KINETIC

After Leo finished speaking with Rosalia she returned to her work and the group was left sitting around one of the tables near the bar.

Everyone had mostly been silent since Rosalia had left since they were tired from their traveling and just needed a break. Although their bodies might be stronger than a regular human, meaning they aren't physically tired, their minds still accumulate stress after a long day of traveling.

"Have any of you heard about the war?" Cain suddenly said. Clays ears perked up and he immediately responded " I haven't... Where did you hear that?"

"When we were walking over to this tavern earlier I overheard someone talking about a war between the two kingdoms nearest to us." Cain replied quickly having noticed Clay's interest in the topic.

"Is that all you heard? You didn't hear why they're fighting or who started it?" Clay got closer to Cain by leaning in. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart and Cain pulled his head back to create some space again.

"Hey man, relax! Geez, I only heard a few sentences before they were too far away. I don't know anything more than what I told you earlier. It's probably a rumor spread by a kid that was bored with his life in this village."

"How much do you know about the nearby kingdoms?" Leo suddenly asked. His question was aimed at the entire group.

Usually Leo's lack of knowledge in some basic things would make everyone curious about why he knew so little of the world around them but most of them didn't know anything about this topic either since it wasn't very relevant to their lives.

Cain shrugged his shoulders indicating his lack of knowledge, as did most of the group. Nila, seeing that nobody knew anything or at least that they weren't saying anything, spoke up.

"My father taught me a bit about the neighboring kingdoms but I don't know everything. Listen closely, I don't want to say it more than once." Everyone focused their attention on Nila and waited for her explanation.

***

A pale man with black shoulder length hair walked into what appeared to be a bedroom. Their was no light in the room and as such the light from the hallway flooded in, casting a shadow over the wall on the opposite end of the room.

"The time has come. Are you ready?" The man asked. From within the room a brown haired boy stood up and stepped into the light. His clothes were dirty and his face looked sunken. It was obvious he hadn't eaten anything for several days. "Yes... I'm ready." the boy replied with a dry voice.

The light coming in from behind the man made it so that his face was shrouded in shadows. All that could be seen on his face were his eyes that were glowing a dull purple and red.

"Then follow me." The man turned and left the room, the boy following behind him. Their pace was slow because the boy was currently very weak so it took them a while to reach their destination.

The man who was leading the boy was Silas, one of them highest ranking members in the Cult of Umbra.

Eventually Silas walked through a set of doors into a room that could only be described as a cave. It looked as though it were just a regular cave without any sort of construction having been done to it, which would come as a shock to anyone since they had just been walking through a regular looking hallway and building a moment ago.

They walked to the center of the room and stopped next to a stone altar with symbols engraved on it.

"Kneel." Silas ordered and the boy complied. Silas pulled out a dagger and grabbed the boys hand. He then took the blade and cut a large and deep cut up the boys arm. Blood began to pour out of his arm at a fast pace and the boy screamed out in pain.

The boy didn't do anything to resist as Silas grabbed his other arm and repeated the process. The cut ran from the wrist all the way up the entire forearm.

"Place your hands on the altar and don't remove them no matter what." Silas ordered.

p The boy lifted his arms and placed them on the altar. Blood continued to pour out of the cuts and the floor was soon covered in a pool of it.

The boys face was getting more pale by the second and his whole body began to tremble. His eyes were losing their strength and his breathing began to slow down.

Silas continued to stand nearby while watching the scene unfold. His eyes were filled with lust, as though he were a starved man staring at a buffet.

Soon the boy closed his eyes and his body stopped trembling, the blood was no longer pouring out of his wounds. His arms fell to his sides and his body fell into the pool of blood.

Silas continued to do nothing as he watched, the lust in his yes had been replaced by an expectant gaze now.

After about a minute had gone by the symbols on the altar began to glow a dark red colour and all the blood on the floor was being pulled towards it.

The blood ran up the sides of the altar, filling up each symbol until all the blood was gone. The glowing intensified and a bright flash of red light erupted from the altar and covered the room.

The light disappeared as fast as it came. The boy was still lying on the floor but all the blood was now gone. After a few seconds went by, the boy placed his hands on the floor and pushed himself up.

He stood to his feet and stared at Silas. His skin had turned a pale white and his eyes were now a mixture of purple and red. The cuts on his arms were no longer there, as though they never happened.

Silas lifted his arms and held them up next to him like he was asking for a hug. "Its a pleasure to meet you brother! Now that you've officially joined us, tell me... What is your name?"

The boy looked down and lifted his hands up, he was opening and closing his hands constantly. He looked back up at a smiling Silas.

"My name... Is Trent Zemor."