Chapter 2: The Shadow Dealmaker
"Haha, i like your cool headed trait, so here's my deal....
***
"So here's my deal, I'll save your life from this inevitable death, but as a price, you'll have to eliminate someone for me"
"I don't have much choice anyway, but my question is why not do it yourself."
"I would very much like to do it myself, but I don't have much time left, soon I'll perish, and this death of mine is absolute."
"And What if I failed?"
"Then that would mean I lost my gamble, and as for you, you'll never be able to use any kind of mana, ever again."
Kairon thinks deeply, then he makes his decision, "...so, who do I need to kill? And how fast do you want it done?"
"My deal has no time limit, as long as your existence itself is not erased, the deal is live.
And as for who, the name is Crylo. Once the deal is complete, I will be gone.
So then Kairon, will you accept the terms?"
"....Yes, i accept your deal"
A light shines brightly everywhere, indicating the deal is starting.
Kairon shouts to the Dealmaker, "Oh I forgot to ask you, did you help me reincarnate because you knew this would happen?"
The Dealmaker answers in confusion,
"Reincarnation?"
At that moment, chills run down Kairon's spine, if it's not the Dealmaker's doing, then who is behind his reincarnation.
The Dealmaker proclaim, "With that, the deal is done, you'll now enter a world different from this reality"
"Wait What! What do you mean by a new world?" Kairon exclaims
"I wish you good luck, Kairon Espada."
"Wait!!"
The bright light shines brighter, everything turns white and becomes brighter and brighter, then Kairon gets knocked out.
A Moment later
Kairon groans, "My head's about to burst, am I really in another world? That damn Dealmaker, he should've told me the details of the deal, i still had many things to do back there.... And where am I?"
Kairon Look around, his sight is covered with trees and grass, a sunny day with a clear sky.
"Another forest? Does it hurt to transport me anywhere but a forest?
Hmm...I see a smoke on that hill, there must be people camping."
Kairon stands up, his clothes destroyed. He makes a temporary cloth from the giant leaves around him.
"I have no sword, no armor and my magic is not functioning, I will have to scout out the area first, and then decide if it's safe for me to approach them."
Kairon hears murmurings as he is getting closer, he goes as quiet as possible, he moves from trees to trees then he sees the sight:
A village surrounded by wooden walls, houses made of woods, a river just beside the village that runs inside. A huge village with many structures, but the people living there only numbers around a hundred.
Kairon puts his hand on his chin, "They look exactly like humans, but their ears are different, like a cat, or rather a wolf, they don't seem to be dangerous. Should I observe a bit more before approaching?
Crack! Kairon quickly turns around to the sound of the crack, but a knife is already at his throat.
The man talks in an intimidating tone
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Kairon answers, "I-Iam lost, and I am searching for people to help me, I don't mean any harm."
The man stares deeply into the eyes of Kairon, he waits a moment, then he talks again, "How is a human like you lost in such a deep forest?"
"I am not really sure either. I woke up around here and saw the smoke from your Village, so I came here hoping I will find answers or help."
The man sees no lies in the eyes of Kairon, he lowers his knife and introduces himself,
"My name is Fenris Hollowolf, I am a werewolf and the leader of this village, I sense no evil or lies in you, and it seems you really are lost, follow me."
Fenris Hollowolf has a muscular build, around 6 feet tall, he has dark blue hair and dark blue ears, and has a black eye with browner skin tone
Kairon and Fenris enter the village
"Keep your eyes straight and walk behind me, most of the people here hate humans. And I forgot to ask you earlier, what is your name and how old are you."
"My name is..." Kairon hesitates a bit. Then he answers,
"My name is Aether, and I am 6 years and 11 months old (Aether was the name I had during my corps days, and it's way better than a family name like Kairon Espada)
"I see, you are rather young Aether. When we reach the Main house I'll give you some clothes you can properly wear. And do you have any memory of where you come from or who your parents are?"
"Sorry but I have no memory of my parents or anything else. And Lord Fenris wha—"
A loud roar suddenly covers the whole area.
Fenris is immediately on his guard,
"Aether, go to the Main house immediately and don't come out!"
"Wait what's goin—"
"Go!!"
Aether runs towards the Main house that is in the center of the village.
The main house is a round wooden house, it is the largest house in the village where meetings are held, it is also the house of the village lord
"I don't know what's happening but listening to Fenris is my best option right now, I'll stay inside and use this chance to dress up as well"
Just outside the Main gate Fenris and 20 of his men assemble
Fenris shouts,
"We shall go towards the Roar of the Minotours, and remember, do not initiate the first move, that is an order!"
The Men shout in unison,
"Yes Lord Fenris!"
Fenris and his men leapt onto the branches of the tall trees, heading towards the roar of the minotaurs.
There, they saw a group of nearly thirty minotaurs gathered together—and among them is one of Fenris's men, lying facedown on the ground, a rope strangling his whole body.
The lord of the Minotours, Thrax, roars out so all can hear his voice,
"Lord Fenris! I have one of your scouts right here on the ground"
Fenris's men freeze at the sight, their shouts bursting with rage and fury
"That's Poro lord Fenris, we need to rescue him. Give us the order so we can kill those ugly cows"
"Silence! Don't you remember my order, we do not initiate the fight first."
Fenris shouts to Thrax, "Lord Thrax! You've kept him alive for a reason, and there must be a reason for that, what is it you want in exchange?"
Thrax stares at him, "I do not need anything Lord Fenris, I wanted to kill him right in front of your eyes, this is what you suffer for messing with us Minotours"
Fenris eyes widen, his right arm reaching out
"Wait don—"
"SPRRLLTCHHH!!"
Thrax smashes Poro's head with his giant hammer, then he lifts him up and pulls the body apart.
Fenris men explode out in anger,
"You piece of filthy cows, I'll rip you into shreds. Lord Fenris please allow us to avenge our fallen comrade right here!"
Fenris stays silent
"Lord Fenris, why aren't you answ—"
His men look at him, and then fall silent as well. When their eyes meet Fenris's, they can't help but submit, because no one is hurting more than Fenris himself. His eyes burn with anger, and his killing intent floods the battlefield.
"Let's retreat for now!"
"But Lord Fenri—"
Fenris glares at him with his sharp eyes, then the man immediately steps back.
"We're out numbered, falling back is the best option right now!"
From the other side, Thrax shouts again
"I can see the warewolves are a bunch of cowards who can't even save or avenge their fallen comrade right before their eyes"
Fenris stays quiet, then he talks
"I'll remember this Lord Thrax, your death will be far worse than any death you have seen or will ever see, that is a promise"
Thrax stays silent with his men, and just stares as Fenris leaves with his men.
"Lord Thrax, we out numbered them, why didn't we attack."
"You fool, had we attacked, we would all be wiped out, right now we're at a neutral zone, but once we chase them and enter their territory, we'll get out numbered, and none of us would see tomorrow"
Fenris and his men reached the village.
"Raise the Village security level to Maximum! And call back all the scouts right now, we'll have a meeting tonight!"
Fenris goes to the main house where Aether is waiting.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, we ran into some troubles. I see you have dressed up, if you want you can go ahead and talk with our people to stay more social, everyone knows you're under my protection so no one will try to hurt you.
And oh, I also have a daughter who's around your age, she's currently training right now, maybe you can go join her, there aren't many kids around here."
Aether sees the tiredness on Fenris face, "I would love to, but what exactly is she training?"
"I presume with your memory being hazy, you don't even know how magic works, they will be training near the river inside the village, go and tell them I sent you, learn everything you can learn Aether"
"Thank you Lord Fenris, then I'll head out immediately"
As Aether walks towards the river, many eyes lay upon him, glaring at him with hate.
"I suppose discrimination is normal, but i don't blame them either, if a werewolf randomly entered a human city, humans would likely hunt them down without reason, such is the nature of mankind"
A few walk later, Aether reaches his destination, where he finds a girl sitting beside the river, closing her eyes in concentration
"Uh, hello, I was sent here by Lord Fenris to train, where can I find your teacher?"
The girl does not answer, but from the tree that stands on the side of the river comes out a voice
"She won't be able to hear you boy, i made sure of that"
Aether looks up in confusion
"And who are you?"
The old man smirks, "My name is Oloris, and I am the one and only teacher in this village"
Oloris appearance is of an old warewolve, he wears a baggy dark red coat that covers his whole body except his head, he has a browner skin tone with brown eyes and hair.
"Lord Fenris sent me here to train with you and her daughter, and if I may ask, what exactly are you training here?"
"Hahaha, you don't even know what I am training here and yet you came here for training? But first, I need to make sure a human child like you can even survive my training in the first place."
"I am ready for anything (When I arrived in this world, my mana core that I refined in my old world hasn't been working so I can't use any mana, I need to get stronger if I want to survive)
Oloris jumps down from the tree, then slowly approaches Aether. He stares right in the eyes of Aether, letting off an intimidating aura'
"Are you sure you want to train under me? This is not like your playground from home, boy"
Aether eyes show no fear
"Iam ready"
Oloris stares at him for a bit, then he laughs
"Hahaha, for a kid to be this fearless, you're an interesting kid. Sure, I'll train you, but remember this, i won't go easy on you just because you're a kid. Going easy is one of the few things i can't do when I am a teacher,
He glances at the young girl
not even for my granddaughter."
Aether looked surprised, "Wait, don't tell me, are you Lord Fenris' father?
"Hahaha, Yes iam. Anyway, before we start our training, we have to check what stage you're in right now"
"Uh, Master Oloris, what do you mean by stage"
"Hmmm, everyone in this world is born with a mana core, and for most of us, when we turn six, it awakens, and the colour of your mana core is what tells us what stage you're in"
"So how many mana core colours are there?"
"There are 7, Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red, like the rainbow. If you have a violet mana core, that simply means you're at the Violet stage.
The violet mana core is the weakest, and the Red mana core is the strongest, that should give you enough clues to figure out how they rank."
"I understand, but Master Oloris, how exactly does a stronger mana core make you stronger?"
"Hmm, lets say I, a person who has a green mana core fought a person with Violet mana core, and both of us use the same amount of mana and fire the exact same magic, 10 out of 10 my magic would overpower his. That means a stronger Mana core provides a stronger body and a stronger mana."
"So it makes our magic stronger and also our physical body?"
"That's exactly right Aether, you learn pretty quick. Now then, let's go ahead and test what colour your Mana core is."
Oloris pulls out a white crystal
"Now Aether, I want you to place your hand on this crystal, the glow of the crystal will show what colour your core is."
Aether walks towards Oloris and places his hand on the crystal, "So like this?"
The Crystal started Glowing Violet
"Hmm, it seems like you're at the lowest stage, the Viole—
[Cracks]
Oloris eyes widened, shocked by the sight he is seeing
Suddenly, the crystal starts glowing brighter and brighter, cracking the crystal itself
Oloris shouts, his face obviously shocked
"Don't tell me—"
End of chapter 2.