Chapter 1: Refraction

The carriage rolled down the open street, flanked on all sides by bronze knights and leading several soldiers. Three silver knights sat in the interior, surrounding their lord.

“Your Highness, we’ve almost arrived,” said one of the knights, a bearded warrior named Paulman.

“We’ve almost reached our destination, but are we any closer to our actual goal? That is what concerns me,” Prince Lupin replied.

The jaded words befit the situation, for after months of dead ends and dead soldiers, his patience was nearing its end, but he was too tired for anger. His knights understood his weariness and that he directed blame at no one. They, too, were fatigued by stress and fighting with nothing to show for it.

All conquerors, be they liberators or tyrants, inevitably fell victim to the weight of responsibility upon claiming dominion over new lands. Here in Welindar, Lupin was no different. This beastman city had held back the armies of Uther for years, before, at last, falling under his control. He had won the city, but keeping it was a new battle against a new breed of enemies.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but the laces of my boot broke this morning, a bad omen,” said another silver knight, a young man.

“So does that mean we can blame you for any bad luck we might suffer?” the bearded knight asked.

“If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead.”

“Paulman, Reynolds, you two shouldn’t talk like that. We should all keep our spirits raised and focused. Besides, I have a good feeling about today,” said the prince’s personal healer and secretary, a woman with short blonde hair. She glanced at the prince, looking for any reaction, but he stared out the window. It was probably for the best, as his word of agreement or praise would redden her cheeks.

The carriage drove past a perimeter of Utheric soldiers, keeping the street and surrounding houses free of civilians. The citizens of Welindar stood at the edge, glued to their spots by curiosity. Men, women, and children all bore the traits of their totem beasts with pride, from ears and tails to beaks and claws. The arrival of the royal carriage parted the crowd without issue, and it pulled to a stop in front of a house surrounded by soldiers, and everyone disembarked.

“What’s the current situation?” Lupin asked, speaking to a bronze knight at the scene.

“We have everything locked down, My Lord, as per your orders for such events. A man bearing the insurgent mark was spotted and pursued here to this house. We found him hiding in the cellar, as well as a concealed door to a larger underground structure. None of us can make sense of what’s inside, but hopefully, Your Highness, it’s what you’re looking for.”

Lupin looked over to a pig-faced man tied to a tree beside the house, already bearing several cuts and bruises. “Has he said anything yet?”

“No, sire. He’s a strong one.”

“Did you check for parasites?”

“He’s clean.”

“Good, keep him there.”

Guarded by his knights, Lupin entered the house and found the cellar door. With torches in hand, the four descended below ground. The earthy room was nothing special, holding just some tools, preserved food, and drying plants, but that’s how it was supposed to look. There was an open door disguised as the dirt wall around it, and upon passing through, the prince and his subordinates found themselves walking down stone steps in a brick-and-mortar passage. They could see a light at the end, bringing them to a new chamber stinking of rotting flesh and chemicals.

“By the gods,” the female knight gasped upon the sight before her.

“I’m afraid the gods had nothing to do with this,” Lupin cursed.

Before them was a table upon which a bipedal creature lay after being opened up and dissected. Its skin looked molted like necrotic muscle, and each limb had a different bone structure, but, looking at the head, it was clear this thing was human at one time. Several jars sat along the table, each holding one of the creature’s removed organs. There were other tables, not covered in bodies, but strange tools and equipment, and numerous papers written with magic formulas and nonsensical data. The light came from several illuminated glass tanks set against the wall. Within each one, a large flatworm-type creature gestated in clear liquid.

“We’ve finally found it, the source of the infestation,” said Paulman.

“No, this isn’t the true source. This is just a singular support station,” said Lupin as he examined the workshop of horrors. There were numerous magical tools that he could not identify, made of either metal or some unknown material. The documents used a mix of magic ruins and letters of the local language, perhaps some kind of code, but it might as well have just been gibberish.

“Nell, go back and tell the soldiers to bring the suspect to the castle for interrogation. I want him spilling all his secrets before I get back. Then begin questioning the neighbors.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As she left, Lupin turned to Reynolds. “Don’t touch that body. Nothing living or dead in here gets handled without gloves on.”

“Prince Lupin!” they then heard Nell shriek from outside.

The three men rushed outside to a scene of horror. The pig-nosed man was gone, replaced with a hulking bipedal boar, knocking soldiers aside like ragdolls. He was twice the size of an average man, walking on hooved feet while swinging his massive arms like tree trunks. He released a deranged snarl from between a pair of long tusks and two sets of jagged teeth, accentuated by a grunt with every attack. Beastmen could either change their appearance to take on some of the traits of their totem beasts or turn into animals altogether, but not a snarling juggernaut like this. This was the result of an outside force.

The surrounding soldiers and knights lunged with their weapons, slashing and stabbing at the monster with everything they had. Their swords were enchanted with light magic, inflicting holy damage to the creature that burned his flesh, but it wasn’t nearly enough to save them from his wrath and fury. Irritated by the knights’ holy steel, the beast grabbed one soldier and threw him, sending him crashing through a nearby house, then shrieked as another soldier stabbed him in the back with a spear. He turned and swatted the soldier with a backhand strike, but that was enough to send him flying through the air with mangled limbs and a crushed torso.

“Archers, keep him distracted! The rest of you, aim for his legs!” Lupin shouted.

The soldiers followed his commands, with archers blanketing the monster’s face and chest with arrows and the melee fighters ducking under the barrage and attacking his legs. However, though they could tear his flesh and bloody his coarse fur, their blades and arrows struggled to cut through his muscles, and any pain they inflicted increased his fury. He grabbed one soldier, ignoring the man’s terrified screaming as he pulled his meal towards his jaws.

Paulman jumped into the fray, striking the back of the monster’s knee with his glowing axe. Forced to kneel, the snarling boar was too distracted to kill the soldier he was holding. As he roared in pain, Reynolds, holding a crossbow, took careful aim, but the bow was empty. Blue mana crept along the weapon as moisture gathered from the air and formed a bolt of suspended water.

He pulled the trigger, and with the assistance of magic, the launched bolt embedded itself in the monster’s eye socket. The arrow then burst with explosive force, as all the drops were repelled from each other, setting off a powerful shockwave. While not a fatal wound, it distracted the monster long enough for the grabbed soldier to escape.

“Spearmen! Now!” Lupin ordered. The infantry troops charged in and stabbed the monster from all sides, sending their pikes deep into his chest. “There is a parasite hidden somewhere on his body! Find it!”

Despite the impalement of his organs with holy steel, the monster would not stay down for long. Already, pus was oozing from the wounds as they closed around the spears, and his body was beginning to further mutate.

“My Lord, I think I saw it when I was taking aim before,” said Reynolds as he formed another liquid arrow. “It appears to be attached to the roof of his mouth!”

“Kill it, now.”

Reynolds shouldered his weapon again, trying to get a clean shot, but the boar regained his fighting spirit before he could release it. The beast leaned down and devoured one soldier’s head, then raised his arm, now sporting long claws at the tips of his fingers, and slashed another soldier across the chest, ripping him wide open. The monster got back to his feet, having healed from Paulman’s attack, and when he tried to deliver another swing of his axe, he was kicked square in the chest. His armor was bent and crumpled like a tin can, bearing a perfect mark from the monster’s hoof. Knocked through the air and vomiting blood, he was still faring better than the soldiers being crushed and ripped apart by the rabid behemoth.

As the boar was about to grab another soldier, a length of chain wrapped around his wrist, wielded by Lupin. Before the monster could react, Lupin swung the other end of the chain and struck his foe in the Adam’s Apple with pinpoint accuracy and crushing force. The boar staggered back, struggling to breathe, and Lupin acted. The chain around the beast’s wrist unraveled as though it had a mind of its own and returned to the prince.

“Critical Sequence!” he cast, the chain now glowing.

Holding the chain by the middle, he swung it with practiced grace and technique and whipped the boar across the chest with both ends. Blood flowed from two shallow cuts, courtesy of the metal spikes at the ends of the chain. Lupin didn’t allow the chain to stop for even a moment, already twisting his body and pulling it back to lash out again. He whipped the boar a second time, cutting even deeper than before. Still swinging his arm, Lupin pulled the chain back and struck thrice, splashing blood in all directions.

With each swing, the damage continued to increase as more and more mana radiated from the chain. The sharp tips soon carved deep through flesh and muscle like a razor blade. This was Lupin’s unique warrior magic, whip magic. Enraged by the wounds, the boar charged while wildly swinging his arms. Lupin dodged the mad tackle and whipped the boar’s back.

“Blind Strangle!” He switched his grip on the chain, holding it by one end and delivering another whiplash, this time with the chain wrapping around the monster’s throat. “Men, to me!” Lupin shouted as he pulled on the chain. The remaining soldiers jumped into action, helping him by grabbing the chain and trying to pull the boar back. The monster struggled to breathe and clawed at the chain, but no matter what he did, it wouldn’t loosen. Moving closer to the prince and creating some slack in the line didn’t alleviate the crushing grip.

“Reynolds, bring it down!”

With the boar fighting for air, his mouth was wide open. Looking down the water bolt in his crossbow, Reynolds spotted a black lump in the monster’s mouth and released. His aim was true, and the bolt skewered the parasite and ripped it apart with the resulting explosion. The parasite’s death brought immediate transformation, with the hulking boar shrinking back down and returning to a human shape. However, the man still showed signs of mutation and deformities, and though Lupin wished for the chance to question him, he was already dead.

Looking down at the twisted corpse, Lupin sighed and coiled his chain. “Nell, how is Paulman?”

Nearby, his subordinate was crouched over the wounded knight, desperately flooding his body with holy magic. “It’s bad, My Lord. All of his ribs are broken and I think both of his lungs have been punctured. I’m not sure I can save him!”

Lupin looked around at all the dead and wounded soldiers, then turned to a bronze knight. “Ride back to the castle and bring back every healer, as well as potions. Make haste!”

“Yes sir!”

As the injured were tended to, Prince Lupin returned to the hidden lab. Reynolds followed him, finding the prince once more looking through papers.

“My Lord?”

“It’s got to be here, some clue or answer to whatever it is that’s going on, something that will shed light on this nightmare.” He angrily threw the pages down and walked off with his hand over his eyes.

“If it is, we’ll find it.”

“But will we even be able to understand it?” The prince approached the glass tanks along the wall and stared at the parasites within. They seemed aware of his presence, tapping at the glass with their fanged proboscises. “I’ve employed the greatest minds available to make sense of what these things are, what our enemies are doing, but even they are at a loss. These beasts are not born of any god or spirit. They were made using powers beyond our understanding.

If this was just an infestation or plague, we could fight it, stomp it out, burn every trace until nothing was left and drive them to extinction, but this is an orchestrated atrocity. We stand in the presence of evil, looking upon the creations of men more intelligent than we could ever hope to be and endlessly more insidious. We might as well be sifting through ashes while the house still burns.”

“Sir, there must be something we can do.”

Lupin sighed. “There is. I know of one man who may be able to help us, one man who understands these abominations.”

“Oh, Noah!” Elisandra moaned in ecstasy, holding him tightly as he drove his throbbing manhood deep inside her, setting off a climax like a key unfastening a lock. Valia lay beside them, her naked ebony body glistening with sweat and her chest heaving from her rapid breaths of fatigue, having just endured a mind-shattering sexual bombardment that made her arch her back and curl her toes in ecstasy.

The three had gathered in the queen’s bedroom, enjoying another night of sexual paradise. In the months since their return from Kisara Island, Noah and Valia had repeatedly included the elf queen in their intimacy. Their first threesome was to appease the spirits of nature, but ever since then, it was rather hard to resist temptation. The queen of Sylphtoria, the Sword Goddess, and the Wandering Spirit were hooked on the drug of sensuality, indulging in hedonism of the highest class.

Noah sat back, gasping for air like Elisandra and sporting fresh nail marks on his shoulders. The queen lay before him, her golden hair a mess, her cheeks flushed, and her hourglass body polished by perspiration. She was gorgeous, putting human women to shame. Between her and Valia, it was no wonder Noah had developed a fondness for elves, and the way they looked at him projected their unquestionable love.

Having caught his breath, Noah moved over to Valia, and they shared a long, passionate kiss. He laid beside her, putting her between him and the queen, and she raised her leg so he could penetrate her once more. Even on his side, his strokes were deep and fast, drawing a sensual moan and making her breasts quake. Watching them, Elisandra slid her hand between her legs and began to hum in bliss. Despite just receiving Noah’s vigorous affection, her jealousy burned hot, and watching him pleasure Valia riled her up.

When Noah started nibbling on the tip of Valia’s ear, her sinful voice reached new octaves but was heard by no one other than her two lovers. Noah’s noise-canceller was active beside the bed, trapping the sounds of lewd moans and primal grunts. After a few minutes, Noah finally pulled out Valia, leaving her thoroughly satisfied. He rolled on his back, feeling the weight of his fatigue crushing him.

However, Elisandra wasn’t ready to let him rest yet. Grinning lewdly, she crawled over and grasped his manhood with her greedy mouth. She savored the taste of Valia’s arousal on Noah’s cock, mixed with her own, and pleasured him with all her accumulated skill. If the elves could see their queen as she was, watch her choke herself with Noah’s throbbing member, what would they say?

Once it was back to full strength, Elisandra got on top of Noah and lowered herself onto his cock. She rode him with unbridled passion, bobbing up and down on his lap and crying out as he plunged deep inside her. Her titanic breasts bounced with each rise and fall, an image of sexual perfection, as though shaped by the gods for this exact purpose. Noah sat up and voraciously attacked the pale orbs, sucking on her nipples and massaging deep into her flesh with his fingers. The elegant queen shivered as he played with her tits, but the two were separated by Valia getting in the way.

“I’m not done with you yet.”

While Elisandra continued riding Noah’s cock, Valia sat on his face, letting him dine on her nectar, and he accepted the offer gluttonously. He hollowed the two elves out with his cock and his tongue, making them moan through the union of their combined lips. They maintained his position for a while, no one in a rush to move on, and finally, Noah grunted as he had his orgasm. Elisandra shuddered happily as she felt Noah’s hot cum fill her, feeling so perverse and sinful.

She dismounted Noah, and Valia cleaned him with her mouth, licking up every drop of semen and restoring his softening member to total rigidity. Having regained his strength, Noah seized Valia and took her from behind. Gripping her hips, he attacked her slit with a series of powerful thrusts, fucking her so hard and fast that she couldn’t remain on all fours. As Noah pleasured Valia, Elisandra spread her legs before her. Valia needed no instruction and went down on the queen, eating the creampie that Noah had left in her. This continued until Noah emptied the last of his reserves into Valia, with a few drops running down her inner thighs.

The three collapsed, drained of all strength.

“Spectacular,” Elisandra purred.

“It always is,” Noah sighed contently.

“Is there any wine left?” Valia asked. Though she and Elisandra had been intimate several times before, she still liked to be a little tipsy before they discarded their clothes. She retrieved the bottle on the bedside table and drank heavily to quench her thirst, then let Noah and Elisandra do the same.

“The two of you are going to turn me into an irredeemable harlot at this rate,” said Elisandra.

“Consider this a bastion to be your true self then,” Noah replied.

“The problem is that if I stay too long, it becomes so hard to turn back.”

“I know that feeling. After Noah and I left Colbrand, certain sensibilities went up in smoke rather quickly,” said Valia.

“So the two of you met at the knight academy? Student and teacher, so taboo, so romantic. When did you fall for each other?”

“During a very intense sparring match on the first day. After that, it was too late to turn back,” said Noah.

“Well, we didn’t truly start our relationship until we left Colbrand, but we knew long before then where we were heading, so once we were finally alone, let’s just say that there was no point in waiting around and taking things slow.”

“I can just imagine,” Elisandra giggled.

Thoroughly satisfied, the three fell asleep among the twisted sheets. Noah lay in the middle with Valia on his left side and Elisandra on his right, the two elf maidens snuggling up close. Hours later, Noah’s phone began to ring. It was his alarm.

Only a handful of elves knew of the queen’s relationship with Noah and Valia, including Lour and Aithorn. Everyone else who knew had died on Kisara Island. That said, they wanted to keep things secret from the public. When visiting the palace for a tryst, Noah and Valia were as stealthy as possible and left before dawn.

“Elisandra, it’s time for me to go,” said Noah, amused with how tightly the queen held onto him.

“Just a little bit longer,” she murmured.

“Very well. Valia?”

“I got it.”

With Noah locked in Elisandra’s embrace, Valia reached over to the bedside table, smothering Noah’s face with her breasts and tapping the screen as he had taught her. Now granted a few more minutes of serenity, she put her arm around Noah and pressed herself against his back, with Noah holding Elisandra close, sandwiched between the two elves. Immersed in each other’s warmth, the three drifted in and out of consciousness as the sky brightened and the birds initiated their morning chorus.

When Noah’s alarm went off a second time, Elisandra tried again to keep Noah pinned, but he and Valia, with much reluctance, managed to pull themselves from her bed. “I have lived for over a thousand years, and yet waiting for you two to return feels like an eternity,” she sleepily mumbled, holding Noah’s hand.

He leaned down and kissed hers. “But we will, soon enough.”

After getting dressed and collecting their things, Noah and Valia left the palace. The castle consisted of two parts, with Elisandra living in the mansion above the canopy, and the supporting foundation, made of the ancient trees weaving together, serving as the fortress where the guards stayed. They patrolled at all hours of the day, even more fervently after the incident with the succubus. With their sharp hearing, even someone like Valia would struggle to sneak out, but fortunately, Noah was by her side.

After the trials and near-death experiences at Kisara Island, Noah’s magical abilities had undergone a growth spurt. Initially, his invisibility spell could hide only his presence, and his mana slid off others like oil and water, but now, he could shield others simultaneously under certain conditions.

As they walked the corridors, Noah held Valia’s hand, and his mana flowed from him and wrapped around her. Moving weakened the concealing effect, leaving them visible but silencing their footprints. When a guard approached, they’d remain perfectly still, allowing Noah’s mana to deepen the illusion and hide them both from sight, as well as concealing their scents and any noises they made. The guard would walk by, unaware of their presence.

Once they slipped into the city below, Noah released the spell, and they walked carefree to their home. By now, early risers were beginning their morning chores and routines. Anyone who passed Noah and Valia would bow their heads and recite an elvish greeting, which they returned. For saving the queen and countless other elves, Noah had received the title of Lord, but more importantly, Noah’s existence as an ancient being, something he had concealed for thousands of years, was now recognized. Though he still had the body of a human, the elves treated him as one of their own.

Upon reaching home, Noah and Valia retired to their bed to enjoy a few more hours of sleep. A morning nap was non-negotiable, considering their vigorous nighttime activities with the queen. They snoozed together like lazy cats, eventually getting up to start the day. After breakfast, they took time to exercise. Valia performed the Dance of the Ivunara, an elven ritual that loosened the muscles and focused the mind. Noah underwent his workout routine, combining yoga, calisthenics, weight-lifting, and several other techniques perfectly mixed and cultivated over centuries.

Once finished, Valia sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow. “That was nice. So, shall we head to the library?”

“We could, but how about a little more exercise?”

Valia giggled. “Do you mean bedroom exercise?”

“I was thinking a something less sensual, but just as intense.” Noah held out his hand and conjured his sword. “Interested?”

“A little steel-on-steel? I like the sound of that. We haven’t sparred since the academy.” The two faced each other, gripping their swords.

“Now come at me,” said Noah.

Valia indulged him, rocketing forward with her sword, aiming straight for Noah’s face. He parried the attack and went on the offense, but Valia spun around and blocked his counterattack. Noah disengaged and went in for an uppercut slash, yet Valia dodged the swing and aimed for his neck, only for Noah to duck under the blade and narrowly miss her with a kick. Valia jumped back, and Noah pursued her with a hurricane of slashes.

They went at it with full force, attacking and defending as though their lives were on the line. Their blades met several times each second, sounding like the chirping birds around them and catching the ears of every elf nearby. After fighting Valia multiple times, Noah had realized how incredible she was. She switched between styles effortlessly, lunging like a berserker, slashing like a samurai, thrusting like a fencer, and moving like a dancer.

To counter, Noah focused not on trying to inflict damage, but on breaking Valia’s stance and rhythm. He darted back and forth around Valia to attack from all sides, each step a leap that allowed him to move like he was bouncing. Most of his attacks were feints, trying to cloud her reflexes with anticipation and doubt. Noah was good at hiding his tells and avoiding patterns, but that was against humans.

At one moment, he appeared behind her, and Valia’s elf eyes scanned his intent. Though it looked like he was attacking, he was actually defending himself. If she counterattacked, he’d break her momentum and take advantage, and if she tried to circumvent his guard, he’d nullify her. His position was a trap, so rather than engage him, she focused on his next jump, and when he moved, she intercepted. A flurry of attacks rained down on Noah, but none of them managed to even scratch his clothing.

Valia had the natural grace and speed of the elves and centuries of training, but Noah had thousands of years of accumulated hand-eye coordination and no shortage of combat experience, letting him block and dodge her attacks with identical expertise. When they first fought, Noah’s proficiency with the blade wowed Valia, and that was when his skills were considerably rusty. Now, after training under her and fighting numerous opponents in this world, he was an unquestionable sword master.

An audience soon began to form, with soldiers and citizens alike stopping what they were doing to observe the match from throughout the city. They perched like eagles on branches, walkways, and balconies and watched the fight with sharp eyes. Even among the mighty elf warriors, Valia was an unreachable existence, the best their race had to offer, but despite that, Noah was holding his own. The idea that a human could move the way he did left them awestruck.

Finally, Noah and Valia halted and sheathed their swords.

“Ah, that was just what I needed. You’ve certainly improved from that first day at the academy,” Valia said, barely out of breath.

“Thanks. It’ll still be a while before I’m able to best you.”

“Hmph, I’d say a little more than a while.”

“Quite a while?”

“There you go.”

Having nourished and strengthened their bodies, they now set out to sharpen their minds. They journeyed to the Sylphtorian library, where Noah once more buried himself in books. He and Valia had traveled to the realm of the elves, searching for more than just her brother. They also came here so Noah could try to break his reincarnation curse using elvish knowledge, and before they could move on to continue their search for Valon, Noah was going to use every scrap of information at his disposal. He was quickly mastering the elvish language, so while Valia helped where she could, translation was becoming less and less of an issue.

As a gift from the spirits, he had gained the ability to manifest his curse’s magic circle and could now begin trying to write a counterspell. However, it was no easy task. Many of the runes were unidentified and interacted with each other like both language and mathematics. It required a lot of steps, and neither Noah nor Valia could cast runecraft spells. Noah could, however, use illusion magic to perform simulations.

Working in the library, Noah would sit before a pile of scrolls, surrounded by stacks of books, devouring knowledge and regurgitating it into scribbled rune sequences, writing code with parchment and ink. He was creating spells that could process patterns, act in response, and convey visual data, like programs on a screen, and he’d simply mimic them with illusions. It was a magical spellcheck, search function, and the foundations of a translator and calculator. Since he could not read his own curse, he had to create spells to do it for him.

It took a lot of willpower to pull himself away from the library each night, but patience was a skill he had learned long ago, and he wouldn’t make the mistake of sacrificing his health. Besides, Valia gave him plenty of reason to return home, and every few days, they’d slip into the queen’s bed for some fun.

When he wasn’t in the library, he was busy creating magic tools and weapons. Valon had stolen numerous relics from the queen and lords of Sylphtoria, so Noah was compensating them with replicas and other pieces. There was no shortage of high-grade materials in the city, and he had the skills to put them to use. He used wyvern tissue, wood and sap from mythic trees, mystical alloys that had absorbed the ambient mana of Sylphtoria, and water and soil from holy sites. He’d craft and inscribe the pieces with the most powerful inks he could create.