"Chase that demon thief."
The shout echoed through Dravem town as a 17-year-old boy ran barefoot, holding tight to a piece of bread. Behind him, boots slammed against the mud, a mob chased him not for the bread but to feed their depraved hunger. The mark on his neck, a simple crown symbol glowed brilliantly representing his royal lineage.
Cedric knew that they just wanted to satisfy their hatred. After all, the royal blood of the New Crown clan ran through him, the clan that once ruled Valeric; now they were considered vermin and hunted for their "sins."
A rock struck his shoulder, his frail body collapsed, and kicks battered him like a ragged doll. Someone stomped on his skinny hand until the bread burst apart into crumbs, but he still held tight onto a tiny portion. "You dog," one spat. "Monster," "hideous freak," "child of a whore" every insult echoed through his ears, and they hurt more than the beatings.
Another man unzipped his pants and peed on him, calling him a "demon spawn."
When the mob finally left, he gathered his broken body and limped towards a forested area on the outskirts of Dravem. He could feel the pissed cooling on his skin and smell the stench of their boots, "Why me?" He muttered inwardly.
Each step was heavy with humiliation, pain and anger, but he kept going because someone awaited him at home. On his way back home, he met Orselith, the guy who betrayed Cedric's father and made sure to leave his children with nothing. His radiant ring glimmered in the sunlight. Cedric remembered it on his father's hand once before the betrayal.
The fat man, Orselith, felt uneasy by the cold gaze of the broken boy; he roared, "Go away, you demon child, your father got what he deserved." He continued limping, pressing his hand against his bruised ribs; he could feel every throb whispering a promise, "I must survive to see them burn."
Tears dripped through his eyes, but as soon as he reached his home (a shade), he wiped them clean.
His older sister was lying on a makeshift bed, her breath was shallow. He fed her a small portion of the bread with water, and she swallowed it slowly, her eyes opened weakly, and she stared at him in silence for a moment.
Then she whispered, "You are bleeding again, my little brother." Cedric smiled weakly, avoiding her gaze. "Don't worry about it. I fell, clumsy me," he chuckled. "Anyways, I brought a little portion of bread, sorry I ate most of it."
His sister saw through him. She muttered, "Why do you do this for me? You know I will be gone soon."
"Because," he said softly, unable to contain his emotions, his eyes got teary again, "I want you to witness when I am strong like my father, I want you to walk beside me with your head held high."
"Ohh my poor brother, you have made me proud enough. I am happy with who you are, you don't have to be one of the Vowed," she pulled herself up with whatever little strength she had and hugged her brother.
"You know what happened to father in the end, after all the life he had saved, they gave him the cruelest death," she sobbed. "Just survive," she hugged him tighter.
Their father, Rodric, was the head of the New Crown clan; he had defeated countless beasts and enemies to protect the land of Valeric, but was eventually betrayed by the same people he had saved; they started calling him a "tyrant."
And people who had grown weary of his power made schemes behind him. Until eventually the foolish crowd lynched their own saviour.
"That's exactly why I must become a Vowed, to avenge father and to restore our honour," said Cedric, holding tight to her sister with his lips quivering.
A Vowed is someone who makes a deal with a demon for power; in exchange, they must feed the demon's "souls" through killing beasts and people. The day they are unable to do so, their soul will be taken by the demon.
Her sister sobbed and pleaded with him not to take the same path as their family lineage, as it was a path of endless bloodshed, and so Cedric whispered sweet lies to her ears until she fell asleep. "Rest well, sister, I promise I will carve a better life for us," he whispered, but with pain and determination.
Cedric rested for a while, staring at the wall, as flashbacks of the day his father was dragged through the capital and hanged ran through his mind, along with his miserable days in this backwater town. "No matter what! I need to cure my sister," he redirected his brain. She was the only person he got; everyone else he knew and cared for was dead.
He finally got up and walked through the forest up a hilltop in the dark, holding a small candle.
Upon reaching, he sat at the ground of an ancient ruin and placed the candle on top of a carved dragon symbol.
He took out a small knife and cut his finger tip, dripping the symbol with his blood, but nothing happened. He tried once more but it didn't work. He hesitated this time, the atmosphere grew grimmer, and he could almost hear her sister's plea, but her pale face came to mind, and he sliced his finger without thinking.
It was deep this time, and so blood poured from it onto the symbol. The symbol became more polished and visible as if it drank his blood; he cursed God and invited the demon in as the symbol grew brighter.
He heard his heartbeat pound like thunder, and everything around him seemed to be beating along with it, thud… thud… thud. A cold breeze of wind hit him out of nowhere, and the candle flickered unnaturally. "Is it happening?" he thought to himself.
Then darkness consumed him, and he collapsed. When he opened his eyes, he was in a void where he saw a girl with bright red eyes and flying blonde hair, floating.
He panicked, shouting. He tried to run away, but no matter which direction he ran towards, he ended up in the same place. The demon girl spoke, "My name is Verisa. You are here to make a contract, right?"
Cedric nodded hesitantly. She continued, "Hmm, you are quite lucky or maybe unlucky, cause I am a legendary class demon." She paused for a second., "Wow, you are a special one, aren't you? I can sense fear, but you are doing a good job in keeping yourself composed." Cedric's heart beat faster as he realised that a legendary classed demon requires a higher sacrifice to satisfy it.
"What must I sacrifice?" Mumbled Cedric, the demon spoke with her head tilted, her voice both mocking and kind. She said that legendary classed demons' contract rules are different; the same rule of feeding the demon souls until one has to feed it their own soul applies too, but along with that, they will be cursed as well.
"The curse will only be revealed after the contract is done," said the demon Verisa with a smirk. Cedric was hesitant, but he agreed, remembering the promise he made to himself. The demon spiraled into a dark fabric and went inside his body. A sword appeared from the sky and fell, and when he picked it up, darkness swallowed him.
A sharp pain ran through the back of his head as he slowly woke up again in reality. The sword lying beside him, a long sword, darker than obsidian, glimmered with only the candle as its light source. When he stood up, he could feel a new surge of strength running through his body; he grew taller and his eyes sharper, the mark on his neck became more prominent and darker.
[+200 agility +200 strength +200 perception +200 endurance +500 mana]
[Legendary skill Infernal Surge lv1 Unlocked]
[You are now class 3 Recon]
[Level 20]
[Congratulations, you are now a Vowed. You will now be able to grow stronger through killing other Voweds and Beasts, and feeding their souls to the Infenal Path]
"What, this is amazing, I can now go hunting and make money, I can even save my sister now," thought Cedric excitedly, but a lingering thought was still in his mind, "the curse."
The next day, Cedric went outside of the town to the Drouca mountain, a huge, densely forested mountain, Home to countless beasts.
A place where the New Crowns in the past put a magical barrier preventing the beasts from going out of the mountain.
His eyes were heavy and his body heavier from the sleepless night; thoughts of her sister's pale face made him keep walking, though his stomach growled louder and his leg trembled from exhaustion.
There he encountered his first beast, a savage beast (rank 2), a huge boar with strong scales. As the boar charged towards him, he dodged easily and used infernal surge, his sword engulfed in black flames. He whispered with a slight smile, "Magnificent." he tried to sprint towards it and strike it, but he missed.
He was way faster and stronger, yet he was still starving. In the morning, he had searched the whole forest for food, but only got a few edible things, which he fed to her sister.
The exhaustion from starvation and the countless hours of walking caught up to him, and he fell on his knees. The boar's roar pierced through his ears. It charged straight towards him.
Cedrien managed to point his sword towards it, grabbing the ground with one hand, and he managed to strike one last time. It went through its head, killing it instantly. For a moment, he smiled and lay on his back looking at the sky, maybe the gods haven't abandoned him yet.
With this win, he was getting closer to fulfilling his goal of curing her sister. He plans to make enough money from the loot of the games. So he could get her sister seen by a good doctor and buy the necessary medicines.
[Congratulations, you are now level 21, +20 for all stats]
[Level 2 Infernal Surge]
[You have unlocked infernal defense lv1, you need a shield to use it]
"That's great, but I need food," Cedric's stomach growled. As the sky grew darker and the forest made creaking, unsettling sounds, a snarl echoed through the forest. It was a corrupted beast [rank 4], a large hound covered in dark fur. It stared at him with fury, its saliva dripping down its mouth.
Cedric, lying on the ground, mumbled terrified, "No I can't die here." He could see his own reflection in the hound's burning red eyes.