Crimson Core

Somewhere inside the city, in the blue pavilion.

“Ahh!!!”

A soul wrenching scream was heard from the highest room in the blue pavilion. The whole chamber that was formerly spotless white was covered in blood. The eerie stench from the whole chamber was more than nauseating. There was a body of the lanky guard laying headless in front of the chamber’s main door. His head was found in one other corner of the room.

The woman could not bear this alone, she could not move any further, nor backwards. Her scream from earlier attracted many people into the chamber. The moment someone rushed into the room, the stench rushed into their nose faster than their hands could block it from going in.

The men among the crowd that was gathered, found the courage to go deeper into the chamber, only to come out with one question in their minds, not their lips for risk of getting something unwanted.

‘WHAT DID THIS? AND WHY?’

Kai could not stand up from his wheelchair because of his pain, but he could talk now but not so loud. “My name is Kai, my affinity element is Blood…”

Kai had not finished talking when the entire room became tense. The twin warlocks in the room looked at him with unbelieving eyes.

“…”

“…”

Tutor Lester was in shock and the girls were in awe. Banner scoffed and Bruce looked at him with a profound expression.

‘Is this the reason why Lady Dorchaidehe is so attracted to him? But his type is not meant to be, he is an abomination,’ Lester was lost in thoughts.

The entire class was drowned in deafening silence. Kai’s words could not be heard as everyone was lost in their thoughts. After some time of Kai talking to himself, Lester had finished thinking.

—Knock, knock—

A rapping sound was made at the door and attracted the attention of all in the class, it was none other than Lady Dorchaidehe. “Class should have been over by now. Lester I have come to pick Kai.” Not waiting for any response from Lester she walked into the room and pushed Kai out of it.

This was beyond disgracing and embarrassing for Lester, he was a prince for crying out loud, how could he be disrespected so much as this?

THIRTY AND TWO YEARS AGO…

A woman had just given birth. The whole room smelled of shit and urine, a midwife was somewhere in the corner of the room disposing the cut placenta. The woman who had given birth was fast asleep, partially because of exhaustion and blood loss. A middle-aged looking man stood by the side of the bed. He was adorned in the most luxurious purple, embroidered with gold stitches. He was king Sullivan.

The luxurious man held a newborn baby in his hands, the baby had the man’s amber eyes but had his mother’s brown hair. Although still a baby, he was fairly handsome.

Normally, a man carrying his first bon son is supposed to be happy but for some reason, King Sullivan’s face forehead had a deep furrow. The woman on the bed, his first and most loved concubine could not see his face.

King Sullivan dropped the baby boy in a nurse’s hand and left the room with dark expression. The reason for this was that the young baby did not have the elemental affinity that the king had hoped for. The King wanted a child with the same affinity as him, he wanted a child with a lightning element affinity, but his son—no the baby that was born, had water as his elemental affinity.

The only good news was that he had a high potential, the potential of a noble, but King Sullivan still saw this as a failure.

Ever since that day, Lester had always been despised by his father, all he ever wanted was his father’s public acceptance and love, He would do anything to get it, or so it seemed.

‘Why won’t Father accept me?’ That was the question Lester grew up asking himself. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Lester trained, never slacking, he kept going, and his determination was scary. He wanted nothing more than to be held up in high regard by his father. At the age of thirty-two, Lester already had a purity of 76 per cent. He could easily flood a city, or take over a continent if he so chooses, but his father, King Sullivan still saw him as useless.

Even King Sullivan’s favorite son, Denzel, the son of late Queen Dorcas. He was a Lightning mage, and could not hold a candle to Lester, yet Denzel was given more preferential treatment.

“Get out of my sight!” King Sullivan used such words on Lester every time he came into the throne room. Every time he would leave the room with his head hung low and one thought in his head. ‘One day…’

Back to the present day…

Lester was confused as to what had just happened in his classroom. He wanted to torment Kai, or at least interrogate him about his element, but this was a bad turn of events. The class which was formerly silent, burst into murmurings as Darcy pushed Kai out of the room in his wheelchair.

Lester had to get his class under control. “Class is dismissed…” But he could not get his feelings under control any more. Lester dismissed the class and walked out of the class to see Darcy’s angelic body disappear into the corner while pushing that wretch, Kai.

“One day…” Lester whispered to himself, as he walked towards the other side of the hallway.

“Let us go,” Kai whispered to Darcy as she pushed the wheelchair out of the corner.

“Darcy?” Kai called out to Darcy.

“Yes, milord Ashtaroth.” Darcy’s demeanor had changed. She sounded even more respectful as she answered Kai but he didn't like that.

“What is up with this Ashtaroth you have been calling me since morning?”

“Well, there is a prophecy that is kept within the Firefield family, that a white haired man, that has the power of the gods would appear to on of the families descendants and we should treat him with utmost respect.” Darcy explained.

Kai still seemed confused. “Tell me more.”

Still pushing Kai. “A few thousand years ago my ancestor, Marcus Firefield a warrior rank mage had a sick child,Lucilla. He had tried everything to save her. Marcus had almost given up, when a mysterious mage, used her blood to heal her, and even boost her rank to the rank of a noble. Marcus wanted to pay her, but she declined, saying that she needed a favor instead…”Darcy paused because some students were passing by them.

After the students had passed by, Darcy continued, “She said that she needed him to vow that, if ever her or his descendants ever met a white-haired man that ate the flesh and drank the blood of his enemies we should help him. Marcus died without ever seeing the prophecy come true, so on his death bed he passed the responsibility down, to his daughter. Ever since it has been the family’s purpose.”

“Is that all?” Kai asked.

“Well no, there is something else, she said that we should never try to become rulers over the five continents, no matter how strong we became. Anything else you would want to know?’. Darcy asked as she rolled Kai out of the academic building.

“You still haven’t told me how you got the name, Ashtaroth? It sounds so odd.” Kai asked.

“Well, that is because that’s the name we gave you because she gave us no name for you.” Darcy answered.

Trying to pry Kai asked, “How are you sure that it is me?”

“Because of what you did with Master Nelson and Lady Belisha, and how you raised my essence purity percentage with your blood.”

“Hmph…” Kai chuckled.

Kai wanted to ask more questions but he kept them to himself. ‘I will ask when the time is right.’

After some time of pushing Kai got to his chamber, and Darcy left him there. It was already getting late, and Kai needed all the rest he could get. He lay on his bed as slept.

Later, that night, he woke up to the sound of someone rapping at his door.

—Knock. Knock—

Kai woke up, feeling a bit refreshed, but his senses were still dull from enduring so much pain. “Come in.” He called out thinking it was Darcy or Samantha.

But to his pleasant surprise, it was the twins with the element of night. ‘What a pleasant surprise...’

The twins entered and stood in front of Kai. With a smile, Kai asked. “How can I help you?” The twins had no resemblance except for the fact, that both had black hair and shared a similar build, not too muscular and not too skinny, almost like that of Kai.

The only difference between the siblings was the height difference, Damien was taller than Adrian. Damien always looked stern and angry with a posture that could make military men jealous, while Adrian had a carefree smile plastered on his face and a fucked up posture.

Damien opened his mouth to speak. “Kai we have a question for you if you don’t mind.”

“I am seconding that.” Adrian said with a goofy face, as though he was drunk.

“Ask away,” Kai said with a smile.

“Who are you?” Damien, the more direct of the two asked.

Suddenly Kai had a bright idea, smiling Kai said, “Well that’s odd, you come here and the first thing you ask me is who I am? Sigh… its alright, my name is Kai under the house of Lord Marshall.” Kai answered with a cheerful smile.

This was not the answer Damien was looking for, he was getting pissed but for some reason, he just could not get angry. “This is a serious question please be sincere.”

“He he, I am being honest, truly.” A smile was etched on his face as he looked towards the two brothers before him. Kai was visibly pushing Damien to see his limits.

“Hahaha… I am beginning to like him!” Adrian sounded like a crazy person.

Damien took something out of his pocket, it looked similar to a small pendant, brick red, and it gave an eerie vibe.

The moment, Kai set his eyes on the weird-looking orange stone, it shook violently in Damien’s palm.

TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO…

The same mysterious female healer mage walked into the part of the forest where a dying man lay, breathing his last. The mysterious mage ran to his side and healed him.

“How can I repay you? Kind sir.” The injured man said to the mage thinking it was a man that healed him.

“Nothing, and by the way I am a woman…” The mage said as she took off her hood. “You can repay the next time we cross paths.”

“…” The man was dumbfounded, his eyes could only convey the shock and embarrassment he felt in his soul. “How will I know when I see you again?” The man truly wanted to appreciate her.

“Here take this,” The healer mage gave him a weirdly shaped stone with an eerie orange as its color. “…you would know that I am near if the stone glows.”

Before the formally injured man could speak, the mysterious mage had disappeared. The stone never glowed, until the on man’s death bed, he had to pass it on to his child. Over the course of two thousand years the story had been changed and modified a little bit.

The story had been changed that the man had promised to help the mage attain her most ambition whenever they crossed paths, or whenever their offspring crossed paths.

Earlier that day…

The Night brothers always had the stone with them, trying their best to find the mage or her offspring and help them achieve their ambition whatever it was. even if the stone glowed once whilst in their hands, their names will be etched in the history of the Nyx clan.

Adrian looked bored in class, he turned to his brother, Damien. “Uhm… Damien do you think we would ever find that mage?” Adrian asked, with a disgruntled expression.

Damien turned to look at Adrian, with a serious look, but this time there was a trace of hopelessness in his expression. “if it is right, we will find him”.

The Nyx family was a small family of assassins, and they had a tradition that every member of the family when they got to a certain age, would be entrusted with the family heirloom, the orange stone; for some time.

The Nyx brothers had always wanted to be the ones to pay back their ancestor’s debt to the mage who had saved him and try to learn a thing or two from the mage. They always had this fear that, the person who would make the stone glow might not have an interesting ambition, thereby cutting their adventure short.

Today Damien had the stone with him, it was his turn. Coincidentally, Damien brought out the stone when Kai was pushed into class. Damien had a calm expression, unlike Adrian.

“It— it’s glowing!” Adrian’s expression was hysterical.

The fact that the stone glowed unheard of, but now they were with a glowing stone in their hands. The only confusing thing was that they were in a room full of people, they were confused as to who it was, but also happy that they had a chance to find the person, but mostly confused.

The Nyx Brothers were uncomfortable throughout the class, they were itching to find out who it was. At the time Darcy pushed Kai out of class the stone stopped glowing; the stone went back to how it was, as though it had never glowed before.

Adrian looked at his brother, wanting to say something.

“—I already know… But we have to be sure,” Damien noticed the way Adrian looked at him, of course, they had the same thing in mind.

Later that evening…

The Night brothers left their chamber and snuck out, trying their best to be unnoticed.

Fast forward to the present time…

Surprisingly the orange stone did not only glow, but it also shocked violently and floated towards Kai at a speed only eyes could follow.

It hovered over Kai for what seemed like hours. Suddenly the stone stopped in the air. Everyone in the room instinctively held their breaths trying to see what would happen next. The Nyx brothers were tensed but for some reason, Kai was calm, as if he was looking at a lost part of himself. A smile was creeping in on his face.

Time appeared to have paused in the room. It went on forever… Before, suddenly the stone started falling; diving even, into Kai’s chest. The moment the stone touched Kai’s chest, it glowed even brighter. Kai felt pain, immense pain as the stone began to enter him, in a very slow and excruciatingly painful manner.

Formerly, Kai was in pain, but this pain was on a different level, he felt as though a million knives were driving into his body, and this pain was unbearable.

“AH…!” Kai screamed and writhed in pain.

Adrian looked somewhat worried. “Is this supposed to happen to him?” He asked Damien.

Damien, still having his expressionless face replied. “How am I supposed to know? You are older than I am, aren’t you?”

“You are bigger than I am, who would believe that I am older than you?” Adrian retorted. Although the phenomenon before them was so bizarre and unheard of, they still had the time for petty sibling banter.

This childish banter was going on while Kai was writhing in pain. Unexpectedly, the screaming stopped when, Damien wanted to respond to Adrian, causing their attention to be drawn to Kai.

The pain was gone, leaving only a burning sensation in Kai’s chest and forehead. Kai pulled on his clothes to expose his chest. It still looked normal, his well-defined lean chest muscles looked as chiseled as ever, only that there was a burn mark where the stone disappeared.

“That’s new… Huh?” It was at that moment that Kai discovered that the pain in his body had disappeared. Even so, now he, Kai felt a bit rough around the edges, with numbness here and there all around his body.

Adrian and Damien were getting impatient. “Kai was it? You still haven’t answered our question— Who are you?” Adrian asked, clearly pissed.

Sincerely, Kai had forgotten about the Nyx brothers. “Oh! Apologies, it went out of my mind that you were here.”

Kai sat up, facing them. “So yes, ask your question again. I will answer your question in appreciation for doing this to me.” Kai said with a smirk. He felt as though he was acting oddly but this felt normal to him as though he had been hiding this part of himself in his mind all this time.

Adrian hated proud people, especially conceited people who were good-looking, so Kai’s behavior infuriated him. Adrian was about to say something really rude. “You…”.

“No,” Daniel stopped him before he did something stupid. “Don’t ruin this.” Damien turned around to face Kai. “We asked who you were.”

Kai was silent for a while. After a bit of time his eyes visibly lit up. “Honestly I don’t know. But recently someone told me that I was Ashtaroth. The messenger of death and a demi-god.”

A smile crept up Adrian’s face. ‘He is exciting!.’

The same thoughts occupied Damien’s mind but he was too cautious. “How can we believe you, you don’t even match a warrior’s soul pressure.” Although he was a thrill and adventure seeker like his brother, he was also cautious.

“Oh, I do hate to do this, but since you wish to see it, I will show you.”

—Du, Du—

As soon as Kai’s two hands came together with a dull clap, the two brothers who were standing in front of him suddenly felt a strange heaviness in their bodies.

Their legs began to shake uncontrollably, unable to bear the weight of their bodies. The sound of Kai’s hands still echoed in their ears as they tried to make sense of what had just happened. It was as if some invisible force had knocked down on them with a single massive blow.

It was at that moment that they knew, they Fucked up.

Damien and Adrian were in a difficult situation that had put a tremendous amount of pressure on them. As the pressure continued to mount, they both felt their legs weaken and begin to buckle under the weight of it all. Damien was having a particularly hard time and would shake violently from time to time. The severity of the situation was evident from Adrian’s expression. His once cheerful smile had disappeared, and he looked grim and worried.

Although Adrian’s soul was not shaken as much as Damien’s, he was still very concerned about his brother’s state. The fact that Damien was having a harder time was scary for him. He knew that they both needed to remain calm and focused, but the pressure they were under made it difficult to do so.

Adrian and Damien were twins, but Adrian was the older one and had a stronger soul, stronger magic, and slightly greater potential than Damien. However, Adrian had a psychotic state of mind, which was the only blemish in his character.

On the other hand, despite having different personalities, Damien was the only person who could understand Adrian. They loved each other dearly and were always together, wherever one was found, the other was sure to be nearby.

—Du, Du—

As if a heavy yoke had been lifted from their spirits, the weight on their souls suddenly dissipated, replaced by the sound of a bright and cheery voice that reverberated through the air. Its warm and welcoming tone infused them not with a sense of hope but a sense of dread. “I hope that was good enough for you?”.

—Drop—

The two brothers dropped to the ground on their knees. The after-effect of the pressure was still heavy on them.