Dark Spirit Master

Update Time: 2-3 Chapters per week.

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Chapter 1 — Dark Spirit Master

Pitter patter.

The dark clouds let out a rain that poured over the burning village. The flames slowly died out, leaving a blackened place.

Standing up from the ground, I thought it wasn't the time to feel depressed.

I need to look ahead. To survive. I'm sure that's what they want for me.

The rain made clear puddles, and I looked at my reflection in it.

I saw my skinny body being covered entirely with black smoke. My messy black hair and eyes blended perfectly with it. I was shirtless, only a ragged short covering my lower half. I also suffered terrible burned marks on my skin that ran through my chest and neck.

"It hurts…."

My burned marks were extremely painful, especially when the biting cold wind swept through it.

Yet I endured, and took a step forward.

I looked around the crumbling village that had once looked beautiful and serene.

And it might look shameful, but I tried searching for things that I could use to survive.

"Forgive me… Forgive me…" I muttered repeatedly while searching every crevice and under the rubbles.

In the end, I was only available to take hold of a few coins that were scattered on the ground. All clothes and other precious things were looted by the bandits.

For the last time, I stood in front of our dilapidated home. It was already destroyed beyond recognition with charred corpses inside.

Those were my family.

An unadulterated sorrow and wrath boiled intensely from within me.

I am reminded of the past I spent here with my family. But all of that was gone in an instant.

This feels like a dream. Yet it was reality. A cruel reality.

My eyes stared at my family.

Things were clear that I shouldn't leave them like that.

I turned my head around.

The others, too.

I spent three days burying them without even eating and sleeping. An irresistible hunger, thirst, and exhaustion overwhelmed me.

But I couldn't feel it that much. I grew numb to my senses.

And at last I was done. Now, they could maybe rest in peace.

I silently thought while gazing at the terrible graves I made using makeshift tools from what was available to me.

Before leaving, I kneeled before the graves for the final time.

Rest in peace? No, I'm sure they weren't resting in peace yet. So many beasts were still roaming here happily.

Thus, I swore to them. Not to heaven, but to them.

I will grant them a peaceful rest with my revenge.

"I will leave now. One day, I'll visit you guys again."

I've already decided where to go. I needed to become a Spirit Master.

And so, my destination was the nearest city where I could undergo my awakening ceremony.

My mother had strictly educated me with common knowledge, so I wasn't entirely clueless.

I'm glad that she taught me knowledge. I regretted not listening to her that much. I always threw tantrums whenever she taught me complicated things.

I shouldn't have taken things for granted.

I followed the path toward the nearby town but a tall dark figure suddenly appeared before me.

He was dressed inconspicuously in a dark cloak, but I knew he was trembling from excitement.

I trembled as I felt the ghastly atmosphere around him.

A light flashed.

Before I knew it, I blacked out. The last thing I saw was a pair of crimson evil eyes hidden beneath that hood.

"HAHAHAHA! I have finally obtained the materials needed for my metamorphosis!"

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"Aghh…."

I woke up while grunting. I opened my eyes while feeling my body becoming stiff from sleeping on the hard ground.

Confused, I looked around to examine where I was.

I was not alone. There were other kids besides me inside this dark cave.

Inside was not only dark, but also completely sealed away to prevent us from escaping.

"You're finally awake, Nine…" A girlish voice came beside me.

"Who?" I asked cautiously. My body became extremely tense.

Hearing my rough breathings, the girl touched my hands.

Her hands were warm.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you…" She comforted me with her calm voice.

Her soothing voice had a strange power to it.

I calmed down.

"I am Tang Jin. You?" The girl asked curiously.

"..."

No reply came from me.

"Then, I'll call you Nine."

Tang Jin didn't seem to mind. She asked another question.

"Do you know how you got here?"

I shook my head, " I don't know… But I remember a strange figure that used a mysterious power to make me fall asleep."

"I see… So we were all kidnapped by the same man."

I wondered why I was kidnapped. I have nothing special, after all.

"How many of us are here?"

"Nine, including you. And we were all orphans. How about you?"

My face crumpled, "Same. I'm an orphan, too…"

Still, Tang Jin was amazing at gathering this much information so calmly. It was dark and scary here.

If I look around, the others were just hugging themselves on the ground while mummering crazily.

"Do you know why we got abducted?" Tang Jin asked.

I shook my head.

She nodded.

"This is only a speculation of mine, but there's a high chance that we got kidnapped by a Dark Spirit Master. Spirit Master wouldn't normally abduct kids who haven't even undergone their ceremony. So, the kidnapper must be planning some kind of evil ritual that needs us to succeed."

"Then..?" I took a deep breath.

There's no way I haven't heard of Dark Spirit Master. They were usually told to scare us with bedtime stories. Dark Spirit Masters were people who practiced dark methods like using the remains of an infant to cultivate and grow stronger.

Tang Jin nodded, "That's right. We are most likely sacrificial humans."

Those words caused something to awaken something dark inside of me.

Uncontrollable anger broke free from the deepest depths of my heart.

Bang!

I punched the hard ground so hard that it caused my fist to be a bloody mess.

Yet I didn't care.

I was driven with pure madness.

My family got slaughtered and violated! My village got destroyed! And now I'm gonna die as a sacrifice?

I was done. I no longer cared. I just wanted to destroy everything. I wanted to destroy this unfairness that keeps making me suffer from misery!

I still got my revenge. This shouldn't be the end for me.

A murky sensation slowly started to spread out from my heart.

As I slowly lost myself in madness, Tang Jin held my hands tighter.

"Nine, calm down! Hurting yourself will do nothing. Things will get better. Trust me."

With those words, I felt myself breaking apart into pieces.

I…

I didn't know what to do anymore…

"How can you be so calm even now…?" I asked with tears dripping down. Everything was hopeless now, but how could she remain so calm and optimistic?

Tang Jin held my hands closer to her chest as she neared me. As my eyes got used to the darkness, I managed to see her face.

Plain. She looks so ordinary. Yet her blue eyes were as calm as the sea. It shone brightly like the eyes of my sister.

But soon, those eyes wavered and shook like waves.

"I too…. am afraid of dying, but I don't want to die yet!"

I could feel her hands shaking while saying that.

Ah. I see. She too was afraid. It must have been very scary for her since she spent much longer here than me. Despite that, she was still trying her best.

That alone gave me courage.

"We'll survive. And live." I said even while shaking in fear.

I'll resist this unfairness.

It's much better to die trying your best than not trying because of fear.

I learned a new lesson. If I learned it back then, would I have been able to save my family?

Looking at us, the others also gained a tiny amount of courage to resist.

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Apparently, it has been five days since Tang Jin has been held captive inside this cave.

And each day, the number of kids increased.

The Dark Spirit Master provided them with food and water to keep them alive. Based on that, Tang Jin assumed we needed to be alive for the ritual to be successful.

I was hungry and thirsty from not eating and drinking for three days. Tang Jin gave me her food and water that she had been saving.

No matter how much I think about It, she was much more mature for her age. I could feel inconsistencies.

After eating and drinking, I managed to regain some strength. As for my bloodied fist, a kidnapped boy like me wrapped a fabric around it to stop the bleeding.

All of us discussed a plan to survive from the Dark Spirit Master. It was clear that we were vastly weaker. We also don't know much about the Dark Spirit Master. We know he could use some kind of sleeping powder and vines to disable someone.

We felt hopeless after understanding the disparity.

The Dark Spirit Master eventually arrived to release us.

And we realized it was time for the ritual to begin.

Things were hopeless.

Until we realized the Dark Spirit Master was injured.

A seed of hope sprouted amidst our despairing situation.

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