Gently plucking the strings of his lute the bard used his gravel voice to tell the seven hundert nights. A tale as old as the kingdom itself.

Michal sat on the floor, listening to the bard speak of a once forgotten glory, a land in strife and a hero to unite it.

Tyson hovered next to him when he felt a stare bore into them.

His eyes met those of a small girl at the side of the street a bit father away, her thin frame wrapped in dirty patches.

Emancipated lips pressed against each other a hard piece of bread clutched in her hands, the dark lord could see the familiar bitterness of envey.

She is just like the boy I once was.

With tendrils of shadows, Tyson snached a few coins out of Michals purse and activated [fear of the dark]. Gliding trough the small crowd and liberating a few more funds he materialize next to the beggar. With practice ease he took the form of his favorite animal of a raven.

„Don’t we live in a cruel world? Some select few hoard all the happiness in the world while others are left to suffer in their shadow.“

She did not flinch, her wide eyes searching to asses him.

„Generations of people have tried to change the world in vain. You know them, the stories, of kings unsurped by a new, kinder ruler. Jet the world is still as cruel as ever. Can you tell me why that is?“

The girl furrowed her brows ans spoke with a course voice.

„What are you and what do you want from me? And what are you even talking about.“

The dark lord continued, unperturbed by the disturbance of his monologue.

„The System itself is rotten. Borders and kingdoms, races and classes should be burned down to build a new order from the ashes.“

The girl stretched her thin lips into smile.

„And what the fuck, does that have to do with me? Offer my soul and body in a ritual to a speaking crow I have known for two minuets? ‘Caus I see no other way I could help you with that.“

Tyson wanted to laugh manically but his current form was not fit for the act.

What did I ever want with a snotty noble. This is gold.

„I want you to make a contract with me and no selling your soul. You will get paid for your effort, 40days of vacation and in case of work related death cremation costs will be covered in full.“

The girl looked at him stupefied at his offer.

„Oh and in case of moral doubts you may retire at any times, so long as you agree to let some memories be erased.“

The greatest villain of earth offered his small feathered wing and something inside him begann to stirr.

A moment passed in awkward silence.

„Well, I mean, I only understood half of what you said but whats there to lose?“

The moment the crow and beggar made an awkward handshake the ember inside Tyson burned ferociously.

[Dark master activated]

For a moment the world seemed to come to a grinding halt as a connection between to souls was formed.

Aria, as he now knew she was called, gasped as her class was selected.

Name: Aria Race: Human Order: Ember Mana:0/0 Strength:4/11 Agility:7/15 Constitution:2/11 Magic Volume: 0/15 Magic concentration:0/15

Class; apprentice of the dark(rare):

An ancient evil has taken you under its mantle. Learn the dark arts and change your world in the name of your teacher.

Dark master, eager learner, hopeful

Zauberlehrling(passive)(0)

You learn to understand hexes, rituals and curses. Slightly shifts your mana to align with these spell forms.

Conniving Smile(passive)(0):

People are easy to trust and believe you and more willing to ignore any suspicious behavior.

Herald(active)(0):

You borrow the power of your Master. For a moment you use his knowledge and magic might to bring your enemy to their knees. But everything has its price.

Tyson could see her status displayed before him and smiled.

A rare class was great, and [Conniving Smile] would play right into his plans. Although curious he would look into her traits sometime else.

Unceremoniously he used tendrils to ripp a bag of money from his form and place it next to the girl.

„Here, buy yourself some food and clothes and make your way over to Yorsh. The baroness is a widow to the war, and last in her line. A tragic but kind women, with your talent she may take you in and send you to the academy in her name. If that doesn’t work, commit to the army they always seek promising recruit‘s.“

Aria opened the sack of coins took a deep breath and nodded.

A if you force a slave to make you a drink you can be sure it is poisoned. A friend and follower however will also bring you something to eat. Speaking from experience, hope you die a slow death michal.

Speaking of the devil, Tyson could feel a small tug at the connection that had formed between him and his summoner over the last winter. While it allowed him a greater range of movement it also meant they were instinctively aware of each others location. Aria was the first stepp in a direction to circumvent the total supervision.

He gave the girl a last wink bevor melting into the shadows.

„Where have you been? We are about to look into books for the academy!“ Michal leaned in and whispered in glee. “And maybe even some stories from this world.“

Tyson grinned, for once similarly exited.

„Nothing important, just talked with a nice human.“