"Death!" With this Noctis Avram died, the sword slashing down taking his head without the slightest bit of resistance.
But Noctis did not die, rather he was simply transformed, pulled through space and the dimensions he was pushed into a completely new world, the world of the dead, here warlords were abound in the world attempting to conquer everything they came across.
"What's this?" Was the first thought that came to his mind when he woke up, in the middle for a forest out in the middle of nowhere the only thing near him being an exquisitley sheathed sword.
Reaching towards the sword instinctively a sudden pain shot through him like a sword slicing flesh.
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Name: Noctis Avram
Soul: Low Blue Realm
Power: Brand
-Able to force other souls into submission by absorbing them and branding them then releasing them, creating the perfect and obedient soldiers you take a small portion of the souls they absorb as well, also can leave their intelligence if the user wishes.
Tutorial:
This world is the land of the dead, here everyone fights, those who do not fight are killed, the only way to become stronger is kill and absorb souls, thus integrating their strength and becoming stronger yourself.
This world is unforgiving, so be merciless, the sword beside you is soul bound, the insignia upon it is your brand, all creatures in this world have the power of brand, some having unique abilities birthed from the way they were killed or developed from scratch.
To view your own power simply drip blood onto the sword and wish for it, the sword is like a living being and so long as it is not completely destroyed will heal on its own, the stronger you become the stronger it becomes as well.
Good luck, Noctis.
- God of the Death, Tutorial End.
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Absorbing all of the information quickly Noctis strapped the sword to his back and got moving, in his last life he was a rogue soldier, joining at sixteen years old and captured in battle, turned into a slave and killed in the same year for 'stealing' when it was really the nobles child who did not wish to be spanked for thievery.
However a small smile unknowingly crept up onto his face after hearing all of the information, going by this the world would give infinite opportunities to get stronger, and strength ruled meaning he just needed to be strong enough to break out of the dimension of the dead and return to the living world.
Resolve set and sword handy he began moving towards the South, wandering about and looking for any signs of life.
This did not take long because of the sheer number of population in this world of the dead, picking up the trail of this person he followed it for several kilometers till he came upon a village, small maybe fifty people if that.
"Then you will be my first target." Thinking so he began stalking around the village, waiting for night time to come to make his move.
It did not take long as the sun was setting by the time he had arrived at the village, once night struck everyone had entered into their houses, thus he made his move.
Heading to the house farthest out he silently entered the house, leaving no sounds behind carefully treading inside.
Three people lived in this house, a mother, father and daughter, these would be his first targets for the nights hunt for power.
Entering deeper into the house with his sword already drawn in order to not have the sound of drawing echo out he reached the bedroom of the adults first.
Getting into stance he raised his sword, suppressing his killing intent and emotions, slashing downward in one quick motion, the sounds of air being splitting causing the man to stir but ultimately it was too late.
The sword took his head and with it his soul was turned to fumes and absorbed into his body, not stopping for even a second he continued to the mother, as she was beginning to stir after the first swing, this time she managed to open her eyes before being killed.
Taking in both of their souls he felt them inside his body trying to escape but to no avail, mobilizing his own soul power he absorbed them into himself little by little till they were completely gone and turned to nothingness.
Next he moved to the door in order to leave, but saw the girl, their daughter standing there, but she did not scream nor did she look sad, rather she looked surprised and... slightly happy.
"Girl, I killed your parents, why do you smile?" Asking so Noctis just felt even more bewildered, shouldn't this girl hate him.
"This is a village of thieves and murderers, I may be there daughter but I do not love them, they never treated me well, nor did they ever love me treating me as live stock." With this the girls smile had a touch of sadness and anguish but ultimately the happiness shined through.
"I see, well I can't let you leave, i'm sure you know this." He said taking a step forward sword placed in front of him, with his new found speed at this range he could cut her in half before she could even let out the smallest whimper.
However to his surprise the girl did not cower nor back down, rather stepping forward as well, "I know that you can not let me live, so let me serve, you may brand me but I ask that I keep my sentience, I do not wish to become a zombie."
Without a shred of hesitation he responded, "Then I will brand you, do not regret it, this path will be filled with death and blood." Sheathing his sword he felt relief that he would not have to kill her, placing his hand upon her head and absorbing her soul into himself, appearing as a small fire inside of him self he branded his insignia upon the small fire, leaving her with intelligence.
Ejecting her soul from within himself she appeared as a gas in front of him before forming back into her original shape, the only difference being that she now had his brand on her shoulder.
"Go and get your weapon, we move to the next house, we must kill the entire village before morning or else things will get bad." Saying so Noctis started moving away, feeling a more firm resolve to slaughter this village.
The next house was easier to take down, there were four inside, all of them men except for one women in horrible shape, killing all of them he absorbed their souls as well increasing his own power by one fold.
By the time he did, the girl, Sofy, had arrived, twin daggers at her sides, "The population here is fifty two including myself, the next weakest house is over there."
With Sofy's help the extermination of the village went much smoother, by morning only one house remained, the strength he would receive already minuscule since long ago, thus getting Sofy to kill off the rest.
This last house housed the most powerful in the entire village, the only reason this person had not branded everyone forcefully was because if he tried it with one person, all of them would attack jointly to stop him from gaining any sort of power.
Before heading however, Noctis dripped small bit of blood to check out his new power.
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Name: Noctis Avram
Soul: Low Intermediate Blue Realm
Power: Brand
-Able to force other souls into submission by absorbing them and branding them then releasing them, creating the perfect and obedient soldiers you take a small portion of the souls they absorb as well, also can leave their intelligence if the user wishes.
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Nodding at this achievement he surmised that the entire village was made up of low blue grade people seeing as they could not satisfy his soul power needs to upgrade anymore, and as for Sofy, because of the soul brand he could peek at her status as well.
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Name: Sofy
Soul: Peak Low Blue Realm
Power: Brand(Not active), Hand of the King.
-Able to force other souls into submission by absorbing them and branding them then releasing them, creating the perfect and obedient soldiers you take a small portion of the souls they absorb as well, also can leave their intelligence if the user wishes.
Hand of the King
- The first to be put under the control of another, this skill can only be achieved if this person has intelligence and trusts their king with their life, this person will give a boost to all soldiers with the kings brand in their surroundings as well as receiving a boost in power when fighting with the king, this person may also brand others with the kings brand by forsaking their own brand.
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Seeing the second ability shock ran through Noctis as the way he looked at Soft changed greatly, becoming much warmer and kinder, before he thought she was just with him to avoid death, but now he truly understood, she was loyal, and trusted him with her life.
"The leader is said to be a Low Advanced Blue Realm expert from the north, fleeing from the persecution of the kingdom in the north he came here, hiding from them." Chiming in here Sofy moved close to Noctis standing one step behind him.
Looking at her, his gaze warm he asked quietly disregarding her previous statement, "Would you like to share my name?"
Completely caught off guard Sofy's face went red, her breathing pattern changing, "Do you mean it?"
"I do not joke around about such things." He said laughingly, in his previous life he was a rogue soldier, but before that he had been taken in at a bandit camp and understood how hard such loyalty was to come by, understanding even better when his head was being lopped off by one of the 'friends' he had made at the nobles estate.
"I accept then!" She yelled happily, a big smile plastered on her face unlike anything she had shown before, a genuinely happy smile.
Her status also updated.
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Name: Sofy Avram
Soul:Peak Low Blue Realm
Power: Brand(Not active), Hand of the King
...
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Smiling for the first time since arriving here in the world of the dead, he turned to the house of the escaped brigand from the north, wiping the smile from his face.
"Then let's fight, as family!" Saying so he took several steps backwards moving away from the last house, he could feel that the leader of the village had woken up and was waiting behind his door to ambush them, this wasn't a skill but more of an instinct, the danger oozing from the door.
Getting the hint Sofy moved away as well, taking distance from the door and moving into the shadows of the village disappearing completely from vision.
"So you realized that I was waiting for you? Smart boy, but today you die! Everyone! We! Have! Intruders!" Booming his voice like a herald he tried to get everyone to wake up, but in the end his face paled as he looked towards Noctis in anger and envy.
"You killed all of them?" He asked, though he already knew the answer in his heart.
"Indeed I did, and your next!" With this last word he charged straight at the Northern barbarian, sword drawn and releasing his killing intent ready to strike, swinging straight down, the man raised his two hands covered in steel gloves to block, pushing back and sending Noctis flying a few meters but failing to knock him down.
"Cocky brat, next year today will be the anniversary of you death!" Saying so he charged straight forward recklessly, moving aside Noctis manged to dodge the charge, countering with a low slash, cutting into the giants side but not going quite deep enough for a fatal injury.
"Argggggg!" Screaming out his eyes went red, clearly now berserk he charged again, much faster this time barley giving him enough time to dodge.
Once the northerner had missed the charge it took him a moment to stabilize him self leaving his back open, on opportunity that Noctis would not miss.
Charging forward he slashed down diagonally slicing deep into his flesh, nearly causing a fatal injury but still not cutting deep enough, in frustration he swung again, but it was too late, the northerner swung a back fist smashing into Noctis and sending him flying.
The huge Northern Barbarian then stood for a charge, already injured and so close he would not be able to dodge this one, so instead he stood in the dragonfly stance, ready to release a single strike to kill the man, this being the last exchange life or death.
"ROAR!!" Charging forward the northerner closed the distance almost instantly, a sliver of light flashing past creating a cut on the back of his legs, slowing him down for one tenth of a millisecond, giving enough time to finish it.
With a swing like lighting Noctis executed the dragonfly stance perfectly, slicing the barbarian into two halves, the soul of the barbarian running into him at high speeds slamming inside of himself.
Kneeling down using his sword as crutch he mobilized his energy to slowly process the northerners soul.
Standing up he moved towards the dagger stuck in the ground, picking it up he turned towards the shadow behind a barrel in the shadow of a house, "Thank you, Sofy, I would have died if not for that." At this point she had come out and was right in front of him, handing her the dagger.
"Any time!" Smiling at the complement she moved closer, as if wanting to do something but not sure if she should.
Seeing so Noctis understood and took the initiative, "Good job." closing in he hugged her, her head at his chest, not moving at all her body went limp for a second before her arms wrapped around him, his shirt getting wet.
It was several hours before she finished crying, "Its okay, Niisan, i'm fine." releasing his arms he looked her in her still puffy eyes and smiled, smiled a smile like he had not given since his childhood, grinning ear to ear.
"Then let's search the village for any valuables." He said moving to the nearest house, they hadn't the time to go looting while assassinating the villagers.
"There's no need to go to every house, they have nothing, everything was stored over there." Sofy however pulled his sleeve and pointed towards a big cabin off in the distance.
"Then let's g..." Pain, extreme pain.
Ba dum! Ba dum!
His heart pounding in his chest, unable to speak at all, the sword on his back humming in pain as well, the sound of scraping metal clearly audible, Sofy's panicked screaming coming into ear shot as well.
Within his body the soul of the northerner had been completely absorbed and with it he had broke through to the Peak Intermediate Blue Realm, however the pain from advancing so suddenly all in one night was immense, his body tearing apart and healing constantly, his screams mixing with his swords.
Thankfully it did not take long for the breakthrough to finish, once it was done, Noctis could feel a kind of rough sensation all over his body, his power increasing by several fold.
"NIISAMA! Are you okay?!?! What happened?" It was also then that Sofy's screams managed to enter his ears.
"I'm fine, i'm fine! I broke through to the Peak Intermediate realm, i'm alright." He spoke reaching out his hand and pulling her in close for a hug, whispering of how he is okay and nothing is wrong.
"Then, your really okay?" She asked her eyes upturned and slightly trembling.
"Yes, I am fine, I am even stronger than before!" He spoke shooting a fist into the air like he had just won the gold.
"Then, Okay but you must be more careful next time, I was scared." She said sniffling here and there, tears threatening to fall.
Standing up, Noctis brought her up as well and into his embrace, "I am fine, and trust me this will not happen again, next time I will be ready for it."
"Now let's go get some loot!" Giving a toothy grin he let go of her and started moving towards the cabin in the distance.
"Y...Yes!" Whipping her tears with her sleeve she moved in beside him walking to the warehouse.
Opening the door to the warehouse a huge amount of trinkets and herbs came into sight, the place being packed with things, "I'll pick out the most valuable things." Sofy said disappearing into the warehouse.
In a few minutes a pile of things appeared at the front of the warehouse, several gems and herbs, a few weapons and a map.
"What are the gems for?" Noctis asked curious since he had never seen such a gem in all his life.
"These gems carry the souls of people, there like portable armies, but these ones are each carrying a single soul each, the higher the quality the more soldiers inside and the purer the gem is, some have different colors I've heard but i'm not really sure." Sofy responded, trying to give an explanation to the best of her abilities.
"Then let's try it out shall we?" Saying so he grabbed one of the gems and injected a bit of power into it, retrieving the soul inside he erased the superficial mark it had, carving his own mark into the soul leaving its intelligence.
Doing the same for the other twenty four gems he felt exhausted, his energy all but gone, "Niisama, eat this, it helps recover soul energy!" she said passing him a small plant giving of a weak radiance of soul energy.
"Thank you." Patting her head he ate it and instantly felt the soul power in the area gathering towards him like a stream, recovering his strength continuously.
Resting for a while once he had gotten back more than half of his power he summoned out the twenty five newly minted soldiers, each with his brand on their chests.
"Master! Thank you for allowing us intelligence!" Standing orderly they all cupped their fists, bowing simultaneously.
Waving his hand Noctis spoke, "You are all my soldiers, but you all have intelligence, thus I will make you all into my knights, you will each receive troops as we accumulate them, each of you will lead ten soldiers for the time being, the more merits you achieve the greater the reward."
Speaking so he turned to Sofy, but none of the soldiers spoke, just looking at him as if waiting for something, "What is it?"
"Master, We still require names?" One of the braver ones said standing forward.
"You do not have names?" Noctis said surprised at this development.
"We are wiped clean of everything but etiquette when we were placed in those stones long ago, so we have no memory of anything but how to fight and speak." The man said embarrassed at his own inadequacy.
"I see, then line up, I will give each of you a name." Saying so all the men got into line, and as such Noctis began naming them off according to there characteristics, such as hair color, eye color body build, accent and such things, eventually giving each of them a name.
"What realm are you all in?" At this point Sofy stepped forward and asked curiously, eyes like that of an eagle.
"We are all low blue realm." They responded looking at Sofy weirdly.
Catching on Noctis spoke up, "She is my sister, Sofy Avram and also my second in command, as for me I am Noctis Avram."
"We greet Lady!" Saying so they all bowed once again, fists cupped, no one showing any dissatisfaction with having her above them.
Nodding inwardly Noctis moved for the map, time to see the broader world.