The Immortal Inventor

Steve woke up in the living room of their flat at the motel, his head was spinning and he felt weak all over. 

"You're awake, that's good" came a voice 

He sat up and saw a handsome young man with snow white hair, medium skin and ocean blue eyes and didn't look much older than him sitting with Grandpa Matt, the voice obviously belonged to him.

"What happened?" 

Steve asked as he rubbed his head and walked to where they were seated. 

"Sadly, it turns out that all fifty girls who were kidnapped were sacrificed with the help of the dark cult to resurrect Tobijulo, the greatest dragon fiend in history and you passed out as Jo teleported us out of there", Grandpa Matt explained 

"What!, Tobijulo?!, you mean the one ancestor Noble defeated?" 

"Yes boy, to worsen matters, the one who resurrected him is another powerful dragon fiend, Ebun. Since the "divine war", this is the first time in history we have faced two dragon fiends at once." 

Steve pressed his fingers to the sides of his head and said fiercely, 

"So Ebun is Mr Gordon??, What did he want with the girls?, Why did he take them?" 

"It turns out that Fiona, Nora, and the other girls had a special magic property in their blood that he needed for the sacrifice" 

"So he killed all those girls just to revive some flimsy dragon?, I swear he'll pay"  

Steve said while seething in rage 

"Not just the girls_the council said that he also killed and consumed the souls of every other fiend in order to get enough soul energy to pull off the sacrifice" 

Steve lowered his head and clenched his

fists tightly, 

"…..this guy is a joke" 

"Don't be in a haste boy, you have to get the fiend Slayer first…" 

"But…. your sword isn't the fiend Slayer, how was it able to cut him then?" 

"The fiend Slayer wasn't the only divine weapon created then, Oloye Idan's friend, Dmitri Forger, a magic blacksmith and inventor who helped in forging the fiend Slayer went on to create six divine weapons called "the six weapons of sin", these six weapons can hurt and possibly kill normal fiends but cannot be used to fight Tobijulo." 

"So where are these weapons?" 

"Well…I have one here, the sword of grace while the two level five swordsmen in the council possess the sword of rage and the sword of hate respectively. Jo here has the mace of faith and a certain unranked hermit swordsman who lives at the North Pole has the blood katana. The last one, the dual swords of fire and ice were lost during the divine war and have not been found to this day" 

"Wow…Grandpa can I have a cool sword too, like yours?" 

"Ha ha ha" Grandpa Matt laughed in his rich strong voice, 

"I would have loved to give you my sword but there are certain conditions to be met before you can be able to wield a divine weapon…like swordsmanship level, Mana level and even compatibility" 

"Oh" Steve replied sadly, 

"Ah, don't be downcast, we'll get you something nice, I promise" his grandpa consoled him and his countenance brightened up, "And also, congratulations on your awakening" 

"Thanks Grandpa, I don't know how it happened but I can feel it now, all those feelings you explained, I can feel them" 

"It was your father, it seemed that he had blocked your Mana channels with acupuncture when you were born and he unblocked it before he died" 

Steve's expression became sad again as he said 

"I…I never realized how much I loved dad till he died and I think I understand why he blocked my Mana channels… it's fine" 

'you're becoming more matured boy, that's good'

Grandpa Matt thought as he nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned to the young man beside him. 

Joaquin was certainly a man of few words seeing as he was silent throughout their discussion. 

"Steve, this is Joaquin Idan, he's a level nine mage and he's one of the most talented mages in the council" 

"Idan?!, As in Oloye Idan?" 

"Yes, he's a member of the direct family line" 

"Wow…Nice to meet you, I'm Steven Heracles" 

Joaquin nodded and returned his gaze to Grandpa Matt without saying any word. 

'huh?, This guy…'

Steve thought and looked at Joaquin in annoyance. 

"So, Jo, what was the council's final decision?" Grandpa Matt asked in a serious tone 

"Well, they have finally decided to dispatch some swordsmen here to hold off the fiends, you are in charge of them till a winner is decided in the contest", his voice was smooth like honey as he spoke, it was almost like he was also enhancing his voice with Mana. 

Grandpa Matt breathed deeply and said 

"Alright, I'll go and see them later, for now, let's measure Steve's Mana level and enlist him for the contest".

***

Steve was shocked when they arrived at a small club for street urchins, the words "Raz" were boldly written with graffiti on the walls around the door. 

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Steve asked with confusion in his voice 

"Yes boy, things are not always as they seem on the outside, never judge a book by it's cover" Grandpa Matt replied. 

"Stop there, trespassers are not allowed beyond here"  

A burly man who stood at the door said and blocked the door with his huge frame. Steve almost retched when he perceived the smell that came from the door that the man just blocked, it reeked of booze, drugs and women.  

"We're here to see the 'immortal inventor' " 

Grandpa Matt said to the man at the door. His posture tightened when he heard the name like it struck fear into him then he stepped aside and allowed them into the hallway. 

Grandpa Matt and Joaquin seemed to know the place very well because they went past the club's dance parlor and went to a red door at the end of the hall. 

"…things are not always as they seem on the outside…" 

Grandpa Matt's words now made sense to Steve as he saw the room that they entered, it was very large, much larger than the whole club building on the outside. It was decorated beautifully and large picture frames of great mages adorned the walls. Different types of devices were positioned at different parts of the room. 

"Woah" 

Steve said out loud as he looked around, he couldn't hide his amazement as it was his first time of experiencing spatial magic. 

"What brings Joaquin and the Heracles boys to my home?" 

An old cracked voice spoke and it's owner hobbled slowly towards them bent over on a walking stick. He had a lot of wrinkles on his pale white skin, he had gray hair and gray beards and his eyes had no pupils. 

"Greetings Lord Forger" 

Grandpa Matt said as him and Joaquin bent their heads in respect, Steve clumsily followed their lead. 

"It's good to see you in good health" Grandpa Matt said as he walked up to Lord Forger and clasped his hands. 

"Come on in" 

Lord Forger turned and beckoned on them to come into his private quarters. 

The room they entered next was a bit smaller than the first room but was more beautiful, there was a shiny blue orb in the center of the room, Mr Forger offered them seats and when they had all sat down, Lord Forger started 

"So…how is the situation in the city?" 

"The fiends are on the loose but they haven't made any move yet" 

Grandpa Matt replied plainly 

"It's pretty impressive how they were able to carry out a sacrifice of that scale without the council discovering them" 

"You already know about it??!" 

 Grandpa Matt asked wide eyed 

"Hehe" he chuckled, the sound sounded like that of a strangled chicken, "I may be blind but I see everything that goes on in this city" 

"Then you must know that the dark cult was involved"  

"Not completely, the fiends contracted a dark sorcerer from them" 

"Argh…man, things are gonna be more difficult if they're involved" Grandpa Matt groaned in annoyance, "Down to our reason for coming here, my grandson here wants to measure his rank and apply for the contest" 

"Oh, is that so?….come here young one, give me your hands" 

Steve walked to Lord Forger and put his hands into the old man's wrinkled hands that felt like sand paper. 

"Your…hands are gifted" 

"Ha ha, all the Heracles boys are gifted, aren't we?" 

Grandpa Matt said lightheartedly  with a smile on his face 

"No….the young one's hands feels…. different" 

He said with his eyes faced up, "Place them on the orb" 

Steve placed them on the orb and waited….everyone was anticipant as they observed closely for the results but nothing happened. 

"Try channeling mana into it" 

Grandpa Matt whispered to him. 

Steve took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he instantly felt the energy rising inside him, he managed to control it and channel just a little energy into the orb.