1 Beginnings

Chapter 01— Beginnings

Planet Gaia, Azure Continent, Imperial Federation, City of Salem.

*One day ago...*

"Stop right there! You damned thief!"

"Get him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

In the Black District, a small region in the outskirts of Salem, three men could be seen chasing a hooded figure wearing a black mask and a feathery cloak. The figure was very nimble, scurrying through the decrepit streets with such grace and agility, profound evidence that the person knew the place very well; one could say that the person knew the place like the back of his hand. Yet the three pursuers only drew nearer and nearer to the hooded figure. As the three men quickly approached the figure, the figure deftly made a quick turn into a dark alley quickly escaping the pursuit of the three men.

"Where'd that scummy thief go?" A huge burly man angrily said.

"Shit, we lost him!" Another man, a particularly skinny one of average height, said with visible traces of annoyance on his face.

"We have to find him! Else the boss is going to have our heads. He is NOT going to be happy about this..." A short, yet stocky muscular man said, with visible traces of fear on his face when he said the last part of his sentence, which quickly spread to the faces of the other two.

"Call the rest of the gang, scour every single part of this city, leave no stone unturned, we will not rest until we find him! That bastard, when I get my hands on him, I'll tear him limb from limb!" The burly man said with a growl.

"Calm down Garris, but still....you do have a point though...that thief has gotten on our nerves for quite a while....the worst part is that he seems to have quite the ability, being able to escape our pursuit whilst escaping our senses, I have to say, I'm quite surprised. He must be a level 5 apprentice at the very least." The skinny man said with an amused yet approving look on his face, in contrast to the angry faces of the other two.

"You'd better take this more seriously Lawthor, you know how the boss gets..." The burly man briefly said, visible annoyance on his face.

"I know, I know...I just think that it would be quite the party when we finally catch that guy. I just can't wait to torture him, gouge his eyes out, and skin him to the bone!" The skinny man said with a sadistic grin, which quickly creeped out the other two.

"Enough talk you two! We have to keep searching. Call the informants to report the slightest bit of information they have on that guy at first sight! We'll teach that fool that no one messes with us, the Black Snake Gang!" The short man, who had been silent for quite a while, said with an authoritative look on his face.

*Meanwhile, on a distant mountain range...*

"Whew!...finally lost them. Those guys are getting more persistent these days." A masked figure said with traces of fatigue in his voice.

"Can't blame them though...I did make quite a haul today. I suppose by the way they'd be cursing me right about now, someone would think that I killed their mother or something." The masked figure said with a light laugh.

"But really....did those fools seriously think they could catch me with those pathetic skills of theirs? Heh!" The figure let out an arrogant chuckle.

'They were this close to catching me today...looks like I'll need to improve my skills more...Had it not been for my pathetic grade 4 talent, I'm sure I'd be a Basic level mage right now...' The figure thought with a pathetic tone while taking off his mask and cloak.

Underneath the black mask, one could see a devilish handsome face, almost feminine, with bright silver hair and captivating blue eyes that seemed to contain the whole world in them. His face looked quite immature, evidence of his particularly young age. His figure was quite tall, about 5'11'', very well toned, with skin white as snow and abs reminiscent of a pro gymnast. But he had a despondent look on his face as he spoke, creating a stark contrast to his handsome face.

"Just 95 Imperial Coins, tch...." The boy said with a scoff while checking out the items in a small pouch.

'I really need to get more money...maybe I can sell off some of the things here on the Web if they have a bit of value...but knowing those guys, I'm really not expecting much...' The boy thought to himself.

Just then, a bright golden streak of light suddenly crashed into the plains nearby....

"Whoa....what is that? Must be some sort of treasure! Today's surely my lucky day!" The boy said to himself while rushing off to the source of the golden light.

As he approached the light, he saw a large crater and at its center, was an ancient looking book shining in a resplending golden glow.

''What is that book? And why is it giving off that glow? That's like a massive signal telling everyone in Salem city 'look! I'm special! Come and get me!' And shouldn't it have burnt up by now? Even Emperor grade manuals would have burnt under Planet Gaia's atmospheric gravity, much less making a crash....so why is still ok?" The boy thought to himself incredulously.

'Well, enough talk, time to get outta here before some greedy fellows run over here attracted to the golden light this thing is giving off.' The boy thought while grabbing the book. Strangely enough, when he grabbed the book, the golden glow faded. The boy didn't give too much thought about it and quickly ran off into the distance.

*10 minutes later*

"Lawthor, did you see what the source of that golden light was?" Garris, the burly man asked.

"No, and my Mana Sense isn't picking up anything either, though I did sense an enormous amount of magic power, though very faint, before it disappeared." The skinny man replied.

"Shit, it means someone might have gotten to the treasure first!" The stocky man said with anxiety on his face.

"From the crash course of that light, its location should not be far from our position. Hurry up and move it! Before whoever took it gets far!" The stocky man continued.

As the three men drew close to the location of the crash, they met with the crater....

"What a huge crater!" Garris said.

"But there's nothing else here!" The stocky man, Grimm replied, with anger in his voice.

"Lawthor, use your Mana Sense!" He continued.

"Got it! Wait! I sense some fluctuations in the air! It's that masked guy we were chasing earlier!" Lawthor said, anger clouding his face at the end of his sentence

"Shit, its him?!" Garris said with a grunt.

"That thief! Today's gonna be his death date!" Lawthor said, with his usual sadistic grin.

The men quickly rushed off in the direction where the boy went, or so they thought.....

Apprentice Level Spell—Cloak—Dispel!

Underneath the shadow of an unsuspecting tree, a vague shadow could be seen. The shadow quickly transformed into a particularly handsome boy. The boy quickly ran off into the opposite direction the three men went and back into the city. He soon reached a relatively better house amongst several dilapidated buildings and quickly entered it.

"Whew! Good thing I lost them! If my magic power had run out ten seconds earlier, I would've been done for..." The boy said amidst deep pants.

"Now let's see....how do I activate this book? It seems pretty hard to open, even with my strength..."

"Do I drip some of my blood on it? Hmm...it wouldn't hurt to try it out..." The boy said puzzedly while cutting himself with a knife.

As soon as the boy's blood came in contact with the book, it burst forth with a golden glow that spread throughout the room.

'Shit! I hope no one saw that! Else I'd be quite the trouble. There's no amount of people that will come after me once word gets out that I have something like...this? What is this anyway? Hmm...there are some writings on the book...wonder what they are?' The boy thought to himself in panic, then confusion.

A cluster of words soon came to his head.

''[Heavens' Grimoire]? The hell? Can this book understand what I'm thinking? Though I have to say, I'm not surprised about this one....."

A wave of dizziness suddenly hit him like a bang.

"What's with this sleepiness I feel all...of a....su...dd..en..."

As soon as he said those words, he passed out.

***

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