Hidden Intentions

The sound of a cane hitting the hard ground rang through the forest, startling Raven from the light doze that had come over him. He quickly sat up from the branch that he had managed to balance his body on and looked around, but he could not see anything. He could not perceive the direction that the sound was coming from, as it sounded as if it were all around him.

'Danger!' His senses screamed and he dropped down from the tree branch just as a dark shadow appeared where he was a moment ago.

Crack!

The branch snapped into two and fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. Raven's eyes popped wide open as he saw how close to dying he had been. He resolutely turned around and fled the scene, not wanting a confrontation.

Clack!

Clack!

Clack!

The sound of the cane kept ringing around him and Raven's senses entered a heightened state. He jumped over rocks and bushes while the scenery kept flashing by.

'Danger!' His senses screamed once again and he was barely able to duck to the ground as a dark shadow flashed by him, slicing the tree to his right down the middle, sending the tree toppling down.

'This bad! I can't even see who is doing this!' Raven's heart thumped in his chest. He realized that this person was most likely playing with him. They could have killed him at once instead of alerting him initially and giving him the chance to run.

Clack!

Clack!

A clearing appeared up ahead and Raven's heart rose up to his throat. If he ran into the clearing, then there were multiple things that could happen. Either the opening would give him the chance to see his attacker, or it would leave him open to a quick death.

'I don't have a choice. I am clearly being herded in that direction.' Raven accepted his predicament and made his decision. He would go into the clearing and confront this danger head on.

He burst into the opening, a clearing with a small pond in its center. The sound of leaves rustling all around him from the disturbed forest rang in his ears. However, he was not expecting that he could find someone waiting for him there.

A hooded figure, face obscured by the large hood over their head, stood in the clearing, hovering over the pond of water without causing a single disturbance.

In slow motion, Raven watched as the robed figure spread their arms in a welcoming gesture, and then before he could register anything else, the world flipped upside down. He found himself bound, hanging by nothing in the air, left to watch the robed figure. He could not move any of his limbs and could only stare and struggle.

"Ah, little raven, falling into my bird trap. I would have loved for things to go differently, but alas, Fate is not something I can control." The robed figure spoke in a strange voice that rattled Raven's mind. He was unable to focus on the voice or the person, but he understood that he was in no position to resist.

"You will carry out a task, and in return, I will show you a path forward. I want you to kill a person. There is no need for you to go looking for him, for he will seek you out of his own volition. His name is Jiro Court."

Thud!

Raven fell onto the ground. He turned around and could no longer find the man that had been standing over the pond. 

"Argh!" A burning pain seared the back of his right hand and he held it up, revealing a strange black symbol that was actively forming over his skin. The shape of a raven's head was burned into his skin before flashing with white light and the pain disappeared.

Raven stared at the symbol in fear and confusion. He did not understand what was happening or why it was happening, but he knew that this was a matter entirely out of his hands. He did not like this. He did not like having his life out of his own control. He wanted to live a happy life once, and when that was taken away from him, he wanted to take revenge, but as he wished. He did not want to be bound like this. Heck, he did not even know who this person was!

"Jiro Court?" Raven called out the name. "If I kill him, then I will have the chance to see the person that did this again. When I get the chance, I will burn his face off!" Raven swore angrily.

.

.

Wikes let out a deep chuckle when he heard the vow that Raven had made to himself.

"I'll be waiting, kid. By the time you figure out your true purpose in this world, you will realize that I gave you a leg up. Until then, keep suffering." The man with the terribly wrinkled face said to himself before he broke into a fit of coughs. A minute later, he calmed down before walking over to a metal pail and spitting out a black muck that looked like mud.

"Urgh! Damn Dark Magic!" He staggered and braced himself against the wall.

Wikes was an unimaginably powerful Dark Magic practitioner who had seen the glory days of Dark Magic during the reign of the Demon King. He practiced all sorts of styles and had dipped his toes into many ponds. His magical depth was near bottomless.

However, all that power came at a cost.

"Ugh!" The wrinkles on Wikes' face wriggled, as if there were worms underneath the skin. He quickly flicked his wrist and a green gem appeared, full of a vibrant and energetic mana. But soon, that mana was drained, pulled into Wikes' body and replaced by a dull, black, viscous mana.

Wikes' body was not able to hold onto all that power without external assistance. At least, not anymore. He was much weaker than he once was.