Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Time slowed to a crawl as the massive beast before Lucius rose onto its hind legs. With every intention of turning his small body into a paste, it brought down its front hooves with every ounce of its strength.

Just before the attack met his face, everything stopped. The space around Lucius turned from forest, to a blank white space. No trees, no monster, no leaves, no wind…it was simply a void.

'I…we want you to survive, Lucius.' A calm voice echoed. It was formless, as if the void itself spoke. 'But I cannot help you unless you agree. You aren't strong enough to use my strength without consequence…but it is better to face those instead of death.'

Lucius looked around in confusion, still not believing that the void was the source of the voice. However, before he could turn around, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked down and saw a greenish-gray hand. It looked like a desiccated corpse had placed its hand on his shoulder. It had long, black fingernails that looked sharp enough to slit his throat.

'I wouldn't do that. You aren't ready to see what's behind you Lucius. As much as I would love for you to turn to me, I need more from you first.' The same raspy voice from earlier advised. It chuckled lightly before the hand disappeared as if it was never there.

'You walk between two worlds Lucius and there will come times where you must make hard choices on which path to follow…but more on that at a later time…I can grant you access to your heritage. Your bestial strength given to you by your father's blood. However, if you accept, those skills will be lost to you forever.'

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, "Forever?"

'Beastmen have special arts they can use that are gifted to them by their very blood. You too can use these arts…but you are not ready for them. If you wish to survive, I can draw out this latent power, but you will never be able to draw on them again. Such is the price for power beyond your means.'

He had no Weapon Arts. He would not be able to know if he had any Magical Arts until he finished his trial…and here was someone telling him he would have access to Beast Arts.

At the moment, they were his only chance at a future he could fight for. To lose his future potential for power in the present seemed like a bad idea. Was he really ready to sacrifice it?

Lucius then thought of his mother and father. Their crying faces flashed before his eyes. Death was final. There was no returning. What future would there be to sacrifice if he met the reaper's scythe…

"I want to live. I want to make it home. Help me kill it. Take what you want"

Lucius was met with silence, before the terrifying raspy voice began to laugh hysterically.

'Kill it? Hahaha! Boy I like you even more, you are so funny.'

"Yes." Lucius growled. He didn't try to turn around. He was not sure the face of the being would be something he wanted to see. "If I don't kill it, I will fail my father's trial."

'What are you on about? You don't have to kill it…hell, you didn't even have to fight it.'

"Huh?"

'Your orders were to find the Alpha Deer. Well boy. You found it. We are just going to get you out of here.' The raspy voice explained, clearly still amused at the idea of the boy thinking he could fight the creature.

The white void sighed, before a pale blue hand appeared in front of Lucius' face. It was simply a floating hand attached to absolutely nothing. It moved towards him with a finger pointing out, and touched the center of his forehead.

Merely a second later, intense pain coursed through Lucius' head and body. Every fiber of his being screamed in pain as if it had been lit on fire from the inside. He screamed, but no sound came from his lips.

Knowledge of Beast Arts flooded his mind, skills up to the Beginner Rank of those arts became known to him instantly. Lucius felt his body grow stronger, faster, more energized. At the moment, he was equivalent to a Beginner Rank Warrior, though he knew it was temporary.

Even though Beginner Ranks and F-Rank monsters were on the same level, he was still a child facing a fully grown beast.

'This won't last for long. So I suggest you run. However, your body is your own. I've given you the knowledge and enough power to use it, so it is up to you to survive, Lucius.'

Instantly the void faded and the forest returned. Above his face was the hoof of one of the Alpha Deer's feet. Time was still not moving.

'Good luck! Don't die, Lucius' The raspy voice teased in the back of his mind.

At that moment, time resumed and Lucius shouted out, "[Beast Arts: Iron Claw]!"

Lucius' nails instantaneously grew in length and became as hard as metal. He slashed at the hoof, creating a shower of sparks and earning a yelp in surprise from the monster.

He jumped to his feet and found himself in a battle position he was unfamiliar with, but comfortable at the same time. Lucius was low to the ground, two feet and one hand touching the dirt, with his left hand raised and ready for the attack.

To put it plainly, he looked like a rabid beast. Fangs grew from his mouth and his eyes took on an unnatural glow.

"Let's do this you damn monster."

The Alpha Deer looked on with disdain and scraped its hoof on the ground like a bull readying for a charge. Clearly it had underestimated the boy, but it also knew that it was in for an easy win.

Every possible opening for a retreat was closed at the moment. Information of his surroundings, escape routes, ambush locations, filled his head. This was even more intense clarity than when he would experience when stressed.

If an opening was not available… then he would just have to make one.

"[Beast Arts: Predator's Presence]"

This skill created an unsettling presence behind someone who was being perceived as prey by the user. Thankfully it worked, since he was able to observe the monster's fur prickle as it shuddered and looked behind it.

Lucius took the opportunity to jump away from the clearing. He could disappear into the woods behind him, but unfortunately thanks to how the fight started, the Alpha Deer happened to be standing in the direction of the exit.

The best option would be to run at a diagonal from the monster so he would not have to retreat deeper into the woods to circle around. Something like that would increase his likelihood of running into a monster stronger than this one.

Honestly, Lucius thought it was an excellent plan, and in truth it was. However, the Alpha Deer recovered quickly from the skill and realized it was a distraction. Dust spewed from the ground where it had been standing and like a blur it essentially vanished from place before reappearing directly in front of the boy.

Just like before, it swiped at Lucius with its horns. However, at the moment, he had the power and speed of a Beginner Rank, so instead of taking the hit, he jumped upwards and out of the swing's path.

Next thing the deer knew, it had a small child sitting on its neck, gripping its antlers. Lucius' eyes were wide in shock because he had moved on instinct and fully expected for the strike to hit.

Even more surprising was the fact he was on the deer's neck. The shock vanished a second later and was replaced by resolve. He was not going to die. He knew his time was limited, so every ounce of his focus needed to be on getting out of this.

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