Dark Born
Copyright© 2025 by Es_Orik
Chapter 18: A New Ability & Danger
Science Fantasy Sex Story: Chapter 18: A New Ability & Danger - A young man is transported to a new world as the Dark Lord, witness his rise from an ordinary college student to a being capable of causing the greatest evil.
Caution: This Science Fantasy Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Fa/Fa Mult Teenagers Consensual Romantic Lesbian Heterosexual Fiction High Fantasy Restart Magic Sharing Harem Cream Pie
It was sometime in the afternoon. Elsa stood by the window of her office, her emerald gaze fixed on the barracks’ training field below. The grounds were mostly empty today; the new recruits had been sent out on patrol, leaving only a few knights loitering about. There was no urgent need for her presence, and she wasn’t expecting any meeting. On days like this, she would normally have gone to the inn, chat a little to pass the time before returning, but after everything that happened with Katryn, she found herself hesitant.
And there was also Adam...
She still kept her word, helping him with his magic and sword skills, and they had trained together two more times since that first day. They still talked, and she praised him when deserved and corrected him when necessary. But all their interactions were strictly about training; there was none of the banter or teasing from that first day. A distance had grown between the two of them, one she herself had created.
Adam wanted to bridge it, she could tell. She was getting better at reading him, and she noticed the way he looked at her had softened; sometimes it seemed as though he even wanted to say something, but then would decide against it, knowing to just let her have this distance for now. Elsa was quietly grateful for it, she wasn’t ready to talk about the issue, it took almost everything just to continue to face him without faltering. She had confessed her feelings for him that day, leaving herself more vulnerable than she had been in a really long time, then he’d hit her with the revelation about other women.
Elsa knew he hadn’t wronged her; he had only told her the truth. And nothing had changed since that day with Katryn—she still had no claim on him, no authority over his choices. He was free to be with as many women as he wished, and yet the knowledge still cut so deeply. It was ridiculous, she told herself. She was far too busy, burdened with the protection of the kingdom, to be troubled by feelings like this. And yet she couldn’t stop the ache that had taken root in her chest and refused to fade since that day.
She was completely inexperienced dealing with feelings like this; she had only ever known combat and violence. After her parents were killed in an attack orchestrated by her uncle—an attack she’d barely survived—her adopted father took her in and put a sword in her hand. From that day on, she poured everything into mastering the world outside herself, because it was easier than facing the one within. Duty had always kept things simple. Now jealousy, anger, and bitterness kept rising, and she didn’t know how to contain them. No matter how hard she tried to shove them aside, they lingered, aching in her chest.
And if she was being honest, it wasn’t the fact that he had other women that gnawed at her. It bothered her, sure. She didn’t love imagining him with anyone else, but she knew arrangements like that were commonplace in some regions on the continent—perhaps even in his world, and she’d already known about Katryn and had, in time, made a fragile peace with it. No, what truly twisted the knife was the way it felt as though they’d just taken him from her, igniting the jealousy and bitterness that smoldered in her chest.
It was like she’d been cheated, or robbed, like someone had just strolled into a room she hadn’t stepped into yet and claimed ownership over it. Even knowing it was illogical, even reminding herself over and over again that she had no special claim or entitlement to him, it didn’t quench the thoughts, it didn’t dull the feeling of loss that gripped her.
She had found him, cared for him, watched over him, then lost him to someone else before she’d ever truly had a chance. A part of her wanted to be angry at him—even at the other women—but she knew the anger would be misplaced. They hadn’t done anything to deserve it. Maybe Katryn, but that was a deeper issue altogether. In the end, the only person she could truly be angry with was herself. It was mostly her own fault.
She’d known what she felt about him for weeks, yet she hadn’t acted on it. But, to be fair to herself, before him she’d never really believed she possessed any deep romantic instinct, or interest aside from the occasional passing attraction and fascination. So, she wouldn’t even have known how to act on it if she wished. The novelty had caused her to be uncertain, to hesitate, and while she hesitated, others hadn’t ... he hadn’t. It was only natural.
But strangely still, despite everything—despite knowing there were others, despite the distance she herself had created—she still cared for him. These strange feelings she had just refused to fade, it was as though an arrow had been lodged deep in her chest.
By the Divine ... she was a mess of a woman.
A soft knock echoed from the door, and Elsa turned just as Elliot pushed it open and stepped inside. He brought a hand to his chest in a sharp salute, then let it drop.
“Commander,” he greeted her.
Elsa returned the salute with a nod and folded her arms as she leaned lightly against the windowsill. “Elliot,” she said cordially. “What brings you here?”
He stepped forward and produced a rolled parchment from beneath his cloak, it was sealed with the royal insignia in crimson wax. As her vice-commander, he often served as the direct link between her and the higher command, especially for field assignments. He held it out to her with both hands.
“Orders from the Crown,” he replied simply.
At the words, a sharp frown immediately crossed onto Elsa’s face, and her previous preoccupation with matters of the heart fell to the back of her mind as she snapped into her role as knight commander. She wanted to believe the Order had truly come from the Crown, but she was certain the King’s Hand’s fingerprints were all over it, challenging him on the matter weeks ago had changed nothing. What orders could he possibly have now?
“What is it?” Elsa asked with narrowed eyes.
Elliot met her gaze. “We’ve been assigned to address a growing outlaw threat in the borderlands. The reports say they’ve grown bold, raiding caravans along the King’s Road and striking outlying villages. The local garrison requested the support.”
Elsa took the parchment and broke open the seal, reading the note quickly. It carried confirmation of the reports, estimates of the bandits’ numbers, and a direct command for her and the Twenty-First Knightly Company—her company—to deploy immediately.
“It seems the Hand is finally making his move,” Elliot stated.
It certainly appeared that way. The order was a transparent ploy, so obvious she saw through it instantly—designed to get her out of the city. Even if the bandit problem was real, a company of Silver-Ranks should have been enough. If a Gold-Rank was absolutely necessary, there were already capable ones nearby. Sir Gaven Mellows, for example, she’d heard he departed the city for training and was camped less than two day’s ride from the borderlands. He would be delighted with the chance to crush a band of outlaws.
Yet the order had fallen to her who was a full week’s ride away. Refusing it would mean dereliction of duty, open insubordination, courts-martial, disgrace. Still, for a fleeting moment she considered it. She didn’t know why the man wanted her out of the city, maybe he meant to have her ambushed on the road, or to eliminate Adam while she was away, or perhaps even both—she wasn’t sure, but she knew that something was coming. The small respite Adam’s mystery had bought was over. The man was ready to act again.
Elsa’s fingers tightened around the parchment until it crumpled, then she tossed it onto her desk and straightened from the windowsill. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but it’s clear that he wants me out of the city,” she muttered almost to herself.
“It certainly appears that way,” Elliot said, then a grim expression settled on his face as he looked at her expectantly. “What are your orders, Commander?”
She hesitated for a moment, considering all the options available to her. She wasn’t worried for herself at all; even if there was an ambush waiting on the road, she was sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble. It was Adam’s safety that really concerned her. Unlike her, he was vulnerable, still untrained in so many ways despite the power he had. If she left the city, and the King’s Hand made a move, if Adam died because she wasn’t here ... she didn’t know how she would carry that. Once again, the thought of defying a direct command came up in her mind, only to be dismissed just as quickly. It wouldn’t help anything. At best, she would be stripped of her position after facing court-martial, and with it, any influence she had to protect him, to change things in the kingdom. Taking the matter to the Knight Order crossed her mind, but she rejected the idea as well. The command was legitimate, at least on the surface, they would expect her to honor her oath to the Crown.
Her eyes darted to the crumpled parchment, then back to Elliot’s waiting face. There weren’t any safe choices here, whatever she decided could have drastic consequences.
“Your orders, Commander?” Elliot asked again in a low voice.
Elsa exhaled a slow breath as she came to a decision. “We’ll honor our oaths,” she said at last. “At least on the surface. It’s a full week’s ride to the border. I’ll dispatch a rider ahead to Gaven, he’s training in the mountains from what I’ve heard, and it’s close to the borderlands. If he agrees to deal with the bandit problem, we’ll have a legitimate reason to turn back early. At most, we’ll be gone three days, still close enough to return quickly.”
“So, it all depends on whether Sir Gaven agrees to help,” Elliot said.
She didn’t reply, giving only a stiff nod. She hated having to rely on someone else—especially another Gold-Rank knight—but she had no choice this time. Still, it gave some comfort that it was Gaven. Loud, rash, and aggressive, he was nevertheless decent by most measures, lacking the crushing ego and brittle pride common among the Gold-Ranks. And, she hoped, deeply, that his love of battle would be enough to win his cooperation.
“I see,” he said in understanding. “I guess there’s not much choice”
“There isn’t,” Elsa replied and met his gaze. “Also, Elliot, you won’t be joining the company. I need you to remain here in the city, to keep watch over things in my absence.”
“Commander, you might be heading into a trap. I can’t—”
“It’s all right,” Elsa cut in gently and stepped closer to him, placing her hand on his armored shoulder. “I can handle things on the road. I need you here, you’re the only one I can give this task.” Her jaw tightened and she held his gaze for a moment. “I trust you, Elliot.”
He knew the significance of that word, and his eyes swelled with surprise.
After a long pause, he exhaled and nodded. “Very well, Commander,” he said with a firm, determined voice. “I’ll take care of things here. You have my word.”
She nodded and let her hand fall from his shoulder. “Good.”
Elliot turned to leave, but paused suddenly at the door and glanced back at her. “Is everything else in order, Commander? You seemed troubled when I entered.”
“It’s nothing important,” she said. “Just personal matters.”
Elsa knew Elliot was perceptive; he had probably already guessed that the “personal matters” involved Adam. Given the way she’d acted when Adam was kidnapped, it wasn’t hard to draw the obvious conclusions. But Elliot was also discreet. He never asked probing questions or pressed her to reveal things she wasn’t ready to share. That was why he hadn’t pushed for details about Adam’s power when she’d told him she couldn’t explain it yet. He had been at the forest, and he was also at the site of the explosion, he knew Adam’s power was far from normal, but he was patient, trusting that she would tell him when she could.
Elliot gave a nod. “Understood,” he responded.
As the door shut behind him, Elsa turned back to the window. It didn’t take long for her thoughts to drift to Adam again. She would have to see him before she left—she needed to warn him to be careful, and to let him know they wouldn’t be training for a few days.
A shameful part of her, however, simply wanted to see him.
Adam was resting in the shade at the back of the inn, absently watching the sun shift across the yard. He’d just finished splitting what looked like a small forest’s worth of logs—a pile the old woman had probably been saving for weeks, waiting until he was healed enough to tackle. With his new strength and stamina, though, it hadn’t been the back-breaker it should have been. What should have at least taken four or five hours was done in just two, and he didn’t feel tired at all. However, he wasn’t eager to go back inside and give her the chance to heap more chores on him. Nothing urgent waited anyway. He thought it better to stay out here, where it was quiet, and spend the time on something that actually mattered— figuring out more about his magic. There was still so much he needed to learn.
After several days of intensive training with Elsa, he had gained better control over his powers. The cost, however, was steep; his reservoir of dark energy had been depleted to a considerable degree, nearly returning to the state it had been in when he’d first tested his magic in the stable. His ability to recharge was painfully inefficient. Simply resting and waiting for it to replenish wasn’t reliable. He needed to understand how he’d drawn in the dark energy himself that night. It seemed like the most important thing to learn.
In Lorelei’s late husband’s book, he’d read some mana-users relied on meditation to recover energy spent shaping mana. He didn’t use mana, but maybe the principle was close enough to borrow. He knew nothing about meditation asides from a few videos he’d seen online, but it couldn’t be that difficult, right? It was all about focus and breath control, it shouldn’t be an insurmountable task, but even if it was, he had nothing to lose.
With a sharp exhale, Adam shifted his weight and rested his back against the rough wooden wall of the inn. He sealed his eyes shut and slowed his breathing, trying to recall the passages from the book. Empty the mind; breathe, listen, feel. He inhaled slowly, then released the breath through his mouth, letting the world around him fade with each careful breath, and the silence settle over him like a gentle wave.
At first, nothing happened. Then his thoughts began to drift, first to his training with Elsa, then to their strained relationship, then to Lorelei and Katryn. They shifted again, to Zelphyr, to Julius, even to the damned tower and how, or when, he might climb it. Silencing the noise and emptying his mind proved far harder than he had expected; one thought after another raced in relentless succession. He fought them, tried to push them away, again and again, until he stopped altogether. He let go of the need to control his thoughts, and slowly they thinned on their own, before finally fading into silence.
Time stretched, and Adam wasn’t certain how long he sat there. Minutes? Hours? It all felt the same. His sense of his own body began to fade, as though his weight were slowly dissolving into nothing. The rough wall at his back vanished, and the ground beneath him seemed to melt away. A vertiginous sensation steadily crept in, like he was suspended in empty air. Then the darkness came. It wasn’t frightening, it simply wrapped around him, swallowing him whole. He could no longer feel anything, not even his own body, it was as if his consciousness had been torn free, left to drift in the vast emptiness.
Then he heard voices—or rather, a single voice—his name being called. At first, it was muffled, distant, like hearing a voice from underwater.
“ ... Adam?”
“Adam, where are you?”
The voice grew clearer, closer, tinged with worry. Slowly, he exhaled—realizing he had been holding his breath since—and with that simple act, sensation returned. He felt the sudden weight of his limbs, the roughness of ground beneath him, the air pressing against his skin. It was as if in an instant, he’d snapped back into his body.
“By the Divine, Adam!” Katryn cried loudly, jolting in shock and backing away.
Adam frowned in confusion. What had just happened?
Katryn stood a few steps away, her eyes wide with shock. A jug of water had spilled at her feet, and her hands hovered near her chest, as if to steady her heart. She stared at him for a long moment, as though she’d just seen a ghost, her entire body standing stiff.
“What was that, Adam!?” she asked sharply as she finally found her voice, seeming almost breathless. “You just appeared out of nowhere, you scared the piss out of me!”
“What are you talking about?” Adam asked quietly.
Katryn shook her head slowly, still staring at him in disbelief. “You—you came out of the shadows,” she said again. “I swear you weren’t there a second ago.”
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