Ian was acting different. The same thought was going through almost everyone's mind as they sat inside Prince Albert's bedroom and analyzed his behaviours. Except the newly added members of their group, Ria and Rick's party, everyone else could feel it. It was a gut feeling at first, but then soon, they could even point out the little differences. First of all, him waking up during lunchtime whereas he'd normally be the first person to wake up and wake the others up as well. It looked like he had only woken up cause he was hungry. His bedhair which was normally a rare sight to see were poking out of every corner of his head and he looked like he had no intention of fixing it anytime soon. "Slow down.. You'll choke.." Albert said as he looked at Ian with a strange expression. Even he looked like he had noticed Ian's weird behaviours. Take what's happening right now for example, Ian was practically devouring his food like a starved barbarian. He almost looked like he was for
"What.the.hell?!" Someone from Ian's party exclaimed out loud as they saw the scene in front of them. They had finally reached the inside of the barrier made of thorny vines. All of them expected the cat tribes and their town to be inside that barrier. Well, it was there alright. Just, not in a shape that they would've ever expected. Right in front of Ian and his party, there was another barrier. It wasn't another vineyard but rather, a sophisticated mana barrier. A grayish hue more on the side of black was being emitted by the barrier as it glowed by itself. That in itself wasn't too much of a big deal. A barrier this size to protect a hidden village like this was fairly normal. If only it was being used as a shield, for protection. Oooong...ooongg... But this particular barrier, it was giving off a really creepy vibe as it made those noises. Ian and the rest got shivers as they looked at the huge, almost black barrier in front of them. "This thing.. what is it? Why is i
While Ash and Louis's party were busy dealing with the two groups of men belonging to the organisation, Ian was almost done deciphering the spell. He had his eyes closed and was concentrating on the flow of mana that he was sending inside the barrier flowing like streams. And soon, they all connected like a giant maze. Ian sighed in relief and opened his eyes. "I'm done." "Is it over?" Bela, Ash's mother, asked from under the shades. Ian nodded his head in response. It had taken him even less that ten minutes to decipher a spell of that level. He was actually feeling proud of himself. But sadly, all he had with him were genius, peerless kids and teenagers and a out of the question Demon Queen. Meaning, he had no one to admire him for the marvelous achievement he had just achieved.
'How?'The Phoenix asked staring at Ian intently. 'How what?'Ian asked back as he started gathering all of his mana in one spot. After he starts rewriting the algorithm of the shield, he'd have to use up most of his mana in one go. 'I won't have much time to gather my mana once I start, y'know.'He explained thinking the Phoenix was asking about his mana, which was clearly a wrong assumption. 'Tsk. That's not what I'm asking. You're really going ahead with that plan? I told you it's impossible no matter how talented you are.'It explained once again. Although Ian surpassed it's expectations countless times in the past, there was a clear difference between being smart and being stupid. The Phoenix simply couldn't understand why Ian was so hung up on an idea so bizzare. 'It is only possible in theory-''Or if you have two brains.'Ian cut him off and answered back. He shook his head thinking how the stupid Phoenix was focusing on the wrong part of the conversation once again. 'I-
Rick and his knights were currently accompanying Ian in his journey or adventure or just roaming around aimlessly, whatever he called it. And right now, they were standing outside the village where the people of the Cat tribe lived. They were trying to save the lives of the countless people living inside that village right now. And Ian, the most important person of their party, was trying to reverse the algorithm of a giant shield that was large enough to cover the whole village and which was also the cause of the villagers suffering. Damon, as he explained what Ian was trying to do, managed to gather some mana and stabilise his condition. He and Ash had helped Ian by lending him their mana and they were the only two people capable of doing so since both of them were connected to Ian by a soul contract. But that was a secret that the other's didn't know of. "Wait a moment." Louis cut him off while he was explaining some things to Rick as he grabbed him by the arm. "What?
"Brother!"Both Ash and Louis shouted simultaneously as they ran towards Ian's direction. A sense of urgency covered their mind and body as they went down on their knees and looked at Ian. He was there, lying unconscious, with a peaceful look on his face as if he was having a great dream. They looked at him for a long while before moving their eyes back up at Bela. "What's wrong with him?"Ash asked his mother before Louis could even open his mouth. She was lending her thighs for Ian to use as temporary pillows. And as someone who was standing by his side the whole time, they were sure that she would be able to tell. Or so they thought."He just fainted.""Fainted? How? Why? When?"A barrage of questions attacked her before she could even finish answering the first one. Seeing her kid show such an urgent expression over something so small, she almost laughed but managed to stop herself in the last moments. "Why aren't you answering him? How long has he been like that?"Even Louis
The Phoenix had assumed that it'd take Ian at least two days to recover from damage. So the other's also started preparing accordingly. They were planning on camping there, beside the shield for at least two days. And once Ian recovered, the rest depended on him. During the night. "The food's ready." Ash informed everyone as he brought down their food, grilled meat and fish, from the fire. These foods were hunted by the other members during the day. Luckily, they found a nearby creek which also solved their water problem. "Mmm~ smells so nice!" Amber commented excitedly as she sniffed the air around the food. She was one of the ones responsible for the meat hunting group. And the wild boar twice her size that she had brought in earlier was enough to drop everyones jaws to the floor. "I'll help." Richard also approached them quietly and took the initiative to help Ash in serving the food. The cutleries were provided by the vineyard when Ria asked them for help. There
"Sooo... I wasn't supposed to wake up today?"Ian asked while rubbing his nose. Earlier when he was trying to surprise Ash, it seemed like his tactic worked too well that it almost backfired. He did manage to save the food that Ash had worked hard to make, but failed to protect his precious face in the process. Bumping into his head which was as hard as a rock, Ian almost teared up. "That's what we were told..""But.. are you sure you're okay?"Ash explained the whole thing to him, about how he fainted, how someone else appeared and reassured them that everything was okay and that it'd take two days at least for him to wake up."Yeah. I'm fine now.."Ian felt the curious gazes of the people around him directed towards him and started scratching the back of his head. Although everyone was trying not to be too obvious, it was very very obvious. 'They're trying too hard.'They were trying too hard controlling their curiousity. Nobody had yet asked Ian about the other person but it see
Ian returned. After wondering the continent for half a year, he came back with a 'Bang!'. Right when the nobles all around the country gathered to 'show the hero his place', Ian returned. Crazy hypothesises such that Ian being a Devil worshipper, betraying the country and being on the run or that he's actually a demon etc etc all came to an end as he openly took Arthur's side and threatened the other nobles.Of course, most of those rumours weren't too far off the mark. Ian did prefer villains over heroes, demons over angels, he had no love for their country and lastly, he was a darkness ability user with a twisted moral sense. And! To top it all off, he also preferred these rumours over ones that would hail him as a hero. he'd rather be on the run after being called a demon rather than be called a hero and worshipped. Again, twisted morality. But he couldn't do that this time. There were too many people using his name so he couldn't just let it be as those people got treated bad
"It's been a week since young master lost consciousness."Rob wrote in his diary as he sighed. There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding the duchy ever since the day Adrian fell down from the roof and went into a coma. How or why it happened was still a mystery around the duchy but speculations about an attempted suicide was slowly spreading around. Rob didn't believe them though. The Adrian he knew was too selfish and arrogant to do something like that. Yet, even when he was so sure, a small part of his mind kept lingering over that quiet and motionless room where Adrian was."Ah.. It's been a while."With that, Rob went to take another look at the sleeping Adrian for the 36th time that day. Although he was telling himself that Adrian's situation wasn't that serious, that he'd wake up soon, as he tried to remember all the bad things Ian did in his short lifetime just to mask his worry, he didn't even realise that he was unconsciously heading towards Ian's room again. After worryin
Things Ian did(Unintentionally or intentionally) that influenced the future of Arthur's world: First of all, although the effect wasn't that eye-catching at the moment, Ian was going to be known as the figure that erased racial discrimination. Due to him giving shelter to people of all age and race, and the humans around him having constant changes in their views and perspective, it was going to be the seed that erased all future discrimination and racial profiling. Secondly, he was going to be known as the bridge between Humans and the Demons. The Queen of the Demons, Ash's mother who had gone back to the demon world to deal with some 'internal affairs' would soon return with an actual offer of friendship between the demons and the humans. It was Bela's way of showing gratitude to the people who had taken care of her son in his times of need. Ian's love for Ash was plain as day and the care and gentleness he showed when dealing with him was no different from what a parent woul
"What..?""That's absurd!""Is that sorcery? Does he think he can fool us so easily?!"There were looks of disbelief, shock and confusion on everyone's faces as they looked at Ash. But no matter how tough they acted or how oblivious they tried to be, the bone chilling aura coming from Ash that slowly filled the room was undeniable. It was an aura that was impossible for any human to manifest, dark and scary."It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not.""I'm not the one behind bars looking at lifetime imprisonment and possible death sentence."Ian shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner as he signaled for Ash to stop. He was only here to give these people a chance. A chance at repentance. If they refuse to grab it, he didn't care less whether they died or lived inside a cage forever. 'Human resources are valuable after all.'That was one of the other reasons why Ian was here. He wanted to bind all these people under contract and have them serve the country. It didn't sit right
"You're gonna let them go?" Arthur asked, conflicted, as he looked at Ian. They were currently in an underground prison, the biggest prison that was made on Ian's request under the Duchy. The war criminals, the cult members, were being held here. Seven days had already passed since Ian's soul returned to his body. He was forced to have complete bedrest this whole time by his parents and the kids. They finally let him go after he managed to manipulate them emotionally with everything he had. It was a difficult job indeed. But nothing was impossible for Ian. "Let them go? NO?" Ian asked back in utter shock instead. But it wasn't Arthur's fault that he misunderstood. Ian did indeed say something that could be easily misinterpreted. "But you just said 'It's time to go out.'..?" That's what he said. To the criminals. Not that he meant it literally. "To the hall. TO.THE.HALL." Ian repeated himself twice, once for the criminals and once for Arthur. Everyone captured already had
Ian's time with the kids were cut short as the Dicarious couple arrived in a haste. A part of Ian was happy to see them again after so long. But a part of him was also wondering if they really were there for Ian. What if they were expecting their son to come back? What if the person they expected to see coming to his senses was Adrian and not him? How disappointed they would be. With a mixture of these various emotions coursing through his mind, he failed to make any type of expression when faced with those two people. Neither could he smile wholeheartedly nor apologize and cry. The kids were guided outside by Arthur and Albert, giving Ian and his parents the room to themselves. Ash was reluctant to leave seeing Ian's expression, but the atmosphere was too heavy for him to interfere. So while everyone else went to another room, he stayed, waiting while standing outside Ian's room. The others also didn't force him to leave since they didn't know which was better. "Are you
"YOU!"Smack!"THOUGHTLESS!"SMACK!"BAS-! JER-!! PERSON!"Ian had to wake up from his peaceful sleep with the sound of someone's shout along with the obnoxiously loud yet not so painful smacking of the pillows."Ow ow ow.. what the hell...?""Huh?""I'm back?"Ian woke up rubbing the back of his head that was the victim of continuous battering and looked around. The changed bedroom and the familiar faces made him aware of the fact that he had indeed come back. "What?""What are you talking about, young master? You didn't go anywhere."Both Albert and Arthur looked concerned as they checked Ian's status for any abnormalities. Only after multiple checking did they finally sigh in relief. "Ah no.. ""Hey guys.. Long time no see?"Ian greeted the kids and the Prince and the Knight all together while leaning back on his bed. The one responsible for the ruthless battering from before still had a massive pout on their face as they silently glared at Ian. "Are you angry? I'm sorry. How lo
Ian enjoyed the tea from hell while having a long and informative conversation with death, or at least that's who he assumed the other person was. He learned about the past that he had locked away and the people he had forgotten. But it all felt distant, like he was viewing the life of somebody else. "Why did I do that? Lock my memories?"Ian was curious. Just by watching the memories of Noah's future, he could tell that he lived a pretty okay life. The daughter he adopted also turned out to be great. She became his family. These were precious memories. So he couldn't understand why he'd lock them up like this. "After I presented you with my request, this is what you told me."Death continued showing Ian another set of completely different memories. An old man, wrinkly hand, white hair, hazy eyes. The room looked similar to the one he was in right now, and so was the person in front of them. "The me right now cannot save a world.""The blade has already lost it's edge.""I've grow
"What do you mean by welcome back?"Ian asked, confused. As far as he could remember, never before in his life did he see this man or these scenes. And these weren't circumstances that he'd forget 'by chance' either. "After your first death, you came here.""First death.. Ah.. When I jumped down the bridge?"Ian remembered his last moments as Noah. The music that played, the scenery he watched on top of that bridge, they were all very memorable. Yet, he had no memory of coming to this place.But unlike Ian's thoughts, the guy in front of him shook his head in denial. Not understanding exactly which part he was denying, Ian tilted his head to the side slightly."What death are you talking about then?""You didn't die back then."The guy sat down on the bed, facing Ian and the endless hell behind him as he spoke. "When you were at the verge of losing consciousness, you heard a childs cry.""A child?""Yes. It was the final monster outbreak." Ian wondered what this guy was talking abo