Chapter 1: Departure 1/3

Titen's POV

Three weeks ago was my fourteen birthday, and I celebrated it by doing one thousand pull-ups, one thousand sit-ups, one thousand push-ups, and one thousand squats. Damn that Master Ryden, that is not how you treat someone on their birthday. I don't care even if you are a former Elemento warrior. I will kick you hard in the crotch for that disgusting birthday workout. 

I got off the wooden floor with a hay pillow and cheap fabric blanket. If you can not put one and one together, I sleep on the floor like a peasant in an old shack. To make matters worse, the shack is a light breeze away from falling apart, and there are leaks everywhere. Why even bother putting a roof. Back home in Metallum, I lived in a castle and slept on a comfortable bed but not here in the secret village of the Creed. 

My name is Titen Terragon, and I am tasked with the mission of killing the five worst criminals in the world, my family. The first two are my uncles and then my aunt. The last two are the strongest, my father, the strongest Terragon, and the leader of house Terragon my grandfather. 

Now, then, I know this must be a confusing situation, but I am the only one who can kill my family. The reason being is because I share blood with them, why is that important, if you may ask. It is because of the swords they wield. 

There are five of these swords, and all of them are called the Perdita blades. Each blade has its own ability. Necromancy, creation, mind control, element affinity, and infinite energy. All the blades have differences and similarities. Such similarities include 'False Immortality' which is the ability to heal its wielder and prevent them from death from attacks and illnesses. No matter how severe the attack, such as beheading or damage to the organs, the blades will heal the wielders, but the reason why it is called false immortality is because the wielders can die of old age. So, they are not immortal but have the properties of immortal beings. 

My father said it was the will of the Master of the Perdita who placed this limitation on the blades then he also said that human beings are not met to live forever so to not unsettle the nature of life this limitation was well suited. 

I walked out of the shack and went for my master shack. We both lived on the outskirts of the Secret Village of the Creed called Amplexum. This village serves as a medical relief facility for the Creed warriors, and it is a sanctuary for the Druid people who worship the gods and demi-gods. These Druid people are the only people who can use their chi to heal. 

Oh! You do not know what I mean by chi. Well, chi is the energy that all living creatures have, essentially its life force itself. Tiny amounts of chi are needed to keep one alive, and the excess chi is used in other ways like destruction, creation, or healing. What I mean by this is that there are four categories of people who use excess chi. 

The first category and the most common is the destruction category. The people who are of this category are called Artemers because they use their chi for destructive arts or Artems. 

The second category and second most common is the creation category. The people who are of this category are called Creois because they use their chi for creation or Creos. 

The third and least common and most powerful are those of the Divine category, they can use both Artems and Creos, but they only exist if they have divine chi in other words the same kind of chi as the gods. These people are called Divinus, and it is recorded that there are only five in the entire world. 

The last category is the inhibitor category. The people in this category are druids, and they use their chi to heal. Their population consists of those who have Amplexumian blood in their genes, so it is basically a clan. The Artemers, Creois, and Divinus release their chi through their elemental affinities; only Druids use actual chi.

Hopefully, he is still asleep, but even in such a state, he will be alert if I enter in carelessly. It's time to put my shinobi training to clever use. I grabbed a stick on the ground and slid open the door gently without a sound. I slowed down my heart and began tiptoeing by doing this. Not even the vibration of my heart rate could disturb the ground. I was finally in front of Master Ryden's room. I took a light breath, tightened my grip on the stick, and opened the door gently. I saw his head and body facing away from the door. I opened the door a little more and then jumped at him and swung the stick down on his head, but I only landed a blow on his hay pillow. I sensed a large presence behind me, and it was angry. I dropped the stick and prepared to take whatever retaliation Master Ryden would throw at me after I failed to sneak attack him in his sleep. I turned around with my eyes closed, waiting to be kicked through the shack or thrown to the roof, but instead, I received a head pat.

"You did well today by sneaking up on me. I only heard you when you were in front of my room." Master Ryden said to me with a grin.

"I'm not sure that is a compliment master."

I got to my feet and bowed my head to my master for the longest time ever because today was the day I had been training for these past four years.

"So, are you prepared to leave today, Titen?"

"Yes, old man, and I know the plan and how things will proceed from now on." I replied nonchalantly. 

"Is it me, or do you sound unhappy that you are leaving today." Ryden teased.

"Now that is funny, old man, but you know the real reason why I dread today."

"I forget sometimes, you are an introvert."

"Says the man living in solitude for decades." 

"There's a good reason for that, and you know it."

"Just like you know my reason for not wanting to leave the village. Over here, these past 4 years have been the most peaceful years in my life despite the hunting nights. I never thought I would say this, but I am thankful to the Creed and United Countries for kidnapping me from my home. I know a little bit about peace and this world a little more."

"Yes, but at a cost."

"My mother's execution at the hands of the 'Weapon' is the real reason why I have been training hard these past years to kill the 'Weapon'." As I was saying this. I tightened my hand into a fist to the point where if I was normal, I would bleed, but I am Titen Terragon. What I mean by that is that I am extraordinarily strong.

"You are nowhere near the level required to kill your father nor even one member of your family or the clan members."

"Ouch you do not have to be mean about it. Plus, I have you to help me kill him." 

I almost forgot that in order to reach my family, I would have to defeat the Terragon clan. When I say clan, I do not mean that of blood related clans, just a group of people who follow house Terragon—more like their army. Everyone related in blood to the five Terragons like my cousin, uncle, distant relatives, and even bastards were killed off by my family. Whether you shared blood with them from a maternal or paternal side, you were killed. Grandmothers and great grandmother's houses were wiped out in just a couple of nights. 

I am the only one who can kill the five Terragons because of blood relations. Without me, the world would have to fight hopelessly against five somewhat immortal beings. Their immortality is not the problem. It is the fact that they were already powerful before they wielded the 'Perdita Blades'. Now, it is more power to the powerful, especially my father, the greatest prodigy that even Master Ryden praises to be the strongest and adaptive human in the realm. I can not deny that statement because I have seen him first-hand my entire life. I learned at an early age that the Weapon and I, although being father and son, were both on different realms if one would like to say. 

The basic structure of the Terragon clan was simple from what I could remember as a child. There is the low class, the mid class, and the high class. The low class can be considered the Terragon house 'trusted' foot soldiers who commanded Metallum's foot soldiers or army soldiers ever since it was taken over. In a couple days, 19 to be exact, will mark 16 years of Metallum's fall to the Terragon house and clan. 16 years of waiting for the world and Creed to come to your rescue the people of Metallum must have such little hope now and the fact that only I, a Terragon, can end their suffering must disgust them and eat away at their hope as well. They don't expect me—a child of Terragon, a child, to kill his own family. In truth, I have no intention of killing the others in my family, just one man, whom I once called father. I will avenge my mother, my only home, the only person I ever love.

The middle class in the Terragon clan is what you would call captains, the house 'trusted' overseers of all the foot soldiers, including the 'trusted' ones. They also stand a foot higher than Metallum's army superiors in the new Metallum. 

At last, the high class these guys are the strongest and the Terragon house 'trusted' right hand men and women. They are given a special name 'Venalicium', which means markers in the language of the gods. They are the Terragon clan's generals, and all members in the Terragon clan wish to become one of them. Not only are you above everyone and work directly next to the Terragon five, but you are also given more power by the Terragon five from their swords. The task of becoming a Venalicium is hard but rewarding. If you were powerful enough to challenge and overpower one of the current Venalicium, you would receive more power than you already had. This could be seen as a healthy competition, but in truth, if you are weak, your value to my family drops drastically. 

After contemplating my family and their friends, I stared at Master Ryden with serious intent, and he did so in kind.

"Do you wish to challenge me one last time, boy?" Master Ryden says, replacing his serious face with that with a grin.

"I must know how much I have grown."

"Well then, I can't fight you seriously because you have an exam in a few days' time."

We took out our katanas and went outside and stood a distance away from each other. This was a one strike match. We took our stances and prepared to launch at each other. The wind blew and away went a swarm of leaves when the first one touched the ground, we tightened our grips on the handle and sheath. The second leaf landed on the ground, and we drew our swords and pointed them at each other. Both hands gripped hard on the handles, and then the last leaf touched the ground. In a split second, the match was over, I was only able to cut his clothing, and he was able to draw blood from right cheek. He's as fast as always, and I still have a ways to go.

"It seems I won, boy."

"Are you unsure or bragging, old man?"

"Titen!!" A loud yet feminine voice called out to me. It was Nelly, my purple haired childhood friend. The beauty of Amplexum and apprentice to the grand healer of Amplexum.

To be quite honest, I don't mind her company, but my grandfather's teachings still reside in me. I have no friends, no enemies, just people who are useful to me and those who are useless to me. Luckily for her, she is useful, such as Master Ryden. She is one of the Amplexumian who are healers, and to make things better, she is also a prodigy. In this world, prodigies are of high value if a child were to be discovered to be one at an early age their parents or guardians would feed them with much more information about chi control or element affinity mastery. This is not only to improve the genius of the prodigy but also to give guardians bragging rights and elevation of surnames in society. If you are a commoner or peasant and your child is born very smart or with a large amount of chi that could draw eyes of nobles, even royals, and in Nelly's case, the Grand heal That would elevate the family status, for example, by taking in the child and its single mother or by buying the child from its guardians. The family would receive a large amount of money to do as wished with it. 

Nobles and royals take such methods to acquire the warriors for their houses, but there have been cases where nobles and royals steal such children from their families. Luckily, there are laws in place by the Creed that prevent such things. If you want a prodigy, you will have to take out your wallet and pay the guardians. So that the child can be taken into the house, but other parents want their children to marry into the house to secure a future for their children. This type of marriage arrangement is common in noble houses but less common in that of royal houses. In royal houses, marriage is a sort of peace arrangement between houses or countries. It is quite common to see in royal houses their non heirs to be married to people of different ethnicities. The exception is when the prodigy is the cream of the crop like my father. 

He was engaged to my mother, who was the first princess of Metallum before it fell. My father's situation was not very different because he was a noble and marriage between nobles and royals especially the heir is very common but even if he was a peasant or commoner all the noble houses would have clawed their way to him, flashing their wallets and beautiful daughters at him. My mother said this was the problem with being engaged to my father because if there was no ring on his finger, the world saw him as single and ready to mingle.

I still can't believe you still loved that man after what he did to your country.

House Terragon wasn't that rich. We were rich like nobles but not like the high nobles we were. There are three classes of nobility. High, mid, and low classes. Of course, the Terragon house was richer than the mid class, but we weren't as rich as the other high class. At one point, the Terragon house was the second richest among the 5 high class, but we lost most of our fortune after great grandfather died and left grandfather with a lot of responsibilities at a young age. So, a lot of people took advantage of that, but grandfather, as he grew, he worked hard for the house in the army and even received the rank of Lieutenant General of Metallum at a record age.

Nelly was running up towards me and Master Ryden, waving her left hand, and in her right hand, she held a picnic basket. Her purple short hair flowed side to side as she was running. To a normal boy my age, it would be a dream come true to have a cute childhood friend whom you could easily develop feelings for, but as I have stated before, I am not normal. She is just someone useful to me that is all there is to our relationship. I hope one day she'll realise that I am not a person who can be considered to have a normal life. Everyone in my life sees me as a weapon. My family, the Creed, the United Countries, and even the one person I truly loved, the first and only woman I loved in life, my mother.

She loved me as well, but sometimes I question our mother and son relationship. Did she want a better life for me when she betrayed the Terragon house and helped Creed kidnap me, or was she just passing on a weapon to the other side? I will never know the answer to these questions yet.

The reason why I say yet even though my mother is dead, it's because she left a memory crystal with the Creed. A memory crystal records the events of its owner's life and can be played back as a hologram. My mother wore hers as a pendant and cherished it. She used to tell me it was special to her because she received it on her birthday from Fall before the fall. They are very rare and expensive but this one was special because the color was unusual, it was brunette brown just like her hair and eyes. My hair and eyes are also the same brunette brown, but I am sometimes told my eyes are a little darker than those of my mother's. 

Nelly made her way to us and tried to catch her breath from running up the mountain. A normal boy would draw closer to her and help, and she would show me her flustered face with joy and determination behind her black eyes but as I have said before I am not normal, I just stood where I was.

"I saw your duel with Master Ryden, Titen. You were so close to winning this time."

"You do not have to exaggerate. I wasn't even closer than I was a couple of months ago." I said so while sheathed my katana. "So, what is in the basket, Nelly?"

"Would you believe me if I said true love in the form of food."

"No!" I replied at superhuman speed to throw off her charm attack.

"You are still cold Titen, good morning, Master Ryden. Sorry for not taking notice of you earlier. "

Master Ryden, who was watching my back and forth with Nelly in silence, was finally recognized and spoke. "Good morning, Nelly. How is your family?"

"Everyone is alright. Thank you for asking. Titen, are you hungry?" she asked. "I made sandwiches with bacon and eggs today, I also made some for you Master Ryden."

Ah, this is one of the reasons why I consider her to be useful to me. Some mornings, the old man makes me train like a madman and points at the river. He doesn't say anything, but you already know what he means 'Go catch breakfast for us'. I just hate fishing when I am hungry and tired.

Nelly opened the basket, and the smell would be enough to make a normal boy my age to fall head over heels for her, but as I have said, I am not normal. We went into Master Ryden's shack and boiled some water in a pot over a fire in the middle of the kitchen while Nelly prepared the table. The old man brought back tea leaves with him. The water was boiling the table set for three, and the freshly matured tea leaves on the table.  The only wrong thing now was that the bacon egg sandwiches were cooling down. We said our thanks and dung into the food Nelly while chewing on a bacon strip got up and poured the tea from the pot gracefully into all our cups. If I were a normal boy, I would have fallen in love with the view of the purple hair goddess in front of me, but I am not normal. 

The sight was indifferent to me, and Master Ryden saw this. At a point, it looked like he wanted to speak against my indifference but held his tongue. Although this was obvious to everyone in the village of Amplexum and Master Ryden that Nelly has feelings for me. To a normal person having the most beautiful girl in the village have feelings for you would be amazing, but I am not…. if she is useful to me, I do not care, and her having feelings for me sweetens the deal. The thought of staying in Amplexum forever with her would be tempting. We could get married, have children, and grow old together. The normal purpose in life is that it is a trap set for me by the Creed and UC.

The plan is that when I kill one of the Terragons, I inherit their sword and if I were to kill them all I would have all 5 swords in my possession making me the most powerful being on the planet. If I still had no connections to people or my humanity, what would stop me from taking over the world myself. Even if I did have connections or promised not to take over the world, they would still seal me away. That is the plan, as far as I can guess. Use me to kill my family and take their swords because other than me, the only other person who can take the blades is a Terragon or a relative. 

That would be impossible since I am the only child in my family, grandfather forbidden my two uncles and aunt from marrying and having offspring, and as I stated before, all the other relatives were killed off. Every one of them, even their bastards and distant relatives from foreign countries. 

Once I kill all the Terragons, they might convince Nelly to seal me away as an act of love or something stupid. It is best if I don't think too far ahead too much, I might not even be able to kill one of the Terragons, so forget about all 5 of them. One thing I am sure of is that in order to defeat my father, I will at least need the power of three or four Perdita blades. Otherwise, I will be captured and taken home to be brainwashed. 

Nelly passed me my cup of hot tea, and I grabbed the cup while we were both fixated on each other's eyes. Mine brunette brown and hers black, they were not as dark up close than from a distance. You could call the color dark grey instead of black. I wonder why I had never paid attention to this before. Behind her big dark grey eyes, I could see sadness, and what made this sadness strike a chord with me was that deep down somewhere in my small heart, I almost felt the same thing as her.

Sadness caused by the fact that I was leaving today and might return on a stretcher, chariot, or coffin. The other possibility is that I might not ever return at all. For her to grow as a person, she must learn to let go of me today just as I am always ready to let go of others. The man to marry you, Nelly, will be a lucky guy because he would have the world's kindest, smartest, and loving treasure that is you. Hopefully, one day, you realise that I could never be him, I wanted to say this to her—but she would refute my statement and say she doesn't believe that. I wouldn't blame her because there's a small piece in me that believes in a peaceful future, but reality is cruel, and Nelly will learn this soon. 

The damn will always be damned, and the blessed will be dammed at some point in their lives. I picked up my cup of tea and drank it. It was refreshing as it washed down the bacon and egg sandwich.

Master Ryden, after witnessing our intertwining moment, coughed and then did the expected.

"You must be sad today, Nelly. After all, Titen is leaving for the Creed entrance exam today."

Yep, Master Ryden addressed the elephant in the room like it was no big deal. Nelly stopped moving and dropped her smile, Nelly is not someone to show when she is sad, so this was a shocker to me.

"Yes, I am. Last night, I could not sleep thinking about today, and the fact that if Titen walks out of the time barrier, he might not come back. From what I hear the Terragon house has a lot of enemies, and these enemies might try to get revenge on Titen, or he might…" *sniff sniff* "He might be taken away by his family forever." After saying she began bawling, I wanted to comfort her, but she must understand that caring is not a luxury I can afford.

"Or…or. Or..."

"I might go back to the person I was." I intervened before she could carry on with her tearing monologue.

I turned my head to her, and she nodded, agreeing with my statement. To her, I had changed from the angry kid she first met, but deep down inside, I felt nothing, I didn't grow emotionally, just that now I was good at hiding behind a mask. I reached out my hands and pressed them on her face. We stood up, and I wiped away her tears. In this situation, any normal boy would fall deeply in love with her because even as mucus and tears were dripping from her face, she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I kept wiping away at the waterfall on her face caused by her tear ducts and embraced her. Such an action would surely be the pinnacle of expressing one's emotions, but I felt nothing. It just felt right for the moment. I almost forgot Amplexum translate to embrace the language of the demigods, ironic ha.

While still hugging my friend that I met four years ago out of calculation and not emotion because I am so good at reading the room. My eyes met Master Ryden's, and I could see that he was hoping that Nelly's heart could move mine. Like I said a couple of times, I am not normal, and Master Ryden understood that about me, so his hopes were never high. I could see it in his eyes, and with my stern gazes, I basically told Master Ryden I would never fall for this trap. I am what I am, and that is a weapon. Since the day I realised this, I knew that no one would want nothing from me but to kill and destroy. 

Master Ryden coughed again, and I knew this 'cough' was a signal that he was about to say something to ruin the mood because this old man could not read the room.

"You two should get a room quickly. I am too old to be a third wheel."

What am I going to do about this old man?

Nelly began laughing, "Not until we are married, master."

I'm really going to miss these moments, the three of us talking and laughing as if the world is not on the brink of chaos.

"Well then, Titen, when are you going to propose to Nelly?"

"After I defeat my family." I said while chewing on a strip of bacon and looking at the old man dead in his house.

"Well then, it will be a while before you too marry then, I might not be alive to see it. After all, I am an old man."

"I believe in Titen, so he will do it as early as he can." Nelly shouted enthusiastically.

Then her cheeks turned red from realising what she said was embarrassing. My eyes connected with the old man. He was smirking, but it quickly faded.

"Nelly dear, you must understand that the two of you may not marry in the future. The possibility is so low that…"

"Master Ryden…"

"Quite boy! She must understand what today may mean for the rest of your life. The rest of our lives. The Terragons are the most powerful people in the realm because of the Perditas. Each of them hold a sword that is recorded in history as a weapon that could kill the gods themselves. It's unfortunate that a child has to be the one to fight such people, but no one else can. We need Titen to win….." His fist tightened. "Or die trying to."

"I understand Master Ryden what Titen is destined for, but he is also not weapon, and when he wins, I will be waiting for him to come back." Nelly responded.

I have never seen her so serious. Her eyes held an intensity I never thought possible of her. She held my hand as tears fell from her face, but she was not bawling.

"Promise me you will win Titen Terragon."

"I will Nelly Amplexum." It's not like I have any other choice after all. Not only the fate of the world hangs in the balance but mine as well.

"How adorable I can't wait for the wedding then." The old man said with a grin from one ear to the next.