I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

Quite frankly, Power, in itself, is sort of an overrated concept. People in society strive and train in order to gain wealth and strength, whether through connection or hard work, those in power control those below them.

A system like that is bound to crumble but yet it persists. Why, you ask ? Because power is dynamic.

It changes with time and those in power will continue to be replaced by stronger and wealthier individuals. It simply means that it is possible to grasp this sort of power for ourselves.

It's not an easy thing though, people strive to obtain it but merely crumble to dust under the pressure. However, a small percentage of society with determination and a little helping hand at times, can obtain that power.

In the Kingdom of Lumbrica where danger lurks in the most unprecedented corners and dangerous individuals fill the streets on a daily basis. Power was a necessity to at least be strong enough to protect ourselves and our loved ones. But even that fails at times.

Raph's gaze was fixed on his sister, a calm hue in his eyes. A smile made its way on his lips as he recalled his past conversation he had with Morganna.

'becoming an adventurer might have opened her eyes to other things'. He thought and he was glad it was.

Facing trials and overcoming them is one of the blessings of humanity because it strengthens them and makes them adapt to that strength.

Though failure is always an option and sometimes a constant result, but yet, success will always have its own way of surprising us.

As he pondered, he noticed a slight movement ahead. His eyes shifted and he hastily walked past them alerting them to the movement.

They glanced at each other and quickly walked after him when they noticed his sudden change in expression.

"Morganna ! A healing spell ! fast!".

She nodded, walking past him and gasping at the sight before her.

Her eyes bulged, and she shook but she quickly composed her expression and summoned her wand.

In front of them were nine, seemingly lifeless bodies, battered and bruised, blood dripping down the stairways with a drooping sound from open wounds.

Tears had dried from their eyes but their eyes were red and swollen, the light in them fading.

Their mouths were left agape as if shocked from the state they were in.

They were alive but just barely. Rina gasped at the sight, her hands covering her lips as she staggered to her knees, clenching her abdomen and turning away, emptying the content of her stomach.

Raph glanced around, a bitter sensation growing his chest. 'they were ten of them ? Where did he take the last one to ?'. He thought, his gaze fixing on the golden collars.

He bent down towards the first girl and gripped the collar tightly, freezing it until it turned to cold stone and pulling it out from her neck in one swift motion.

These were Demi-humans and they possess extraordinary self healing properties. Even if they seemed on the brink of death, they should still have some mana or aura to patch themselves up.

He quickly turned to the next girl, freezing and pulling it off and then the next and the others. He recognized these collars as Suppressants. They suppress the abilities of whoever places it on their neck and stop them from feeling the mana around them or the aura within them. It was greatly hindering the healing properties of the demi-humans and he needed to ensure their safety as much as he could.

"That bastard !" He cried out in fury, pulling out the last collar when the girl, with her bloodied hand, grabbed Raph firmly.

It was the Elf, the golden haired elf that had been pulled from the starting line.

"H…e….He…." She desperately tried to gasp for her as she attempted to talk, pain flooding through her body and blood gushing out from her mouth.

She sat up quickly, coughing out the blood that nearly choked her, sending a wave of pain throughout her body and yet she endured.

"He….H…e…to….oo.." The blood began to gather in her mouth again, foaming in her throat.

Raph's gaze darkened as he patted the girl lightly, when Morganna quickly came to attend to her.

She seemed to be in the worst condition out of them all, and her tongue had been nearly cut off. He could see it flapping about in her mouth, as she tried to talk only to get in the way and almost choke her.

'Her tongue…is trying to choke her ?' He thought when the first demi-human Morganna had treated, turned towards him, pain swelling up behind her gaze as she cried out. "He–He took her and fled !". She gasped for air.

Some of her injuries had been patched up by Morganna while the rest were self healing thanks to regaining the flow of mana or aura.

Raph turned towards the basement door, he had not yet gone through it and so, he wasn't sure what other atrocities lay ahead but Morganna snapped him from his thoughts.

"Go, He shouldn't have gone far. I will take care of this". Morganna said hurriedly, turning her attention to him for a split moment, before turning towards the captives, healing as much as she could.

Raph lingered for a moment but in the next, he sprinted upwards and punched through a wall next to the door to the basement.

"I will be back, Sister !" He yelled out as he jumped out, landing on the frozen ground but then halted in his tracks as his thoughts reeled in.

'Where ? Where could he have gone ?'. He bit his lower lip, and took a step forward when he noticed a red dot on the ground.

He looked at it for a moment, trying to make sense of it when he found another red dot further ahead. "dried blood ?".

A smile grew from his lips as he sprinted forward. 'tracks ! that demi-human used her own blood to form tracks'.

He jumped forward, over the gate and landed on the other side, startling some passing residents and without wasting a moment, he sprinted forward, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Just then, in front of the opened gate of the compound, ten soldiers, Bryne Son Goku, Derek Silvan, Rachael Jun and Gloria Jun walked in.

****

Morganna leaned on the wall, taking a short break from spending more mana than she had to. She had hastily healed up the nine beastkins after all.

The captives were recuperating slowly but they at least were. Some had their eyes filled with life once again while others seemed too tired to get determined at the moment.

The golden haired Elf stared at the female human that had saved them, a bright hue glowing in her eyes.

She wasn't sure how to feel about the situation, in fact none of them were. It was annoying enough that humans captured them for their own selfish desires but now they were saved by those same humans.

It's not good to judge a book by its cover but humans make it difficult not to judge.

They were silently recuperating when Morganna slowly opened her eyes and turned to the hazel eyes of the other human girl that stood above her, a sharp glint in Rina's gaze that failed to hide her intentions and she noticed it instantly.

They remained silent for a moment but then Morganna asked, a sly smile growing on her lips. "What are you thinking right now ?". Her tone sounded curious but hid something much deeper.

"I was just thinking….what kind of reward will I get for the head of a Jun's daughter ?". Her voice contorted deeply, hiding a darkness behind it.

Morganna chuckled "that's weird. I didnt know you could sell our heads".

Rina suddenly launched forward, her fingers extending as a hissing sound escaped her lips but Morganna dodged, maneuvering higher up the staircase.

Rina stopped herself from falling further and turned towards her.

"Do you know how much damage you have caused ?" Her voice had transformed into something else. Something entirely different from what she had heard all this time.

Her figure transformed as well, two cat-like ears protruding out of her hair and two pairs of whiskers growing below her nose. Find adventures on empire

Her fingers grew sharper and firmer and a brown tail extended from below her gown.

The sight sent a shiver to the captives present, they were too tired to participate in any incoming battle but some still prepared something in mind if their savior where to get harmed.

"A neko beast huh…that explains your transformation…but you are really good at acting". Morganna said, her gaze hiding an annoyed feeling. She had not suspected anything until the last moment, why did she decide to strike now ? Perhaps, she thinks I'm out of mana ?.

She thought when Rina launched forward with a fiery energy, her speed was testament to her race.

She hissed, closing the distance between them in a blink of an eye but Morganna was quicker. Thinking of countermeasures and spinning her wand, she caused a rock spike protruded out of the wall and slammed into her or what she thought was her.

Rina's body had turned to vapor, distorting the atmosphere as she floated upwards, and solidified as she got closer, a stream of light growing from her fist.

"I will have to kill you, Jun". She said with a confident tone as the stream bursted out into a bright greenish hue. "Storm burst"

She thrust her fist forward, the burst of greenish energy projecting at the speed of sound.

Morganna clicked her tongue.

"are you fucking underestimating me right now ?"