*Twenty minutes after Alex left with his group*
Jacob was swinging his wooden sword at the dummy in the mercenary guild training yard, risking his mother seeing him.
He wanted to impress Alex with his training, so he had been practicing since he left for that job.
It was then that Jacob heard screams coming from the people of the village.
Jacob ran into the streets and saw people running away as men with horses stampeded to the center of the town. These men were burning down buildings and slaughtering the mercenaries in the town and the farmers who were trying to fight back.
Jacob saw one of them on an armored horse yell out "Kill the men, capture the women and children. They're worth more."
Jacob had heard about these types of guys; they'd raid small towns, take the women and children, and sell them as slaves to other countries. He had even heard they'd do bad things to some of the people they captured.
Jacob ran as fast as he could to his house; he had to get to his mother.
He ran past the screams of those he grew up around—the men being slaughtered, the raiders laughing as they were capturing the woman of the village, children crying in the streets.
He finally arrived at his house, but he saw the door open and screamed inside.
Jacob grabbed the dagger he had placed in the side of his pants and ran inside his house.
He saw a bigger man attacking his mother and trying to take off her dress.
"Little, older than I like, but you'll do." the man said in a brash voice.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MOM" Jacob yelled out as he did what Alex told him to do: he stabbed the man in the back of his knee cap, making the man fall down immediately.
Jacob then ripped the dagger out and stabbed the man in the stomach, making the man fall to the ground.
Jacob's mother stood up and grabbed Jacob's hand as they ran out of the house.
"Run, Jacob, we need to head for the woods!" she yelled out.
The two ran as fast as they could...but not fast enough.
An arrow pierced Jacob's mother's back, and she dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.
Three men approached the two on horseback, one of which Jacob recognized the man on the armored horse.
"Sir, you killed that woman; that's one less slave we have." one of the men said.
"It's fine; she was older anyway; she doesn't have a good market price, but this young lad, though. Good features and is small enough for those creeps in the city-states. You should easily get about two hundred and fifty gold." the man on the armored horse said.
"Jacob....run." Jacob's mother barely managed to say anything while blood was coming out of her mouth.
Jacob thought about it. He was terrified, but he couldn't leave his mom there alone. He remembered what Alex told him about protecting those he cared about.
Jacob saw a mercenary dead on the ground; he quickly picked up his steel sword, put both hands on the grip of the sword, and steadied his feet.
He looked dead-on at the horsemen, ready to protect his mother.
The horsemen laughed.
"Kid, you have no idea what you're even doing. one of the men said.
The man got off his horse and walked towards Jacob without drawing his sword.
"Go for the legs." Jacob thought to himself.
He managed to get behind the man and cut his leg, making the man limp.
"You little shit!" the man yelled as he tried to charge at Jacob, but Jacob kicked the wounded leg, making the man fall, and Jacob stabbed the man from the side.
The man fell to the ground dead, but Jacob couldn't rip the sword out of the man's body.
"Little man has some fight in him." the armored horseman said. "Boy, let's see how you do in a true fight..."
*Later*
Alex and the group ran to the village, seeing bandits slaughtering their way through. Alex and the group charged in, using their magic and weapons to carve a path through the bandits, saving as many survivors as they could, as few as they were.
"Where are the mercenaries from the guild?" Claire yelled out.
"I don't think any survived." Adelia said.
"I can't tell; all I smell is blood and fire" Kyssee commented.
The group traveled through the village, saving as many people as they could, going through houses and alleyways. Everywhere they could.
Then Alex stopped dead in his tracks.
"N...No" Alex said.
Alex saw two bodies in front of him: an older woman he knew well and a child, around 8 years old, laying next to her with his neck sliced open.
"Alex....is that?" Claire tried to ask Alex but got no response.
Alex had never lost someone before, and despite knowing the boy only for a few days, he had grown fond of him. He liked his spirit and that he wasn't willing to give up.
But now, that same boy, the one who smiled with Alex as he trained with him with a shine in his eyes, was lying on the ground, the shine in his eyes gone, rendered lifeless.
Alex's emotions went into a frenzy of anger and hatred; these emotions left Alex's head in chaos.
It was then the time around Alex had slowed down. However, he could still move at normal speed.
"You've finally done it." a voice called out to him. "Your anger has finally reached where we wanted it to, Alex Blackwood."
Alex turned around and saw a beautiful blonde-haired woman with amber eyes.
"Who are you?" Alex said it angrily.
He wasn't in any mood for games; his anger had gotten to him.
"I understand your anger; after all, that's why I'm here. My name is Kearis. You've met my sisters, who are very fond of you." Kearis explained.
"You're the third goddess, then." Alex said coldly.
"Yes, now we can go into detail later after you deal with this, but first off."
Kearis touched Alex's head, and his eyes glowed golden before turning purple.
Once his eyes stopped glowing, Kearis looked at him and said,
"I gave you my gift. It should help you with your current issue, but be warned. With your anger right now, you won't be able to control it. Use it at your own risk." Kearis warned. "We will speak again when the time is right."
Soon, time sped back up, and Alex's face was in complete darkness.
"Uh Alex?" Claire tried to talk to him, but Alex didn't respond.
"Alex, I know you're upset, but..." Adelia tried to get through to him, but there was no response yet again.
"Alex...please talk to us" Kyssee pleaded, to no response.
Alex lifted his head up and looked at the girls with a sad look on his face and said "Get out of the village before it's too late."
The three girls looked at each other but did as he said. They ran to the woods and watched Alex from afar.
Alex could feel pressure building in his body and his anger and hatred manifesting. His eyes soon started to shine purple, as they did when he was given a gift from Kearis. Soon, his hands started shaking uncontrollably.
"Who is this?" A man on an armored horse said staring at Alex.
"Did you do this..." Alex asked the man, barely holding back his anger.
"What? Kill the kid? I mean, no, not personally, but it was necessary. He killed one of our men and even cut me with this little dagger he had." the man said as he held up the dagger.
Alex saw the dagger he had given Jacob in the man's hands. Alex's anger had boiled over.
His hands started to manifest purple fire—magic he had never used before.
Soon the fire started to spread all around him, burning the bodies of Jacob and his mother in the process. The fire kept growing, and Alex couldn't contain it anymore.
A burst of pure purple fire spread across the village as if it were a volcanic eruption, covering nearly the entire village in purple flames, burning houses, raiders, and remaining villagers alike. Purple lightning rained down from the sky onto the village, sparing nothing.
Screams were heard from the woods where Claire, Adelia, and Kyssee were.
"Alex..." Kyssee was worried about Alex.
The three couldn't even see him anymore, and they lost sight of him in the flames.
They saw the utter destruction that Alex had unleashed upon the village; it was as if the gates of hell had opened on top of the village.
They waited for five hours until the lightning had stopped and the flames had died down enough for them to walk into what was once a village. Nothing was left standing; a few buildings burned to a crisp were all that was left of the farming village that was so peaceful just hours ago.
The three ran across the village looking for Alex.
They found him in the same spot he was sitting, next to a burned body. The body that was once Jacob.
They could hear him crying from afar.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
The three ran to Alex and hugged him; it was all they could do. Alex didn't even acknowledge them trying to help him. His sole focus was on the body of the boy he had trained.
"It's all my fault..."
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AN: Hey guys just wanna let you know I have a introduction to my 2nd story coming out on Sept. 1 2023. Excited to finally get started releasing that. Its not ready yet but hopefully will be by late September.
If you guys want to to support me check out my patreon, it's as cheap as a dollar!
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https://patreon.com/Alex_Blackwood628
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https://discord.gg/97ejzvAGKb