Saga 1: The Fall of the Evening

Arc 1: The Maidens of Ashkera

“What did you say?” the fat man asked.

“Nothing.” Allen smiled. “Is there anything else you want to give me?”

“No, only this book.”

Allen got up. “If there’s nothing else, I want to bid farewell.”

“Don’t forget to close the door.” The man only nodded. He didn’t even send Allen away.

Like always, Allen holed up in an alley. He summoned the system to give him a light while he was reading.

“I wonder if this book can give me some clues about my origin.”

Allen read the biography of the author who had the same name as him. The author wrote he originated from planet Earth. He was a dark magus too. This book contained many suitable mana absorption techniques for dark magus and top tier magic arts.

It contained the experience of the author’s life too. He had two beautiful wives. Allen’s eyes widened when he read the description of the author’s wives. The first wife had silver hair; the second wife had long, brown hair. They were similar to the ladies inside his dream.

“This author isn’t me, right?” Allen couldn’t help but suspicious. “No, it can’t be. My age is 22 years old. This book is older than me. Then, who am I?”

Allen’s confusion came to light when he read the next topic. It was about the time when the author had found a portal to another world. He conducted an experiment to traverse the portal. In the end, he succeeded with a heavy price.

The author sent a baby clone of himself alongside with several items. The baby was connected with his soul. So, they could sense each other if something happened.

“This explained everything. If my guess is true, the original is dead. The proof is the dream I have always experienced.”

Allen sighed in relief. “So, the ladies in my dream are my wives. I am not alone. Maybe I have a family too on planet Earth. I am not alone, not alone.” Suddenly he laughed loudly. “I am not alone! I have a family! I want to get stronger, so I can meet them.”

With determination, Allen read some techniques the original him left behind. Some absorption techniques and dark arts in this book were one set; the original him called it a class. There were four classes written inside it.

Dark Priest: a class with supportive abilities to allies and could cast curses on enemies. It had an absorption technique called Dark Prayer and an original magic art called Sinister Condition.

Necromancer: a class with a high understanding of the law of death. It had an absorption technique called Lifesteal Aura and an original magic art called Renegade Spirit Refining and Life Stealing.

Night Warlock: a strong class that was proficient in dark arts. Night Warlock could make contracts with shadow demons and borrow their power or summon them as companions.

Dark Trigger: this class was chaotic according to the original him. If someone wanted to take this class, they had to make a ritual offering to the Ancient Beast of Chaos and Evil. If the ritual succeeded, the beast would refine their body into a random grade treasure. Dark Trigger had random chances to trigger misfortune, disaster, chaos, and destruction.

The original him had learned all of them because he was rich. However, Allen was poor, so he would focus on one thing.

Allen fathomed the Necromancer class more. If he could master it, he could create undead armies to fight for him. The requirement to learn this class was cheaper than other classes listed. However, it was the most ruthless of all. To create undead, he needed corpse and soul. To find them, he had to kill.

Allen hadn’t any choice. He had a dream, but he was poor. Besides, he didn’t need to kill people. There were many beings that could be killed legally: beasts, bandits, even innocent people could be killed as long as they weren’t affiliated with any city.

“This class is comparable to others but easier to learn. The Lifesteal Aura is an inner mana pond that can absorb the life force and even the soul of other beings. It’s similar to Life Leech Technique. Maybe I can combine them together.

“I need to form my first mana pond as soon as possible to reach level 1 of mana condensation.”

Allen sunk in thought. He wasn’t accepted as a disciple of the magus; he already used up his fortunes just for copying grimoires. The latter was a miscalculation of him. He needed to gather more resources.

“The only way to gather resources is by hunting. I guess I can’t leave this city for a while. Maybe I can enroll a magus school or join a magus organization in a few years. This is a change of plan I guess.”

Allen went to City Administration Office. The place was a tavern. People always gathered in there to find a hunting group, accept a quest, and exchange for rewards. Allen walked straight to the receptionist table. A blonde lady with a busty body welcomed him with a sweet smile.

“Welcome, Mr. Vos. Looking for a job as usual? I think it’s the time to harvest that.”

Allen smiled back at her. “Please give me that quest, Big Sister.”

The blonde lady put a paper on the table; Allen signed on it. As he turned back, a group of five people had waited for him.

“Hello, Brother,” one of them said.

Allen nodded. “Do you have business with me?”

“Yeah, I wonder if you like to form a party with us.”

The receptionist lady overheard their conversations and butted in. “Forget it, everyone. This man here is the only non-magus person who can finish hunting quest alone.”

“You have heard big sister. Forgive me. However, I definitely will consider calling all of you if I do a different hunting quest.” Allen bowed slightly at them and left the tavern.

Allen went to the city gate. There was a young man and an old man guarding. The old one sipped a mug of beer and let the young one watched the surrounding.

Allen approached the young one and handed him a quest paper from the tavern. The latter was confused and advised him, “You hunt a beast alone? That’s too reckless. Do you have a death wish?”

The old guard noticed Allen at the back and said, “Let him pass. You are a newbie, so you don’t know him. He is the famed scarred man, the only non-magus person in this city who can hunt magical beasts alone.”

The old guard waved at people on the towers. The ground trembled and the enormous gate opened slightly.

When Allen passed the gate, he sighed. What people said about his feat to hunt magical beasts alone was just an exaggeration. The gap between normal humans and magical beings were too great.

Of course, normal people could kill the weakest magical beasts in a group. That was what people did as hunting was the main job in this city that was surrounded by forest trees.

However, the quest Allen took was a bit different. It was a special quest that could be done once a year. The difficulty was hard for other people, but not for Allen.

Allen walked in the forest while looking at the surroundings. Magical beasts in this area were active in the night, but it didn’t mean he could relax.

As he convinced he was alone, Allen approached a tree and dug the ground near the roots. There were blue worms clotted against a lump of rotten meat.

Those worms were rank 0 magical beasts. They were one of the species that could be hunted by normal humans in nearby areas. They served as foods for other magical beasts.

Those worms were only active in the night. However, the summer season was their mating period. So, they needed more nutrition. They ate rotten flesh of magical beasts’ corpse.

Allen coincidentally knew how to harvest them. He was taught by his colleague who had left the city a long time ago. First, he made the lump of meat with the flesh of magical beasts. He let it rotten before burying it in the ground. He did that a few months ago just in case he wouldn’t be accepted as a student of magus school.

Allen wrapped the worms in leaves. “These worms always help me to get additional income, but I won’t sell them this time. He said I could awaken my spiritual roots by consuming these Blue Scavenger Worms.”

Allen went to the second spot. There wasn’t any Blue Scavenger Worm. He sighed. “Of course these worms are rare. They are magical beasts after all.”

After visiting several spots, Allen wiped his sweats. Looking at three wrapped leaves, he smiled. “Not bad. If I sell this, I will get ten silvers per wrap.”

He looked at the orange sky. “The sun almost sinks. I better go.”

As he reached the city, Allen headed to the river. He tried to crush the worms with his fingers, but their skins were hard. He sheathed a dagger and cut their bodies. “According to that man, these things are safe to be eaten.”

Allen put one piece of flesh on his tongue and immediately swallowed them. Suddenly, his stomach felt hot; he sweated a lot.

Allen carried his belongings and ran to the surface. He entered a dark valley and summoned the system for lighting.

Allen sat and chanted a spell of the Lifesteal Aura Technique. This spell hadn’t magical effects. It was just to attract the will of the universe. The original him believed the universe had a will. By chanting the spell, it would help him in meditating. He controlled his breath in rhythm according to what was written in the book.

Allen could feel a faint of natural mana in the air. However, he lost the sense after the hot feeling in his stomach calmed down. “My heart is beating fast. I can feel the circulation of my blood. I think it’s bad to keep training.”

Allen gritted his teeth. “If I meet that man, I will kill him! He only said I could awaken my spiritual roots by eating these worms. He didn’t say anything about the danger.”

Suddenly his stomach grumbled. Allen felt like he hadn’t eaten for a week. He craved for food. “Shit, I think I would spend the remaining coins I have. Ah, since things become like this, I will rent a room too.” With that, Allen headed to the tavern.

Allen ordered some food and rented a room. After he filled his belly, he took a nap. When he opened his eyes and looked outside the window, the sun had risen.

Allen stretched his body. He felt lighter. “Is this the aftermath effect of meditating? Does that mean my body will get stronger when I successfully awake my spiritual roots?

“I’d like to meditate again, but I don’t have enough money to rent a room. I don’t want to meditate in the alley again. I can’t hunt Blue Scavenger Worms again until the next year. I think it’s the time to look for a party to hunt magical beasts.”