Information

This is a work of fiction. Names, monsters, skills, places, etcetera, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by FrozenArrow. All rights reserved.

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" Where.. Am I..? "

With that sentence Iryl opened his eyes wide only to see several blurry figures around him. With his eyesight not working at its best, Iryl closed his eyes and focused on his ears.

" Iryl! What's wrong ? Have you come to your senses ? "

A familiar voice resounded in his eardrums and he slowly gave an answer without opening his eyes in order to see who it was.

" Is that you big sister Mirana ? "

" Yes! How does your body feel, does it hurt anywhere ?! "

For some reason Mirana’s voice showed slight excitement, but that didn't really matter for Iryl at the moment so he just gave a straight answer.

" Eh.. Apart from my eyes I think I am ok..? "

" Eh? Ah.. Let me check them for you! "

As Iryl regained his balance of mind, he understood that there was something different between the usual Mirana and the current one. Her voice showed enough excitement to make her look like she was out of it or absent minded.. So before opening his eyes Iryl took the initiative to ask in an almost childish way.

" Ehh.. Is there something wrong.? "

" Eh?! Ah.. No there is nothing wrong! It's just.. Just that... "

No matter how one looks at it she was clearly hiding something.. And that made Iryl feel a bit more cautious about the current situation. So he unconsciously muttered.

" ..Just..? "

" Well.. You will understand if you see it.. So let me check your eyes... "

' I have a bad feeling about this.. '

Iryl slowly opened his eyes and the blurry scene had yet to leave his eyes..

' What's wrong with my eyes god damn it.. I can't see a thing.. '

With a bit of hesitation Mirana asked about the condition of his eyes.

" So..? Can you see now..? "

" No.. Not a thing, everything is blurry.. Ohh! It starts to clear up.. Really slowly though... "

Iryl kept his eyes closed for 5 more minutes and when he felt that he would be able to see, he opened them slowly.. His vision has been restored and he blinked twice before saying..

" Ehh.. What are you all doing here..? No.. More importantly.. Why are you staring at me..? "

In the corner of his eye, close to his right shoulder but further down his arm without reaching his elbow, Iryl saw some kind of patterns resting on his previously pale white skin. There was a mix of colors that included yellow, orange, black, and a little red.. With orange and black as the two main colors filling his arm. With the help of his left hand Iryl tried to move up the white sleeve of his silky shirt in order to take a better look at what was on his arm but froze as he saw his left hand..

" What.. Is this..? "

Iryl paled as he inspected his left hand. The previously white skin was now partly covered in similar colors as his right shoulder.. With the blur finally gone now and his eyesight completely stabilizing he took a closer look at the patterns that were filling up his left hand.. What he saw was gears.. Hundreds of orange and black gears connected to one another.. Around the gears was a reddish glow that once it got more than a centimeter away from the gears turned into a pale yellow and mixed in with Iryl's pale white skin beautifully. The gears were forming a spiral around his left hand and it was getting thinner the closer it got to his palm. Not too thin but enough for someone to say that it was less than the rest of his arm.. Upon reaching the upper side of his palm it got a little thicker and formed a bigger circular gear that connected with the smaller ones. Unlike the rest the inside of the gear wasn't filled with colors such as orange or black. What filled the gear was the original white of his skin as it embedded nicely with the rest of the gear. In the middle of the circular gear was a far smaller one that extended with far smaller gears that were connected to each other holding up a pointy needle that was showing towards Iryl's middle finger. On the opposite side of the circle another needle smaller than the other one pointed towards the orange gears. After talking a closer look Iryl saw what seemed like letters where the two needles pointed. Not only there, but all around the circular gear small letters almost invincible to the naked eye were engraved on his skin. After inspecting the letters Iryl muttered to himself..

"..XI..XII..?.. A clock..? "

The words Iryl spoke didn't escape Mirana's sharp ears and soon she spoke.

" So you also think it looks like a clock huh..? "

"..Eh ? Ehh..? "

Iryl broke out of his daze and looked around him..

" Uhh.. What are you all doing here..? "

Before Iryl could open his eyes the small room was already filled to the brim with elves.. They didn't make any noise and were as silent as the furniture of the room, so.. As he focused on his tattoo's he didn't even realize he was surrounded by others.. They also didn't interrupt his as he was inspecting them expecting an answer as to what they were.. One absent minded elf among the group opened his mouth and said..

" What are we doing..? " (AN: He answered the question with a question!?! Facepalm)

"..."

Once again the same elf asked with a questioning look..

" So.. What are those..? "

' Like hell I know.. '

" Ehh.. Good question..? "

After Iryl said the above all the elves in the room made a poker face and stayed in silence.. Before anyone could say anything a loud voice came from outside..

" OUT OF THE WAY!!! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!! "

Along with the voice Narxus rushed into the room pushing the rest of the elves out of the way.. Upon seeing Iryl resting on the bed or more precisely the tattoos on his body he almost jumped next to him throwing Mirana out of her place... He quickly grabbed Iryl's hand and began inspecting the tattoos while asking over and over..

" Are you ok ?! Does it hurt anywhere ? Do you know what these are ?! Why did they suddenly apear on your body ?! "

Drool could be seen dropping out of his mouth as he was more intrested in the tattoos than the person himself.. With a small glint in his eyes and a wicked smile on his face Narxus pinned down Iryl and began unzipping the buttons on his shirt while saying..

" Get naked! Haha! "

Reminded of his previous experience with Narxus, Iryl immediately crawled to the corner of the room while screaming..

" NO!!! Someone! Anyone! Save me!! "

Narxus had a wicked grin on his face as he neared Iryl..

" Escape is futile..! "

In the elves’ eyes Narxus was a mad elf who tried to inspect Iryl.. Nothing more nothing less. While in the eyes of Iryl Narxus looked like a demon who was grinning and oozing out smoke from his face having his demon like red eyes marked and ready to eat his meal.. As Narxus moved his hand closer, Iryl made a terrified face showing how scared he was.. The next moment a punch came flying into Narxus's face and made him fly out of the window... The sound of breaking glass could be heard as he literally passed through the window while spinning in mid air..

" What do you think you are doing IDIOT NARXUS!! "

Mirana who was pushed aside before couldn't hold her anger in anymore and forced Narxus out of the room...

" Huff.. Huff... Fuu... "

After breathing heavily for a while Mirana went back to her normal self and asked Iryl..

" Are you ok..? Iryl ? "

" Big sister Mirana.. Scary... "

Like an arrow, that last word pierced Mirana's heart and she fell on her knees.. Never once had Iryl said that to her.. As he also was unaware of that kind of strength... While on her knees she was murmuring something again and again that no one could hear..

' I.. I am scary... Iryl called me scary.. '

10 Minutes later...

In the small room or cabin.. There were currently 4 elves. One of them was none other than our protagonist Iryl who was resting on the bed. The others were: Mirana who was sulking (for who knows why..), Narxus who had his head filled with gauzes and a large bruise was visible on his cheek.. As for the last person it was the previous leader of the elf group Arvin who had stepped down as the leader after Luke took over the hunting group and was now assisting around the camp. Narxus took the initiative to speak before the others..

" Get naked.. "

After he finished his two word sentence Mirana was being held down by Arvin as she kept shouting..

" I CAN'T KEEP IT IN AFTER ALL... Narxus.. I'LL KILL YOU!!! "

" Calm down Mira! That's not what he means! "

Narxus was traumatized from the earlier incident and like the wind he left Iryl’s side and was currently trembling in the corner of the room.. As he was trembling he murmured to himself..

" Monster woman... "

Thankfully Mirana's sharp ears didn't catch that and before a new incident occurred Iryl opened his mouth.

" I don't think it is what you think big sister Mirana.. I believe Narxus wants to inspect my back. "

Narxus said in a trembling voice as he heard that.

" Iryl..! Of course why else would I want you to undress..? "

The three elves went back to their original seats and I said as I was removing my shirt.

" I believe that the tattoos expanding on my body are an after effect of my first spiritual contract.. "

As Iryl removed his shirt more tattoos showed up. The gears covered both of his shoulders and went all the way to his back. But before moving there what was interesting was the tattoo that extended on Iryls front side.. The gears passed over his shoulders not touching much of his neck if not at all. The gears connected like strings over his left side where his heart was located.. More gears where passing like a thin line from his left rib cage and connected to those coming down from his shoulders. But, what was the most interesting was the giant gear clock that looked like being held up by the rest of the gears located on his heart.

Upon seeing all those tattoos on the front of his body the people around him were awestruck.. Or more precisely they didn't know what to say for something they have never encountered before..

" That's one hell of a tattoo you got there.. Just what kind of spirit did you make a contract with kid.. "

Narxus not knowing how to express it he tried to laugh it off by making a small joke.. Iryl didn't even bother answering and turned prone on the bed and showed them his back. Iryl turned his gaze to match that of the elves and as soon as he saw their faces he understood that there must have been something similar on his back.. Eaten by curiosity Iryl couldn't help but ask..

" How is it..? "

The three elves chuckled and Arvin took the initiative to explain..

" Well.. How to say it... It's.. Amazing.. I've never seen something similar to this.. "

' That's not what I asked for.. '

" Is there a word ? "

The elf took a deep breath before he gave an answer..

" Well.. There is but.. there isn't one as it should.. Apart from the word in the mid circle, with the help of the tattoos that are covering your back all eight circles that are supposed to form as you gain more spirit contracts are already formed.. The only thing missing from them are the words. "

' Well.. That's obvious isn't it..? I only made one contract.. There is no way that all eight contracts would be finished at once.. '

Arvin didn't stop there and he kept talking.

" Still.. This is amazing... What kind of spirit did you make a contract with for it to change your body so much.. "

' Technically it didn't change me.. I just got a lot of tattoos on my body.. '

Even though Iryl didn't want to expose the information that he made a contract with a spirit god. He couldn't hide it easily, so he tried to change the subject..

" Well.. What is my main ability ?! I am really.. Really curious about it! "

The three of them made a perplexed expression as they thought deeply.. Before long Narxus said..

" It must be some kind of healing ability like Mirana's.. I can't explain it else, I need more information on the spirit.. "

' God damn it! Just tell me the word already.. '

" Healing ability..? But, that doesn't make sense..? "

As Iryl said those words he realised that he would regret it after seeing Narxus eyes lit up and his grin reaching over his bruised cheek.. A drop of sweat went down Iryls forehead as he thought..

' He got me.. '

Thankfully the other two had question marks showing above their heads while Iryl and Narxus were watching each other immensely.. Mirana couldn't take it anymore and asked..

" What's wrong you two..? You have been stari.. "

As she was talking Narxus made her stop as he said.

" Mirana, Arvin can you let me and Iryl talk in private for a little ? "

Mirana frowned but soon Arvin took the initiative to speak..

" I don't know what you two want to talk about but I am sure it's something to do with your spiritual contract. And I also understand that you wouldn't want others to know.. Isn't that right Iryl..? "

Iryl didn't hesitate to nod but didn't speak.. Arvin closed his eyes for several seconds before opening them once again and said..

" If I were still the leader I would look further into this but since I no longer am I will give you 10 minutes. Let's go Mirana. "

" Ehh?! Why ? Do you want me to leave Iryl alone with this maniac ?! " (AN: I don't wish to use foul language so I am trying my hardest in order to find other ways of explanation..)

" Mirana! We are leaving! "

Arvin said in a fierce voice and Mirana nodded. Before they left she gave me one last look and I just smiled wryly.. As soon they left Narxus said.

" Now.. "

Before he could continue Iryl stoped him while saying..

" It's not a healing ability is it..? It must be close but it isn't right..? "

" Yes. It can be said it's close and it could be easily misunderstood for one but it isn't.. "

" So you took a gamble when you said that you thought it was a healing type.. "

" Well.. I was 90% sure that it wasn't but I lacked evidence. So.. I made a small trap. But, you are smart enough to be considered a genius so I didn't think you would fall for it so easily.. "

Iryl chuckled slightly before he opened his mouth.

" I didn't expect it so I had my guard down.. "

Narxus made a small grin as he gazed towards Iryl.. Before long Iryl asked the most important question.

" But, let me ask you mister Narxus why did you expect that I would try to hide my ability in the first place ? I mean is there a reason for me to hide it..? "

Narxus closed his eyes as he said.

" A reason huh..? "

He then opened his eyes and said in a serious manner.

" I know about it.. "

" About it..? "

Iryl didn't understand what he meant but soon Narxus added.

" About that little plan of yours and Luke. "

END of chapter 11

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Author's Notes: Hello everybody! Thanks for reading the chapter. Hope you enjoyed and I also hope that you will read the next one as well :D The next update will be this Wednesday! The next chapter might be a little smaller sadly. :/