ARC:BEGINNING-CH 6

The dark night had creatures lurking in the shadows.

Howls and roars filled the silent night. Cries of pain emerged from the forest of the dead, the strong odour of filthy iron blood drafting from behind the Raksha tree, a typical dark tree which was the abode of newly born dead demons. Amidst this pitch black darkness there was a string of red magic energy flickering brightly from time to time, sometimes it flickered in the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes at the centre and sometimes far away and each time it flicked groan and hoarse hissing sounds came from the deep darkness.

"Growl...growl....hiss...hiss..."

The demons residing in the Raksha tree were being wiped out at an insane pace, being mercilessly slaughtered by one single intruder.

It was a human. A human with a weak body. He had bright red eyes that stabbed fear into the demons just with a look. He had bright hair just like the sunrays that they hated so much. But most important of all, this human wielded red energy, and was gifted with the holy power of destruction. The demons shivered as they felt the purity of the intruder's magic even from a distance.

The intruder now stood at the heel of the Raksha tree. He had killed his way to here without needing to lift even a finger.

His red eyes glowed fiercely, contrasted with the dark, it only made the look in his empty eyes very savage, like a demon about to rampage.

He raised his hand.

Flick!

He flicked his index finger as he made an upward gesture.

Crackle. Crackle.

The roots of Raksha tree cracked from within the ground, its long hellish roots beginning to emerge from underneath as if it was being sucked in by some unknown force from above. The roots that were shaking violently with demon worms and demon eggs were completely drawn out.

The human squinted his eyes towards the root and the moment he did, all the demon eggs and demon worms were burnt to ashes. He then raised his palm and made a squashing gesture. The tree made a vertical sprint before it settled in mid air surrounded by the sea of darkness. Then as if it was being squeezed into a ball , it was compressed by an extremely powerful magic energy, the mighty tree being reduced to a pile of trash ball.

The intruder then turned around and left without looking back. With each step he took the darkness behind him dissipated revealing a green landscape of grasses.

This was not the first time Ivar had gotten rid of demons all by himself.

Many years had passed with the passing of fleeting time. He had no idea how many years had gone by as he had lost track of time.

The only obsession that kept him going to this point was to exterminate the demon race and completely wipe them from this world. So he had been slaughtering demons mercilessly left and right, alone, by himself. Killing had become like breathing for him.

His life had taken a turn for the worst.

The day his power awakened people wearing expensive clothes arrived in a gold carriage. They were there to fetch him and take him back to a different place far away from the village. One of the man said that he could kill as many demons as he wants if he followed them back. So he did. And so they arrived at the capital city of an Empire called RHAT. Ivar payed no heed to the attention and curious gazes that was being directed at him. There he was left in a grand house with an audience of people. He could sense they had powers just like his but their magic energy were a bit dull. And in this house he met someone who seemed to have a great deal of similarity with him. She had red eyes just like him except the colour of her hair being crimson red. But the similar colour of her magic and his spoke for relation.

"Yes." The woman spoke. "I am your biological mother."

Ivar froze. He then squinted his eyes at her.

"You. Are. Not." Each word echoed in the grand hall, very vividly.

Ibelina was his mother. His real mother. Blood did not matter. She was and she will always be his real mother.

The woman looked at him. "Feel free to think what ever you want. It won't change the fact that you have my blood flowing within you. I was disgusted when I knew I had you, the son of a mere slave residing in my belly. I tried to get rid of you so many times but was unable to do so. So I ordered to let you be left in the wild to perish. And I wholeheartedly believed that until now." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Never thought you were blessed with our pure gift. What a waste."

Ivar felt her contempt against him but it did not make him feel an ounce of sadness. The five teenagers standing next to her had the same look of disgust and hatred in their eyes as they looked at him like a dirt.

"Consider this as a blessing. You will serve my children as their protector when they grow up. But heed my words, never cross the line you are supposed to cross, as a offspring of a servant of the Roselia household, your position lies beneath us, born with the purpose to kill for us at our command." The woman once again spoke before dismissing him.

Ivar didn't gave damn about her words. He did not feel anything even as he felt the people of the household discriminate against him. The teenagers came to his room everyday, making many scenes and instances of trying to bully and abuse him. But on the fifth day one of the boy was beaten badly and had his head smashed against the wall by Ivar which left him bleeding for a few hours before being treated with magic. Still, this did not stop them from making trouble for Ivar. And of course Ivar was punished with five hundred strokes of beatings as punishment. But Ivar felt no pain even when he was hit till his back was bleeding heavily. He did not regret beating up the boy who tried to sully his family's name, the one who raised him and loved him. As days went by he became numb to the hatred filled gazes aimed at him and to the countless starving instances that kept him awake all night. His body unconsciously adjusted to his empty mindset. And the wounds that were not supposed to heal for atleast a year disappeared without a trace, as if the wounds from that punishment were never there. The magic in him manifested without his knowledge until it brough him an excuse to leave the filthy grand house of the Duke of Roselia.

It was during the sixth year of his stay in this dumpster palace of the Duke he felt the mana flowing inside him grow stronger. The magic energy circulating within him shook vigorously as it shoot up a ray of crimson red colour up in the blue sky. The magic light emitted a divine smell, a factor that attracted the attention of many mages and magicians.

"A new king of destrcution has been born!"

"A holy fallen angel has ascended from his sleep."

The Roselia household was thrown in a fit of rage regarding this news. Ross, the head Duke of the household couldn't believe it. She didn't understand why a child that was a mix of her blood and a mere slave had been blessed by such divine magic, and not her own pure blooded children. Why? She had long started to have thoughts of killing him off but now it had become impossible for her to kill him.

And not long after this another event occured. The Mage guild of the prospering AKHART empire sent a special invitation for Ivar, requesting his summon as well as posting into its academy as one of its special students.

Ross gritted her teeth in frustration but could do nothing. And just like that Ivar was freed from that dumpster called the Roselia household.

When he joined the academy the mocking gazes filled with contempt continued to follow him but he ignored them like always. Apart from that he faced no major discrimination directed at him from the institute's side. Not even the students who hated him had the courage to make trouble for him. Ivar continued to remain at the academy. He wanted to hunt demons and for that to happen he had to graduate and earn a license. So he remained as a student there and spent his entire time either in the library or in the training arena. Six months went by.

Then he once again experienced the feeling of breaking through to a next level. The whole academy was stirred up with this news.

Another six months went by making it a year ever since he joined this academy.

The whole academy was once again hit by a heavy stone. Ivar had exceeded the limitations of his mana production and had taken it to infinity. This news alone could send a shockwave to the entire world so the academy suppressed it for the time being. They did not want the genius they had in their academy being taken away by another stronger organisation.

Like this a few years passed by.

Ivar became the gossip topic of the students at the academy but no one dared to speak before him and avoided their utmost to stay away from him. Thankfully the man who was the centre of their gossip rarely appeared before them, and was missing most of the time. They did not knew that during the time they were gossiping about him the person in question was given the permission to act in secret missions for building experience by the decision of the board members of the academy.

Ivar lived his life like always, drowned by the emptiness in his soul, the smell of blood and death becoming very familiar to him as he began to kill demons legally. It had been a long time since he had lifted his eyes and his head to look at another person.

However during his final year in the academy, he experienced something very peculiar.

One dazzling morning he was taking a walk in a garden where he saw a person. She was leaning down, taking in the scent of the flowers. She slid her fingers against tbe thorns of the flower step.

"Ow...it pricked me." She gasped.

Ivar thought of her as someone stupid. Of course it would prick you if you push your fingers against the thorns.

"I know you did not do it deliberately. So I am not angry. Please continue to bloom beautifully." She smiled as she spoke.

How stupid. Ivar wanted to leave. He turned his body ready to walk away but froze on the spot. His legs refusing to move, and so his body. This feeling! His eyes went wide with shock. Once or twice could be a coincidence. But this time he was sure that this was not a mere coincidence. He looked down at his legs but nothing was holding them. He then tried to turn his body but they wouldn't budge. As if it was being chained by an unknown force. Ivar's eyes narrowed.

"Hello." He heard the same voice of the female coming from behind him. His body turned around on its own and he was met with a young fifteen year old girl.

She had light pink hair. Red plump lips. smooth skin delicate and white like milk and a pair of red cheeks. And her eyes were a mesmerizing colour of vibrant green eyes.

"Um...I am a bit lost...can you please show me the way to the Mage Guild academy? Please...." She spoke in a sweet voice. Then added smiling, "I...um I have really bad direction problems...."

How stupid. If so you should have brought a guide with you. Ivar thought. He wanted to refuse but then he heard his voice reply.

"Sure. Follow me."

Ivar froze. He clearly wanted to refuse and leave. So why did those words leave his lips?

Now it wasn't just his lips but also his body that had acted without his permission as he began leading the girl.

"Thank you." She beamed a smile at him.

Ivar frowned. His mood was complicated as he led the way. It was as if an unknown force had taken over his body just like back then. It will not happen again. He thought.

But the next time he met the girl again and saw her being bullied by a group of girls his body once again reacted aganist his will as he rescued her from the situation. He did not do much. The girls ran away when they noticed him, some were even screaming as they left.

"Thank you." She said in a sweet voice making a genuine face. But it did not reach Ivar's heart.

He did not understand what was happening.

So when he learnt through the rumours that the girl was an illegitimate child just like him he thought maybe it was because of this that his body reacted unconsciously.

But when he learnt the details of her life he realized that they were infact not the same. While his father was a slave who had bedded a noble which resulted in him being born, the girl was born from a commoner not from the fruit of love but despite that she was loved by the people of her household as well as the people around her. There were even bystanders who loved her for no reason.

Ivar did not understand. Why did he kept getting involved with her when she clearly already had an army of pursuers protecting her and amongst them were the prominent princes of the 12 empires. Apart from some jealous ladies she was being dearly loved and cherished.

"Do you also like her?" Elves, the first prince of AKHART empire asked him.

Ivar froze. He narrowed his eyes.

What a Joke! He liked her?

The answer was obviously No.

He did not feel an ounce of attraction towards her. Apart from the feeling of being sucked towars her with an unknown attracting force he really felt nothing for the girl. He did not even knew her name until recently.

Compared to the feeling of falling in love with his baby angel, Bella, when she was born, he felt his heart thumping crazily against his chest. As for the girl called Fiona, he did not feel an ounce of love for her. Nor did he felt anything when looking at her.

What a joke!!!

Elves treated his silence as a yes. He narrowed his eyes at him as left saying. "Fiona is a green mage. Learn to control your mana around her. Green magic is sensitive to red energy."

Ivar sneered in his heart. Really! What a joke!

He did not even like her, Why would he go that far for her?

But.

When Ivar was at the doorstep of death he finally got all the answers to his questions.

"Sigh! You...must die here.... You have become a threat to my main characters."

That was the first time he had heard the voice of the god speak to him.