Chapter 1:

Destiny

One Step To Hell


In a place that seems to be the underworld, full of darkness and negative emotions, you can see a bridge and what looks like to be a young man crossing it.

“STOOOP!!!” shouted the desperate young man as he cried.

At the end of that bridge, everything indicated that a divine being was present there, something with a supreme presence, with an unimaginable power. He hide his face with the hood of his cloak, which cloak had a barely visible symbol. Behind him was someone in chains and who appeared to be unconscious. Looking a little more closely, you could see that it was a demon, but something in his aura was different from the usual for a demon.

“One more step and you go to Hell.” said the divine being to the young man.

“I will save you Yeqon!!!” shouted the young man again.

Having ignored the divine being's warning, as soon as the young man took another step, the bridge broke in two.

“Yeqon!!!” shouted the young man one last time, but this time with a face of pure hatred.

As he fell from that cliff, dark and tenebrous, you could only feel the youth's hatred, as if it were a manifestation of power. It was as if he had no other emotions. His own crying had turned to pure hate.

*A young man stands up*

“But what… This damn dream again. Well, nothing to do. I will go back to sleep, tomorrow I have to leave early.”

The next morning, I continued my journey. My name is Minori Mizuno, I am an eighteen year old boy, born in a small village called Lywood. This village is a village that is said to be lost in time, as it is the only place that is outside the kingdom and isn't as developed as the rest of the kingdom, some maps don't even have the location of my village. We also have a very low population compared to villages belonging to the kingdom.

I was tired of the everyday life I led there, tired of seeing the same people every day, tired of eating the same things, tired of hearing the same stories, among many other things.

Also, I was always a little ignored by everyone, from my family to the people I got to know. Even if I did something that no one else in the entire village could do, people never praised me. I also never found it easy to make friends, I was always that type of person who made fun of, instead of thinking I was the “biggest”.

I decided to “abandon” the life I was leading, since I had nothing to tie myself to and started my journey.

I felt prepared for this, as I always wanted to know the Redon Kingdom, new people, new flavors, and since I was training my physique daily since I was young, I thought it was time to hit the road.

It's been almost a month since I left the village and I still haven't entered the Redon Kingdom. My village is actually quite far from the rest of the kingdom. I walked for two more days and after a long and hard month, I was finally arriving in what appeared to be a village. At the entrance to that place was a sign that said “Welcome to Kando!”. I was fascinated by the number of people who found themselves in what appeared to be a market. However, I found something very strange... People only took what they asked for after giving something small and shiny to the merchants.

“Hey, are you okay?” said a voice that appeared to be a girl's.

I looked towards the voice and saw a boy and a girl who looked about my age.

Said it was fine, but I asked her why.

“Well... you're looking at everything with an astonished face.”

*Guffaws*

“He's probably not from here, Yumi.”

“Well, maybe that's it.”

I explained that I had come from Lywood village.

“See Yumi, I told you.”

“You were right, Kin.”

“And may we know what your name is?”

I told them my name and they introduced themselves.

“I'm Kin Fujimoto, nice to meet you Minori.”

“And I'm Yumi, Yumi Takata, nice to meet you!”

“Minori, maybe if you had someone to guide you it would be better, wouldn't it?”

I told Kin that if I really had someone to help me get to know that “new” world it would be great for me.

“Okay, we'll help you, because I don't think you're very familiar with how things work around here.”

I answered “yes”, that I was a little “confused” by everything and asked what was given to merchants.

*Guffaws*

“It's called money, it's given in exchange for essential goods.”

I was intrigued as the people in Lywood only exchanged goods for other goods.

“As far as I know in Lywood village there is no money, is there?”

I answered another time “yes”, hence my admiration for that.

“Listen Minori, people here also exchange goods for goods, but most of the time they “exchange” money for goods.”

Curious, I asked how I could get this “money”.

“Performing any function beneficial to the kingdom.” said to Yumi suddenly.

I asked what they did to get money.

“We're Knights of Redon.”

Hearing that I was a little surprised, for I knew what the Knights of Redon were. They were nothing more, nothing less, than the people most qualified to defend the Redon Kingdom from any threat. It was an admirable thing.

I thought it was a good thing for me, because to protect others, something needed was strength and I already had it, besides that I always liked to help people, even without receiving any thanks.

I asked Kin what it took to join the Knights of Redon.

“Minori, do you even know what the Knights of Redon are?” asked Kin laughing.

I answered “yes”, as I had heard a lot about them.

“Very well. So it doesn't hurt to try. We were passing through this village to meet our Captain. How do you feel about being evaluated by him and if he likes you join the Knights of Redon.”

“Hey!!! This is against the standard rules for becoming a knight.” said Yumi intrigued.

“Don't worry Yumi, the Captain doesn't follow the rules anyway, besides we are also "irregular", or have you forgotten already?”

“No, I haven't forgotten, but I don't think it's the best for him.”

I started to get a little freaked out by the conversation...

“Calm down Minori, she's making a fuss of all this. Basically, people who enter other than the Knights normal means of entry are known as "irregulars". However, even though we entered this way, we did not cease to be official Knights of Redon.”

After Kin's explanation, I was more relieved. I decided that I would go with them to meet the Captain.

“Very well! We'll show you a little bit of the village in the time we have left and then we'll go to an inn to spend the night. The following morning we will leave for the meeting point.”

In the midst of so much conversation, I started to wonder how I was going to pay for the inn, since money was needed for that. However, Kin seemed to have read my thoughts.

“Minori, calm down... I'll pay for your stay, rest assured.”

I really appreciated the help he was providing.

“Minori, you don't need to thank that much, after all we are helping you because we want to, and Kin has a lot of money, since he is very thrifty.”

“Yumi, always saying the same thing!!!”

*Guffaws*

“Come on, we still have some time to get to know some things in the village.”

And so I began to know a “piece” of the Redon Kingdom. Something told me that being in the company of these two was going to give me an incredible experience.

In a somewhat sinister forest and not far from the village, two people in hooded cloaks were talking to each other.

“Apparently he appeared...”

“Yes, but we'll handle this with ease."

“You are very confident.”

*Guffaws*

“You don't even seem to agree with me, Kasdaye.”

...

After getting to know a little more about Kando village, we went to the inn to spend the night as agreed. The following morning we left immediately on a trip to meet with the Captain.

After a few hours walking, after leaving Kando village, we were finally reaching the meeting point.

“We're almost there...” said Kin.

“Almost where?” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Guys, attention...”

Kin was quickly kicked away by a man in a hooded cloak.

“Who are you?” said Yumi, immediately putting herself in front of me.

“Who are we, you mean.”

*Guffaws*

“Minori, watch out. We may be surrounded right now.”

I asked a little worried about what we would do with Kin.

“Nothing yet! Stay behind me.” said Yumi with a voice a little worried and desperate.

“Dark Illusion: Devil's Fang.”

“Minori!!!”

Yumi ended up being hit by a surprise attack from another person to protect me.

“Looks like it's going to be easy like I said, Kasdaye.”

Another man appeared with the same cloak. He was hiding his face with the hood of his cloak as well.

“Don't underestimate the receptacle.”

None of us realized what they meant by “the receptacle”.

“Boy, if you come with us we will not use violence anymore.”

I told the man that after what they had done to Kin and Yumi, I wasn't going anywhere with them.

“Looks like I'm going to have to take care of you, receptacle.”

The man who had previously kicked Kin started an onslaught of punches and kicks at me. I felt like I could defend for a while, thanks to my physique, but at the same time I didn't know how to fight back.

“Minori!!!” shouted Kin and Yumi.

I couldn't stand it for long and ended up being humiliated. I was slowly losing my consciousness.

The man grabbed me by the head and lifted me off the ground.

“Is that all you have, receptacle?” said the man aloud and in an angry tone.

Meanwhile, the other man was getting ready to cast yet another spell.

“Dark Illusion: Dark Prison.”

I ended up losing consciousness completely.

I was in a place of total darkness. He asked me if he had died, until I heard a voice.

“Do you want power?”

I asked who was speaking.

“No need to know. Just answer me.”

I said that I just wanted to help the people around me and get to know the world around me better, to which replied:

“For that you need power, don't you? I give you the power you need to defeat anyone who stands in front of you.”

I asked to give me that power, if only for a minute.

“Very well, but there is one condition.”

I asked what condition that would be.

“You must lend me your body.”

I decided that I would agree to that condition if it meant saving them. I accepted the pact.

The last thing I heard was a slightly awkward laugh.

...

“Penemue, get out of here.”

“What are you going to do with the receptacle?”

“The spell I used was to weaken the seal. About half of his true power will show. This location will become a battleground for Special Class.”

“Okay, I'll be waiting for you at the designated point.”

The man fighting hand to hand left immediately.

“Minori… on a Special Class battlefield? This is ridiculous.” said Kin.

I was still unconscious, but I felt something taking over my body. I began to emanate what appeared to be an aura. It was dark and very sinister. The ground began to shake completely, it seemed that the gravitational field of the place had changed.

“Come on! Dark Illusion: Power…”

Before he could finish the enchantment, the man was thrown at full speed with just one punch, but he still managed to get to his feet. However, his hood had fallen off, thus revealing his face. He appeared to be a completely normal man in his thirties, but he had one intriguing thing about him. There was a strange dark symbol on his face.

“Great! Now you're showing your true power.”

“Something is wrong with Minori, he is different.” said Yumi.

I could somehow feel and understand what I was doing even though I had no power over my own body.

“Come!!!”

I began wildly to attack the mystery man, but he was practically on par with me.

“The power level of both is on another level.” said Kin.

There was a voice in the background...

“Looks like they've already got into trouble again...”

“Captain!” shouted Kin and Yumi.

“I'm going to clean up this whole mess.”

-june-
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