Anger

The familiar feeling of pain assaulted my body as I tried moving the abysmal amount of mana inside of my body toward my core located in the pit of my stomach. I fell to my hands and knees as a small amount of blood launched itself from my mouth, filling it with the awful taste of metal. Seeing these results for the millionth time this week, I cursed and slammed my hand onto the ground not caring of being injured.

"Young Master, are you all right!?" The guards stationed outside of my room rushed in and quickly ran over to help me up when they saw my condition. It was no secret, I was weak and useless. I was born into the Firebane family, a family full of powerful mages, yet I had no talent in magic and a frail body that couldn't handle the sword. I'm a useless, worthless piece of garbage, so why does everyone in my family treat me so nicely...?

Even the guards treated me like I was their younger brother, but I thought it was all a façade to get on my father's good side. I accepted the guard's help and allowed them to move me to my bed before sitting me down. One guard, a young man with golden-blond hair tossed to the side, two icy blue eyes, and thin brows that complimented his handsome and angled features, spoke out and said "Young Master, I believe you should stop trying to break through to the second stage..."

I was filled with rage and anger at the man's words, but I knew just as well as he did that I would die if I continued on. It was a pure miracle that I was able to reach the first stage in magic. I sighed and nodded my head before muttering "I'm hungry. Could you please bring me some meat, Leon?" Leon nodded his head with a short salute before dragging the other guard along with him, leaving me to digest my failure.

Sure, I was mad, bitter, and remorseful, but all of that would just waste the time that I could be using to analyze my failure and use it to to my advantage. That is what I did to get to the first stage after all. "I must have messed up when drawing in the mana from my surroundings...maybe I didn't let them flow through my veins properly, and I was too hasty trying to polish my core..." I mumbled away while tapping my foot on my bed restlessly.

The door to my room opened and Leon came in wit ha platter of salted and spiced meats, just how I liked them. "Young Master, I've brought your food and a tome from the library to keep you occupied!" Leon said with a large smile. I frowned and said "Just call me Akio like I have asked so many times before. I hate formalities..."

Leon laughed and set the food down along with the tome before saying "Oh, right, you father told me to tell you to come see him after you get finished eating." I nodded my head and dismissed Leon as I ate my food and flipped through the pages of the tome. It focused on mainly ice magic and how to utilize pure arcane power, two things that were not my forte.

I had a much easier time utilizing fire, shadow, lightning, and wind magic, but everything else was a complete bust. Although many mages could only use one type of magic for their whole lives, my family, as well as other prominent mages, were able to use more than one, most of the time all of them. However, power meant nothing if you couldn't handle it much less use it.

My connection with the elements was so small that it's counted as, technically, non-existent. I finished my food and closed the tome before grabbing the platter and walking out of my room. I brought the platter to the chef's assistant to clean before walking to my father's office where he usually holes himself up for the day.

I knocked twice and his deep, yet soft, voice answered. "Come in." I opened the door and saw my father leaning over his desk with multiple scrolls and grimoires scattered everywhere; his long black hair dangling over his silvery eyes. My father had a neatly trimmed black beard that framed his chiseled features while his long black robe did little to hide his toned and muscled body. Most mages were heavily dependent on their magic, but not my father.

He was the epitome of a magic swordsman.

"Ah, my boy!" My father smiled warmly and got up before walking over to me and ruffling my hair. "I wanted to talk to you about something very important. Your mother and I both love you more than you know. No matter what, you will always be our little boy inside of our hearts. I don't give a damn if you're a mage or not, the only thing that matters is that you are safe and happy."

My father wrapped me in his warm embrace, confusing me for a second. "F-Father...? What's going on...?" I asked as a strange feeling began to make my stomach sink. A cold feeling spread through my shoulders and I noticed that my father was crying. The man I looked up to and admired was crying. "Father, what's wrong!? Please, tell me...you're worrying me!"

His embrace got tighter before he eventually released me and looked me in the eyes before saying "Son, I need you to go to the armory and pull out the purple book on the middle shelf in the back of the room...head through the passage that opens and don't look back...now, go!" My father's sword and armor materialized out of thin air and he disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

I had only seen my father wear his armor once, and that was when a foolish Noble tried to invade our territory. If he was wearing it now...then that means...

I grit my teeth and clenched my hands together as I forced myself to think that everything would work out just fine, that I was only hiding since I was weak. Just then, Leon burst through the door with blood dripping from a shallow cut above his brows. "Leon! What hap-" Leon rushed over and put his hand over my mouth as a foul screeching filled the air outside.

Leon's eyes scanned every inch of the room before he picked me up and ran out into the hall before speeding off in the direction of the armory. "Leon, wh-" Leon looked at me with a stern gaze as he held his finger up to his lip. I furrowed my brows and stayed silent as Leon neared the armory door. He swung the door open and ran over to the bookshelf before pulling the purple book out and waiting for the bookshelf to slide over, revealing a hidden passageway.

The smell of death, decay, blood, and smoke hit me all at once, and it was all I could do to prevent myself from puking. Leon ran down the corridor and ignited a small flame above his head to light the way, taking care not to trip over any jagged stones. We neared the end of the tunnel and we emerged behind the Firebane castle.

Black smoke snaked its way to the clouds as the cries of many people, Human or Non-Human I couldn't tell, racked my brain. "Leon...what's happening...?" Leon put me down and I turned my head to look at him, but he was gone. I spun around and shouted "Leon!?" but no one answered. Suddenly, a voice came from behind me. "I'm so sorry Akio...Please, forgive me..."

A burning sensation erupted from my stomach, and I looked down to see a slender sword jutting out from my just above my belly button. My hands were caked in blood and I turned my head to see Leon's crying face. "I'm so sorry...! He said I would live if I killed you...I'm sorry...I'm sorry!!" Leon pulled his sword free and fell to his knees as I fell to the ground, my body growing colder by the second.

Leon cried out in anguish as his face contorted into an expression of pure torment. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and turned bloodshot as blood trickled from his mouth. Leon recoiled back and blood came flying out from his chest as the light from his eyes dimmed. "I don't...want...to die...I need...to save my...sister..." The last tear fell from Leon's face as he fell dead to the ground.

I looked past his body to see a man in full plate mail armor with long, flowing white hair, glowing blue eyes, sleek and curved facial features, and a serrated sword with many runes across its blade, and a guard with a skull adorned by long, curving horns. The man walked over to me, every step causing to wither beneath him.

"He was beyond saving once he ran you through. I have no remorse for the man, however, I have taken a liking to you, unknown Firebane. Come, join me, and let me unlock that potential deep inside of you..." The man help his armored hand out, and I could feel my life slipping through my fingers. "C-Can you...save...my father?" I asked as I coughed blood in between each word.

The man smirked and let out a small laugh before saying "Your father is already dead, boy. I can save you and only you, that is if you let me." My vision blurred and my heart began to race as my blood boiled, filling me with an unknown sense of vitality as I climbed to my feet and asked "Who killed him...?" with anger coursing through my very being.

The man's smirk turned twisted as he said one word, and that one word had irreversibly altered my life forever.

"Humans..."

---

I opened my eyes and memories of my dream filled my mind, filling me with even more rage and hatred than usual. I rose from my bed and gazed upon my hands. My complexion had gotten a fair bit paler since then, and my hair had grown out to just past my ears, however, the biggest change was my eyes. I now had the same glowing blue eyes that Arthas had back when I first met him.

Since then, he and his researchers had come up with a type of potion that can hide one's...attributes for a certain amount of time before having to be ingested once more. "How the hell did it come to this...I'm an undead monster...a freak, but I don't care. I'm numb to the sensation of being feared, all because I gained a new power from this...transformation..."

I grimaced and held my chest as a bout of sharp pains shot through my body. I noticed that my heart was still dormant as the pains lessened, and I spat on the ground in disgust. I hated being a monster, deep, deep down within my heart, but my mind still told me that this was a necessary change so that I could get revenge on the Humans.

"I'll kill every last one of those bastard who dared to kill my family...I'll even kill the Gods if they dare to try and stop me. Just watch and rest easy, father, mother...I'll make sure that you are avenged..."