The voice-- it was scratchy, it was disjointed, and it seemed like it came from many places at once.

Considering his current situation, Ayen made a quick judgement.

I'm being attacked!

Why?!

Disoriented from all things happening around him at once, Ayen decided: Whatever. Kill first, talk later.

As such, he picked up a stone and injected it with mana. A lot of it. The stone started shining and got heated up, but Ayen continued nonetheless.

Throughout this process, the voice never did anything.

"...interesting. How did I not notice how much mana you had? Were you suppressing it? Prodigy indeed, but sadly, I hate prodigies so you shall did here.  Still, kid, you have to do better if you want to get out of this situation alive."

As soon as he finished his monologue Ayen felt constrictions across his body.

What?

He looked down to see chains. Lots and lots of chains. They appeared at some point and were constricting him.

"Hehe, this is quite a useful spell, don't you think?"

With that, the chains started grinding even tighter.

Ayen felt his organs getting twisted and air being forced out of his lungs. He stayed silent, still, rock in his hand, his back to the tree.

He opened eyes, and a bright flash of determination flashed through those twin globes of his.

"Hah!"

With all the strength he can muster, he struck the tree with the rock.

The mana was so dense that the surrounding chains were having more trouble tha the others around his body, which offered extra leeway to move his wrist just so.

"Hmm? What a waste. Were you hoping to accomplish something with that?"

The voice seemed confused and mocking. The elation from seeing a helpless prey caused some emotions to leak into his voice, and Ayen used it to sense where it came from.

Left.

He calmly looked to the left of him, but there was nothing there.

Just empty trees and foliage.

Ayen, however, seemed to see something in that. His lips stretched into a thin smile.

Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure)!

A mysterious pressure settled around his surroundings, and a grunt sounded from somewhere.

A man appeared at the place he was looking, on his hands and knees, clearly suffering some form of weight even though there was nothing there.

"What.. you.. how..."

He strained under the pressure, having difficulty even breathing, let alone move a finger.

The pressure didn't let up however. It only seemed to increase as the man tried to fight off going unconscious.

"Kuh... I won't..."

"Well, well, well. Look who's at mercy now."

A mocking voice awoke the man to lucid land, but it was faint.

'Right, as long as —'

His thoughts were interrupted by a foot landing on his head, filled with so much mana that it made the surrounding air squirm uneasily.

Crack! Crack crack crack!

Blood flowed through the cracks lining his head, but Ayen didn't stop.

Being kind to enemies is being cruel to oneself. The man wouldn't have shown mercy, so he wouldn't either.

Ayen pressured the man's head and with a spray of blood, it burst like a watermelon, spreading sticky splotches of blood, brain matter and spinal fluids.

The shower of gore didn't coat Ayen, however, as a layer of mana protected him from the carnage he just inflicted on the man.

Ayen watched indifferently as he just snuffed the life out of the man.

An incorporeal body rose up from the now dead man, standing to full height.

He had a crooked nose, sparse black hair and black eyes, with a face so common he would've fluidly blended in a crowd.

It's the soul of the man he just killed.

Normally, even the most powerful of spiritual-specialized mages, sorcerers and wizards wouldn't be able to 'see' a soul. They might be able to 'influence' a soul to a certain extent in a way, but interacting directly with a soul is an alien field to the current mystical society.

Ayen, however, is different.

He's a reincarnate. He saw Death — directly— survived, was born again, regained his memories after living a few years as a native, and received a boon for his trouble.

[Soul Prince - Shinigami]

That's right, it's a boon with powers similar to the Shinigami from the world of {Bleach}.

It's not the be all end all, because the top 100 powers of the continent are just as capable of not even more so, but it's his own power.

Ayen contemplated what he should do now that the immediate threat is taken care of.

Him regaining his memories is a direct result of getting hit with a spiritual attack from a Spiritual Creature.

The past fourteen years of his new life flashed through his eyes. A life he lived without the memories of his previous life.

Ayen closed his eyes at the painful recollection.

The world hasn't been kind to him.

As an Elf with no name to him, he was exploited, abused, and tortured.

Even his own escape is a power move from the upper echelons of the Vampire that captured him.

Ayen twirled his fingers and a bunch of mana gathered in it.

Every person under fifteen years of age undergo two awakenings.

One at the age of five, when their primary mana coils awaken.

Another at the age of eleven or twelve, when their secondary coils awaken.

For some reason, his Secondary Mana Coils restrict mana collected by the Primary Mana Coils from leaking outside.

It's a crippling disability for any magical creature, him included. And any

It has led to him being sold by the torture house parading as an orphanage that raised him to a Vampire Baron.

Captivated by his incredible Elven looks, he was repeatedly raped by the Vampire Baron that bought him.

He was then sold by the Baron to a Vampire Count in order to curry favor and raise in ranks.

He was kept prisoner, tortured, raped, starved and generally lived a sufferable life under the Vampire Count.

His blood has incredibly potent life energy in them, courtesy of his Elven heritage, and a fuck ton of mana courtesy of the accumulation of unescaped mana. Basically, he's an incredibly tasty feast for a race that feasts on blood.

After four years, he was taken along to be presented as a trophy by the Vampire Count to a ball for celebrating the newly coronated Vampire Queen.

Then, in a twist of fate, a new arrival had the entire court uneasy and afraid.

From the hushed whispers, he gathered that she's the 'Overlord of Calderic'—ranked directly above a Lord— Vampire Queen.

When the Overlord looked at him, amusement twirled in her eyes, and she offered him to escape.

He desperately clutched at the straws, and found himself in the Forests of Elves. No one was Brave enough to try stop him after the Overlord herself made a move.

Which led to the current situation.

Poachers are frequently seen in the area surrounding the Elven Forest.

Slavers have a high demand for Elves, and any wandering Elves unlucky enough to be caught by these poachers generally don't have much of a better life just like him

'sigh, at the very least, I should be safe now. The boosts from being a Soul Prince are crazy.'

Ayen came out of his contemplation as a determined glint flashed across his eyes.

'No, I should first go to the Academy City.'

Finding an Elven Village is as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. The Elves hide under powerful magics and under the protection of forest spirits.

Even if he is an Elf, he's an outsider. And any outsider in a closed society is treated horribly.

'I'm strong now. Since I have so much mana, I should go about finding a way around my disability. The vast Academy City is the way forward.'

Ayen turned around, and started heading North in the direction of the Academy City.

'Whatever happens, in this life, I won't be as helpless.'