it, I've heard she just re-manifests it.
I got to the school with everyone else. No one pays me much
attention. I'm that loner kid that everyone avoids. Many of the
people here know my story at this point. They know that my
mother was murdered, and at this point, they know that I just
murdered my second gang in self defense. I figure they must
probably be talking about me, and thinking I'm some kind of
serial killer. I've killed two gangs now and almost died both
times. I hate having a human body sometimes... I feel so much
weaker than in my old body. Even the humans in my world didn't
feel this weak. And their souls amped me up far more than this
world's souls have.
At this point, I'm used to being mostly ignored, or people
avoiding me. Even the teachers want nothing to do with me. They
don't even scold me for anything, even when I skip class. They
mostly just leave me alone. I have good grades. I'm one of the
top students in the school grade-wise. Performance wise, I don't
rank, and they can't ever seem to be bothered to test my skills.
I let everyone believe I haven't awakened my magic yet because I
don't want them to know what skills I have. And if I'm right
about my ability to copy other skills, then I need to keep it
secret for as long as I can.
It made me a bit sentimental for the old days in my last school
when I was younger. I started to get lost in memories as I
walked through the halls. There was one teacher in my youth who
actually did care about me. After my mother's death, this
teacher would check in on me before I got into the magic
academy. When she caught me in town, she'd take my hand and walk
me around. I was just a kid, and she tried to take care of me as
best she could. And she was the one who actually got me into the
magic academy. Originally, I was going to be denied because I
hadn't "awakened" my magic yet, and they were worried that I
wouldn't be able to pass classes without magic. But my teacher
managed to get them to let me in, and use my martial arts and
knife training to combat magic users in testing. I think my
teacher thought I could show them you don't need magic skills to
be better than them. She had a confidence in me no one else had.
Normally, normal humans aren't allowed into the magic academy.
And if I didn't have confirmed magic affinity, they probably
would never have let me into the school even with my teacher's
recommendations.
I call her my teacher, but she was only one of the teachers I
had in my last school. But she's the only one I care about since
none of the other ones cared about me. When I take over this
world, she's one of the few people I will spare, and that's a
promise I made to myself long ago... Or at least, I'll give her
a quick death so she can go to the afterlife. I will not torture
her by taking her soul like so many others.
Let me correct one misconception you may have about me. I don't
like killing people. Yes, it's true I kill without remorse or
hesitation, and I plan to take over this world and take as many
souls as I can. But I do this in the name of growing stronger. I
don't do this to torture people, or to get some kind of sick
satisfaction. If there were a way to grow stronger without
taking souls, and it were more efficient, I'd happily take it as
an option (one of the reasons I want to test and see if my
theory is right about me being able to copy abilities).
There are a few people, like my mother and my teacher, who I
would spare if I did manage to take over the world and start
taking souls in groups like I did in my world. I don't like
killing, but I will do what I have to in order to grow stronger,
and if that means killing, I won't hesitate. But I'm not evil. I
do care about people. And I can be sentimental towards people I
like.
And yeah, I know... One day, someone's gonna kill me if I start
killing people and I start taking souls. I know it will likely
be my destiny to die at the hands of someone like the Divine
Dragon if I step out of line, and haven't grown strong enough to
compete with the stronger people of this world. That's one of
the reasons why I don't step out of line.
Back to reality though. I got lost on a tangent for a bit there.
My day went as I expected. People looked at me now and then, and
avoided me. But that was how I liked it. If they avoided me,
they wouldn't get attached. And they'd likely forget me. I
needed that kind of invisibility in people's minds. I have to
make sure no one suspects what I want to become.
Anyway, I was walking in a back part of the school. There was an
ally behind the school that I hung out in. Most kids didn't like
being in this part of the school since it was a cliche spot to
get beat up or something. Even the bullies avoided this part of
the school because they knew it was cliche and they'd get found
out if they brought people here to beat them up and bully them.
So thanks to that, no one really ever hangs out here. So this is
where I go to eat my lunch alone.
As I was walking to my spot I had set up on a bench I brought in
from another part of the school, my shadow clone reappeared in
my shadow. Thankfully, my shadow clone was invisible, and as far
as we knew, didn't stir up any suspicion. It seemed like no one
could sense him unless they saw him move from shadow to shadow.
My shadow clone is a new skill I gained in this world. Not sure
where I picked it up honestly, but it's a skill I didn't have in
my old world. I can create dark versions of myself that are
weaker than me, but can be created to scout or fight enemies.
This one had been looking for more information on this world
since I was trying to find out as much as I could about the
world, and had the clone looking for things I didn't know.
I then use my telepathic connection to talk to my shadow. One
thing about my shadow clones is that when they're in my shadow,
we have some kind of telepathic bond. So it means we can speak
without talking aloud.
Me: So. I take it you found something? I say to the shadow
clone.
Shadow Clone: I did. I found out something about the people of
this world that you don't know. He says to me. One thing about
my clones is that they share my memories, but when separate from
my shadow, I can't communicate with them unless I actually speak
to them. But when they're in my shadow, they share my memories.
When they're separate, they don't gain any memories I gain while
they're gone. But when they return, they get my memories from
when they were gone.
Me: What is it? I ask curiously.
Shadow Clone: Well... I found out that the humans of this world
have some kind of strange resistance to powers. Whether it's
magic, spirit power or whatever, the humans here are stronger
than the ones in our world, at least in durability.
Me: Everyone has this resistance? Part of me wondered if my body
had this resistance as well. I haven't faced many magic users,
so I didn't know for sure.
Shadow Clone: That's right. Humans in this world are resistant
to supernatural energies. I found reports on those gangs you
killed. Turns out... They were normal humans save for one that
was rejected for having a useless skill. And of course, he was
talking about the one who had the ability to create and summon
weapons.
Me: But I take it normal weapons like knives and blades still
work normally though right? No resistances to those?
Shadow Clone: No resistances to normal combat as far as I'm
aware. But there's something else. The report on the gangs you
killed, but were ranked very low in the scales of this world.
Comparing this world's power scale to our world, those gangs
were this world's equivalent of Skud...
I stopped for a moment. Skud was the third person I killed. He
was a weakling and he was a real piece of work. I hated him. But
he was weak. I absorbed his soul easily. There was no
competition. Even the first person I killed put up more of a
fight than Skud did. Of course, there were some that were weaker
than Skud, but Skud himself was still one of the weaker humans.
Skud was the kind of human you would be happy to know is gone. I
won't get into it, but I'm actually glad his soul isn't part of
me anymore.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. All this time, I wasn't
even fighting high level people. Both gangs I fought, I nearly
died. How much worse would it be if I fought someone with true
magic abilities?
It was then that something must have clicked in my brain. I
understood now. Why there were gangs of normal humans. In this
world, magic is everything. If you don't have magic, you are
basically a peasant.
I'm guessing that this means that those without magic are left
to hide in the shadows and kill to survive. That must be why
they kill everyone and leave no witnesses to their crimes. If
someone with magic catches wind of them, they'd likely not be
able to fight back against someone with real magic power.
Despite humans in this world being stronger, the humans must be
forced to extreme lengths to survive. It makes sense. The humans
must gang up together. Maybe that's why they use knives and
blades, so that they can try and sneak up on, and take out, the
stronger magic abilities by killing the magic user. That
explains why the gang in that shop saw me and tried to take me
out when they realized I had magic (though thankfully, no one
else saw my magic but them, and I left no survivors to tell
otherwise). That may also explain why the police don't care
about the deaths of these humans who work in gangs. I already
know humans without magic are basically peasants, but the police
may not even see them as worth the time to acknowledge. If they
die, so be it. It's the people with magic that they care whether
they live or die.
This was a huge discovery. Now things were starting to fall into
place. Maybe that's why my powers don't always work? Maybe
people's resistance means that they can resist some skills more
easily, like my ability to absorb energy. I can absorb shadows,
but I can't reliably absorb energy from people.
Of course, this is only a theory. Because I have tested my
powers without other people around, and it doesn't seem that my
absorption powers work consistently even when no one is around.
The only skills that work consistently seem to be the ones I
learned like Infinite Blades and Shadow Clone. Those I haven't
had problems with, but it's my shadow powers that I have trouble
with.
It is strange though. My mental discipline should help me unlock
my abilities. I know how to manipulate energy and visualize my
powers well. But it never seems to help. Sometimes I wonder if a
deity of this world placed restrictions on me so I don't grow
too powerful... Though I don't think any deity in this world
would care about someone like me enough to do that.
My only other guess is that this world works differently from
mine, and my mental discipline must not work the same way in
this world. If the mind works different in this world's humans,
that may explain why my mental training doesn't seem to help.
However, as I was thinking about all this, I heard a commotion
nearby on the side of the school as people ran away. I sneaked
over to find out what was going on. Something in a purple cloak
was terrorizing the school. It wasn't a student, nor did it seem
human as it fired blasts of purple energy.
I prepared for a moment like this though. I wanted to try
something. I donned a black cloak and a wolf mask I bought at a
store some time ago. I keep them in my magic storage spell
(another skill I got, but this one is more of a basic spell most
of the magic students learn).
I put it in and summon combat knives in my hand. I haven't yet
summoned guns because I don't want to introduce guns to this
world yet. If I did, it would strengthen the humans further, and
I might not survive future fights if humans had guns.
So I go to attack the... thing... from behind. It was short, but
I couldn't see its hood. And its skin on its hands was gray...
Like, strangely gray.
The creature jumped out of the way of my attack.
Creature: So... At least one human is brave enough to face me.
He says as he turns to face me. There were no more people, so it
was just us. But I didn't remove my hood or mask. I wanted to
keep my identity secret as long as possible.
I stayed silent. But a blast from the creature blasting my knife
away from my hand caught me off guard.
The creature tried to attack me but I managed to avoid him.
Thankfully, my martial arts skills were still martial arts
skills, and I had more easily adapted to my form over the years
of training I'd done. I was getting better. But the creature was
also skilled in combat.
Creature: Oh? You're not bad, kid. He says as he tries to attack
me. Thankfully, I duck his attack and catch his wrists.
This was it. This was my chance. I started absorbing his energy.
This would be my second soul I'd absorbed if I could manage it.
I just had to hold him in place.
Creature: What? What are you doing?! He says, as he tries to
break free. He pulls me forward a bit as he was stronger than
me, but I held my grip. Absorbing my energy! How dare you try to
absorb the power of a demon general! He says angrily.
That caught me off guard... A demon general? I knew demons
existed in this world, but I had never heard of them attacking a
magic academy where some of the strongest in the world would be.
Let alone a demon general.
But the thing that got me was: If he was a general, then that
must mean there's a demon lord or demon king... How dare someone
take the spot I coveted so much?! I was supposed to be the demon
king!
However, while I was pondering on the idea of a demon lord, the
demon general seemed to pull knives from his robe and jam them
up through my wrists.
I screamed in pain as I felt the knives before I saw them.
The demon general chuckled.
Demon General: You let your guard down. He says with a gleeful
tone.
I smiled. Despite the pain, I summoned two knives from my sleeve
and jammed them into his wrists as retaliation. To him, it
looked like I did the same thing he did, just taking knives from
my jacket sleeve and using them.
Me: You're not the only one who can do that. I say jokingly.
However, during this, I lost grip on the demon general's wrists,
which stopped my energy drain. Due to the pain I was in, I
couldn't hold on anymore.
My mask came off when I jumped back, as the thread broke. Great.
Now he could see my face.
I was a bit upset. I had it all planned out. I was going to use
the wolf mask, and create a persona called Wolf Mask to fight in
my place against threats. I figured that way I could keep my
identity hidden.
But that went out the window when the last person I wanted to
see showed up.
It was Sera Benchmark. The Divine Dragon. I guess she must have
showed up to stop the demon general. Makes sense since she's the
strongest warrior in this country. And now the Wolf Mask idea
was even more of a non-option... Since she'd know who I was and
she was one of the people I specifically didn't want to know who
Wolf Mask really was. I either have the best luck ever, or the
worst luck ever. There's no in between...
Demon General: Uh oh! He says as he notices the Divine Dragon
approaching. She was wearing her full golden armor over her blue
school outfit. And the demon general was apparently panicking.
Probably didn't want to have to fight me and the Divine Dragon
at the same time.
I had no choice but to let him go. I could have tried to grab
his wrists again, but the knives in my wrist were making it hard
to think straight. I don't know if I was suffering blood loss,
but at this point, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility.
Divine Dragon: NO. She says as the demon general moves away from
me and opens a portal. She tries to chase him, but he disappears
into the portal and the portal closes behind him.
She turned to me.
Divine Dragon: Why didn't you stop him?! He got away! She barks
at me. Then she notices my wrists with the knives still in them.
She then sighs and removes the knives from my wrist.
Divine Dragon: I'm sorry. I guess you have a good excuse. She
says as she goes into her storage spell and pulls out some
medical gauze and wrap. She then wraps my my wrists while
healing some of the damage.
Divine Dragon: I can't heal it completely, but I can heal it
enough that you should recover as long as you don't use your
wrists for a bit. She says to me, her voice now softer. I
studied her healing ability, wondering if I could gain it since
I knew how healing magic worked. So far, no dice. Either my
skill wasn't copying, or there was something else I needed to
learn before I could copy abilities. I don't know what it was,
but something was missing. And I wasn't gonna try and take her
energy to see if that was the issue, because she'd know
instantly something was up if I did even though she was pouring
magic energy into my wrists.
As she was wrapping up my wrists, we walk into the school
building.
Divine Dragon: That demon will be back... And he'll bring more
next time. I could tell that demon was strong. If multiple demon
generals appear, not even I will be able to fight them all off.
She says, partially to herself.
Before walking away, I turn to her. Me: If they do... I'll
protect you. I said to her before walking away. Thanks for
bandaging up my wrists. I say to her as I walk away. I left
behind my mask, and I threw my cloak into my storage spell.
I was originally trying to be nice when I said all that...
It wasn't until later I found out that this was what put me on
her radar... And I don't even know what possessed me to say
that. I could have just said nothing, or agreed with her. But I
don't know why I said I'd protect her. I can't even protect
myself, let alone others. Maybe I was having a sentimental
moment... It wouldn't surprise me.
But I found out later that she became curious about me at that
moment. She was used to people either treating her like she was
always out of reach, or they wanted nothing to do with her
because of how strong she was, or some wanted to use her power
for their own gain. She told me later that I was the first
person who treated her like a true equal, and offered to protect
her. She was happy that someone wanted to protect her, instead
of everyone wanting her to protect them.
As the staff investigated the demon general attack, the Divine
Dragon told them about what happened. About how I tried to
protect the school, and when she got there, the demon retreated.
I told them that it was a demon general, based on what he said
to me, and they seemed to not take me seriously. Big surprise...
But when the Divine Dragon told them it was true, they seemed to
believe her.
Oh well. At least no one suspects anything off about me. Them
not trusting me could be useful later. I'm going to hold on to
that card for now. I think my younger brother in my past life,
Kendrix, would be proud of me for how well I've learned to
manipulate people since coming to this world.
I spent some time in the nurse's office. She examined my
bandages and gave me some more bandages to take home with me.
I spent a few weeks resting my arms so I wouldn't reopen the
wounds, going to school but never really doing a whole lot. I
tried to absorb energy in the off-time when no one was watching,
but the dark energy amplifying my power was still minimal, so I
didn't really grow at all. I decided to look for some books. I
hadn't had much time to process everything I'd learned today,
and I needed more information.
But I couldn't relax. The Divine Dragon was following me. I
started walking around the library. No body seemed to care about
me, or her. I walked around for 10 minutes, and then found a
spot to sit down.
I then looked to her.
Me: Why are you following me? I asked her. It may have sounded
colder than I meant it to.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when I talked to her.
Divine Dragon: You can see me?! She asked me with surprise.
I tilted my head in confusion. Me: Yeah, why?
Divine Dragon: No one can see through my illusion spell... And
you never said anything the last few days... She said to me. I
was stunned. She was using an illusion spell? I couldn't even
tell.
Thankfully, I thought quick, and kept my composure, so I didn't
falter.
Me: I'm going to guess you didn't build the spell correctly...
Maybe a lack of concentration, or you were in a hurry? Your
spell wasn't disguising your presence properly. I say to her,
trying to hold back my surprise. It was a bluff, but it was the
best I had. I had to make her believe it was the spell she used,
not me that was the reason I was able to see through it.
She sighs. Divine Dragon: Maybe. I could tell she didn't believe
me, but it seemed like she was gonna drop the subject.
In that moment, I wondered why I could see through her spell
now. She mentioned that I never said anything before. She's been
watching me. I hope she doesn't suspect anything. But now that I
think about it, I did stand up to a demon general... So maybe
she thinks I'm going to be some kind of rival to her or
something. Like I said, I didn't find out until later that what
I said to her the day of the attack put me on her radar.
But in that moment, I wondered. What could have strengthened me
enough to see through her spells? My energy amplification was
still minimal. But I clearly had gotten stronger since the
attack...
Then I had a thought... The attack.
I absorbed the demon general's energy. And in the moment, I
wasn't paying attention to how strong the amplification was. I
don't know how much stronger I became with the demon general's
energy. Was that the answer? Maybe I became stronger because I
absorbed a demon's energy? Maybe that's why I became strong
enough to see through her spell. Even though it was only today
that it happened even though the attack was a few weeks ago.
She seemed to be in thought as she sat next to me. I was there
to do research on humans and anatomy to find answers on where
the human's supernatural resistance comes from. But that would
have to wait.
Me: So... Why are you following me? I say, repeating my
question. If it wasn't obvious by how I don't refer to her by
her actual name often, it's because I'm not looking to befriend
the Divine Dragon if I can help it. I prefer to keep a distance
from her, because she's probably going to be someone I'm going
to have to fight one day. And one of us is going to end up
dead... I really don't want to get sentimental.
She looked into my eyes.
Divine Dragon: I was curious. Whenever I saw you before... You
had this fear in you. But I don't see that fear anymore.
You're... more confident than you were before. She explains.
I stay silent. I hadn't really noticed any fear in me. I've done
a pretty good job at controlling my emotions. Or so I thought...
But she saw something in me I tried to hide. I don't think she
understood exactly what she was sensing from me though. But the
fact she was sensing something was a problem for me.
Divine Dragon: I've found that true power in this life comes
from not pushing fear out of the mind, but it comes from not
having the room in your mind for fear. We can't afford to be
afraid, because all it does is hold us back. We can't live if we
live in fear. That's what I think. She says to me.
Me: Sounds like you're speaking more about yourself than me. I
say to her sarcastically.
Divine Dragon: Perhaps. She says to herself. But I've seen you
around the school. You've always had this... sense... about you.
I think you were trying to act more mature so others wouldn't
see your suffering. The grief of losing your mother must have
been tough. But now you seem to have a quiet confidence. I think
fighting that demon may have been what you needed to push past
your fear. She says to me, almost like she was analyzing me.
When she mentioned my mother, I clenched my fists. I put that
behind me a long time ago, but there was some pain there at her
loss. I did grieve her for a time. But I got my revenge on the
humans who did it. My mother dying didn't leave me all that much
of a wreck like one might think. People die, and that's a fact I
come to accept. But there was one thing to note... And that's
the fact that she was wrong in her analysis.
I stayed silent, but everything she said was wrong...
I held back my frustration, not my fear. My frustration at being
so weak I can't even kill humans. My frustration at not being
able to grow stronger. And finally, my frustration at having to
hide who I am because I can't let anyone figure out anything
about me. I've been so frustrated with my life that I feel like
it's my default emotion.
And the reason I changed... I don't know... Maybe it was
fighting the demon general. I think I did better against him
than I have against the normal humans. But I suspect it was the
fact that I understand more about this world as my shadow clone
gave me an explanation that explained a lot. So now I feel like
I understand far more and can plan ways to move forward.
It's certainly not sentimental drivel about overcoming grief.
But I stayed silent. She got up and left after that. I think she
must have sensed my growing unease with the conversation. I'd
just have to let her believe what she wanted to for now.
But today taught me something important... And that was the fact
the Divine Dragon was watching me now. That meant I would have
to be extra careful, and make absolutely sure I didn't show her
any of my magic abilities. If I did, then my whole plan would
probably fall apart. Especially if she saw that I have dark
energy abilities. I had to keep her from finding out about my
dark energy abilities at all costs.
If I have to show magic, then I'll show off my Infinite Blades
technique. At least that's a good combat skill, and I could use
it without giving away my ability to use dark energy. I've
actually grown to like my Infinite Blades technique, and I might
keep it as my primary attack skill. Part of me even considered
using it as my main skill in combat.
But I need to find a way to get stronger... A dependable way
that won't fail me when it counts most. Either I need my dark
energy to work consistently, or I need to find a way to use my
ability to copy skills (if that's indeed what the skill is). It
seems that I will have to fight the Divine Dragon one day...
Along with other magic users. There may also be a demon king I
need to contend with.
But for now, I needed to find a way to test a theory of mine. If
I did gain stronger amplification from absorbing that demon
general's energy, perhaps taking demon souls is what will make
me stronger in this world. I have to figure something out, but I
don't think it will be that easy to lure demons to me that I can
use to test my theory. Or at least, I need to absorb the Divine
Dragon instead since she's far more powerful. I don't think I
can keep going on like this for much longer. I've been lucky so
far, but I feel like my luck is running out.
It wouldn't be until later that I'd find out how important the
bond I was building with Sera Benchmark would be... And how it
would affect my life.
End.
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