Library of Mages (15)

It happened on a Christmas evening. My father, drunk, was beating up my mother again.

Hours later, after he was done, she came to my room and hugged me as usual. Saying "You will protect Mother." over and over into my ear. But unlike usual, 'he' came in. When he was dragging her out, I could only watch.

"Stand up to him." The voice said. "You can do it. I will give you the power. You just need to kill him."

At the time I didn't question who or what was it. My mind was empty and body weak, with only the voice filling my whole being, I listened.

"Don't be afraid. I will help you. Just go downstairs, and into the kitchen." I followed each and every word he would tell me. Even though I was small back then, I knew what I was doing. "Yes… Good. You see that knife, grab it."

"Good. Now go to your parents' room."

'Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump' With each step that I took, I heard a punch landing on my mother. Opening the door, I saw My mother and 'him.' She, bloodied and motionless, and he, hitting her over and over.

There was frustration on his face as if his actions were futile.

"Do it. Do it. DO IT, NOW. KILL HIM, YES! STAB HIM. AGAIN. AGAIN. AGAIN. HAAAHHHAHAHAH!!!"

When it was over, I was sitting in a pool of blood. I felt the warm blood slowly climbing up my skin, then entering my mouth, nose, eyes, ears.

"You did it! HaHahA! YOU DID IT! I'M FREE!!! AFTER ALL THIS TIME!"

A black mass exited my chest and entered 'his' body. It started to convulse and rose up. The wounds on his body healing in front of my eyes. Soon he was standing again, smiling at me with a twisted expression. Around his body black snakes were twisting and hissing, make the image even more terrifying.

"You did well. YOU did so well that I will not kill you. After being sealed for such a long time, one learns how to control oneself. You should be happy, and as I promised, I will give you power! Heheheheh! Live long and happy, this world won't be able to stay as is for long."

The blood kept entering my body, choking me. Then with tears in my eyes, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I was laying beside my mother body.

I was eight at the time, and that night both my parents died, and inside of me… something was born.

---

For years I struggled to live, form one orphanage to another. Being the 'troubled' child that mother was killed by his father. And every night, I saw my mother, smiling at me only to a second later to be dragged away, and beaten to death. And that men smiling at me while I chocked on her and his blood.

I tried to search for clues as to what that voice was, and why was it in me, why did it tell me to kill, why it took 'his' body, and why was I speared. But no website or library had any information that would be even remotely connected to what happened.

Clueless and lost, I continued my life, day by day.

Until one day. Exactly five years after it happened, In the middle of the night I woke up screaming. With every inch of my body in pain, it felt like thousands of needles were swimming through my veins.

Out of nowhere, snakes started to appear around me all of them with bloody red scales and black eyes. When my roommates saw it, they run out of the room. The Monster Control Association was called, and they identified me to be a 'Natural.' Born with elemental essence, and in my case, it was also mutated, which in case of Naturals is considered to be common.

From there on I was a special existence, one of the directors at MCA adopted me. He cared for me, gave me food and shelter, good schooling, and training. My power continued to grow, and with the time advantage over my pears, I entered S-class in the University of Martial and Arcane Arts.

But no matter how better my life got, the nightmares never disappeared, and the power that everyone was parsing, was from the owner of that voice. No matter how much they tried to put me on a pedestal, I only had one goal, find the truth.

And finally, after so many years of searching… I found a clue. The MCA sent a mission deep into the Faevum territory and into the City of Ravens. The best of the Darkness Martial and Arcane artists went into the city of ravens. They took hundreds of pictures, and as I was going through them, I saw it.

On an old mural, a man with black snakes twisting around him, looking almost the same as I and 'Him' standing below the Raven Queen. Like a general, with the same twisted smile, he was commanding an army.

I don't know how it was possible, it could've been a coincidence, but it was the first tangible clue that I ever found. I had to grab it.

I questioned my adoptive father, to find more information about what happened there, and who was involved. The information about the city of ravens and the Raven Queen must've come from somewhere.

It was hard, but I was allowed to see internal files of the MCA, including the file about the person that was in the middle of all of it. Dominque Blake, someone I was already familiar with. He joined the S-class in the middle of the year alongside Emily Flores.

It seems that he has someone powerful vouching for him, protecting him, if not he would've been in the MCA hands, locked in their headquarters by now. It looks like he was the one that found the City before he could warn the MCA he was possessed by a powerful seal. Later the Raven Queen possessed Emily Flores and released the Faevum before her mind falling apart and dying.

When I learned about their involvement, I began to observe them. Finding peoples weak spots is basic if you want something from them.

Dominique… he is diligent when he starts something unless someone interrupts him he will finish it. Seals are his forte, and the speed he is mastering them is impressive. Other then seals, he is studying anatomy, swordsmanship, and spearmanship. From time to time he also visits archery club.

Every day he is doing the same thing, over and over, only breaks he takes is for food. Even when he is talking with someone he is practicing something at the same time.

The only people he is talking are, Emily, Ike, Travis, and his team, 27, and some teachers. Other than the information I had gained from the MCA file on him there was nothing I could use.

Emily was even worse subject to observe. She barely trained, and whatever time she had left she used to study or sit in her room.

In the end, I could only confront them with whatever I had, even if I had to use force. With one of my snakes, I located them. With a little effort, I jumped from the top of the building I was sitting on. Hundreds of snakes emerged from my legs breaking the fall and gently placing me on the floor.

It's been years, and the power I got kept slowly growing. Every day I could feel the snakes in m blood and bones growing in strength. I didn't want it, I wished to pull it out of me and destroy it, but without it, finding the truth would be impossible.

I walked behind Dominque, hearing my footsteps he turned around. "What do you want? If someone sent you, I would recommend you go away now. Attacking me is a bad idea." He said.

"I don't know what you are talking about… but there is something I want you to do for me. Why don't we go somewhere more private to talk?"

"You want to talk? Let me guess, there will be a few of your friends waiting in that private place. I would rather not get ambushed. Go, and I won't do anything to you."

"… If you don't want people knowing about the "City of Ravens" and what you did there, we will go somewhere private." When he heard me mention the City of Ravens, his eyes widened, and nervously he looked around.

"Let's go." He said. Following behind him we got to the S-class building and then into one of the empty classrooms. The S-class students could use them for training, but most trained somewhere else making this building almost abounded after the morning class.

"Dagon, right? Tell me how did you find out about the City of Ravens? That name only a few people know."

"That's not important…"

"It is to me." Light gathered around his body and solidified about half a centimeter above his skin. Like a protective shield, perfectly fitted for his body, following his every movement. He didn't hesitate and attacked me. I created dozens of snakes that leaped towards him. Their sharp fangs broke the moment they closed their jaws on the light shield.

"Snakes? You couldn't advance to that level yet... you have mutated elemental essence with a phantom image. No wonder you are in the S-class. But that is not enough to stop me."

His attacks rained down on me, with the help of my snakes I was able to move faster and slow him down. But he only kept coming closer and closer. "I don't want to fi…" I wanted to say, but his attacks kept on coming.

With not much other choices I had to fight seriously. With a quick chant a snake twenty meters long and as thick as a log emerged from my back. His pitch-black eyes and bloody red scales shined in the light coming from Dominque's shield. In my hands two snakes appeared, they started twisting blood sipping away from their body's and forming two daggers made of flesh, blood, and bones.

"Go." The giant snake leaped towards Dominque, his sharp fangs the size of daggers aiming for him. But on his face was only a surprise. Taking half a step back and lowering his stance, he grabbed the fangs with his hands! Pushed back by the force of the snake, his stances didn't change as the ground under him split apart from impact,

His shield changed, and the palm transformed into a blade, which he pushed into the head of the snake. He killed it. With no difficulty. Immediately he turned around and grabbed the daggers I was trying to stab him with.

"You are strong." He said.

"More then you think." The blood from the snake covering his shield turned into snakes biding his arm. I knew they couldn't break the shield, but they could restrain him! The daggers in my hands started growing as I transformed more of the snakes into them. They soon reached his shield and with a loud, ear-piercing sound started braking it.

"STOP IT THE TWO OF YOU!" Out of nowhere, chains pulled us apart, and with a flash 27 appeared between us. My dagger was stuck in the shield. "Dispel your attacks. Both of you."

Both? I looked back and saw a blade made from the same light shield the Dominique was using! It was only inches away from stabbing into my neck!

"…"