Crimson Core

It had been a few days since Samantha had that encounter with Kai. After that night of the incident, when she woke up, she felt numb as though her body did not belong to her. Samantha had lost feeling in her body; it was as if she was looking at her body from a spectator's standpoint.

She could not get out of bed that morning, resulting in her post being left unattended. Later that evening, after laying in bed for a day, the numbness disappeared, and she felt lighter and more energetic. “What did he do to me?” Samantha asked herself.

Little did she know that the blood that Kai had given her changed something within her; she had been given the ability to absorb an affinity element. It all felt weird to her; the feeling, the sensation—it was all so surreal.

The next day the numbness had disappeared after she had a very relaxing sleep the night before, so relaxing that she almost forgot to wake up.

Samantha had made a resolve to find out what it was that he had done to her to make her feel this good. “Is this the effects of his blood?” Samantha asked herself, trying to make everything understandable to her.

Somewhere beyond the human realm, where all things are non-existent yet very present...

A blue light was seen blinking in the darkness as a mystic, lifeless voice was heard. “Status report; the last fragment for the system has been retrieved.

—Sob, sniff. Sniff—

The sound of a woman sobbing lightly was heard as well. “He has grown so fast. I can’t believe that I will be leaving him soon. Cipher…” She spoke to her self before calling out to the floating blue light in front of her.

“Yes… What do you require of me?” The lifeless voice said again.

“Soul corruption status?” The woman asked the blue ball of light.

The light coming from the blue ball flickered even faster before slowing down, as though it were thinking or performing a task. “Soul corruption status; the soul has been completely corrupted.”

The moment the lifeless voice sounded, a warm yet scary smile crept up the face of the woman. “Subordinate report?”

The moment the woman asked this, the blue ball of light flickered again, and a hologram appeared in between the woman and the blue ball of light.

Dorchaidehe Firefield

Element: fire.

Rank: Baron. (37%), warrior mage, peak layer

Loyalty: 50%

Samantha Heath

Element: Space and time

Rank: Noble. (2%) commoner mage, first layer

Loyalty:(16%)

Nyx Twins: Damien

Element: The essence of Night

Rank: Baron (30%) warrior mage, third layer

Loyalty: pending…

Nyx Twins: Adrian

Element: The essence of Night

Rank: Noble (35%) warrior mage, mid layer

Loyalty: 4%

The woman looked at the list in front of her. “I think this should be all. The supplies I kept for him?”

“Devil space incorporation status: Completed.”

The woman smiled from ear to ear, about to say something else but was interrupted by a flash of bright light from behind her. She didn’t show a bit of shock in the very least. From within the bright light, two men, taller than any human alive, stepped out of the light portal.

The two men looked alike in everything. Their hair color, their hairstyle, their height, the way they walked... exactly alike, as though they were clones. The only difference was in the color of their clothes; even the design of the clothes was alike.

“Syther… Please come with us.” One of the ridiculously tall men dressed in black apparel spoke.

“Your home needs you... please do not resist.” The other ridiculously tall man dressed in white said.

Syther was the name of the woman; she stood up from her seat and walked towards them.

Smiling, she looked at both of them. “You know you don’t have to lie; I know why you are here. Both of you have grown. I remember when you were born; that was two eons ago, right? Sigh, I have gotten old.” She said with a self-mocking smile.

The formerly expressionless faces of the two men changed. “Please do not make it harder than it already is.” The ridiculously tall man in white said with a sad expression.

Still having a self-mocking smile on her face, she responded. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I am a god after all; I have my pride.” Syther’s self-mocking smile changed to an arrogant expression.

“Cipher… Make him strong.” The woman said before she walked towards the portal portal. “I don’t have all day! Lets go!”

Syther disappeared into the portal, followed by the two men. Sometime later, the blue light glowed violently and then disappeared.

Kai was seated, facing the two brothers. “So… Do you have something to tell me? It’s already night; I have to sleep,” Kai said with sleepy eyes.

“…”

Damien was silent for some time before he spoke. “We would be taking our leave”. ‘I have to report this to the patriarch.’

“But brother…” Adrian was confused.

Damien said nothing as he dragged Adrian out of the room. “Let us just go!”

They left the same way they came: through the front door.

‘What an odd set of twins.’ Kai smiled. “But thanks a lot!” Kai said to their hearing as he lay on his bed to sleep.

“Oh, lest I forget.”

—Du. Du—

Kai hit his hands to deactivate the gauntlet of the gods before finally falling asleep.

Damien half dragged and half persuaded Adrian to walk with him to their chamber.

On the way there, they had a conversation.

“Why did we have to leave that room, We just fueled the fire in his heart. You humiliated us, why?” Adrian stopped, causing Damien to stop as well.

Damien turned around and walked towards Adrian while explaining. “The thing is... That man, Astarite or whatever his name was, is stronger than both of us put together. That man... That man is simply strong.” Damien had an expression on his face, an expression of fear.

Damien Nyx was scared.

“…”

Adrian was shocked to see his brother this way. Adrian was crazy in the head but he loved his brother and he knew his brother was always as calm as calm could be. They were second years, the strongest in their set; they could even pass off as third-years but here was the second-strongest second-year buckling in fear of a first-year that had not even started his mage journey yet.

The fact that Damien was scared made Adrian think twice. If his brother said they might die, then they would die if he tried to go against Damien’s deductions.

“Let us go,” Adrian said after some time, this time dragging Damien out of the mountain tiger house.

Damien kept looking into an imaginary horizon. He was lost, and his soul was truly shaken.

When they got into their chamber, the green rank 1 of the Skylark house, Adrian laid Damien on one of the two beds in the room.

“That man was really strong. He messed up my brother. Hmph…Hmph… Hahaha… Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!”

Although Adrian loved his brother, he would never back down from a fight, especially if he had a slim chance of winning. Adrian was a simple martial maniac; he had never once backed down from a fight, but that fight had to wait.

With a bit of a long and well-deserved rest, Damien’s soul damage would be healed without a trace of having been shaken. But if he, Kai, had continued, this would have ended much worse than just soul-shaking; Damien could have died.

The thought of that caused Adrian to shudder. He would be all alone in this world if he ever lost his brother. ‘I have to be wary of this man.’ Adrian walked to their wardrobe in the other room and brought out a box. A black velvet box.

Adrian opened the box to expose a blue, stone kind of relic. It was the million-milestone. It came in pairs; one of the sets could communicate with the other over a distance of under a million miles.

Adrian held the million-mile stone in his hands and called out. “Father, Father, are you there?” The moment Adrian’s voice entered into the stone relic, it changed colour from blue to thick black.

A voice was heard from the stone. "Damien, is that you?” A manly voice was heard from the stone.

It was normal; Damien was the one who would always report back, but never Adrian. “Uh, Father it’s me, Adrian.”

“Oh!” The voice from the million-mile stone sounded a bit taken aback. “Is Damien alright? Did anything happen?”

‘They do care for him... It’s better that way.’ “Father, Damien is fine. It is just that we have found him.”

“Found who?”

“The legendary mage that healed our ancestor.”

“What!!!”

A blue speck of light, nearly bright enough for human eyes to see even in an extremely dark room, floated into Kai’s bedroom.

“Host acquired.” The speck of blue light floated towards Kai. It was getting closer. Inching closer by the second, it seemed to be sentient as it was trying its best not to get detected.

The distance between Kai’s head and the blue speck of light was not up to an inch, but at that time Kai moved, turning around as he slept.

“mhm…”

The blue speck of light came to a stop at Kai’s abrupt movements. It waited for Kai to stop moving before it continued its advancement.

A few moments later, it came into contact with Kai and disappeared into his head. “Host fission initiated.”

Kai’s eyes shot open. “What said that?!”

“…”

There was no response, but it felt weird. ‘Someone said something, right? It can’t be that I am losing my mind, right?’

Kai felt unsure what to feel but still shoved the thoughts away. He lay back down and was so close to the other side; the first foot was already on the other side, it was about to get good.

—knock. Knock—

But all good things must come to an end; the person who rapped on his door didn’t even let the good thing occur. The sound of somebody rapping at his door jolted Kai out his sweet sweet sleep.

“I swear if this is not important, I will kill whoever is at that door. Who is that?” it was clear that he was visibly pissed. This was the middle of the night and he hadn’t even closed his eyes for an hour.

It was not as though Kai needed sleep, it was just his habit to sleep, he loved it, even more than the taste of blood.

A feeble voice was heard from behind the door. “It’s Samantha.” It was almost a whisper. The realization hit him. ‘She seems troubled.’ Kai could feel her emotions, as his blood was already one with her.

The sensation didn’t feel abnormal nor weird, it was just like breathing, she was troubled and he felt it. The next moment, he sat up and called her in.

The door opened slowly, and Samantha’s head was visible as she peeked into the room. This brought a sense of nostalgia to Kai as he remembered Chelsea back at the Marshall manor.

Samantha wasn’t normally shy, but she felt as though she was a teen girl meeting her boyfriend for the first time. Normally, Samantha was a strong and outspoken woman.

“Come in, you know I don’t have all day— it already night.” he put on the front of being impatient, causing Samantha to abruptly rush into the room.

“What is it?”

Samantha was hesitant at first but eventually decided to open up to him, she walked all the way here, there was no turning back now. “Kai, I noticed some changes in my body after you gave me your... your blood.” Samantha said with her eyes to the ground, circling imaginary designs on the hard marble floor.

She was nervous.

Lately, the deity hadn’t been responding to his calls for help. In his mind, he guessed he had been served the silent treatment, for heaven only knows what he did to deserve it.

Kai was in a dilemma. Confused about what to say. “Sigh…” He was trying his best to think up an explanation to give. He knew that his blood had awakened the mage in her but he didn’t know the element it had awakened.

The worried look on Samantha’s face broke his heart. It was as though he was seeing his daughter cry. It made him sad, pushing him to make a decision as fast as he could. ‘I guess I would have to break it to her.’

Samantha just stood there silent, waiting for an answer from Kai. He found it wise to take the next course of action. He stood up from his bed, legs still wobbly but he managed to walk towards Samantha, stopping at a distance of at most 50 centimetres from her. Samantha was a fairly tall girl, so the height difference was not that much between the both of them.

Samantha had her face down, so Kai raised it for her to look him in the eyes. “I want you to join me in my family.”

This time Kai was not using any spell on her. He was speaking to her as he would speak to anyone when he was serious, but it gave Samantha a sense of security. She had always been an outcast, mostly for two reasons: she was a dark-skinned woman, and she had no magic ability. Her life had always been sad; she never had anyone but her sister, Georgia.

Having nobody to cater for their needs, Samantha took the only option that seemed right to her. She, Samantha, swindled and stole from the rich to feed herself and her sister. Georgia had always been so kind and benevolent, while Samantha was seen as a ruffian, a thug and a thief.

The fact that none of the sisters could become a mage was just icing on the cake of the embarrassment and stigma they both faced. Georgia had been taken away, leaving her all alone in this world, and he was the man who gave her revenge, also giving her something she had always longed for: a sense of belonging. A family.

She had nothing else to lose. Moreover, it would be a spice of excitement to do something new. The fact that it seemed to be all arranged didn’t seem to bother her; the thought of being part of something rendered her thinking incoherent.

Tears swelled up in her eyes. Her tongue felt heavy, and her lips quivered. “I...want to join your family,” she struggled to say.

A warm smile... A simple, harmless, warm smile crawled up Kai’s face; he was satisfied. “Go to sleep, my dear; you have a busy day. Tomorrow I will guide you.”

Kai was shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. ‘Is this the power of the deity?’ Kai could not openly express his internal shock; that would spoil the ambience present in the room.

Kai wiped Samantha’s tears and said to her. “It’s alright, my dear.” Kai smiled at Samantha, as a proud father would smile at his child. “I have to sleep now, Good night.”

The moment Samantha left the room, Kai was no longer standing, sitting, or thinking about what had just happened; he was on his bed, trying his best to fall asleep.

‘Whoever immortal being that grants heart desires, please let me sleep... Today is bad enough as it is.’

Kai knew that something was off somewhere; he would have to deal with it somehow and try to get used to the power in his body.

In the green rank one of the skylark houses, in one of the rooms in this chamber, Damien Nyx was already asleep.

“WHAT?!!!” A shocked voice sounded through the million-milestone.

"Father, please be mild. Damien is asleep.”

“Oh…” Adrian’s father’s voice had gone from a shout to a forced whisper. “How do you know?!” He asked through the million-milestone.

Adrian hesitated before he spoke. He knew his father would never believe him, but he would have to eventually tell him, Why not tell him everything now? “Uhm,” Adrian began.

“What is it? Tell me!” The voice, although still a whisper, sounded hurried but hushed at the same time.

Adrian continued, “Father, we found out about him when the stone, the orange stone, glowed. But…”

“But what?!” The owner’s voice was getting more curious than annoyed.

“But we lost the stone when we met him. The stone disappeared, forming a tattoo on his chest,” Adrian was expecting some kind of tongue lash from his father, or maybe a proposed punishment.

“Oh, Mm hm… It can’t be... Or could it be him? Maybe a fraudster? But the stone was genuine.” The owner of the voice coming from the stone contemplated, sounding very conflicted as he spoke to himself. Ignoring the presence of his son.

What Adrian was hearing was not what he was expecting. ‘Where is the shouting? The threats? He changed?’

Adrian decided to remind him that he was still there. “Uh, father, my punishment?”

“What punishment? You are a hero to the Nyx family. You and your brother are held dearly. You have not brought shame to the Nyx family… I am proud to have you and Damien as sons.” The owner of the voice sounded happy, so overcome by happiness that he was soon to burst into tears.

This was something Adrian had never expected; his father praising him was something unheard of. Their parents loved them equally but showed affection for Damien; he was the perfect child.

The ambience was getting awkward; Adrian had to do something to change the topic. "Father, what are your instructions?” Adrian said he was attempting to change the topic.

There was no response from the person on the other side. “Father? Are you there?” Adrian asked.

"Hush, son, I am thinking.”

“Oh, Okay,”

After some time of thinking, Adrian’s father finally came up with a decision. “Adrian after considering all the factors and variables. The decision I have taken can not be fully divulged through this relic. The voice seemed to have changed; its demeanor was that of a person talking formally.

“… But what I can say to you, my son is to make sure you get acquainted with him. Get friendly with him, and bring him home so we can be sure that it is actually the one in the legend. I have to go now, bye.”

The black million-mile stone changed back to blue and Adrian dropped it back in the box.

Somewhere in the northern continent, in the Nyx house, a man was seated in a dark room, lit only by the moonlight coming through the window, where he sat. Only his white eyes could be seen, even his pupils were white, he had long black hair, and he was old but the aura he gave off was that of a young man.

“Is he really the one?” The man had a profound expression as he looked into the night sky from his window.