Dark Scars

*Huff* *Huff*

“Stop, you dirty brat!”

No! They can’t catch me! Where should I go?

To the left! A twelve years old boy thought, trying to get away. Spotting a trash bin, he jumped into it.

*Thump* *Thump* He heard his heart beating in his ears. Clutching the man’s weapon in his small hands, he shook in fear of being found out. But if he could sell the stolen dagger, he could feed himself and his siblings for a few weeks. He always targeted Magicians who looked physically weak, and thanks to a hiding skill, he has never been caught.

“Where is this brat?” he heard the voice of his victim from not far away. Rolled into a ball in the darkness, unmoving, he waited for him to leave.

Silence.

*Tap* *Tap*

He couldn’t help but open his closed eyes, hearing a creaking sound as the lid of the dustbin was opened. He was met face to face with a long-bearded old man, who was none other than the person he robbed.

“Here you are, you little shit. If not for being experienced, I’d have ignored the little sign I received from this place. Come out here!” he grabbed the boy’s right horn and raised him out of the trash. The boy tried to kick and hit the old man, but his legs and arms weren’t long enough. And after the old man enhanced his body physically, he simply ignored the boy’s attacks.

“Now-now, what to do with a brat like you. Oh, this is my dagger. It gave me some bonus stat points, it’d be really inconvenient if a useless trash like you stole it away from me,” the old man smiled when he pulled out his dagger from the boy’s grip and stored it in his storage ring.

“Let go of me!”

“Hehe, beg for your life all you want, I’m going to kill you. Wait! I have something much better in mind. What if I just used you as an experiment for a spell? But others can’t learn about it, so shhh.” As the old man finished talking, a few vines grew out of his fingers and started coiling around the boy. When it was about to reach the boy’s mouth, the vines stopped very much to the old man’s surprise.

“I’ve got a question for you, boy. Would you sell your soul to save yourself? You won’t have to live like a beggar anymore,” a feminine voice echoed in the boy’s ears. He couldn’t even turn his head to look at the woman, but knowing he’d lose his life, he shouted “YES!”

“Fine, then welcome~” the woman replied. In the next moment, all the boy saw was as the vines turned around and thrust into the old man’s eyes and penetrated his brain. He fell to the ground and continue to look at the old man’s head as the vines filled it up more and more and as they started lacking space, the old man’s head blew up, splattering his blood everywhere.

“Seriously… you told Elena and Dred how dirty they were, yet you are no different,” a manly voice resounded.

“You’re so stupid! I told you I wanted his brain!” another man complained.

The boy put his dirty hands on the ground to help up himself. Spotting three people in front of him, he jumped up and after grabbing the dagger, he tried to run away, but the short brown haired man with yellow eyes appeared in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. “Hey, you don’t have to run. Although you can refuse if you want, you should check out what we can offer,” he said and then let go of the boy.

Walking towards the red-haired beauty, the man said, “You may be able to change your fate alone, but if you follow us now, it’ll definitely change. I can’t guarantee you’ll live forever, but you’ll have a good time for a while. Of that, I’m sure!”

“You and your speeches,” the red-haired girl shook her head.

“What? Everyone is digging it!”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go instead or some random person will find us,” the girl waved her hand and turned around. Turning around for another look at the boy, she said, “Will you come or will you stay in poverty?”

“I-I can’t! I have siblings!” the demon boy shouted.

“Oh? How old are they?”

“My two brothers are seven, and my sister is nine!” After replying, he covered his mouth, realizing that maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.

“Heh, seems like Ambush decreases his awareness a lot,” the cracky voice of the third man came, but the boy couldn’t see him anywhere.

“That’s even better than this boy,” the red-haired girl mumbled to herself.

“W-What do you want from us?” the boy asked.

“Hmm? We just want to raise you into obedient fighters. You’ll have to train your body and learn Magic too, but in turn, you won’t have to feel hunger, you’ll have a warm house and much more. Whether you want it or not is up to you. If not, then tell me now,” the young-looking girl said bluntly.

Clenching his fists, the boy recalled his past and how he grew up after the death of his parents. How much he had to suffer to stay alive when others had everything and anything they wanted. How he marvelled at the sight of Magic yet he had no idea how to control either of the elements. Even his hiding skill was only the result of a scroll he got from a kind old lady. “I-I’ll join!”

“Good. Then where are your siblings? Can you lead the way?” the red-haired girl started as she turned around and walked closer to the boy. But as his smell hit her nose, she furrowed her brows. “Uhh- let’s clean you up at first.” The moment she said it, the boy felt warm water pour on his body like a waterfall. When it stopped, he felt a strong and warm gust of wind blow at his whole body, drying him in just a few seconds.

“Lead the way.” the girl said with a smile, mesmerizing the boy.

“Ain’t she beautiful?” the man stopped beside him and patted his shoulders.

“Y-Yeah…”

---

*Creak*

“Bro--ther?!” a little girl stood up and turned around upon hearing the creaking door, but the second half of her shout died into a whisper. Although she saw her brother, she saw two people, who looked like somebody around the age of eighteen.

“Liz, I’m back. Don’t worry about them, they aren’t bad people.”

“Well, we could argue about that one,” the yellow-eyed man chuckled.

“Why?” the boy asked in his curiosity.

“We kill, we steal, we lie…” he started listing.

Heaving out a sigh of relief, the boy shrugged his shoulders, “I too would do it if it helped me stay alive. Unfortunately, I’m not strong enough.”

“Hmm- we’re partly doing it to stay alive,” the man pondered.

“Let’s introduce us. My name is Audrey Frost, this guy here is Jake Hughes, and you?” the red-haired girl said.

“Hey! What about me?” a cracky voice stopped any sound that was about to leave the boy’s mouth.

“Shut up, Cor. Please ignore him and continue,” Audrey said.

“...”

Since Cor usually scared children, he had to stay in Jake’s shadow and not show himself.

“My name is Sareg, my sister is called Liz, and my other two brothers are Urnoth and Keneg,” the black haired boy said, pointing at each of his family members.

“Mhm, understood. Now then, will you come with us? The place we’re going to isn’t far away,” Audrey leaned forward.

“My brothers, sis. Will you follow me? They said they’d train us into obedient fighters and we’d get a place to stay at and food as well,” Sareg raised his voice in his enthusiasm.

“Y-You are our big bro. We’ll go where you go,” the blond-haired Liz said in a meek voice, while her little brothers only nodded their heads silently.

The children left their house. Turning around, Sareg looked back at their wooden cabin, which was broken at places and filled with holes. Looking ahead, hoping for a better future, he caught up with his siblings and followed the strangers. He knew it was dangerous, but he couldn’t refuse their offer, his own hope for a better life.

When they left the city, he felt a worried and his worry only increased when they entered a forest beside the city. About half an hour later, they were all tired and wanted to ask the strangers to rest, but at that time, they spotted a camp in front of them. The fence was made up of thick and pointy logs, thrust deep into the ground.

There were numerous small rock and wooden huts and a big campfire in the middle of the fenced area. As they entered through the door, they saw ten other kids, all standing half-naked in the cold. At first, Sareg thought he made a bad deal, but then he noticed neither of the kids his age or even younger was shaking. They looked as if the cold wind that brushed against their bodies was nothing.

“Fire,” Jake shouted behind Sareg’s back and everyone punched towards the air. Large fireballs shot out of their fists and flew a few hundred meters into the air before dying out. Some of them had bigger diameters than two meters and flew higher, while others' were smaller and disappeared earlier. But even among the bigger ones, some flew further than the other, meaning better Mana Control.

At that time, a blue-skinned big man who stood in front of the training kids turned around. “Oh, you’ve brought a group again.”

“Yes, Fing. But if you don’t want to join us, then please leave. Although I appreciate that you watched over the kids, it’s not like all three of us has to go at these times,” Audrey furrowed her brows showing her displeasure

When Inhe and Ekrok took away Elena and Dred, they remembered Elena’s instructions. They were to start gathering blood servants who would help them in the future, while Elena and Dred prepared the stage. What Elena meant by her words, Audrey wasn’t sure, though she had a hunch. There was only one slight problem, Fing decided to follow them around and seeing his servant’s, Virgo’s level at five hundred, they knew they couldn’t just kill him.

Luckily, he didn’t know anything about the Devourer race either. The least experience somebody had with Magic, the better it was for Audrey and her friends. Of course, if the person was very talented, like Cor, it was even better. Only a day passed by since Elena and Dred were taken away, yet they’ve gathered fourteen kids, considering the new group. They could be called evil for teaching children bad things, but it was better for both sides.

They didn’t stay in Drydale city, but they were still in the Alof Kingdom, though a few cities further away. Since they were able to transform into Dred’s wyvern form thanks to his Mark of the Wild, travelling didn’t take a long time.

“Why are you so pent up on joining you guys? I’m helping you anyway, am I not?” Fing raised his brows.

“You do, but there are things you aren’t allowed to know,” Audrey replied, showing a bright smile, trying to provoke Fing’s curiosity. After being together with him for a whole day, she learned more than enough about his simplicity. Even after realizing they wanted to free Elena and Dred, even though they’d have to deal with Padinyss, the true ruler of the planet, a Dragon God no less, Fing gladly offered his help.

They also realized Fing was actually the son of Alof Kingdom’s king, though they didn’t care about it.

“What is it I’m not allowed know?”

“You’ll know if you join.”

“I’m not gonna drink blood, that’s disgusting.”

“Then you won’t know and you should go away in that case,” Audrey said coldly. Turning around, she told the kids to follow her.

“AAARGH! And even the kids you brought are completely silent when I ask them about this ‘secret’ of yours! Just WHAT?” Fing banged his head with his large hands. Looking at a three-meters tall, blue-skinned, red-eyed giant rampaging scared Sareg and his siblings completely.

“Don’t be afraid of him. He wouldn’t hurt you,” she soothed them and then threw a big rock towards Fing’s head, “Shut up! You are scaring the children.”

As the rock broke into splinters upon contact, Fing turned around and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

“There. See? He isn’t dangerous.”

Sareg’s brows twitched upon seeing how calmly the beauty threw a rock with a force that could’ve killed either of them instantly, and how the giant man just shrugged it off. “W-Will I be able to survive something like that?” he stopped for a moment to ask.

“Haha, don’t be foolish,” Audrey stopped for a moment. Seeing him hang down his head, she added, “You’ll be able to do much more than that.”

Sareg raised his head, his eyes sparkling. They entered the biggest hut in the middle, right in front of the campfire. The hut was warm inside, which made Sareg and his siblings very happy. After all, they had only a few rags on and the weather was quite cold. They didn’t know that Audrey was warming the air around them else they’d be frozen by now.

Sareg saw a bedroom, a spacious kitchen with a table and two chairs other than the wooden pieces of furniture, and a toilet. Nothing much, but it looked really cosy and warm. It made him recall the time his parents were still alive. His parents who were betrayed by their friends and tricked into a monster horde. He learned of this later since he always asked his ‘uncle’ who was his father’s friend. They weren’t blood-related, he just felt like an uncle because they were so close. When his uncle told him they killed his parents, Sareg got enraged and tried to attack him, but of course, he was beaten up and left alone.

He had been struggling to stay alive and feed his siblings ever since. Audrey led them straight to the kitchen and then pointed at the table where a small bowl stood. “I’m not going to lie, there is blood in it, and if you want to join the other kids outside, you’ll have to drink from it. The amount doesn’t matter.”

“B-Blood?” Sareg stepped back, hearing Audrey’s words. Even if he was a demon, drinking blood wasn’t customary…

“Yes. That’s all it takes to change your life for the better. You can eat it, cook it, or mix it with other things too, but you have to drink a sip of it.”

Seeing her seriousness, he looked at Jake, only to see him looking just as seriously. Gulping loudly, he stepped forward. “Can I- Can I drink it with some water? A drop is enough, right?”

“Yeah. Oh, another thing. What kind of abilities would you prefer? Or let me correct myself, what kind of preference do you have? Physical fight, for example with weapons, Magical battles by relying mainly on your Mana or Guarding your teammates.”

“My teammates?”

“Yeah, we always make teams of fives. There are ten kids outside, meaning two teams. Each of them has two magicians, two physical fighters, and a guardian. It’s for efficiency, so I wouldn’t mind if you decided on one as well, all of you,” Jake explained as he cut his finger and dropped a few drops of his blood into a cup, Audrey doing the same.

Recalling the giant blue guy, Sareg asked, “What is this Guardian like?”

“If you really wish to see it, then we can show it to you, but don’t get freaked out, alright?” Audrey replied after thinking about it for a bit.

The boy nodded his head.

“Then… Cor, come out.”

Sareg saw a corpse climb out of Jake’s shadow and he jumped back in fear. “Careful! It’ll bite!” he shouted as he lunged towards his siblings, trying to cover them, making both Audrey and Jake laugh.

“...I won’t bite them. Also, I didn’t expect this kind of warm welcoming,” Cor hung his head.

Seeing an undead acting sad, even Sareg felt bad for him. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you’d-”

“I told you not to be scared,” Audrey laughed at him. “Before you ask, no, you won’t turn as ugly as Cor. He was an undead even before he joined us. Show him what a Guardian is like,” Audrey said and Cor transformed into his battle form.

Looking at Cor’s fearsome shell, Sareg felt both scared and amazed. Clenching his fists, he pondered for a few seconds before saying, “I want to be a guardian!”

“Alright, though the class isn’t Guardian, we just thought of a group name randomly,” Audrey continued her explanation until Jake put his hand on her lips.

“Shhh. You’ve explained enough already. You’re talking too much, look, you just confused them… Either way, drink this,” Jake said as he raised the bowl and carefully dropped a few drops of blood into a glass. He poured water on it and then gave it to Sareg.

He took it carefully and looked at his siblings and then at Jake one last time before downing the whole glass. He pulled his mouth feeling the irony taste of the water and put down the glass, “Bleh, it wasn’t that bad…” he made a sour face.

“Haha, I know, I drank it without water…” Audrey laughed. “Elena could be gentler,” she murmured.

Sareg started feeling a fuzzy feeling fill his whole body. His eyelids started closing and he was struggling to stay awake. “Don’t fight it. It’ll make you strong. Just sleep for now and when you wake up, you’ll be much stronger,” Audrey soothed him, while his siblings got closer, afraid that something bad happened.

“Will he be fine?” Liz asked, visibly concerned about her brother’s life.

“Mhm. He’ll wake up in five hours. Have you decided yet?” Audrey asked.

Looking at her brothers, she thought for a few seconds and then said she’d like to be a Magician, while his brothers wanted to be physical fighters. They wanted to be heroic like their big brother, they said. Liz drank Audrey’s blood, while the boys drank Jake’s blood and then slowly fell asleep. The three of them took the children to their bed and covered them with a big blanket.

When they turned around, they noticed Fing standing behind them. “Damn it… even children dare to drink your blood.”

“Heh, you are weaker than children, it seems,” Audrey stood up straight and snorted as she went past him.

Fing’s brows twitched. Reaching out towards Audrey, he grabbed her right shoulder.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I-I’ll do it.”

“Master, I don’t think it’s a good idea-” Virgo wanted to stop him.

“Stop. I’ll do it.”

“As you wish, Master,” she said no more and bowed her head.

Grabbing the cup which had some more of Jake’s blood, he poured water on it and drank it all in one go. Wiping his mouth, he stuck out his chest as he said, “Hah! I drank much more blood than the kids!”

Audrey laughed at his childish behaviour as he fell to the ground in the next moment and started snoring. “Virgo, could you take him to one of the huts? He is really heavy…”

“Of course, but if Master dies, you’ll all die,” Virgo replied in a cold voice.

Waving her hand, Audrey left the hut and started instructing the other kids, along with Jake and Cor. Every kid had a few black tattoos on their bodies. Some of them had it on their chests, others had it on their arms or backs or legs, but all of them had one thing in common. Its shape was four longer claw marks and a short one. They looked like Dred’s claw marks, only in smaller sizes. It was the mark of this new and growing force, the Dark Scars.

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