The first blade

Suddenly, Azrael sensed a presence a few hundred meters away. He had never been able to sense people before.

He knew that they could be forces of either empire, and it was best not to confront them. He quickly changed direction, but it seemed as though the people he sensed were pursuing him.

After observing their ki, Azrael confirmed that they were indeed pursuing him. He immediately picked up his pace, but the gap between him and his pursuers kept decreasing. Azrael remembered Mortimer saying that he possessed the same ki as him, so he figured the people pursuing him would have easily felt such a sinister aura.

Although Azrael could not use ki all his life, he had learned about ki control and manipulation in his training. He reasoned that if the 'dark ki' Mortimer talked about was anything like normal ki, he should be able to channel it to increase his speed. Left with no other options, he decided it was worth a shot and gave it a try.

As soon as he did, he felt his body get lighter, as if a huge boulder was lifted from his body. His eyes glowed grey, and he felt power coursing through his veins.

Azrael's speed increased greatly, and soon enough, the distance between him and his pursuers became enormous that he could no longer sense them. As he kept up his pace, he started to worry that he had missed his way. Suddenly, he felt the same aura he sensed from Mortimer and immediately rushed towards it.

He arrived at the entrance of a forest where the aura was emanating from. As he stepped into the forest, a strange feeling washed over him, everything felt different, and he could no longer sense all the things he could sense outside the forest. Nevertheless, he sensed ki emanating from many different areas, but they didn't feel human.

Ignoring the feeling, he moved towards the aura that had drawn him here. In the middle of the forest, he found a small hill, and on its side was a cave where the aura was coming from. Following the path, Azrael made his way into the cave.

Inside the cave was a sword and a note placed on it.

The aura which he had felt was coming from that sword.

Azrael picked up the sword and looked at it, the sword's sheath is black and intricately engraved with intricate patterns that are almost difficult to discern at first glance.

As Azrael ran his fingers over the surface, he could feel the rough grooves and lines that form the designs, which seem to be of a foreign origin. Once he unseathed the sword, the long, slender blade comes into view, glinting in the dim moonlight with a silver sheen.

The blade is deadly sharp, with a razor edge that seems capable of slicing through almost anything with ease. At the very tip of the blade, there is a small curve, like a subtle nod to a previous design.

The handle of the sword is wrapped with a pristine white cloth, which provided an excellent grip as Azrael held the sword.

The pommel at the end of the handle is simple but elegant, made of a gleaming silver that matches the blade. The sword as a whole is as dangerous as it is magnificent, the kind of weapon that draws the eye and inspires both awe and fear.

Azrael sheathed the sword and put it down beside him before picking up the note.

The note read

"Hello Azrael,

If you are reading this, it means you have begun the first step of your journey. I know you must be confused by a lot of things, but be patient as everything will be revealed in due time.

It is unlikely you can summon Mortimer at this time, but eventually, you will be able to.

The forest you are in right now is called the Soulless Forest. It is completely hidden from the outside world, and if you didn't know this already, you would also not be able to leave, as there is a barrier around the entire forest.

The barrier was made by me, so there is no point attempting to break through. But if you finally are able to break the barrier, then it means you are ready to leave the forest.

Within this forest are beasts that possess ki. These beasts range from weak to strong. I'm sure you must have sensed some of them. These beasts will be your source of food and also a way for you to train. Most importantly, by killing them, you increase your dark ki, thereby preventing the dark slumber.

Some of these beasts can kill you in half a breath, so make sure to stay clear of the ones that are too powerful until you're ready.

Now that you know this, the first thing you should do is suppress your aura. As I remember, dark ki users have a very loud and terrifying aura. This will make all the lower-level beasts run from you, and you will starve or even worse, this aura would attract all the higher-level beasts, and you will die terribly.

So, as you now understand, it is extremely vital that you suppress your aura. Doing this will become more difficult as your ki increases, but I assume you are very knowledgeable in ki and aura suppression and would have no problem with that.

Finally, the sword before you is my gift to you. This sword has a special connection to an ability of yours that you are yet to discover. It also has a great story behind it, which I will tell you some other time. It is far from being comparable to the sword you are destined to own, but it is a decent sword.

Take care and survive, Azrael.

Stark Demetriou, Ryzel Academy's headmaster"