Jack offered a shocked look. They’re planning my life.
“Don’t look so shocked, boy,” Baroness Quill said. “You’ll have mistresses.”
Jack’s mouth fell open. “Mistresses?”
The others chuckled.
“Jack, you’ll have a few hours,” Idrisa said, taking the conversation back to the ritual. “Memorise the words. Do not speak them until the circle is formed. And try not to vomit. The others won’t respect weakness.”
Fenton and the other young nobles snickered.
“Thank you, my lady,” Jack replied, bowing his head. He held the parchment beneath the table. His hands trembled; he couldn’t stop them. I’m a blood mage, and I’ll be married to a noble and have mistresses. Everything was moving so fast. He thought of Jasmin. I have to stay away from her. He looked at Alric, Jasmin’s father. To keep her safe.
Jack looked down at the front page. The runes blurred, he blinked hard, and they came back into focus. I don’t want this! He recalled the ritual in the barn. The white runes, the chant, the light turning red, and the way the enslaved orc screamed as his life withered away to dust. He could still hear the scream, rising like steam, boiling in his skull.
His chest clenched, and he couldn’t breathe. You’re going to help kill someone tonight. An innocent person. He recalled what Trefin had said, ‘Condemned for attacking a noble’. He knew nobles executed their attackers. I’ll be killing someone who was already destined to die, he tried to justify his reasoning. I have no choice. If I don’t… they’ll know I’m not one of them. Fuck!
Jack swallowed hard and forced a smile before folding the parchment with shaking fingers; he slid it into his jacket with his scribe supplies. Calm down, or you die. He drank another mouthful of water, trying to steady his nerves. He glanced at the table filled with wine and licked his dry lips. No. I need to be clear-headed.
“A few hours after the meal,” said Argil, “we’ll lead you to the chamber.”
Greaves chuckled. “You’ll perform it tonight. We’ll be watching.”
Watching for what? Mistakes? Weakness? A single misstep and I’ll be gutted before I finish the second verse.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Trefin smiled. “You’ll be among friends tonight.”
Friends! Jack suppressed the urge to scoff.
Vampese raised her glass. “To Jack’s first kill.”
“To his future,” said Idrisa.
“To opportunity,” murmured Quill.
The nobles, old and young, raised their glasses and drank.
A dozen crystal glasses of wine sang Jack’s future as he raised his glass of water last. “Thank you,” he said aloud, the words bitter on his tongue. His hands didn’t stop trembling. To blood and murder. To pretending this is what I want and to staying alive long enough to kill them all. He drank, wishing it were ale.
The water quenched his thirst, but not his anxiety. Play along and keep breathing. Smile if you have to. He forced a smile for the nobles. By the Gods, why is this happening to me?
As the chandeliers glittered above and the stag’s head loomed from the wall, Jack braced himself for the night to come. A forbidden blood ritual where he’d kill a stranger.
***
After the meal, Jack found a quiet corner to read the ritual instructions. After one read, his Perfect Recall skill locked every page into memory. He still read it three times.
So that’s how it works. What an interesting school of magic.
The forbidden ritual amplified a blood mage’s innate ability to absorb pseudo skills. Where Jack had gained one skill per kill, this rune formation allowed a dozen blood mages to each gain one pseudo skill from a single victim. They also gained an equal share of the slain target’s affinities.
Hmm, so when the orc warrior died, Greaves and the other eleven nobles each gained one pseudo skill.
The documents explained that to receive a pseudo skill and affinity boost, a blood mage had to be in contact with the target at the moment of death. A hand or a blade; it didn’t matter which.
So that’s why I didn’t get a mage skill. I wasn’t touching him. He thought about how he killed the mage, Mo. He’d killed him with two arrows. All his other kills ended with a final dagger strike.
The rune circle changed the need to touch the target. Any blood mage within twenty metres received some benefit, though those closer received a larger share of the affinities boost.
I must have gained affinities from the orc warrior and my first pseudo skill, even though I wasn’t physically part of the ritual. Jack scratched his face where it used to be badly scarred. It’s no wonder they bought the orc warrior slave; he was a treasure trove of skills.
The documents he’d memorised explained that the higher the level of the target, the more available skills.
It must be so tempting for them to murder high-level people. He shook his head and recited the elven chant silently a few times. It stuck; he wouldn’t forget it now.
As he sat, wondering what to do, three of the young nobles approached.
“Commoner,” said Fenton, his eyes narrowed as he looked down his nose at Jack, “you’ll do as we command when the ritual starts.”
Jack pictured how far Fenton’s arrows had missed during the hunt. He probably couldn’t hit a barn door. He gave a bright smile. “Sure.”
The three nobles frowned.
Were they expecting a fight?
“Don’t mess up,” Olivia added. “Or else.”
Self-entitled children. “Okay. I won’t.” Jack kept smiling.
The third boy, the one with the nervous leg, opened his mouth, then shut it again.
“Anything else?” Jack asked. “I’m trying to memorise the chant.” He looked at Olivia. “So I don’t mess up.”
The three teenagers exchanged glances and left.
Fucking noble brats. They wouldn’t last a week outside their estates.
Superhero ? Action ? Drama
ARK — Volume 1
Who does an old soldier follow when he's left without direction?
What does the world's first superhero do when his biggest obstacle is his own family?
Where can a boy be safe when there's nowhere left to hide?
Earth has always been a nexus of incredible power—dormant too long. Devils, aliens, superpowers, and energies beyond comprehension: the world is overdue, and it's about to become everyone's problem.
Series focus
ARK Volume 1 follows the origins of a diverse cast fighting to grow, learn, and survive as an expansive superhero universe erupts around—and because of—them.
Readers can expect
- Multiple POVs destined to collide
- Drama, tragedy, action, comedy, and slice-of-life
- A steady burn of ever-escalating conflict as the mundane becomes extraordinary