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Noctem

Nior_
7
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The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
After witnessing the brutal murder of his parents, Nox flees into the depths of the cursed forest in an attempt to escape from the hunters of the organization responsible for the death of his parents. There he encountered an eccentric yet powerful wizard who saves him from the horror known as the cursed forest itself. For months, the wizard trained Nox in ancient, mythical arts within a hidden realm beyond the mystic world, honing his skills and mastering battle arte's beyond the grasp of mortals. When Nox finally left the mystic realm to the earth realm, he discovered that the earth had undergone a tremendous change – the denizens of the earth were no longer what they were, the atmosphere possessed mana and some humans were able to harness these mana to become awakened, there were gates leading to the biggest change of all— Noctem, an alternate earth realm created from the essence of the mystic realm to act as a substitute for the earth. Gateways spawned in noctem, rifts from countless realms and various abominations plagued the land. As he unravels the mysteries of noctem while searching for the organization responsible for his parents murder, a new problem arises.. unknown to Nox that he carries a forbidden lineage in him, one that provokes the deities themselves, he becomes the target of their hate as they seek to destroy him.
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Chapter 1 - mist wraith

Within a vast jungle, located on the eastern side of the ivonriel continent, the sounds of rustling leaves were followed by a torrent of footsteps reverberating throughout the serene forest which was eerily silent with no presence of life contained in it.

And in the confines of the tranquil woodland, a young boy could be seen running for his life. His face contoured into a pained grimace as he tightly clutched his bleeding hand. His cloth was torn and his breathing was anything but stable. He would have been wheezing or even gasping for breath were it not for the dagger which was firmly placed between his lips.

He never slowed down, not for a second even as he bumped into trees. The emerald foliage of the forest was unforgiving and strangely lethal making his journey perilous.

From time to time, a few stray vines would try to wrap itself around him but he would cut through them using nothing but his dagger and sheer force, straining his slim muscles to the extreme.

The forest itself seemed alive, like an enormous abomination waiting patiently for its prey to come to it. This realization made the kid shudder but his mind was quickly drawn away from that thought as he heard sounds behind him, indicating that his hunters were nearby.

A yell sounded from a distance behind him, its pitch was a bit distant but he didn't have to turn back to know that his pursuers were catching up.

"Capture the kid... don't let him escape."

His heart thumped loudly and the rate of its beating quickened up, like a prey about to be caught by its predator, his instincts kicked in and adrenaline surged throughout his entire body.

The desire to flee was the only thing on his mind, constantly fueling him and propelling him forward, as long as he escaped, nothing else mattered.

Nox... Run, you have to escape, you can't let yourself get caught... Please, do not end up like... Irene.. you must survive, no matter what.!

These words continually echoed in his mind, a stark reminder that his priority was to flee, to escape alive from the dreadful hands of his pursuers who massacred his pack.

'... Can't.. get... Caught! I.. have to ... run faster.' He repeated inwardly, like a chant.

It felt like he was going insane, like clutching onto those words was going to do him any good in his present predicament. His internal mumbling increased and like a plague, it escalated within his mind which was on the verge of collapse.

Drowned in a sea of the repetitive thoughts, he momentarily lost focus on his location and a dart–like bullet whooshed past him only missing it's target by a breath's inch.

Stunned, the child's foot tripped over a stray vine and then, his body involuntarily began its descent down the slope– like terrain of that part of the forest, rolling down the mountain like a ragdoll.

A pained grimace marred his face as several rocks bit into his skin, accompanied by the sound of snapping twigs beneath his tumbling body.

This went on for several minutes before his fall abruptly came to an end.

He had deviated off the sloppy terrain of the forest and had landed in another section of the greenland, letting out a pained cry as his body connected to the uneven ground of the forest.

The slim body of the child bounced off the ground like weightless latex, spinning a few more times before finally stopping.

—Keuk!!..

Blood spluttered from his mouth and his nostrils whilst he lay unmoving like a lifeless corpse, his tired eyes blinked slowly, as though he was going to pass out at any given moment, yet he didn't.

He struggled to stand up, supporting himself with a nearby tree while taking in quick, shallow breaths.

His body was in a pitiful state, his ribs had been broken severely and his left hand was completely out of place, his legs seemed like they were going to give out should a small force be applied on them. He was limping but even the pain from his damaged body did nothing to stop him from moving.

Honestly it was baffling —A body severely damaged littered with life threatening injuries —Both internally and externally which should have rendered him immobile for a couple of days to say the least, was moving across the confines of the forest, navigating its harsh environment while using the trees as a support to aid his movement.

His pursuers didn't seem like they were going to get to him anytime soon but even that did nothing to quell his unease, rather the unsettling feeling he had since he fell into this section of the forest only seemed to increase the deeper he went.

As he moved forward, that sense of unease continually increased, and it seemed like the adrenaline boost he had from being in danger could only do so little to improve his condition

The forest was serene, a little too quiet, as if inviting him to find solace in the tranquil abode of the inhabitants of the woodlands.

Unknown to the child, he had long gone past the safe zone of this said forest and currently, he was within the death zone of the forest, a place where only a few said entities had managed to survive, while keeping their sense of reasoning intact.

He winced in pain as he took a few more steps forward, after several minutes of movement, his battered body had finally given up.

His trembling body fell to the ground with a loud thud, despite that he tried to stand up again but he still plummeted to the ground again. This went on for a few more minutes before he completely abandoned the idea of walking, clearly that wasn't getting him anywhere, instead he decided to crawl, sinking his fingers into the soil of the forest and tirelessly dragging his mangled body across the forest.

'i can't... stop ..here....  mother... Father..., I'm tired... I'm really tired, how do you expect me to go on ... Without you here? how.. am I supposed to.. live now, if you aren't here with me.' 

While the child thought to himself, succumbing to despair from the fact that his parents were really gone, an eerie voice sounded.

Like the hiss of a mist, it spoke.

"How bland... You thirst for revenge yet you wallow in despair, truly a pathetic existence despite the potential and vast power within that body..."

As soon as the kid heard the voice, he shuddered, His eyes widened in surprise while his lips trembled.

'N..No way... Th.. This voice, it's mine, but why.. is my.. no, what exactly is happening right now?'

He had been so absorbed in his thoughts and the pain from the damage his body sustained that he didn't even have the time to register his surroundings.It was only at this moment that he noticed that the forest was surrounded with a deep fog.

The voice sounded again, this time more audible than the last with malevolence in its tone.

"Your parents are dead,  your pack members have been eradicated completely from the face of this world and finally... You, the last of your pack, a weak, pathetic, fragile child with no speciality of your race, it's hard to believe you're not a human but a mixed abomination of two cursed races. So tell me... Nox of the crescent moon pack, what do you intend to do.."

Nox couldn't believe his ears, at first he thought it was just his imagination but hearing the voice for the second time had indeed confirmed it to be true.

"Ah... Did I phrase it wrong? No... Instead of what you intend to do, ...WHAT CAN YOU DO?"

The voice lingered for a split second before speaking once again.

"Shall I tell you?... There's nothing you can do. So just give up right here and die."

"Give... Up?, and die?..." Nox repeated, with a tone laced with malice." From.. the way you.. talked, I thought you already knew me well."

He paused, gritting his teeth until blood began to drip from his mouth.

"What made you think... that I would give up? I have nothing to lose... Nothing to live for, if my parents sacrificed their lives just so I could escape, then I won't die until I kill every single person involved in their murder, no matter what they are, no matter how long it takes I will get rid of them all in the most painful way possible."

"That so?... That's an interesting logic, but do you think you could even make it to them,  do you even think you could get past me? You sure talk big for someone who's about to die." 

"I said... It doesn't matter what or who they are, if you're one of them, then I will kill you too."

For a few seconds there was an eerie silence following Nox's proclamation, then a loud vile laughter sounded from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, it felt like a cacophony of dessonated laughs, slightly damaging his soul as an after effect.

At that moment, Nox's face paled slightly as he felt the immediate change in the atmosphere. The air became colder and the winds seemed to slow down while the rustle of the leaves had fallen silent.

Nox couldn't suppress the shivers that followed, somewhere in front of him, the mist swirled, coalescing together and forming a humanoid figure within it.

Frightened, Nox's body went cold, he trembled and a chill spread through him,  making his already pale skin,paler.

In front of him, stood a boy with porcelain like skin,windswept silver messy hair which was crudely tied into a ponytail, with a small braid on the left side of his face and long bangs, alongside his rosy lips and a slightly arched eyebrow.

He had a small dotted birthmark far underneath his right eye slightly below his lips but a notable distance from them as well as another identical birthmark located somewhere within his neck, looking effeminate, overall.

The wraith looked like an exact replica of Nox who was staring from the ground in visible shock. The only difference between them was the fact that Nox had bright green eyes with cat like slits instead of pupils, while the wraith had a deep pool of darkness where his eyes were supposed to be.

The moment their eyes met, nox flinched and hurriedly shut his eyes, he didn't know why, but his instincts were warning him against gazing into those pools of darkness within the wraith's eyes.

The wraith chuckled, seeing Nox's reaction. Then with a voice filled with mockery, he asked.

"What's this?.. scared now aren't you? What's the matter, you can't afford to look me in the eyes?"

Nox couldn't reply or rather his body wasn't able to form anything, it felt like his nerves shut down or were paralyzed with fear.

The voice of the wraith sounded again, this time much more commanding and dreadful.

"Open your eyes..." 

"Look at me" it sneered.

Still, Nox refused to do as it said, somehow, he knew that if he were the gaze within that sinister eyes of the wraith, then he was going to perish. 

Now he was painfully aware, why the forest had no monsters around this location, why would it? It was already housing a dreadful creature, so what beast would be foolish enough to reside around an apex predator and a nasty one at that?.

The soft whispers soon turned into fierce shouts, growing louder and louder, while alternating between voices that Nox was familiar with.

"OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN THEM, LOOK AT ME! OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Nox could only let out a weak groan, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on to his sanity, his body remained paralyzed, unable to move, yet for some unknown reasons the wraith didn't touch him or attempt anything besides trying to get the effeminate boy to open his eyes.

This went on for several more minutes, with the inhumane shrieks growing louder the more time went by, Nox didn't think he could hold on, in fact it was the desire for his revenge that kept him up to this moment or he would have already given up .

The continuous shriek of the mist wraith abruptly came to an end as the sounds of approaching footsteps interrupted his hunt.

The wraith stared at the paralyzed Nox before licking its lips.

"You got lucky today, however you're too rare of a prey to just let go... I'll be watching you." It said, before dissolving into the mist.

As soon as the wraith left, the unsettling feeling that lingered, disappeared as well indicating that the wraith was no longer around.

The footsteps became more audible and strangely enough, Nox felt compelled to open his eyes, which he did or at least tried to, but his body refused to listen to him. At best he could only open them slightly enough for him to see a blurry silhouette of a human figure before he finally passed out.