《The Children of Destiny》Chapter 14: Undercurrents
Advertisement
His name was Brian. Just Brian. No fancy surname for little old him. Those were for the nobles. The nobles who had just told him: “This competition is just a formality.”
The second brat of Baron Pavone had just reached an age appropriate for his arcane Enlightenment, so they were commandeering the yearly Knight Tourney as a setoff for his brilliance. Brian, who had been preparing for this ever since his awakening two years ago, was understandably pissed when a courier had come prancing up to him and informed him in no uncertain terms that if he were the one to face the brat in the finals, he was to put up a good show and then lose.
Why couldn’t the brat accept the title of a Baronet like his brother before him? Oh, yes, he had Awakened as a martial warrior all on his lonesome and hence was bound by tradition to become a Knight. With his fists clenched in unwillingness, he watched the pompous courier swagger away. Imagining that the stone by the roadside was the brat’s face, he spat. Bullseye.
Cultivation was like swimming against the current. Everyone started at the same line when they condensed their Theca, locking in and thus accumulating their Aura. Those with talents like eidetic memory or extreme physical coordination had some of their Aspects at a high stage of development. As Aura was an amalgam of the energies of the five Aspects, these talents produced it several times faster than the ordinary man. The addition of Fame or Destiny not only activated the Aura, making one capable of magic, it was like having thousands of people at your back, helping you cultivate.
Daily practice required Aura, improving ones Aspects required a lot of it and every battle with another practitioner drained massive amounts of one’s reserves. Thus, it was all a game of resource management where time, Fame and social dealings had to be balanced in order to get the most Aura for your investment.
The Pavones had three quotas for Iron Knights. Two of them were held by the Captains of the City Watch while the third was used by them as a political tool to attract talents. They allowed anyone who served in their ‘training camp’ for two years a chance to participate in the Knight Tourney. The winner would get to hold the title of an iron Knight for the tenure of one year. Several youths had used this Tourney as a springboard to greatness, thereby spreading its name, making the title of Tourney Champion even more lucrative as there was now a decent amount of Fame involved.
Advertisement
Just an hour ago, Brian was dreaming of the day when the baker’s daughter, who always had her nose in the clouds, begged for his babies as the Bards sang praises of his name and the newspapers wrote of his astonishing victories over his mediocre opponents. Now, he could only bottle up his impotent rage as he imagined the brat substituting him in those dreams.
He was angry, he was unwilling, he hadn’t served the Pavones like a dog for two years only for the measly amount of transient Fame he would get for a second position in the Tourney. As the brat was going to take away the title permanently, there would be no more Tourneys held. Thus, he would have to find some other noble willing to sign him on as a Knight. Only God knew how many years of servitude that would take. Just as he was about to accept his fate, a dark silhouette detached itself from the shadows of a tree near him.
Brian, startled by the sudden appearance of a stranger leapt back, his Aura flaring threateningly. The shadow resolved itself into a man in the garb of a butler, a crest depicting a crow in black thread merging inconspicuously into the dark fabric of his coat.
“Hello, young Brian, tales of your prowess have reached Baron Corvus’ ears. He wishes you the best of luck for the Tourney tomorrow. Know that he has a need for young, talented Iron Knights just like you. Do not disappoint him.” Then he was gone, before Brian could even open his mouth.
For a moment, Brian ruminated over the underlying meaning of the butler’s words, the setting sun behind him elongated his shadow and shaded his glittering eyes. As dusk covered the land, he reached his decision. His footsteps were resolute as he went back to his apartment to rest.
…
The next morning, the sun rose to find Cyn feeding his pet peacock in the expansive backyard of the keep. Pavo had thrown a fit at the boy for neglecting it for two whole days and refused the grain in his hand. Helpless, Cyn had to reveal his trump card. The chilli pepper hadn’t even been taken out of its pouch fully before it had shamelessly sidled up to the boy and started nuzzling his hand affectionately, all the while eyeing the red fruit covetously. Amused by its antics, Cyn threw the pepper in a high arc and the gluttonous bird darted after it, flapping its wings to transition into a low glide to catch it mid-air.
Advertisement
Swallowing it in two gulps, the bird proudly spread its tail and strutted about the lawn, its blue and green plumage a sharp contrast to the reds, yellows and oranges of the autumnal trees.
The concept of a pet, a beast tamed not for meat but companionship, was extremely novel for the Chief who had learnt to treat all beasts as either predator or prey in the harsh environs of the Southern wilderness. Cyn had been brought along by his mother to watch Pavo hatching out of his shell. Filled with curiosity about how the ugly featherless chick would grow into the majestic birds that lent their name to the Pavone clan, the young boy of 10 had driven the poor bird to trauma, chasing after it with measuring tapes and callipers.
Somewhere between recording its growth in his journal and trying to test how ‘omnivorous’ the species actually was, the boy and the bird had become fast friends. The bird even allowing the boy to approach the nest containing its offspring despite the fiercely protective instincts of the species.
Cyn created a bulb of Aura around his fingertip and Pavo stiffened and focused on it. Amused, he watched its head bob as its gaze followed his finger. Even the rest of the peacocks in the lawn were paying attention to his finger due to their high sensitivity to Aura as beasts. Calling the bird to him with a clucking noise, he laid his finger on its head.
Meditating on his soul, he sent his soul sense into the peacock. Delving into its Aspects, he found that those of mind and memory were quite underdeveloped while the bodily Aspect along with the Aspect of emotion were predominant. Reaching deeper, he felt a strange state of detachment and suddenly, he found himself looking at himself through Pavo’s eyes. The world seemed to lose all colour other than the various shades of violet.
Due to his experience inhabiting his soul form, Cyn stabilized himself quickly and gained control of Pavo’s body. Before he could start panicking about being stuck as a bird, his vision snapped back into his body. Opening his eyes, he noticed an amethyst Aura forming around the peacock. Instinctually skilled in restraining Aura, the peacock formed its Theca. With a long, loud cry, Pavo flew to the rest of its brethren. Each of them then began rubbing their necks against Pavo and with his soul sense, he could feel their unbound Aura settling on and merging with Pavo’s. Soon, after rubbing necks with the last peahen a little longer than necessary, its Aura mutated into that of a Mage.
Cyn was dumbfounded by the fact that his pet had beaten him to the status of magehood. His eyes twitched as he desperately sought for ways to explain how he had somehow managed to Enlighten a beast. It probably had something to do with his soul but he couldn’t say that now, could he? As if dodging the probing of the clan Healer and concealing his body’s specialty wasn’t hard enough.
He had somehow managed to fool the old lady with his Aspects of mind and memory modifying what her Aura probes told her. It had only worked because despite her age, she was only an A level mercenary and over the years her cultivation had suffered from her repeated use of her powers.
A pair of pale arms seemed to materialize out of nowhere on both sides of his head and wrapped themselves around his neck. The back of his head came into contact with something soft, alerting him to the identity of his assailant. Artemis had a lot more Aura than Cyn as a S ranker and thus, when she was using her concealment technique, it was impossible for him to discover her even with his soul sense. “You are a bag of surprises, Aren’t you, young master? Elder sister is getting more and more curious about you.”
With a hollow laugh, he unsuccessfully tried to disengage before giving up, depressed. They both watched Pavo strut about like a king among courtiers for some time before Artemis broke the silence. “We shall discuss this later. For now, we need to get you ready for your Tourney match and Knighting. Ready?”
A grin slowly started to spread on his face at the prospect of a fight, the Chief’s militant disposition shining through. He could finally run his new body through its paces.
Eagerly, he nodded his head. “Always.”
Advertisement
- In Serial294 Chapters
Dragon's Soul
Synopsis of my story, A young boy faces the end of his life, born a genius, gifted with an incredible memory and a passion for knowledge. As he takes his last breathe his life flashed before his eyes , from an early age he had been like a sponge soaking in all the knowledge around him, science, history, culture, literature, and even military strategy he absorbed it all. But as his life was coming to an end he scorned all his knowledge, what was the point of knowing everything when you weren’t even able to protect yourself or the ones you loved. As the boy closed his eyes for one final time,he laughed at how blinded he had been about the world and people and thought that if there was indeed a next life he would obtain power, power to protect himself and his loved one. And so this marked the end of his life, but for some, the end is only the beginning. My first story so it won't be too great so bare with me as I try to get better.
8 392 - In Serial28 Chapters
Eater
Warning: This story is purely for practice. Do not expect me to finish it. Do not expect it to be good. Do no expect regular updates. Do not expect perfect grammar. Do not expect good story-telling. Do not expect innovative ideas. This will be very ameturish. Also there will be profanity, possible light-sexual content and possible gore. All criticism is welcome. Kenta is a 17 year old who on his way to a grocery store sale, dies and is reincarnated into a world of fantasy, where magic and mythical beasts exist. Everyone in this world has a status menu, like a game, which tells a persons name, title, skills and attributes. In this world the strong rule and the weak fall behind. As a baby people start out with 0 skills and 0 attributes. Everyone in this world can build up their attributes, learn skills and earn titles. A select few a born skills and raised attributes. Kenta having died in his previous world, is shocked to learn this, but quickly adapts to this game like reality and uses his knowledge and training to help survive in this new world. Upon opening his status menu, he notices he already has a skill. Skill: Eater: Allows one to consume any singular item (excluding proper food) to gain skills/attributes. Consuming dangerous substances will not kill you.
8 216 - In Serial35 Chapters
Celestial Spark
Mages traditionally make poor fodder, but with proper training and motivation, possess near limitless potential. For mage teams, the battle camps of the Upper Realms provide both, with missions ranging from orc hunts to political espionage. This tale follows one such team of four who strive to prove themselves in a world that would rather overlook them. Loyalty, honour, and devotion are contrasted by avarice, treachery, and apathy, though at times it can be difficult to separate vice from virtue. For though all people, whether they hail from the peripheries or the kingdom capital, are subjects whose fates are bound to the stars, their choices must be their own. Any comments or questions are welcomed.
8 67 - In Serial16 Chapters
System Supervillain
I was there when it happened. When the walls of reality came crashing down upon us. When everything changed. I was there. I watched it happen. There wasn’t anything I could do, of course. When two veritable demigods are fighting to the death, getting caught in between is a great way to end up very dead. Or worse. That’s when it happened. Raw time crashed with pure paradox, and the universe itself screamed in torment. Night turned to day turned to yesterday and tomorrow and blue and yellow and whale and petunia, and then it snapped back, all at once, with a thunderous roar that was not heard but felt. And then I saw the blue box for the first time. ------------ A System Apocalypse event happens in a world of superheroes, like you would see in the comic books. What happens when the world changes, and heroes and villains are now bound by a System that limits their powers? What will change, and what will remain the same? This story will incorporate Champions/HERO System 5th Edition rules. There will be dice rolls determining the action, and blue boxes with lots of crunchy numbers. If you're not down for that, there are plenty of other stories on this site that you'll like. But if that sounds fun to you, then welcome aboard, and I invite you to see what happens when someone becomes a System Supervillain.
8 95 - In Serial29 Chapters
The Failed Assassination of the Thunder God
An immortal assassin who has known nothing but brutality. A God who has walked the path of the divine for all time. On a day like any other, Qian Meng set out to kill a Celestial Being for a sack of gold—something he'd done many times in the past. To him, if the being had committed evil deeds, he deserved an evil end. That was it. And he had truly planned on killing him, that is until the God of Thunder and Justice—Lei Gong—expressed a familiarity to Qian Meng that he did not anticipate. So, for the first time in his long life, he let a man live. Little did Qian Meng know that being benevolent also had its consequences. Someone wished the God of Thunder death and would do anything to make it happen, even drag others through the mud. Pulled together by circumstance, yet accused of heinous deeds, can they uncover the truth surrounding the murderous plot of their brethren? Weekly updates on Friday! This is a glacial-burn BL story without graphic romantic scenes. It focuses on the tragic fantasy plot of our two main male leads.
8 254 - In Serial10 Chapters
Magi Judar x Reader Oneshots
You and Judar... well, just read it if you're interested. Magi and Judar © Shinobu Ohtaka You © Yourself
8 193