10. Self Destruct

As the king gazed at the necklace he asked "So you're a mage now?" as he turned his head away and walked up to his throne.

Andrey stopped just before the steps which lead to the throne. "I'm not exactly sure. I do have the energy within me, or so Dea'n'ha told me. I can feel it, though." he answered as he stared at his hands which as if emit power.

"And that necklace?" The king asked as he crossed his leg and looked arrogantly at Andrey. His head held high.

Could it be that the king feared mages? Andrey couldn't help but let this thought run through his head.

"It's..." he took a few moments to think over his words closely before replying and continued "to help me control my power." Well, it wasn't a lie. It wasn't the real reason it was there, but it did indeed help him with his anger issues.

"I see. Does this mean you have grown THAT much in strength?" the king asked extending his head forward in surprise.

"I can't really say. I know I'm better than when I first came here."

"Don't be so stiff, come on." the king said. The truth was that the king really looked strong and arrogant. He appeared to be such, but he wasn't really. He was just different.

Behind the throne, a man came out and lowered his head towards the king. It was the royal servant. Almost as if he was hiding all of this time there. The king whispered something in his ear and said "Andrey, I'll ask of you to wait a while until my servant returns. He's getting something you would need."

Andrey nodded after which the king asked the bird's name. 
"Dea." and then came laughter following the reply. The king facepalmed as he didn't really expect something so basic.

"You sure found an original name for it." the king joked.

Honestly, it was kind of depressing to be in his company, especially alone, as somehow even the air was heavy.

"Yeah... thanks. Everyone keeps telling me that." the boy replied with a bored facial expression.

"It's here, my king." the servant appeared through the gate carrying a book and a feather.

It was apparently full of notes sticking out of it.

The king opened it and browsed through it. Then he stood up from the throne and gave it to Andrey.

Browsing through it, the book had many drawings centimeters and different design patterns.

"Use this book to pick something for yourself or just write in your own." the king said.

"But I've never done anything like this in my life? Does everybody.." as he continued complaining Dea'n'ha 's voice sounded in his head "Wait. Let me try something."

He felt the urgent need to put his hand over a blank page. The bird's eyes started glowing and spiritual energy started coming out from Andrey's hand.

"I took the sizes from the mage which conjured your robes. Now I want you to imagine the best version of you so you can project that into the book's page." the calming voice of the sorceress rang straight inside his head.

Andrey thought about it for a second and closed his eyes. Suddenly to the king's amaze under Andrey's arm the blue light started to draw a professional design for clothes unseen by anyone.

"So you are a mage now, that's for sure." the king said and took the book in his arms to see what happened after the magic was over.

There was a perfect drawing of the clothes he imagined. It was supposed to be custom clothes, but it looked more like what the king defined as animal hunter clothes. Although, it still looked nothing like it.

The upper body was dressed with a black shirt with an opened chest, underneath was revealed a black lacework that covered a part of his chest. The shirt featured detachable sleeves.

The lower body was straight black elastic pants.

He had two belts that were connected to a stand on his back which was made for the black blades to fit in.

Right behind his neck a long cloak with a black top and dark red bottom. On top of the cloak, a white cross shape with a black line inside it was formed.

"What is this?" the king asked stunned.

"This is what I want tailored, king Goodlie." Andrey said confidently. Though still pretty amazed by what he just did. "Thanks, Dea'n'ha!" he replied to the female beauty on the other side of the telepathic conversation.

It sure does look like a superhero outfit and I didn't really expect that, but I always found this style to my appeal. I can't believe how all the anime and fantasy have impacted me. What I can't believe more is the fact that just now I used a spell to do all this which I don't even understand the basics off. I'm not even that good at drawing. Was it even my doing, though? Dea'n'ha as if channeled this through me.

"You heard him!" the king yelled and gave the book to the servant "Tell them to get it done as fast as possible."

The servant obeyed and left in a haste through the gates.

"Now tell me about the blades. These are your mage-crafted weapons?"

"Who knows? They have my name written on them. I don't know more than you do. I know they can't hurt me."
"What do you mean they can't hurt you?"

"They can't pierce through my skin." Andrey explained.

"What?!" the king couldn't believe such blades existed.

"I am honestly more amazed by how amazed people are in this world rather than the world itself." Andrey said with slight irony. "There's something about them, king Goodlie. I already feel attached to them. I don't know if it's because my name is on them or because of else."

Trying to avoid the topic as it might lead to spoiling the truth about the evil inside him, Andrey quickly switched topic " Actually, where is Nyadzel? I went there to leave my luggage, but he wasn't home."

"He is traveling to the battlefield. Somewhere around now he should be in the deserts where he found you. After getting your outfit done, you're going to go to him. That'll be your first mission. You will have to escort a famous merchant to Ribas. There you will take a ship to Irisvil and meet Nyadzel at Fronthornis."

"I'm glad you trust in my knowledge, but unfortunately I have only looked at the map a few times. I am not too familiar with it yet."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it quickly. Nyadzel is with his squad at Fronthornis. About to go to battle. You'll join him and travel with him for a while." the king foretold the boy's feature as he didn't really have any other choice.

The conversation was so tiring that Andrey preferred to go to Mage-Mountain and back instead of talking with the king again. Gladly, it was over. The king gave the key to Nyadzel's home and the boy went over to stay the night.

The king is really odd. I still can't really wrap my finger around it, but he is somehow strange, but I can feel that he is good. What is this strange sensation? It's as if I can't really feel anything negative towards him...

Whatever. They said that my outfit should be done by a few days. I'll read some of the books I got at Mage-Mountain and prepare myself for what's to come. I really better prepare some geography knowledge. Arghh, it's so much to learn, yet so little is known. It's making me mad. I'll just resume my training schedule and learn whatever I can until the time comes.

After leaving his luggage at Nyadzel's place, Andrey really wanted to just shake off the stress. It was getting dark anyway, so he had to think of something to eat before he started training.

He didn't really have any money. He just sighed and started searching for money in the house. Of course, Nyadzel had left some on the chessboard. There was a small letter underneath the coin.

"For that one time you beat me"

"Hah! It wasn't just once, but sure, I'll take it." Andrey replied in the empty room as if Nyadzel was there to actually hear.

After going to the nearest shop Andrey bought some veggies and fish then came back home. Andrey didn't really like fish, but as it's always fresh he picked it for health's sake.

Grabbing a few bites from the cabbage he realized that this cabbage tasted great. It seems that the lack of pollution really does make a huge difference. Or maybe it was just that he was extremely hungry.

"Why didn't you ever buy cabbage, man?" Andrey spoke out loud as if talking to Nyadzel again.

Okay, I won't get stuffed, because I have to train first.

Andrey went out in the lawn and started with a small jog. He realized his body felt extremely light. As if he could run all the way to Philius and back. What was really strange is that he should be exhausted from walking all the way from Mage-Mountain to Princepsius. Not to mention the fact that it was a few hours of fast walking.

Andrey continued his natural training, but he managed to do it with extreme haste. He was faster, stronger, and more enduring.

The training dummy. It was time to test the two-hand sword on it.

The sword is light?

Andrey didn't feel the sword heavy. He could hold it still with a single hand.

What is this feeling? It's as if I can feel something come out of my arm? he spoke as he moved his arm around to check if there's anything there. His movement completely ignored the weight of the sword. The next moment he realized this fact he was mind-blown again.

What's happening?

As he asked this he suddenly felt a huge pain in his chest in a matter of seconds resonating through his whole body. Black sparks started coming out of him as his whole body's muscles become stiff.

"AAAAAAAARRRGHHHH! " he screamed in pain not able to even fall to the ground because of his body as if frozen in pain.

The wooden sword in his hand got crushed to pieces. The necklace was floating, the skull's eyes red and small black needles coming out of it.

In incredible speed his hands as if on their own grabbed him by the rib cage and as if were trying with all their force to spread him in half.

"D...Dea!" he managed to speak out just after which closed his eyes - unconscious. But his body's self destruct hadn't ended. The fingers already half an inch inside had been covered in blood.

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Author's note here:

Heya, fellow reader! Thank you for reaching this chapter of my book. I know there are many to come, but hopefully, you will enjoy them even more than this one.

A reason for you to enjoy more is the fact that there is additional bonus content that I offer as you unlock the chapters.

So far you can see the world Maps and locations I have made for the book.

If you have the desire to check out part of the bonus content, you can scroll down to the chapter between "70. Guesswork" and "71. The choice of Life and Death". Between them is the chapter "Paid Content: World Maps", for example. It's cheap and you can easily unlock it.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the bonus content ahead! ^_^

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One more thing! Please, do not forget to leave reviews of the book, as it means really much to me and inspires me to write even more! I am very thankful for this and makes me love you even more so! <3