"You useless brat!" Davi flinched as the hand slapped across his face. "Why won't you get it right!"
Davi stared down at the ground, a harsh red print forming across his eleven-year-old cheek. "I'm sorry." He muttered.
"You're sorry?" The hand came down again, harder this time. "You worthless, useless imbecile! When I was half your age, I could easily perform that strike over a hundred times, yet you can't even throw out a single straight jab! How unsuited to martial arts are you? If not for your minor skill with a blade and the fact that you were somehow born with the correct type of magic, I would have long since gotten rid of you! Do you understand?"
Davi weakly nodded and looked up at the one who was hitting him.
Titania Midsummer was a good soldier. Raised in the land of spirits, Titania grew up practicing the many forms of martial arts that were scattered throughout the world. She was powerful, innovative, and considered by many to be a genius who nearly allowed the Rossum nation to defeat King Sylas, the leader of Gallenth. Even with the king's many Philosophers and Titans, Titania led her people to war and personally took down dozens of them.
She was someone who brought honor to her clan. Someone worthy of praise. If not for the accident she suffered, it was agreed that she would have easily reached the level of Han Yuan or the Loudest Thunder, the creators of the Martial Cultivators.
Yes, without a doubt, when it came to the world of warriors, soldiers, and heroes, Titania Midsummer was beloved by all. She was a great soldier.
She was a horrible mother, though.
Fingers harshly tangled in Davi's hair, and his head jerked as it was jerked up. "Are you even listening still?" His mother hissed.
"...Yes, Mother…"
Titania was hard to look at. Her body was horribly disfigured. Flesh that had long since been burned away, and limbs that had chunks sawed off. She hid herself behind a curtain of shadows. Twisting robes and a cloak that formed around her, hugging her and hiding her away from the world, made it impossible to make out any serious details. She remained seated at all times in a wheeled chair due to her lack of legs, and whenever she was feeling frustrated at all, she'd take her wrath out on the people around her. It used to be her lover who faced it the most, but since having a son, it gave the woman a new target to unleash her rage upon.
"Get back into formation." The hand that came from the shadows shoved him back and finally let go of his hair. "Enter your stance and throw out another one hundred strikes. Go till your arms break if you have to. Just get it right already. It's a simple move."
"If it's so simple, why don't you do it…"
Davi flinched when he heard a loud growl, and the hand lifted up again. "Watch your tone—"
"That's enough." Before the hand could come down, Orion appeared before his son and caught the wrist of his latest lover, halting her strike. The blonde man gave a smile and looked back at his son. "Davi, why don't you go find Sieg? I saw him near the lake. He was looking to learn how to fish. I'd like to have a talk with your mother."
"No." Titania hissed out. "The boy stays."
"Come on." Orion kept his smile on his face, but his fingers began to grow tighter around the woman's wrist. "Let the boy have a break. I worked him like a dog already today."
"Don't lie to me." Titania spat out. "I know you're taking it easy on him! Those 'sword lessons' aren't teaching him shit! You're just letting him slack off and fish!"
"I told you, fishing is important to learning the way of the Sky Cutting Sword." Orion shook his head. "The motion and the ripple of the lake need to be studied and understood before a breakthrough can happen. Davi, go play." Orion's smile was gone, and his tone had turned stern. Small bits of lightning crackled off his flesh, and his eyes bore down into a pair of glowing blue orbs that stood out in the sea of darkness.
"Davi, stay," Titania said just as sternly. "Do you forget why we made the boy? Don't tell me you're getting soft now. Our weapon needs to be perfect, does it not? How else will we take our revenge? You should do your job right, you worthless man. You're a swordsman, so teach him the way of the blade before I find another one who can."
Orion let go of the woman's wrist, and he turned away. He reached out and placed a hand on his son's shoulder and began to drag Davi away.
"Where are you going?" Titania demanded, as she yelled at them from her chair.
"To go train," Orion called back.
The woman yelled some more, but Orion ignored her. Davi was forced to follow as they walked through the open field that surrounded the land they lived on. Eventually, a village came into view, along with the typical crystal-clear lake that was in the center.
Davi couldn't help but eye his father up as they walked. Orion had two main outfits. One was what he wore when he was pretending to be a blacksmith for the village. The others were more traditionally styled black robes, meant for a wandering swordsman. A type of gi, or hanfu, almost, but a little different since it blended different cultures, mixing Rossum and Mordheim. At his side rested a sword, which made Davi's heart sink, since it most likely meant his father was going to put him through more training. His hands already ached, and his flesh was tearing around his palm, but that never seemed to be good enough.
"I can't believe that woman." Orion let out a grunt and rolled his eyes. "Always bitching at me." Orion sighed and shook his head. "She doesn't understand that these things take time. You'd think she would, considering how old she is. Her kind should be the best at waiting, but she's so impatient. Making a sword takes time, and turning a person into one takes even longer, but no! She wants her obedient weapon because she got screwed over. Can you believe her?"
"...Why do I have to keep doing…"
Orion stopped talking when he heard his son speak. They walked in silence and eventually reached the lake where they always trained. Orion stared out at the water and rubbed his chin. "You don't like fighting, do you?"
"Not really," Davi muttered.
"You're the total opposite of Sieg." Orion snorted. "That boy wants to go off to war now, constantly spewing nonsense about being a Knight. He should be honored to be a Spell Sword like his old man!" Orion noticed Davi didn't smile and kept his blank look. The older man sighed again and placed a hand on Davi's head. "It's okay. I don't really like it either. I grew up and was yelled at by my parents to hold a sword. I had one in my hands since the moment I was born. It was the same for your mother. She was also forced to work her ass off since she came out of the womb. We old farts only know how to fight because that's what the world needed. We went to war. We served under the greats, and we did battle with the threats that plagued us. It's all over now, though. Kids like you deserve a chance to live as kids and not be soldiers. Things have changed a lot. What do you want to do?"
"...I'd like to fish."
Orion laughed. "I knew you'd say that." He ruffled his son's hair. "You're a good kid. Combat, the battlefield, and fighting—these are things you're suited for. Just bear with it for a little bit longer, my son. It'll all be over soon. Soon, you'll be free. I'll make sure of it."
'Why is this flashing through my mind?'
In an instant, Davi seemed to snap back to reality. He wasn't an eleven-year-old boy, and he wasn't talking to his father. He was a grown man who was currently bleeding out as a hand shoved its way through his back and out his chest.
Farkiss's laughing drew his attention for a moment, but Davi snapped back to the woman who was currently impaling him with her arm.
She almost looked beautiful, but the blood that was splattered on her clothes and face ruined it. The large smile she had was creepy and foreboding. Long white robes clung to the woman, and she had golden hair that spilled down her back. Her eyes were yellow and predatory, and most strange of all, her ears were tipped and furred like those of an animal, and a fox-like tail stabbed out of her rear, casually wagging back and forth. A Kitsune. A monster mostly popular in Rossum, who was also famed for having Polymorph and being able to take on the appearance of humans. Either that, or she was a Magical Mutant who was turning into a fox-based monster, but her mana was completely unfeelable, having no traces of humanity or beast within it.
Davi could still feel no sense coming from the woman, his scar not throbbing at all, and that just made him even more pissed off.
"Wow!" The fox lady said with wide eyes. "You're still alive?"
"Row Shadow Vault."
In an instant, the darkness rose and wrapped around him. Davi grunted as he was ripped off the arm and tumbled into his vault, closing it before the two up top could react. He breathed heavily and winced but let out a soft sigh when ice began to creep across the hole through him as the wound became sealed shut.
'What the hell was that?' Davi placed a hand on the ice as he felt more pain shoot through him. 'She missed my lungs and heart, but I need to find a healer as soon as I can. Farkiss likely healed as well, so there's no point in going back up. I should just cut my losses and leave; otherwise, I'll die. That woman is tricky, though. I have no idea what to expect. At least I can catch my breath here and—'
"This is a neat place." Davi swung around, but his sword missed the woman as she floated back in the darkness. Ice clung to her body, and her tail wagged back and forth as she tilted her head. "A human who possesses the ability to enter their own inner world? How intriguing. Ah, but you called it a Vault, didn't you? So I guess that means you don't really know what this place is, do you? That's sad. Still, I see how you were able to escape the Great Dragon of Roads and also how you met Farkiss by pure chance. Destiny and fate cling to you. Sadly, we can't have anyone like that running around, so it'd be great if you could just die." The woman's smile grew larger, showing a mouth filled with fanged teeth. "What do you say?"
"How did you get here?" Davi demanded. "I'm sure the Vault closed before you slipped in!"
"Entering spatial anomalies is what monsters do best." The woman winked.
"So you're a monster," Davi asked, with narrowed eyes. "Not a mutant, but a full-on monster?"
"I was never born a human." The woman shook her head. "Since the moment of my creation, I've been me!"
Davi's frown just grew, and his hand clutched harder around the handle of his claymore. "You're lying."
"Am I?" The woman looked a little surprised at his words.
'I can't sense her mana at all, and Danger Sense isn't going off either.' Davi silently stared at the monster before him, trying to think of a solution. 'She's like a blank spot in my sense. Now that I think about it, it was the same for Farkiss as well. When I first met him, I should have been able to tell he was a monster, even if he was in hiding, but I couldn't. When I met him again, though, my senses went off. Why?'
As he was trying to rack his brain, something Farkiss had said came back to him.
Farkiss claimed he had become stronger and could now sense him. So then, could that be why back then he couldn't tell that Farkiss was a monster, but he can now? Was it simply a difference of power? If so, then why hadn't anyone else noticed Farkiss? Two Arcane Knights had been in the town earlier that day, after all, one of whom was Gray. Farkiss had even commented on them. It was almost unbelievably lucky that Farkiss hadn't gotten noticed by them.
More worryingly, if it was based on power, what did that mean for the woman who was in his vault? How strong was she that he couldn't even begin to fathom her power? If he was just an ant, what was she?
Davi forced his nerves to calm and focused more mana through his body. He placed it heavily over the edge of his blade. The wound in his chest kept throbbing, but he ignored it and kept himself laser-focused on the monster. The woman's eyes seemed to light up, like a cat who found a new mouse she could torture.
Then, without warning, she was on him. She rapidly appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Davi forced his mana over his armor, tanking the blow as her clawed hand tried to slice into him. Her fingers got caught in the side of his chestplate, unable to pierce, and he used that as his chance to swing his sword again, using her own force against her thanks to Way of Self Iron.
His sword impaled her neck, but he wasn't able to cut through it entirely. He began to move his arms back and forth in a sawing motion, digging the sword in deeper and deeper, frozen blood crystallizing out of the wound as the monster's eyes narrowed.
The woman's fingers dug tighter into his chestplate, the metal bending and creaking but not fully breaking. Even as she was being decapitated, she fought back, using her other hand to wrap around his helmet. It began to squeeze and crush his helm, his suit doing its best to stay together.
It became a race to see who would die first. Would his head be crushed, or would hers be sawed off?
Suddenly, before either side could finish, there was a loud screech that caught both Davi and the woman off guard. The woman's eyes went wide when she saw a flash of blue, and, from the darkness, hundreds of twisted monsters that looked like a mix between a man and a hawk began to fly toward her.
"Fuck that." The woman suddenly blasted up, using the same method she did to rapidly move, carrying both herself and Davi up. "I'm not sure what the hell is up with your mind, but you're more twisted and fucked up than I am."
Davi gritted his teeth and tried to finish his attack, sawing further into the woman's neck, but she just flew up faster and kept her arms attached to him, taking him with her. Below them, the birds were rapidly approaching, screeching and howling as they reached for them both, but just before their talons could grab hold of the woman's legs, she reached the top, and a crack appeared in the sky. To Davi's horror, he felt his vault be forcefully opened against his will, and he and the woman flew out, the seal shutting on the birds before they could follow. The woman landed on the ground next to Farkiss and casually shoved Davi back, using a tremendous amount of force to send the armored man flying back.
Davi skipped across the ground, back first, and then slammed into the wall, groaning. All of that from a simple shove.
'Damn it.' His body ached, but he forced himself to stand back up. 'How did everything get so twisted and wrong? Things have been spiraling and not going my way… Don't tell me it's also part of the curse.'
Was the Cursed Life the reason his luck seemed so shit all of a sudden?
"Huli, where did you go?" Farkiss asked, fully healed now.
The fox monster, Huli, tore the chunks of ice off her body and casually adjusted her head, a golden glow forcing her neck wound to seal shut. "I was confused about where he went when he vanished, but luckily, my Predator Trait allowed me to follow him in."
"Lucky us." Farkiss chuckled, and more scales began to grow across his body. "Alright, enough with goofing off. Playtime is over. Adam wrote your death, and he's never wrong. It's time you die."
Huli's claws grew longer and curved back, almost seeming to become thin swords that twisted around her arms. "Well, guess it's time you die!"
Huli appeared in front of Davi and swung her arms down, but he was ready for the blow. He twisted his sword up with one arm and used it to block her strike. His other arm then flew out, and he caught the ankle of Farkiss, who jumped at him and attempted to rip him in half with a kick. Thanks to Way of Self Iron, he absorbed the force of both their blows, lessening the damage. He was about to swing his sword, but his scar suddenly throbbed. This caused Davi to hesitate for a second, and when he did launch his attack, both Huli and Farkiss got away, the two monsters jumping back.
Despite that, though, Davi managed to give a slight smirk, one that was hidden beneath his helmet, and he casually placed his sword over his shoulder. "It's about time." He hummed. "Looks like my luck hasn't run out yet, even with this stupid curse."
"What are you saying?" Farkiss sneered, but from the darkness behind Davi, a surge of gold filled the tunnel, and something launched its way past the man with insane speed. Farkiss wasn't even able to react to it, as the object rammed through him and dragged him across the tunnel at high speeds. It took everything the man had to stop himself from being carried further back, using his tail to stab into the ground and anchor him. "W-What the hell is this?"
Poking through Farkiss's stomach was a long black spear that was still smoking.
"Another one?" Huli didn't look impressed as she stared past Davi. "And who the hell are you?"
From the darkness, a figure walked out, dragging another spear behind him. He wore black robes in the style of Mordehim, and a bit of blonde hair could be seen, but his face was hidden behind a twisted and ugly oni-like mask. The man stood next to Davi and twirled his spear.
Both of them had their faces covered, one by a mask and the other by a helmet, and yet they still looked at one another.
"How long has it been?" The spear-wielder asked.
"A while." Davi shrugged. "What are you doing here?"
"It goes without saying, but I rushed over the moment I felt your mana." The person with the spear took a step forward, and golden lightning began to seep from his robes. "So, are these the two people who are picking on my little brother?"
Sieg Hawker, brother of Davi Hawker, had finally arrived.
A fated encounter was about to occur.