Chapter 9

All the people on the piazza stared at him and there was this short silence. Then he turned around and started to run. All the people in the back started to shout and followed him. “Kill the devil!” “Kill him!” “Don’t let him get away.” He ran as fast as he could, but he knew that they got closer. So, he ran into the labyrinthine alleys of the town. The gates of the town were already closed, and swimming was no option for him. The only choice left was to hide himself. He desperately searched for a place to hide, when he entered another small alley, he heard a weird sound and his whole vision became white. A white dust cloud enwrapped the alley. It was flour.

Nobody saw anything, not he and not his pursuers. Before he could react, a hand grabbed his collar and dragged him through a small door. The door was shut, and he looked at Elijah. “I shouldn’t have saved you. But I have done it. Now we are totally even with our debts.” Ragen stared a moment at his saviour and then asked “Why are you still in town? I thought you wanted to leave?” “Yes, that’s still my plan. But the ship where I signed goes in around three to four days. But enough from me and let us concentrate on you. We should leave this place. They will soon start to search the houses to find you.”

Ragen was relieved and thanked Elijah for the saving then he followed him to a wall. At the wall Elijah pushed on some bricks and the wall revealed a secret passage. Stairs went down to a dark basement. When Ragen stood in front of the stairs Elijah said: “You should stay in the basement for now. After this mess has ended you should leave the town immediately. I know you want revenge, but please calm down and prepare your escape instead of your revenge.” Ragen stared at him and started to think for a way out of this mess but there was no other choice then to hide. So, he decided to stay and prepared the stuff to escape. He needed some money, food, daggers and a bow. Elijah brought him whatever he needed.

Three days passed, and the people still searched for the little Demon. Luckily for Ragen they couldn't find even a clue where he was hiding. After the fourth day passed, he could finally leave his hideout. Disguised as a beggar he left the hideout and walked to the town gates. The guards of the gates didn't take notice of him and let him through. His first destination was his old home. He hoped that his parents were still alive. After a longer walk he arrived in front of the ruins of his home. The townspeople burned his home down and it seemed like they killed his parents. In desperation he searched the ruins for the corpses of his parents, but they weren’t there. It was a bit relieving to know that his parents didn't die here. Perhaps they could flee from the townspeople or they were captured. He hoped that not the second thing happened, but he had to go back. He couldn’t stay in this place.

His only choice to find any clues about his parents was to go back to town. When he arrived in front of the town gates, he already saw a long queue. For an unknown reason the guards were quite alarmed. They wanted to see everyone who wanted to enter the town. That was quite a problem for him. When he was thinking about the solution, he saw a carriage which transported straw. He didn’t think long and hid inside straw. He hoped that the guards wouldn't search the straw for someone suspicious. It must be his lucky day that the guards were lazy and didn't search the carriage. Inside the town he couldn't find his friend Elijah. Elijah had probably left the town already, so he couldn’t count on him anymore. So, he tried to ask people on the street about any interesting things which were happening right now. When they asked him who he was he answered them that he was a disciple of a traveling storyteller. Most people believed him and told him what they knew.

The first important thing he found out was about his parents who were capture by some slave merchants. They had already left town and sailed to the southern islands. He felt horrible, he couldn’t save them and now they out of reach. He didn’t know if he ever would see them again. Even tough he couldn’t save his parents now he swore to save them in the future when he was able to save them.

The second important thing was about some rumors from the neighboring islands which were conquered by an enemy empire. Now the whole town was afraid off an invasion from this empire. The guards were on high alert and less and less ships entered the harbor. Some rumors even stated that the major of the town prepared to flee. Even though he should feel worry, he felt calm. There was even a small voice in his head which told him that the town should just burn. But now was not the time for revenge. He went back to the hidden basement and took everything he could find. Some coins, dagger, food and a bow. Then he left the town for once and all. He knew the next time he would see this town then it would burn.

He passed through the gates and headed towards the big forest. Before he wanted to encounter his new master, he started to hunt. At first animals like boars, deer’s, rabbits and wolves. He lived in a small cave and tried calm down and sort out his thoughts. Two days passed, and he was finally able to go to his master and start his training. Bane was already waiting for him. He welcomed Ragen and said to him that he knew everything that happened in town. He had seen it with magic. Bane said: “I know how you feel. I myself once lost everyone who was dear to me. But I regained my calmness and took revenge later.” He told him to focus his anger and hate on the training and improve himself like this.

The first thing he taught Ragen was how to breath correctly in meditation and combat. Even though it looked easy at first, it was quite hard to learn. He needed weeks to master basic breath techniques but after a long and hard training he was able to do it.

Bane Firestorm trained him hard and merciless. Bane told him that he must at least train for around 10 years and before this time hasn't passed he wouldn't let him leave. Ragen was angry at him because he wanted to save his parents and burn the town down but Bane didn't discuss with him about this any further. A mad Ragen trained under the waterfall and on rocks and even on trees.

Bane gave him missions like hunting down goblins or and a weird species called leaf hunters. Those leaf hunters were small and agile. They were just as big as a child and lived on the trees. They had small spears and shields. One found them in the inner parts of the forest and they were quite aggressive. They sat on branches and waited for wanders or animals to pass by and then assault them. He haunted dozens of those leaf hunters and dozens of goblins. Three months passed, and Bane told him to attack smaller goblin villages. He firstly attacked those villages with burning arrows and then during the chaos he appeared out of the shadows and massacred the rest of the village with his [Shadow Knife] skill. Those training's missions and the training itself made him stronger and leveled him up. He thought status and heard a ding sound.

Name: Ragen Lv. 7

Title: None

Race: Human Exp: 530/850

VIT: 86

STR: 103

WIS: 74

INT: 118

AGI: 53

LUC: 4

Skills:

[Archery] (adept) [Tracking] (apprentice)

[Language Translator] (passive) [Learning] (adept)

[Demon eyes] (sealed) [Domination] (rare) (sealed)

[Shadow Knife] (master) [Appraisal]

[Poison Resistance] (novice) [Magic Shield Dome] (novice)

[Demons Wrath]

[Magic Arrow] (fire) (adept) [Necromancy] (novice)

He had already reached so much strength, but he knew very well that he was still weak in comparison to the strong leading figures in this world. Alone Bane must be around hundred times stronger than he was. But that wasn't so bad he still had years to train under Bane. Still many years to become a demon lord. He remembered the quest from Lazarus. This was the opportunity to gather more strength and sped up his training. He already killed many goblins, but he never saw a hobgoblin. That means the hobgoblin must live in the norther forest. The northern forest was much more dangerous then southern part. In the north happened scary things and scary creatures lived there. Creatures like giant spiders or birds who were bigger than he and hunted in big groups. The northern part of the island was unexplored and dangerous. There even some legends that some legendary monsters lived far up in the northern part. And that was also the reason why Bane had prohibited him to go there. He thought that if he could avoid the big creatures, he would be able to hunt down the hobgoblin and get the quest reward.

He knew he had to come back in four days. So, he had enough time to make a small detour to a small piece of the northern parts. Before he started his small journey, he took the feather jewelry of the village chief and then turned around and went away. His new target was the hobgoblin in the northern parts.