“AAaaaaaaaargghhhhhh!!!!!!” I shouted as the pain resonating in my body was growing intensely. Why does it hurt so bad?!

My knees tried to buck in an attempt to keep myself from falling but failed. In a painful thud, my body collapsed as I started to convulse on the floor; dark spots appeared in my vision. It felt like thousands of insects were crawling under my skin, trying to penetrate their way out and my scalp felt like it had been set on fire, cooking up my brains. It was like my blood was being boiled and my meridians, arteries, veins, everything was being reshaped and remolded. With loud cracks, even my bones were morphing. This was a bad idea.

“Zereeefff!” a distant shout echoed throughout the cave from outside. From my peripheral vision, I caught the shape of a man running into the cave. It was Gramps. Within seconds he had made it to where I was shrivelling up on the floor groaning as the pain was becoming unbearable.

“Zeref you fool! I told you not to go near the monarch’s cave! I’m going to have to knock you out until whatever you’re going through is over, bear with it.” with that Gramps chopped the back of my neck and the lights went out.

**

My eyelids felt heavy as I stirred awake, surrounded by the warmth and comfort of my blanket. It felt like I was experiencing a hangover and my right eye stung.

The past few days had been filled with never ending pain and cries. I forgot how long I had been out but I do remember waking up in yells and screams every few hours, feeling like my body was dunked into lava, burning through my flesh before gramps would snap me unconscious in a panic.

His face was in a constant panic whenever I awoke and at one point, the tiring pain wore me out and I didn’t wake up after that. I don’t know how long I had been in a coma-like state but I felt every second going by. The desperate feeling of wanting to open my eyes again but not being able too.

“Gramps…” I croaked out, tilting my head to the side to see if he was there. The sound of things clattering outside caught my attention before loud stomps entered the tent. Gramps came in with bags under his eyes and disheveled, wrinkly clothes.

“Zeref! You’re awake.” his eyes widened while he walked towards me and sat next to my laying body. “You’ve been out for 3 weeks with no food or water. I was worried you were dying.” he stated, staring at my face longer than normal, making me feel uneasy. I lifted myself up into a sitting position while Gramps had his hand on my back, supporting me in case I fell.

I peered down at my arms to check my health but I didn’t look any different. In fact, my arms looked fitter with more muscles. I clenched my fists and snakey veins ran up my arm, shocking both Gramps and I. The weird thing was that I felt weak but my body was way stronger than before.

“Zeref… there is something else I have to tell you.” My head shot up to look at him, waiting for the bad news. “Your… eye. It’s red.” he pointed to his right eye, indicating mine and my mind focused on the stinging pain the eye was emitting.

My head spun in a state of panic and I sped out of the tent, standing in front of my reflection in the lake.

Staring back at me was a 6ft giant with broad shoulders, a slim but not lanky figure with toned muscles. I didn’t look like a bodybuilder but I looked like I was working towards it. My legs were longer and felt more firm but all of that was the least of my worries.

It was stunning but it couldn’t compare to my right eye. My once greyish green pair of eyes were gone and my right eye was replaced with a red one. My iris was blood red while my other eye stayed grey. The once green hint to it was gone. Mum was going to kill me!

Gramps appeared next to me in my reflection. “What happened to you in that cave Zeref? That eye of yours, it’s the demon race’s mark.” he whispered, staring at my reflection. My jaw clenched, not knowing if I could tell him. I hesitantly turned to look up at him. “There was a man. He gave me back the demon powers I had in my old life. He claimed to be the first sovereign.”

The old man’s face twisted into one of fear and shock but it soon returned back to normal in a couple seconds. He was about to speak when I interrupted him. Well… more like my belly did as it let out a loud grumble. I chuckled awkwardly, scratching my nape in embarrassment but gramps just smiled, walking to the log and fire, where we normally sat and ate.

He picked up the large spoon and scooped some hot chicken soup into a bowl. He turned to me and I read the signal quickly, eagerly making my way to sit on one of the logs. He grabbed a silver spoon and handed it to me, along with the soup.

“Eat up Zeref. You must be hungry.” he smiled, sitting next to me while holding his back. He looked like he was in pain. Maybe he had strained himself too hard when I was sick. I glanced at him from the side of my eye before putting my bowl down. He watched silently as I got up and filled a separate bowl and grabbed another silver spoon.

“Zeref, you brat. I swear the bowl is clean-” I interrupted him by shoving the bowl and spoon in his hands and sitting down with mine.

“Eat up Grandpa Zeref. You must be hungry after taking care of me for 3 weeks.” I mimicked jokingly and he chuckled gently.

“I’m just glad your alive-”

“Aw-” I was touched.

“-So that I can show you my wrath! I told you not to go near that lake!!” he whacked me twice with his fan.

“OW! ARGH! Do you always have to carry that stupid fan around with you?” I grumbled, sipping my soup.

“Do you always have to give me a reason too?” he mimicked my grumble, also sipping his soup. “I swear I will train you to the point it feels like torture.” he continued.

“Ok, Ok I get it.” I chuckled.

“Anyways, did you always know about that cave or something? Is that why you told me to stay away from it?” my voice changed to a more serious one. I was truly questioning what else Gramps was hiding.

I could sense him getting uneasy.

“Zeref, remember that time I explained to you about our past with the lightning monarch. This cave was the place where your parents and I forged the contract with him: the cave of the monarchs.” Gramps played with his soup as he explained.

I nodded in understanding. There were many things I wanted to ask him about the tournament and the monarchs but I had to clear that first. I even wanted to know the contents of their contract with that man, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me that.

No matter how much I pondered, Some things just didn’t make sense to me; it was as if there were plot holes in the idea of the tournament. Why didn’t the offspring of the monarchs just inherit the seats instead of having these games every 500 years? If the lightning monarch was the strongest, why didn’t he just kill all the other monarchs and monopolize all the seats? Why was ‘beast’ an element? Odd. The questions were endless but I needed the answers to these 3 questions at least.

“Gramps, I’ve got a couple things that have been bugging me for a while about the tournaments. Do you mind answering them?”

Gramps nodded silently before refilling his bowl with soup.

“Why don’t the offspring of the monarchs just inherit the seats of the monarchs once the 500 year period is over?”

“Monarchs and ascenders are not allowed to have children. It’s the law in the upper realm. If a monarch in that 500 year dies, their seat is handed over to the next monarch in the rankings. This law is also to control the population, that’s why many S rankers still stay in the lower realm instead of seeking the lavish life of the upper realm. You miss out on certain enjoyments due to the strict laws.” Gramps replied solemnly.

What an odd law. I can’t have children then! How absurd.

“What about the lightning monarch, if he’s the strongest why doesn’t he just monopolize all the seats all the time; doesn’t that mean the system is unfair as it’s the easiest for the lightning monarch to become a sovereign?” I placed the empty bowl on the ground and wiped my lips.

“Good question. It’s true lightning is the most powerful and potent element, however like you many of the candidates and monarchs will have multiple elements or expert skills in combat etc. Just having the lightning element won’t make you the strongest. Many variables will determine how strong a monarch is. Therefore, we can’t say that the lightning monarch will always be the strongest, but to my knowledge the current lightning monarch is extremely strong. He can even use time magic.” At the last bit my interest peaked.

Time magic. There was such a thing? If he can mess with time, How would I ever beat him?

No.

I remember there was a TV show I used to watch in my previous life: “The Slash” or something like that. The MC was hit by lightning and could run at the speed of light; soon he could travel between timelines and parallel dimensions. If multiverses exist, could I do that with Godspeed? Could I bend time at my will? Could I also travel to different dimensions? A smile stretched across my face at the thought of such theories and excitement riled up inside me.

“Okay last question Gramps. Why the hell is ‘beast’ a pure element? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Hahahahaa!” Gramps laughed hysterically then stopped before wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, then answering my query. “I actually don’t know myself, that’s something that cannot be explained. That’s like asking why the fire element is a pure element. However, you should be aware of beast magic users. Not all beast magic users are like the Weremen, beast magic provides the best body augmentation spells. They’re most suited to striker mages and hand to hand specialist mages.”

I nodded at his perfect answer; A sense of relief shrouded over me as I finally got some answers. I had other questions but for now I could wait on them. I didn’t wanna bombard Gramps with questions just yet; I knew he was tired too.

Maybe another time.

**

I sat on a branch to clear my head, swinging my feet and letting the gentle breeze lift my silver hair. The greenery was refreshing and beast didn’t even approach the area; I guessed the beasts knew the smell of demons and evolved to stay away from them. Demons really were a race to reckon with.

I really wanted to see my stats though. Did they progress too? I just couldn’t wait.

“Status Menu open!”

[Status Menu]

[Name: Zeref Amara]

[Species: Half demon Half Human]

[Level: 63]

[Exp:5400/ 63,000]

[Mana Pool: Stage 5]

[HP: 16300]

[MP: 10000]

[Strength: 145]

[Stamina: 156]

[Agility: 154]

[Defence/ Durability: 148]

[Intelligence: 50]

[Weakness: Increased damage taken from Earth Magic, Nature Magic and when consuming Eggs]

[Affinity/ Perks: Lightning Magic, Fire Magic, Ice magic, Gravity magic.

Immune to Lightning magic attacks and Mental attacks

Resistance against fire and ice magic

Rapid healing

Heightened Senses

Super strength and Super speed

Levitation

Demon Eye (Increased Perception and Vision Prowess)

Sixth Sense [Echo Location using mana instead of sound waves] ]

It seemed like I had a couple new perks like Levitation – something I hadn’t tried out yet – and even some amazing boosts. All my stats had been upgraded by 100, and I had received 10,000 stat points to my HP and 5000 to my MP. Wasn’t this overkill? Demons must have been monsters. Did they all have stats like these? No wonder Gramps needed help from the lightning monarch.

‘Vision Prowess’, what could I do with that? Nothing could come to mind.

“Status Menu Close.”

I then skimmed through my skills and they weren’t affected, there was only one new skill which made my eyes gleam at reading its name: ‘Shackles Release’.

So overall this was just a physical buff. Still Great! I also checked out what the intelligence stat was for; The intelligence stat determined the purity and strength of the mana in my mana pool reserve, so improving it would make my spells and skills more efficient and stronger.

Now that I had the assets to become even stronger, it was time to grind…