1 The Beginning
"Wake up!" screamed my father as he gave the slumbering me a stinging back hand. Coughing up spittle, I glared at my gargantuan father. "Well that's one way to say good morning." I grimaced studying the frowning patriarch. Noticing like always the differences between myself and the rest of my demonic clan.
My scaled amber skin was smooth instead of rough and callous. My dreaded-like horns a delicate silver, instead of an ivory white. My pupil-less eyes an ash gray instead of obsidian. They could cultivate, but I couldn't making my right leg shriveled and weak. Getting irritated by this little factoid, I grabbed the crutch laying beside my bed dressed in my blue and black clan robes, and followed Father into the large dining hall.
As we neared the wooden double doors, we were met with sounds of hearty laughter. Thats when I realized why my moderately abusive father woke me up the way he did. Today was the annual Day of the Chosen. This was a hunting competition meant to gauge the skills of the younger generation. It was mandatory for the clan heir to participate. I groaned inwardly, this was just another excuse to get bullied by my little brother.
Noticing my obvious distress, Father stopped and knelt beside me and whispered "Straighten up boy, no son of mine will be seen looking as pathetic as you do now." I looked at him and laughed, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? If it was your doing a terrible job at it?"
The old demon laughed, "It's not my job to make you feel better about yourself. My job is to train you for the real world, and given your current circumstances your gonna need a lot of it. Now come on Little Silver, can't get your ass kicked on an empty stomach."
Sighing as I followed him into the dining hall. As soon as everyone saw us, they quickly fell to their knees and yelled "All hail Patriarch Kota leader of the Takahashi!" It was customary for demons to greet their leader this way as a sign of loyalty and respect. Like always I waited for someone to greet me, and like always I was disappointed.
That was until a sultry voice behind me whispered "All hail Renkudo son of Kota Takahashi and by far the cutest demon in the world." I turned around with a grin to find a pair of cat like eyes smiling back at me. "Hi Delphine." I said with a sheepish grin. She was easily one of the top five most beautiful demonesses in the clan, and surprisingly she was talking to me. Even though I was next in line for the patriarch position, it was clear that Zero would have the true power. Zero was the son of one my father's many wives, Luanne, and unlike me, he was more suited for the patriarch position.
While I was pondering this turn of events, Delphine looped around her arms around my neck and kissed me. Her soft lips were like a branding iron searing into my soul. Her long kinky horns smelled of wildflowers and burning flesh a wonderful combination. Pulling back she smiled at me once more and walked off toward her friends who were giggling up a storm. If not for Father's not so gentle awakening, I would have been convinced I was still dreaming.
After that, the rest of my morning was pretty uneventful. I ate, got my ass kicked, and prepared for the competition. Pushing Delphine and her voluptuous curves from my mind, I went to back into my room and put on my hunting equipment. This consisted of a pair black leather boots, deer skinned trousers, and a black leather shirt. I completed the look with an adjustable leg brace the village smith Sol made for me so I could help out at his shop.
He had no son or daughter to teach his craft to and I had no friends, so we just kind of fell into the groove of things. This made my dad happy as it would make me "less of wuss" as he called it.
After making sure the brace was properly and comfortable bending my leg for me, I headed to the town square were my dad was going over the rules of the hunt.
• Must be sixteen
• You must build your own weapon using what ever you can find in the forest.
• You must stay inside of the safe zone at all times.
•If you are "caught" stealing prey you are disqualified.
• Rank 1 nether beast equal 100 points
• Rank 2 nether beast equal 300 points
• Rank 3 nether beast equal 500 points
After he was finished, Father surveyed the smiling and determined faces in front of him. "With that being said....Let the hunt begin!" As I hobbled to the forest I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning around I saw my father looking at me with an emotionless look on his face. "Good luck" he said before walking into the crowd of cheering parents.
With a new found determination, I quickened my pace from a hobble to an awkward jog and ran towards the forest. Once I entered, I saw plenty of kids running through the trees like nether monkeys. Man I wish I could do that, but there's no reason to cry over spilled milk.
Knowing them, they'll go after Rank 2 or 3 nether beast. This just leaves the rank 1 beast which I'll happily accept. Since I obviously can't fight, I'll have to rely on the traps Father taught me. After grabbing nearby vines, I set a few traps, found some edibles berries to use as bait, and waited.
After repeating this process a couple of times, I got at least 10 nether rats and 6 nether toads. 'Time to head back' I thought to myself after marking them and putting them all inside of a sac. I was almost out of the forest when I heard a familiar giggle. Hiding inside a poison berry bush, I snuck towards the sound to investigate. After a while I could make out voices, Delphine's voice to be exact. She was talking to her friend Bylle, a petite girl with a beaked nose.
"So You and Ren huh?" Bylle ask in a state of confusion. I perked up my ears and waited for Delphine's response. "Please, who would actually want that crippled freak. If only Zero was the next head, then I would have a real man and access to the clan vault." She answered in disgust. "But don't worry because Zero already took my virginity so hopefully I can bear his child and pin it on his idiot of an brother. As a matter of fact I hope Little Renny likes the taste of his brother's cum as much as I do."
Their maniacal laughter was all that I heard as I snuck away and slowly headed back to the town square. I was disgusted, heartbroken, and angry. "I've had it with this bullshit" I told myself while fighting back my tears. I just wanted to go home and forget this entire day. That was the plan until I made it into the clearing, I realized that would be impossible.
