Serin was enraged.

“You killed my dog! Maybe you should take its place!” Serin shouted at Kaden. Then frowned as he got a good look on Kaden. “Or perhaps I’ll get a bird this time. I haven’t had a bird yet for a pet!”

“Don’t worry, you will follow your ‘dog’ in death… eventually”, Kaden said and cast a fire ball at Serin as a test. He seemed to be at mid Formation stage. Kaden felt confident he could defeat Serin. It wasn’t the first time he fought someone of roughly that level.

A defensive layer appeared around Serin before the fire ball could do anything. Serin had a shield formation somewhere. Kaden knew how those worked. Unless Serin fed quite a bit of mana in it, it would eventually break, but until then physical attacks and most simpler mana types like fire would be blocked by it.

“Its fine”, Kaden thought as he stepped forward with his talons ready to strike. “I’ll just wear him down first.”

“Why not just kneel before me?” Serin said then and pointed at Kaden.

Suddenly Kaden felt urge to kneel down. He was somehow certain, if he followed that desire, he would feel greatest joy in existence. Instead, Kaden felt hate and managed to forcibly push aside the feeling.

“Is that the best you can do?” Kaden said and continued forward. “It seems your specialty is some kind of mind control.”

“What? Mind control!” Serin replied like he was offended. “My servants love me! Everyone loves me! Its emotions! I can help people feel good! They obey me because they like it! Now that you understand, you should serve me too!”

This time Kaden felt yet another feeling. It felt like slam this time and he could not push it away immediately. He felt really good about just giving up.

“Bullshit!” Kaden screamed in his mind. “Like hell I would give up!”

Yet, no matter what, the feeling persisted. Kaden then started to feel rage. Pathetic! This could not be where his vengeance ends! This man must suffer and die. There was no way he would give up!

With his rage, Kaden’s core triggered and surge of mana spread across his body. This swallowed all of the interfering mana, releasing him from control. Noticing this, Kaden went to full power immediately.

“Why do you resist!” Serin shouted. “Once you feel good for a while you get to stay that way! All your doubts will be gone and never come back! Thats the real you!”

“I have seen enough on the way here”, Kaden said as he gritted his teeth. He was still feeling the invading mana around him, but once it came to connection with his body, it would be soon washed away. Yet the stream was constant and the closer he got to Serin, the stronger it was. “You are a stain upon this world. You must die.”

“I am of noble birth!” Serin replied. “You dare invade and kill my pets and then demand my death! Ridiculous! Become my servant and those misguided thoughts will be gone!”

Serin seemed to trust his magic. Yet that was for a good reason. Kaden had difficulties closing in.

“Fine then”, Kaden decided. “Big attacks might be detected outside, but he has a shield. If I’m careful, it won’t spill outside.”

Kaden blasted a Fire Beam at Serin. The shield made a sound somewhere between ringing and screeching as it started to ripple like water when the beam struck it.

“Do you think I’m a weakling?!” Serin shouted just before the shield weakened enough and seemed to start to crack. He jumped out of the beam’s way and pulled out an ornamental sword.

This all happened faster than Kaden had expected, but nothing he couldn’t deal with. Apparently Serin did have some fighting ability. Kaden blocked the sword slash that Serin used. That is, he tried to. Somehow is arm wouldn’t move. The sword slashed across his body, but his several layers of defense, the mana armor and his skin was able to handle it.

“I couldn’t act?” Kaden thought as he stepped away from Serin who was furiously slashing at him with his sword. “Did he manage to somehow momentarily wriggle in my mind?” He wasn’t sure what just had happened.

Serin was indeed in closer range, but as he wasn’t completely concentrating on his emotion spell, the effect was weaker.

“What a troublesome opponent”, Kaden cursed. “I get close and my actions get disrupted. I stay back and he can wear down my mind slowly.”

Additionally Serin seemed to have some actual combat training. Perhaps his military rank wasn’t entirely arranged to him? He was probably just … difficult.

Kaden steeled his mind. The one thing that seemed to have worked was having mana flowing around in him. He activated his plume to increase mana and its quality.

Serin noticed the very obvious sign that Kaden had powered up and seemed to flicker forward with some kind of movement technique. Yet, this time Kaden was able to block the attack. Still, he felt slow, but he could at least act.

“No matter!” Serin said and pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Kaden. “I’ll be sure to investigate mutant like you once you are my servant.”

The thing then exploded into cloud of dust. Not smoke, but instead fine dust. For a moment Kaden did not understand the purpose. Other than distracting his sight slightly, there did not seem to be any noticeable effect.

Then he felt like something was next to him and turned to avoid an attack from that direction. Nothing?

“Shit!” Kaden realized his mistake. His instinct screamed at him to turn, but it was too late. Serin slashed at him again from now behind. This time the strike was harder and penetrated deeper.

Kaden was certain Serin could have wounded him far worse, but did not do so? The most likely reason was that Serin still wanted to enslave him. Not kill.

The dust was probably something that either amplified Serin’s magic or weakened Kaden’s mental defenses. Yet Serin had chosen to waste that surprise.

“Thats a mistake”, Kaden thought as he stepped away. He felt yet again, he should turn around, but he wasn’t going to fall for it again. His instinct said otherwise. The feels and instinct seemed to be different things.

Kaden slashed at Serin with his talons, surprising him. Finally he managed to land a strike, but Serin still managed to avoid being hit critically. The man was certainly quick.

“YOU DARE WOUND ME?!” Serin screamed in rage. “I am a pure noble! How dare you wound me! I will punish you harshly for that!”

Something different struck him right after that. Instead of that invasive feeling good, it was the complete opposite. Like a spike of pain penetrated his consciousness. Kaden became stunned for a moment despite his defenses. What would that have done, if the was undefended?

This gave opening to Serin who quickly rushed to close range. Before Kaden could avoid it, Serin touched Kaden’s forehead with his finger. Kaden immediately felt paralyzed.

“Haa!” Serin said. “Now lets see what we have here.”

“Shit”, Kaden was able to think, but not do anything else. He felt like some unfamiliar presence was moving about at the edges of his mind. It felt slimey and disgusting. Kaden directed as much mana as he could towards it. Only thing he could say for sure was that it slowed down.

“Struggle all you want”, Serin said mockingly. “Once I peel off your concious mind, I’ll make your subconscious mine. I’ll have you prance around and caw like a bird for my entertainment. At least at first.”

Kaden was struggling furiously, but it was just like Serin said. He could not push him out and he felt Serin pass deeper moment after moment.

“Aaaand thats the last layer of defense”, Serin said. “Now lets ...”

RAGE!

Serin screamed and took steps backwards holding his head.

“What the hell is that!” Serin screamed. “Is that your mind?!”

Kaden was not sure what was supposedly so wrong with his mind, but finally he could move again. Some of that rage had spilled out and he wanted to destroy Serin. Break him. Tear him apart.

Without considering much else, Kaden leaped at Serin who apparently was not casting his spell at the time. Kaden felt no resistance or that effect he had previously all the time. That or he simply was able to ignore it this time.

Kaden slammed Serin against the floor which cracked a bit. Then he slammed him again other direction. Over and over again. He wanted to hurt him and not quickly kill him!

Yet that thought finally caused that little bit of rage subside slightly as he remembered he had a plan. The plan!

“Thats right… I had a plan!”, Kaden thought and looked at the bloodied Serin. He was unconscious but alive. “I must not kill him too quickly. Hehehehe.. yes thats it.”

----

Serin woke up after some time. He immediately found himself being bound with formations. He could not move the slightest bit, except his head.

“I demand you release me!” Serin said with a raspy voice. Then noticed his demands had no effect. “What have you done! What are you doing?!”

Kaden ignored him. He had made sure Serin would not be able to use any mana. He carefully walked around the setup he had crafted around Serin and made sure there were no mistakes.

“Yes, that should do it”, Kaden muttered to himself. “This should work as a focus! Its not that different from the original. Just alteration to its purpose and what it uses.”

Kaden had made a circle around Serin who was at the middle. Some geometric shapes crisscrossed everywhere. To an uneducated observer it might have seemed like a formation, but it was not. It was more like physical representation of casting a spell than a cleverly constructed machines like formations were.

Kaden’s plan? He wanted to use Serin as a focus to enchant the blade he had made from the Titanite, that he had used for his armor already a while ago. He had made that blade at the same time and put it away for future use. Now was the time to use it.

Enchanting needed a ritual, which was the circle. Internal focus, the blade he had prepared and then the main piece, Serin, the external focus.

Serin was a significant target of his vengeance! That could be used to draw large amount of vengeance mana and put it into the blade. Kaden was certain this would result into a weapon which he could use to bring his vengeance into existence with its purest possible form!

Being used as a focus for that vengeance type mana to transform the blade into a vessel of vengeance was not going to be quick nor merciful to Serin. No no no no. That wouldn’t be the case at all.

Kaden was pretty sure what he was doing what quite illegal. Even if his ‘sacrifice’ was an enemy and a degenerate. To begin with people who could draw out and use vengeance mana were not the sort of people anyone wanted to walk about freely. That sort of people had simply put fallen off the hinges at some point. Badly.

Kaden didn’t really mind what being able to do what he was going to do signified. In fact, it made him feel that even the mana acknowledged his way. No such thing was real, but this didn’t matter much either.

“Answer me!” Serin continued to scream. Kaden had sound proofed the place too. He expected things to get loud. “What have you done! Who are you! What are you!”

Kaden pulled out the blade he had prepared. He concentrated on all his hate and rage. He imagined the people he wanted to kill and in which ways. Numerous ways. He didn’t know all of them or what they looked like, but he still imagined them. He gathered the essence of that… vengeance. Then he directed it into the blade.

The blade started to glow with pallid green color. Without the enchanting ritual it would eventually leak out and, even if Kaden filled it again every time, the effect would be weak.

“That mana!” Serin shouted. His eyes were now bulging out with surprise as he stared intently at the blade. “That mana is vengeance!”

“Oh, I shouldn’t be surprised you know of it”, Kaden said as he stepped closer to Serin. “You must have had quite a few people come after you over time.”

“Your mind! I understand now”, Serin said. He seemed to be more curious about Kaden rather than what the mana in Kaden’s hand meant for him. “Who am I to you!”

“A few years ago, I was but a weakling child in front of you”, Kaden started to explain. He wanted Serin to know. “We were to be sent as cannon fodder at the saints. At that time you took my mother among some others. Seeing this place and knowing what you do, fills me with rage when I think of what might have happened to her before the battle.”

“That bitch!” Serin laughed. “I remember! Those villagers were not going to last so I put them on some quick extra training! Do you know what I made that slut do? Hahahaha. I had her ...”

“Your words will only increase my rage and thus your pain”, Kaden said and slammed the blade into Serin’s chest.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”, Serin screamed and screamed. Along his scream some blood droplets started to spew out from his mouth. His throat had torn apart as he screamed. Yet, the screaming continued even, if his physical body could not scream any longer.

That pale green light lit up the circle. Soon after Serin’s screaming body started to glow too and the blade started to pulse brighter with it.

Waves of that green mana burst out one after another and the room started to shake. Kaden frowned as he wondered, if the room could handle the ritual until its end, but there was no stopping it.

Serin’s still screaming body flickered and translucent version of him was slowly pulled out from his body. The body silenced, but the translucent one still continued to scream.

This was Serin’s soul. Everyone had one. It was the concept of you. It was usually very hard to interact with or do anything to, but any damage to it directly damaged your very existence. The vengeance mana was inflicting all the torment it could through it. This allowed it to produce pain beyond what physical body could feel.

Parts of Serin’s soul seemed to shatter like glass and then reform. Then tear apart and reform. Over and over again.

The blade glowed brighter on each cycle.

Then something unexpected happened. A dark human shaped shadow appeared into the room. Kaden immediately noticed the ghost. Then more and more of them appeared. Shadows, orbs of light. All of that was now in the room.

“What is this?” Kaden looked at the phenomenon. Enchanting was not a precise method. Things could happen that you didn’t expect. No, more correct way was to say something would happen that you couldn’t predict. “These ghosts. They were created when people died who had great grudge against Serin.”

Kaden’s assumption was probably correct.

The ghosts then moved forwards and started tearing at Serin too. The room started to shake more and the blade grow even brighter, yet with somehow more darker green.

The ghosts were literally tearing apart Serin too. The rage and hate that had formed them took part in the ritual.

“If the ritual can handle this to the end this is good!” Kaden thought.

The ritual circle pulsed more and more often and the roars of hate from the ghosts added a chorus on the background sound. Serin’s soul started to crumble down into a smaller form and the ghosts did same along with it.

The room was shaking and Kaden had to take cover due to the violent mana being released as he watched the rituals end unfold. Serin’s soul was being compressed into the blade. It was not really recognizable as Serin anymore, but Kaden knew Serin was well aware still and his pain was not even nearly at its end.

At the moment Serin finally disapeared into the blade along with the ghosts that were tearing and biting at him, a blast of mana was released. The circle shattered. All furniture in the room were blasted away. Door that was still reinforced by Kaden shattered. Kaden himself was knocked against a wall, but it was not problem to him. Instead he was grinnin in joy.

----

At this time at Sacronan’s capital deep inside the Temple of Sacred Path. The main temple of Sacronan’s gods. The man holding the title of Sanctus stirred.

“Hmmmm, vengeance that I’m involved in?” Sanctus muttered to himself. “Its too weak. I’ll still have someone check it.”

It wasn’t unusual for those strong enough to feel when mana was disturbed. There were many even entirely natural events that could cause such disruptions. It didn’t even have to be anything strong. Like a stone tossed into a still pond. Waves would be detected even if the stone was tiny.

----

Juren sneezed and felt somewhat uncomfortable. He didn’t even realize this was something of note.

----

Marwen woke up from his meditations. Then continued. He also did not realize anything.

----

Erral who had returned at Corand after his wounds had healed felt some discomfort, but did not realize anything.

----

Ragur was sipping tea. Then he stopped and raised his head as if he was listening to something.

“Weak”, Ragur muttered. “Can’t even tell direction. Well, its not the first time. My tea feels ruined now. Maybe I should piss off less people. I can’t even enjoy my tea with so many people wanting to murder me.”

He tossed away the tea.

----

Lorien was attending certain higher up party. He was slightly annoyed and wondered why he went there. Then he felt something.

“Ah, what have I done this time to get some lunatic after me?” Lorien thought to himself and felt even more annoyed afterwards. The party was a mistake.

----

Havil was having an argument with some of the other sect elders. He then paused his speech and frowned. He felt something, but couldn’t say what it was. Then he ignored it.

----

Korvin was conducting some experiments. One part of the contraption he had made exploded. It was just a minor part, but it was weak point that easily suffered from disruptions.

Korvin also could not say what he just felt that disturbed him. He was slightly annoyed, but ignored it.

----

Kaden was entirely unaware that the vengeance mana his ritual had released had been noticed. Yet, only those who he wished to strongly kill could feel it. Also some other people Kaden was unaware of or simply had not thought of yet, but were involved somehow, felt something. This was because his vengeance mana resonated with all those specific people.

What Kaden was concerned at the moment was the blade in his hand. As he had pulled it out of Serin’s mutilated corpse, he saw the mana had twisted it into nearly unrecognizable shape. Kaden was elated that the ritual had been a success.

It was at that moment one of the more horrifying weapons had been born.

Its name was Vengeance.