Chapter 1: The beginning

It was a sunny day on the Frascoia Continent. The sun rays were reaching all parts of the world, illuminating the dark corners with brilliant radiance.

The Frascoia Continent was a world with myriad races such as Celestials, Demons, Humans, Elves, Mermaids, Monsters, Dwarves, and so on…

Celestials lived in a location called Heaven; It was considered beyond the Sky. The Demons lived in a place known as Purgatory; it was also called Underworld. Meanwhile, Humans lived on the mainland, known as the Frascoia Continent.

~~

3rd day, 10th Month of Year 5,214,412…

A young man of nearly 17-year-old was huffing crazily as he ran for his life within the Sinyalian Kingdom forest. Two vipers chased after him with bloodshot eyes in a zigzag manner.

Blue, straight hair gently hanging over a fair, worried face. Dark red eyes, set well within their sockets. All in all, he could be considered quite handsome and was sure to be a heartthrob for women.

This young man's name was Edwin Rhodes. He was the son of the Marquis of the Kingdom of Sinyal.

In his mind, he was cursing himself 'Why did I have to encounter two vipers at the 3 Stars Rank?! The two guards barely resisted before they died…'

From the situation, it was clear that this young noble had come to hunt with another two guards. However, his guards were undoubtedly dead as they had been bitten by these two poisonous vipers.

Suddenly, as Edwin was running, he heard a loud roar. It was a roar that scared him immediately and froze him on the spot.

Instinctively, he knew that this was the roar of a Tiger!

'Oh shit! I can't escape from such a Beast! If only I had more Ardor, I would be able to escape.'

Suddenly, he remembered the two threats who chased after him. He turned around and almost breathed in relief as he found those two vipers nowhere.

It appeared that this roar didn't just startle him, but it had also scared off those vipers.

"Well, this is one good thing, at least."

Soon enough, he felt a drop of water hitting his head. Edwin raised his head with a frown and observed the clouds.

The dark clouds had covered the entire Sky.

"Just great… Now comes the rain." He grumbled unhappily and jogged towards his east.

He left the tiger's territory and found a safe place to rest until he could recover his Ardor and then return to his city.

As he was jogging, he soon found a dark cave.

A cheerful look appeared on Edwin's face as he muttered, "Just great. I even found a cave. Let's hope this is not the residence of some monster. If it is… That would be tragic."

Edwin cautiously approached the cave while picking up two stones.

He also looked at his surroundings and was soon familiar with them. Without any hesitation, he threw the first stone in the cave.

Edwin heard the stone strike the walls of the cave.

Soon enough. Edwin was nowhere to be seen. Currently, he was hiding behind a tree while using a skill to conceal his aura.

He didn't feel any presence from that cave. But still, from that same spot, he threw another stone. The stone hits the outer walls this time. And Edwin continued to conceal his aura with a unique technique.

After waiting for 5-10 minutes, Edwin concluded that the cave should be safe. If a beast did reside in this cave, it was probably in a deep sleep.

As long as he was careful, he shouldn't wake it up and would have a chance to escape.

Taking one more look at the dark cave from outside, Edwin mustered up whatever bits of courage he had and entered the cave.

As Edwin continued to walk, he had an eerie feeling. His instincts were screaming at him to run away…

However, his curiosity forced him to dive even deeper and investigate exactly what it was.

'Have I found some inheritance ground left behind by some expert?'

This question appeared in Edwin's mind as he had read in some books that a few human experts left behind their inheritances before they were about to die. These inheritances were supposed to assist humans in fighting on equal grounds against monsters or demons.

Edwin started to get more excited. If this was indeed an inheritance ground, then he had struck a lottery. His family might just rise further in the Noble Family Ranks of the Kingdom of Sinyal.

He continued to head even deeper into the cave.

Edwin had no idea for how long he had walked. It was to such an extent that he could no longer see any light rays enter the area. He was growing more nervous with each step forward.

Soon enough, he did reach an empty room within this cave.

Once Edwin reached this place, he felt that he had arrived at the location because his senses told him that this was the spot with the densest energy.

He raised his hand and used Ardor. A blue light started shinning on top of Edwin's palm, and Edwin moved ahead while its light spread to the surrounding.

The place was unexpectedly clean. Edwin was sure that there was not even the presence of an ant.

But still, if this was an inheritance ground, that would fit the description from the books he had read.

He walked even further. Soon enough, the blue light fell upon some drawings on the walls. There were a few pentagons or some other formations. They were very unfamiliar to Edwin, though.

Edwin decided to go along the wall, and soon the light reached a Wooden Statue that stood erect near the wall on the Western Side.

'Is this the person whose inheritance ground this is?'

The wooden statue was quite tall. Edwin had to go near it and raise the Blue Ardor to see it wholly.

Soon enough, the entire Wooden Statue was in his view. And as soon as he saw the whole Wooden Statue, Edwin's expression changed from curiosity to dread. This was because he noticed that the head of the Wooden Statue was Giant Skull. Moreover, as he looked closely, this Giant Skull was wearing a few bones as its necklace.

Edwin knew what it was. This was a Demon God's Statue!

He had misread it as an inheritance of a Human expert, but in reality, it had turned out to be a Demon God's Statue.

'Oh, no! If there is a Demon God's Statue here, does that mean demons live here?! How come the Kingdom has no idea about them?!'

Edwin knew that he could think about the answer later. He immediately turned and ran towards the direction from which he entered.

However, before he could take 3 steps, he felt a sudden burst of energy from the Totem.

This sudden burst of energy froze him in his tracks. He wanted to run… He tried to scream… But Edwin felt as if his body wasn't in his control.

At this moment, he also heard an icy cold voice in his head, "It would have been better if you took 2 more steps towards the Totem. It is a pity that I had to use some Demonic Energy to restrain an inferior human like you. Never mind, I can't really be picky at such a time."

Edwin questioned in his mind 'W-Who are you?'

"Demon God Azaroth."

A cold voice resounded in his mind, and with that, Edwin's consciousness vanished.