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This is a selected scene from my novel. which shall be released later. For the actual start of the novel, please scroll below.

When he came to, the first emotion to hit him was wrath; which only grew as he found himself bare-chested and strapped to a vertically inclined, electric bed. The mounting anger clawed at his chest as he felt the abuse his unconscious body had been put through. He was sure the bast*** had beaten him while he was unconscious.

‘I’ll end him.’

His heart raced, spotting the familiar, mature figure of a woman standing in front of him. Yes, it was her. The one, he swore-he’d follow wherever she led him. The better one to replace the hollow his emotionless birth mother left behind.

Her eyes held anger, she regarded him with not an ounce of respect or love. Emotionless, but lips pressed into a slightly thin line.

No. His heart couldn’t take this, his mind couldn’t comprehend…

“Master?”

She looked at him, “What did you do with my daughter?...on that day, did you…?”

Damon felt confused, “Maggie? I didn’t do anything to her. We are just friends.”

“Don’t lie to me! Rock told me that Maggie had confessed everything to him!”

“You believe him over me? Rock would happily fu** a stray dog; if it meant you’d disowning me! Master this is a mistake, release me and let me explain.”

Damon insisted, as he clung dearly to the idea that this might all be just a big misunderstanding. Yes, I’ll tell her the truth. She’ll thank me and apologise—

Malina produced a green translucent painting brush. Her soul weapon.

“I know how much you love cultivation, Damon. I’m warning you. If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll be forced to cripple you.”

With his heart pounding, he gasped, almost whimpered. Unable to comprehend, what he just heard. Hysteria threatened, as he accused,

“No, not you, Master. Never you. do you understand what you are doing?”

“Answer me, Damon!”

The fragile glass painting of their master-disciple relationship broke apart to reveal the ugly truth hidden behind. Damon imagined that Malina never considered him as her disciple. Yes, he had always been nothing more than a loyal puppy to her. He could either wag his fluffy tail and lick her feet for her amusement or be put down. Damon teetered at the edge of sanity.

In his defense, Damon was able to think through the situation at hand and had already come up with a solution. BUT, Damon knew the solution would end all his dreams and hopes, severing his ties to the Martial clan and discarding him and his little sister, back to the starting line, An Orphan.

Damon controlled his emotions, even as tears pricked his eyes at the consequence of his decision. Malina would construe anything he said to be a lie so, to allay her suspicion and fears, he fed a lie. And although he wanted to roar with fury, he lied with barely audible voice.

“I kissed her that’s all. I wanted to be her boyfriend but we broke up, yesterday.”

Damon always thought Malina King (Master) as his anchor. Someone he couldn’t lie to. Someone who would accept him no matter what he did. I worship her.

“A lie! I know you gave her a gift today.”

Damon pinned her with a glare and his eyes bulged.

“I stopped liking her when I saw her kissing someone else! Yesterday, under the fireworks, she was with Kaori!”

Malina thought over everything Damon said. Damon frowned a little when he saw that Malina still had not put away her soul weapon. Instead, her grip only tightened further.

‘Is she really doing this then? Did she really bring him here to cripple him?’

The thought was…painful and horrifying.

“I’ll go away.”

Malina didn’t say anything. The more the silence yawned; the more fragile his composure got. Finally, Malina looked out the window as she said,

“Maggie has always been cold and distant, cultivation; her only interest. But now…she’s smiling, or giggling at the slightest hint of her memories with you. Although I’m thankful, as her mother I don’t want her to lose her chance at a better cultivation realm, over something as simple as love. She’s meant for a greater world than this. My daughter doesn’t deserve a fate of an imprisoned bird.”

Malina pinned Damon with an accusing look, “She really loves you. She’s smitten by you. I swear the other day I could see stars in her eyes, when you won the duel. And Rock? He’s a 16-year-old kid with his whole life ahead of him. He can’t develop heart demons at such a young age.”

Damon said nothing, even though he wanted to shout, I’m 14! I adore you too.

‘Why is it so easy for you to abandon me? You would trust Rock over me? I would have stayed away from Maggie if you had told me…’

What worried Damon was that Malina was still holding her weapon. So, Damon…begged, “Ma-Master, Today’s my birthday. I gave Maggie a present and was on my way to give you one.”

Maggie stared at him a long time before finally putting away her weapon.

“Tomorrow after I win the tournament, I’ll choose another school. Me and my sister will take everything we own and go far away. We won’t come back.”

Malina turned to him again, she released him and pointed towards the discarded shirt on the ground. She said, “Kate is too little to travel. Let her stay here. you can pick her when she’s 15.”

Damon froze, but he still said nothing as he put on his clothes.

‘Holding my sister hostage? To make sure I don’t return? If you found out what she really is, would you even return my sister to me?’

Damon could glean nothing from her emotionless face. But Damon could feel her attitude. So, he asked,

“What about Rock? Not only did he attack me from behind even though he’s 2 major cultivation realms above me. (Tightens his fists until his nails dig in) He stripped me and apparently beat me when I was unconscious.”

Malina stared out the window. “I told him to bring you to me.”

“That’s it? No punishment, not even a light one?”

When Malina stayed silent, Damon almost laughed. An ugly cross between laughter and sadness gripped his face.

‘Yes, she’s not an emotionless woman like my mother…but she is a ruthless one. Holding my sister hostage?! We’ll see about that!”

Although Damon wasn’t ready to push her. At least not now. But Damon did confess.

“You were my master and I looked up to you. Your heroic deeds encouraged me to work hard at my cultivation. I did everything to make you proud. I adored you. and I confess, you were the closest person I've ever had to a mother. to an extent, I hoped you would be one.”

The confession broke him. He silently removed the letter attached at the top of the present from his pockets. The gift sat alone on the table and looked as discarded as he felt.

Although every fibre of his being was shouting at him to run away, he nursed his red wrists as he asked, “Was it because of the bloodline? Mast—(*breaths in deeply)….would you trust me, if I had the bloodline of the martial clan?”

When Malina stood silent with her back facing him. The full moon shined, throwing her tall shadow over little Damon. So…familiar. Damon understood.

He dragged his feet outside, as he declared, “I see.”

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This is the actual start of the Novel.

Hmmmpphhh!! Feeling the pain course through every inch of his body as the stench of blood filled his nose. He struggled to get sense of the situation he was in.

Damon was certain that he had been fighting with a bunch of ‘people’ just a few seconds ago…

…

It was a stormy day. A thunderstorm was wreaking havoc all around him, but it did nothing to dull Damon’s furious roar. He was fighting like a wild rabid beast, using every part of his body to deal deadly blows to his assailants. Although he was able to seriously injure some of them, he knew it meant absolutely nothing to these people…He still couldn’t believe it even after witnessing with his own eyes. His assailant--Damon had bashed his head in…Damon could still feel the warmth of the blood splatter on his face. But within minutes he healed…or he resurrected….Damon couldn’t tell. All Damon knew was, these… ‘people’ were kidnapping his sister and trying to kill him to clear all traces.

Facing certain death, Damon couldn’t help thinking about the cake and the cute bunny he brought earlier today to celebrate his little sister’s birthday….wait! did I gift wrap that cage with the bunny? I hope someone lets it out.

A soft whimpering sound somehow dominated all the other noise in the air.

"Nooo!" Kate's hysterical cries and her renewed struggles, informed him that 'Bear' their family dog, an adult Siberian husky had just died. When he looked that way--a detached head with its eyes wide open, met his gaze. Bile rose from Damon stomach, He was the one who took care of Kate and Bear ever since they were born. To him they might as well be his 2 little children and now, one of them was being kidnapped for god knows what and the other one was killed, murdered brutally, right in front of him.

"Even if I die. I will make sure to make you guys regret this." There was a shift in air, the raging storm seemed to have gone silent.

The assailants stilled. Except for the one fiddling with the watch, One by one they stared eerily at Damon. Damon, squeezed his fists as he met their gaze head on. The red eyed man tried to speak but Damon cut him off.

"Let my sister go. and we'll forget about this."---never, as soon as his sister was safe, he'll use every means available, to hunt these bast**** down!

"Ha Ha Ha! Ok sure! why not. But we can't just let her go after all this. After all you did quite a number on my friend."

"What do you want? Tell me how much money, and I'll give it to you."

"Money? no.(Smiles Evilly) As long as you commit suicide. We'll let your little sister go."

"Okay, but how will I know you won't capture her or harm her again?"

Silence ensued, as the red eyed man stopped laughing. he glared at Damon. He could tell Damon was just stalling for time.

"Why bother with this kid? just kill him. and if he escapes, we just have to kill everyone in his family. who cares about these mortals?"

"you can all go to hell!" Damon had his eyes closed as he fished the stun grenade he stole from his father's study, and threw it right into the center of the group.

"Stop him! hold onto Kate tightly!"

But Damon didn't go after Kate, it was useless. they had her surrounded and were strong. So he went after the one who looked important in their group, the man fiddling with the watch. A hostage exchange was the only way out of this situation.

Amidst all the chaos and fighting; as his thumbs plunged into his target’s eyes, all of a sudden, His vision turned white, as a thunder went off too close to where they were fighting. There was a blinding flash of light accompanied by a cacophony of deafening thunder. That…was the last he could remember.

Damon vaguely recalled seeing a giant unknown figure, surrounded by endless darkness with red thunder going off all around him. The figure was extending… touching him. A splitting headache prevented him from recalling anything else until finally… everything became a blank.

…

'After the heartbreak my parents plunged into my heart, nothing seemed to go right. That fateful day was finally going in the right direction. I was going to pull through with the teenage boys modelling gig, and finally earn some decent money. Why would anyone try to kidnap a 10 yr old little girl? worse my little sister?! I swear to god, when I grow into an adult, I'll make them regret being born in this world!'

Was I hit by lightning? What the heck was that thing? red lightning? Still disoriented Damon tried to move his limbs eliciting more pain. He stilled as he heard a noise. Some people were approaching him. Unable to make any sound he lay there. Please be friendly…please be friendly.. he kept praying in his mind. A habit he picked up whenever his grades were declared.

As time passed the group arrived near him, while his vision gradually became clear. A hot, blinding sun shone overhead slowly cooking him in his own blood. It was then he could vaguely make out the sounds of others speaking nearby.

“That’s odd. There’s no treasure here. We all saw the red thunder strike here 10 times. I mean there has to be a treasure, right? Why else would thunder strike in the middle of the day? Also, why is this corpse alive?!”

-you are the corpse! I’m a perfectly fine-albeit bloody-teenage specimen. Thank you very much.

“That was odd. There’s not even a cloud in the sky. Where in the world did the lightning come from? It makes no sense at all!”

“Maybe it was this guy! He probably did bad things to anger the heavens. And now he’s here, crocking his last breath.”

“Check if he’s that animal from Blood’s Keep. They’re looking everywhere for that guy!”

“Who cares! I say we kill him, botch his face and bring his corpse back to claim the bounty. What do you all think?”

--“f****! Who are these people? whatever happened to basic courtesy huh? Maybe call an ambulance? At least try to administer basic first aid! I can feel my blood boiling for **** sake!.

“Hey, look his shoulder’s empty! He’s got no patch!!”

The crowd immediately hushed as the air tensed all around them. A low whistle was heard as the man to the far left got attached by another figure leaping from behind a desert dune.

“Fuck! It’s a vampire!”

“Employ battle positions immediately. Use the snapping turtle formation! This vampire must be a high level one, if it can survive daylight for this long!”

A few moments later, after the sound of battle abated, and the tired and beaten-up group came back circling him once more.

“Bag and gag him. We’ll treat him on the way and let master figure out what to do later.”

A very confused Damon was thus lifted and carried all the way to the cart. The group was creeped out as they heard a silent prayer with no discernible source the entire time back to the Martial Clan.

…

Soon Damon was healed and was produced in front of a middle-aged couple in a brightly lit great hall. Damon looked at the otherworldly surrounding in fascination. A blue tornado made entirely out of fire was swirling at the center of the wall on his left.

Damon looked at it and wondered ‘is that a fireplace?’

To the left of the fireplace there was a life like painting of a silver tree in its full glory, instead of just fruits and flowers, there were names, some were glowing brightly on flowers while others where on a fruit. The trunk of the tree only had two names while other names were scattered across the buds, branches and the roots. To the right of the fireplace, there were beautiful sculptures coming out of the wall; holding awards, trophies, paintings and skulls of species he couldn’t recognize.

Damon looked to his right and saw people garbed in clothes he didn’t recognize. They were all looking at him curiously. Although he was shortsighted, he was still attracted towards a girl almost his age, who stood behind the middle-aged couple. Damon’s breathing hitched as he felt a sense of longing and familiarity bloom in his heart.

‘I’ve never felt this way before. Gosh she’s beautiful. Why did no one tell me someone like her existed?’

Her eyes were curious and clear, her skin was pale and spotless like snow. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows made her look enchanting and innocent at the same time. A gentle breeze seemed to flutter her beautiful black hair. A twinkling silver belt encircled her slender, willowy waist. Keeping her dress close to her body. If she didn’t blink Damon would have passed her off as a beautiful sculpture behind the couple.

HOLY SHIT! Damon felt his teenage heart doing cartwheels and throwing his thoughts on fire. Somehow, he managed to tear his gaze away before it made everyone awkward.

‘Where am I? did I die, and transmigrate to this world?’ Damon felt his heart squeeze as he thought about his sister

‘I hope she escaped. You have to stay alive, Kate. And don’t let my absence stop you from being happy. And as for those assailants...(*Grits his teeth) I wish they made it with me to this world. That way, I can drag them to hell and chop off any semblance of humanity they may have. When I'm done with them, They'll be empty husks of their former selves and clinically insane!’

A very confused and angry Damon, still couldn’t come to terms with his circumstances. He was going to buy contact lens tomorrow (he didn't want the eyeglasses to ruin his face), and start working modelling; away from school. He had an entire life planned out...Teenage modelling then acting or some other well paying jobs. Anything to keep him and his sister afloat.

'Maybe this is a dream. Maybe my small teenage brain couldn't handle the pressure and depression. and I'm dreaming right now. Yes! I must be dreaming!'

But it was when he looked up that clarity came. A large live golden Dragon was swimming through the clouds, below the ceiling. It was the light from the dragon’s scales that somehow illuminated the entire great hall.

‘Is that a dragon?! there’s no way I’m still on earth.’

Looking down at himself, Damon cringed as he noticed that he was dressed in pure white robe, the kind usually worn by living virgins being offered as sacrifice to the gods. Although angered at the knowledge of having an old servant touching his unconscious naked body; considering the dire situation he was in—

'why sweat the small stuff?’

His limbs and body were same as before, he believed this was the same body he had previously. But he couldn’t confirm without giving everything a thorough look. And he was not in the habit of pulling his pants down to look at his little brother in front of everyone. Remembering his manner of clothing and then looking at the couple in front of him, he began sweating.

“Who are you and where are you from?” said the man in a short yet commanding tone. As if Damon would obey him even if Damon was asked to kill himself. The man had an accent Damon couldn’t recognize.

Flipping him off in his mind, Damon cleared his throat; bowed and said “Thank you kind sir, for rescuing and healing me. I, am Damon. I belong to a very powerful family; out on my way to explore the world. However, I was tricked by the wicked vampire and thus your men found me bloodied and barbequed with thunder in that place.”

A sudden weight pressed on his body from above. Damon could hardly stand; as if he was back at the gym, doing squats with a heavy barbell. Looking around he found it was the middle-aged woman who moved. This woman had a curvaceous and mature body; with hair adorned with flecks of starlight…still she had a strict face with the meanest looking eyes Damon had ever seen. Nevertheless, he was more curious about how she managed to pressure him.

“The next lie will have you imprisoned and sent to the mines. My men took the liberty of checking your body before bringing you here. You have no patch, no inclination of ever having one. You are not one of us. You are an Outsider. Now tell me truthfully this time where are you from?”

Damon gulped nervously. He knew nothing about this ‘Patch’ nor did he have any idea about this place. He finally, understood how dire his situation was. He could fabricate something believable, but the consequence of being sent to the mines was something he couldn’t fathom so… he told the truth.

A few seconds passed as the woman discussed something with the man beside her. Very soon the man summoned someone. A woman dressed in blue futuristic armour came forward, bowed and began to recall the incident. But as she spoke and the details regarding the vampire were disclosed. Damon's heart shook; as his hands fisted. Unable to help himself, he interrupted.

“The vampire. Was he wearing black shirt and skinny jeans? With red eyes and scars on his left eyebrow?”

The woman threw an irritated glance towards him and looked towards the couple. When they didn’t say anything. The woman answered Damon.

“Yes, the vampire was strong there was no way we could defeat him without his eyes gouged out.”

Damon shook visibly as his voice broke “Did you see a 13-year-old girl? One in school uniform?”

“We found her and 5 other vampires. They are locked up in the prison below.”

Damon found hope and clung to it dearly.

“You are right! There were 7 of us. How is she? Is she injured? Those vampires had her unconscious... You have to take me to her!”

The woman glared at Damon and her honey-brown eyes narrowed dangerously. “Order me again and your intestines will be ripped out of your stomach.”

Realizing she was probably speaking the truth. Damon’s eyes darted. He moved unconsciously towards the exit, as he told himself in a low voice “I have to go. I have to look at her.”

A sudden weight once again ruthlessly fell on his shoulders this time a lot heavier than before. The tangy, iron taste of blood graced his mouth as he visibly wobbled under the pressure.

“We’ve put up with your lies and illusions till now, because it was amusing. Now you want to escape? Kneel down, admit your mistakes and tell us what really happened. Even if she is your sister, that place is off-limits to outsiders. Even if you go there now, you’ll find her empty body in a healing capsule. Because for some reason, you were the only one--out of those 5 powerful vampires, to regain consciousness. So, until you tell us the reason, you’ll stay indefinitely.” said the middle-aged woman from before.

Damon gritted his teeth as he said “I know you think she is dead. But she’s not. I know this.”

The woman smirked “According to your ‘story’ your sister was involved in teleportation; meant for only those with higher level cultivation or a high-level wizard. Your human sister’s soul would be disintegrated into dust in a botched teleportation. Even if she somehow survives the transfer, she will only ever be a vegetable her entire life. So, yes, your sister would be better off dead!”

Just when he was drowning in the darkest depth of negligence and indifference from his parents; his little sister Kate became the only ray of familial love in his life. Caring for her and making her laugh, had whittled away at the dark mountain of depression in his heart. Even if the heart was a broken one…

Damon flinched as he thought back to the night of the struggle, about the knife he lodged into the device shaped like a ‘watch’ of the assailant and the look of despair on the watch bearers face. He arrived at the conclusion-I messed the teleportation ergo I killed her. Feelings of guilt and denial burst forth; from having sentenced his little sister to death or worse to a fate of a vegetable.

Something snapped and Damon found himself lit with anger, “She is NOT DEAD!!!”

The atmosphere changed as he felt the heavy pressure on him, break. He felt himself transform. A fierce wind picked up and blew against all those around him. Silver streaks of lightning flew out of his body, space twisted around everywhere they passed.

The middle-aged man waved his hand and a mirror was brought in front of Damon.

“And you call yourself human?” said the man, plain but with a touch of sarcasm.

Damon was shaking at the reflection in front of him. His face was pulled tight into a snarl, a silvery light illuminated the back of his head, throwing a holy light to his shoulder length black hair. Gone were the freckles, the small fading scar beneath his eyes, instead a pale spotless skin graced his face. And the eyes, No longer were they innocent dark brown, but a fierce angry silver. His muscles somehow looked more defined. But weirdly it felt as if he was looking at an angelic version of himself.

“We’ll ask you again. Who or what are you?”

Damon felt his heart pound as he tried not to look at the reflection in front of him.—This can’t be happening.

All the people to the right of Damon were fascinated by the change. Many of them were here expecting this human to be banished to the mines, but this transformation threw their boredom out the window. Most of the woman couldn’t take their eyes off him. In front of them stood a 14-year-old teenage boy, the looks of which they’ve never laid their eyes on before.

“I heard our men brought back a charred corpse and that he was electrocuted by 10 red thunders. Is he that corpse?”

A woman behind him tsked while hitting him on the head “Does that boy look like a corpse to you?!”

“He said he was a human…if that’s how humans look, then I’m clearly livin’ on the wrong side of the planet.”

“Yeah! I wonder how human females look. Talk about missin’ out on somethin’”

“But leader said he’s no human. And I don’t believe our ancestors came here leaving all that behind”

“But the fireplace gave no indication of him lying. so…what is going on here?”

The girl behind the middle-aged couple looked even more curious and interested in the boy in front of him. She had seen pictures of human males- courtesy of her childhood friend Sky, who gushed about how some of them looked smoking hot or too handsome to be true. But the boy in front of her was something else. She lost herself as she had never seen anything more beautiful than this. Just looking at him built butterflies low in her belly.

And then she looked up. Her breathing hitched. Those intense silver eyes were on her. Pinning her with what she felt was a look for help. She moved before she could think, her hands pulling on the sleeve of her mother.