Heir

"Where...Am I..."

A comfy bed, and a warm blanket. Yuri opened his eyes, greeted by the sounds of footsteps.

"Oh. Good morning young master."

Yuri was puzzled, 'Young master?' He turned his head left and right, he found nobody was there except himself that was sitting on a luxurious bed, and also a girl that looked like in her twenties, wearing a maid outfit with her flowing red hair.

His head was spinning, and his memory was fuzzy.

'Where, am I? And...Who are you? Why am I ended up in here...What happened inside the forest near Lindow??...' He got many questions inside his mind, but unknowingly he can't even say it out loud. He grabbed his dizzy head, trying to rub the pain away.

"Master is waiting for you in the main hall, young master. If you didn't have any questions, I shall take my leave first. " Her voice sounds dull. It's like she was a doll instead of a human. After she said it, she walked away from the room leaving him alone with the room door being opened wide.

Yuri barely heard what she said. The pain inside his head was unbearable for a normal human, but, his evolving minds and body were slowly rejuvenating his state. 'Master? Main hall? What's going on in here?' He gritted his teeth and tried to lift up his body. He must find a clue or even an answer why he was in here in the first place.

All he can remember was that he killed one of the soldiers that surrounded him inside Lindow forest, after that, his minds went blank. He stood up from the bed, his hands were shaking. He turned his gazes toward his two hands, it was covered in a deep red stain and the pungent metallic scent.

'Blood...' The sigil on his palm grew, the black sigil were extending, making a line towards his wrist. To his surprise, the bandage like gauntlets in his hands that he used as weapons was now gone, also, the strapped leather armor he wore were broken and tattered. He scanned the room he was in and found a mirror across the room and saw his reflections on it.

He looked like a mess, the leather mask he wore was now gone, his pants were scarred and his body was partly exposed, stained with a deep red color. 'What happened to me?' He was even more confused with his state, his avatar hair turned white, matching his human body, but, there is a difference, on the tip of his avatar white hair a slight tinge of red can be seen on its tip.

His head started to pulse, delivering a sense of pain, he also felt that his body was sweating profusely, and it looks like he caught a fever. He wobbled and almost fell towards the granite floor, thankfully he was grabbing the side pillar of the bed. He gripped it tight and preventing his body from falling. 'I— Need to find answers...' He thought while gritting his teeth.

Yuri didn't have time to linger and waste his time pondering about what happened towards him, because nothing would give him the answer to that, except maybe the master that the woman in the maid dress said. He wobbled along the way, exiting the bedroom and arrived in a hallway. It looked like a mansion, with its carpeted floor and glass window that was penetrated by the sunlight.

He teetered trying to balance himself. After stumbling along the way, he finally arrived at the mansion main hall. It was quite big, fit for a royalty, covered with paintings and decorations that looked expensive in this medieval era. He shook his head trying to find his bearing. The pain in his head gradually subdued, and his minds were clear once more while his body slowly regenerating his conditions.

"Ah. You're awake young man."

He was shocked, that voice. That familiar yet hateful voice.

----

Xeipes. A town that was beautiful on the outside, but rotten in the inside. Dark undercurrents flowed through its vein. Divided by multiple syndicates that planned to rule on the darkness. Rumoured to be controlled by the Viscount itself to amass more wealth, extorting his own citizens to satiate his own greed.

He was an excellent actor. He played both of his parts well enough to garner his citizens trust, while also at the same time, he was playing his part as the hammer of justice to punish his own syndicate. His enemies were watching his every movement, aiming to strike at his weakest points, unfortunately, he played his part clean, just enough not to leave any evidence that could lead to his ruin.

Xeipes castle. Viscount Kamron office. The room was lit with the rays of morning sun. Nicely stacked paperworks, a study room, and also a fireplace, decorated with exotic monsters trophy.

"S-Sir!!"

The Viscount turned his head and saw a man was walking hurriedly towards him.

"W-We've just got a message, that our advance troop that was going to Lindow were exterminated..."

"WHAT!! Is it the army of Lindow? They were aware of our assault?" The viscount slammed his table.

The man was startled, "I-It was not the army of Lindow sir..."

The viscount was puzzled, "Then? Who did it? An adventurer?"

"W-We didn't know sir...We already confirmed that there is no high leveled adventurer near the perimeter of Lindow but somehow..."

"Useless!! Get out of my sight. I need my time alone."

"Y-Yes, sir..." The man bowed, and leave without looking back even for a second, afraid to have his head hanged if he stayed any longer.

The viscount was racking his brain, he was thinking every single possibility that could happen, is his army was ambushed by another army, or there is a traitor among them, however, the more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became, because his plan was flawless, to begin with, he already gave false information of his advance to his enemies, and also Lindow was one of those areas where newbie would gather, and no high leveled adventurer would have the means to visit it.

That was because Fantasia was divided into a dimension like continents. Illiria stood on the continents of Nimea, it was untouchable by the fires of emperors wars because it was a neutral zone intended to nurture new players, until they reached level one hundred. Although from a distance the world looked whole, however, it was divided by a series of dimensional walls.

The outer layer, the middle layer, and the central layer. The outer layer consisted of newbie dimension continents, like Nimea. The middle layer is where the emperor's wars mainly happened, while it sounded grand, but in actuality, there are only around three-hundred players that owned a territory in the vast middle layer dimension continents. The central layer, however, was a gateway. In there is only one small continent. Viridia. The only continent that holds the world gate, although it wasn't active at the moment, its purpose was to transfer players into another world, in the vast multiverse.

----

Back to the mansion. Yuri was stunned by what he saw. The old man was sitting in front of him in a wheelchair, pushed by the red-haired maid he saw from before. The old man appearance now was in his twenties. He was a handsome young man, with his blond hair combed to the back. He was sitting with his legs crossed, staring at him, with those hateful smile.

"O-Old man..." There's no more fury in his heart towards the old man. Only questions.

"I didn't expect to meet you so soon young man." The old man chuckled, "I see you're having fun with your newfound powers young man."

'Power?' His eyes trembled, he remembered those moments where he killed the soldiers in just one strike, he also remembered vaguely where he massacred the whole army with just a wave of his hand. But, strangely, he saw those memories in the third person view, it's just like his body moved on its own.

His hand was shaking, he was shocked by his own actions, "W-What am I..."

The old man laughed hearing Yuri monologue, "You finally remembered, young man? The atrocities that you have done? HAHAHA."

"WHAT AM I OLD MAN!!" His voice cracked. He rushed towards the old man and grabbed the collar of his black suit.

"You're a beast, a fiend, a demon in the flesh of a human." The old man smiled viciously, "The mark in your hand, was the proof that you had thrown your humanity for a greater power."

"OLD MAN!!" Yuri growled and glared at him, his jade eyes slowly turned red.

"Yes! Those eyes! Those gleaming red eyes!" The old man was elated.

The pulsating pain came back to assault his head. It was excruciating making him stumbled back and dropped to his knees.

"You're evolving young man." The old man chuckled, "Soon. You will have the control over all of those bloodlusts in your eyes."

"Why..." Yuri growled once more, his voice now was heavier and grungier.

"Because you're my heir. My sole successor. The moment you gave your hand to me. It was also the moment where I inject my bloodline into your soul." The old man chuckled. "I didn't tell you this before at the hospital because I wanted you to experience it yourself."

"So...You're lying about the whole invading thing old man!" He tried his best lifting up his head, just to glare at the old man with his red eyes.

The old man stared back at him with his mocking smile, "No. All I said was the truth. The whole gods plan was true, and your being will be hunted are also true. However, the cause of you being the prey was different."

"Is it because— of your blood old man?" He gritted his teeth holding out the agony, just by trying to say that questions.

"Correct! But, I will not privy to it further." The old man waved his hand, and an item that looked like a parchment appeared in his hand.

Tring

- [Heaven's Will] was dropped from your inventory. -

Yuri's eyes were trembling, however, he took a glance towards the notifications, and saw that the old man can directly access his inventory, amidst the agony that he felt, he also was puzzled, "H-How!!"

The old man ignored Yuri's question, and put a spell towards the [Heaven's Will] in his hand. Yuri, on the other hand, was slowly back to his feet. The pain in his head was partially gone, still, he wobbled just by trying to get up from his kneeling positions.

Back to his feet, he shook his head, and took a deep breath. His eyes were gradually changing back to his normal jade eyes, while his mind, slowly regained its calmed state. At the same time, the old man was finished with chanting his spell, and turned his gaze towards Yuri.

"Here. This will make this land your territory. This mansion and also its property, including her will be yours." After saying that, the old man face turned solemn, "Take care of this place."

Yuri had his minds calmed, he opened his eyes and saw that the item was thrown towards him. He grabbed it, and looked towards the old man. His handsome serious face looked lonely, he had many questions in his minds but, it just won't come out.

The old man turned his gaze once more towards him. He smiled, "Now. You need to wake up. Take care young man! This is our last meeting."

Yuri was startled, "Wai—"

The old man snapped his finger, and everything fades to black.