Chapter 1: QUESTIONS
1st Prologue: The Birth of Dreadspawn
Human beings possess a shared trait: emotions. These emotions can be a wellspring of energy, and from them, a unique form of energy called Ryoku is formed.
The most common form of imprinted [[Ryoku]] stems from dread. When Ryoku of the same specific emotion combines under the right conditions, a massive cluster of energy. Eventually, this collective Ryoku becomes so dense that it collapses in on itself, giving birth to a new being. These beings, known as[[ Dreadspawn]], are semi-immortal.
They feed on negative emotions and the flesh of those who produce them. The more they consume, the stronger and more intelligent they become.
...
During the events of the [[fourth era]] ,about 3000 years ago ,Humanity was brought towards the brink of extinction .
This was the case until individuals with special abilities emerged tto purge the dreadspawn.
These warriors were called Auramancers.
And one of the first 'warriors' on 'earth' to develop these abilities where the Abomination spawn
At first they where ostracised for their existence and origins
However ,the humans at the time had a common enemy,and had temporarily put there differences aside .
One of the true ancestors of human auramancy was the first born child of the the Abomination Spawn , Ritokoji Arufa .
Alone with his slidings , he bestowed humans with compatible enough soul bodies to understand, practice and develop their respective skills and techniques with auramancy.
As more people got to learn about auramancy, its practice spread far and wide to the point of reaching most corners of the planet, earth.
Ritokoji Arufa further founded the Auramancer Association to put on a united front and keep the practice of auramancy under control
...
Explosions and combat tore through the skies as Auramancer Chief General , Ritokoji Arufa ,who had pitch black hair that almost appeared black ,and wore a mutiple layers of grey robes, on his back was a large broad sword that was almost his own hight ,battled a mysterious humanoid being.
Its hair flowed upward, white as snow, and its skin was grey with heavily defined muscles. From its back, openings released streaks of energy that flowed into its body. Its eyes glowed completely white, with cracks at the edges.
Ritokoji delivered a mighty blow, flinging the creature across the landscape. It landed with such force that it left a massive exaggerated crater.
"Oops, did I hit you that hard? Lol," Ritokoji said, standing at the edge of the crater.
The Dreadspawn rose, barely standing.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, human," it said pompously, grinning.
"Aww, don't be like that," Ritokoji mocked.
"Such strength for a mere human… incredible," the Dreadspawn thought.
"I have to admit, you're different from what I'm used to," Ritokoji continued.
"Oookay, here comes the next attack! Get ready."
He prepared his technique, Blade Art.
The Dreadspawn, shocked, thought to itself, "That attack… could it actually be him?!, No, I'll wait." It assumed Ritokoji's fight would be pathetic.
"With this, I'll grant you your death. Prepare," Ritokoji said, his voice laced with venom. He unleashed Fission, slicing the crater in half. The attack, powerful enough to split mountains, split into two streams as if meeting a mountain.
"Impossible… how did you-–" Ritokoji lamented.
The Dreadspawn remained unfazed, laughing maniacally.
"Really, humans tend to kick up a lot of dust, don't you?"
Ritokoji frowned. "Haa?"
The Dreadspawn continued laughing.
"Honestly, what were you trying to do? Make a brizz? Use that party trick to blow out lanterns? Seriously, you must be a circus clown — and yet, you're rather good at your job. To think that would grant me my death."
Composing itself, the Dreadspawn said,
"Now that I think of it, you are what I'm looking for. You are one of those abominations, aren't you? I thought humans stood no chance against me… but I see a glimmer of hope in you. I can't wait… I need to know when I get to have fun," it smirked menacingly, stretching out a hand toward Ritokoji.
"Evensage Progeny!"
A strong gust of wind thrashed the area.
"What… I didn't receive any damage? What exactly did you do to me?" Ritokoji asked, confused.
"Clown… I mean… human," the Dreadspawn said calmly,
"that was merely a skill used to signal the birth of a worthy descendant who would put up a real fight instead of a comedic act."
"You piece of shit! I'm not done yet! Don't belittle me!" Ritokoji exclaimed.
"Don't bother," the Dreadspawn replied.
"Your strength is admirable, but your reasoning is obscure. Human, shall I bestow upon you the embrace of true power? Rejoice, mortal, death awaits!"
The Dreadspawn prepared ,a Realm Augmentation called INFINITY'S EDGE.
Inside this pocket dimension, the victim is forced to submit to the user's will. Roshi was trapped, experiencing a living nightmare: being skinned over and over again 4,592 times every heartbeat.
When released, he was a trembling, whimpering mess.
"Don't bother. Just go home and copulate with your spouses to give birth to offspring who can actually fight," the Dreadspawn said, calm but stern.
Ritokoji smiled.
"I hope my descendants beat the shit outta you," he muttered before fleeing.
The Dreadspawn was later given the title [[Tenkiroshi]]. As its known to be the toughest Dreadspawn ever encountered
...
Ritokoji arufa whom held a grudge later decided to marry and have children with 50 more wives ...
Has his physical body and soul body status where rather high , he had the surplus energy to travel far a wide and had children with many more women
Infact his endeavours where so energetic, that he had enough children to fill up a small city
All his children where born natural Auramancers
This however later brought about a problem,
Has the children grew older to maturity, they unknowingly married their half siblings , and had children with horrific deformities and most barely made it through infancy
The line of natural born Auramancers declined exponentially , leading to one of the many factors why the practice of auramancy
Declined to the point of it being practiced away from the public veiw
Tho knowledge of its existence is still known very few are authorised to practice it .
...
3000 Years Later
During the events of the morden era .
City lights gleamed under a full moon. A lone young man, Kogoshi arufa,whome had jet black hair, slender eyes , black thight t -shirt and grey large pants , walked the streets, when he looked up atop a building.
"What do we have here?" a gruff voice called from the ontop of a building, he wore long black leather trench coat , a half top hat and white face mask with crecents for eyes and a mouth, behind him was the full moon .
A Dreadspawn, monstrous with sharp teeth, a dog-like head, four-legged posture, and humanoid body with bulging muscles, crept toward him,from behind.
"Monkeys aren't supposed to be here at this time of day," the masked man sneered.
"Listen, you have something I need. Just give it to me, and I'll be on my way. Easy or hard way ?" Kogoshi asked calmly.
The beast roared, lunging toward him. "Flesh! Flesh! Flesh!"
Kogoshi stood his ground.
"Hard way it is, then. Don't say I didn't warn you," he said,without turning around, hitting the creature that lunged at him with the back of his fist, sending it flying.
Grabbing a nearby metal streetlight pole, he jumped and tackled the fleeing masked man, sending him crashing off buildings. Midair, Kogoshi appeared from nowhere to deliver another blow.
"One more time!" Kogoshi exclaimed.
The man squealed, "Agh?! Again?"
The final blow sent him from the rooftop into an underground garage. He lay prostrate at the center of the crater left behind, laughing in amusement.
"You're something else, aren't you?" the man said, as his mask partially shattered, now only covering his eyes .
He threw something at Kogoshi, who caught it.
"You're giving it to me that easily? Don't you need to protect it?"
"Look, do you want it or not? I'm more than willing to take it back," Kogoshi replied.
"OK, fine," the man said. Kogoshi walked away, tossing a heavy card that embedded itself into the concrete floor.
It was a summon from the Auramancer Association: unusual Dreadspawn sightings in Hamatsu, with over 1.2 million reported dead or missing.
---
in a high rise building near the hamatsu incident ,on the 37th floor .
Kougoshi's figure appeares in a dimely lit room near one of its open windows.
the room had a scent of books has shelves of numerous knowledge. the theme of the room was that of a mid century architecture that used red wood and book shelves as the main allure .
A woman with long chestnut coloured hair ,a stylish dress and siver rimmed lenses ,sat on a half high back chair near a lamp.
she used her right hand to gently switch on the lamp that gave off a warm yellow light
On her lap was her left hand that held on to an open book,
While looking down to read the book she said with a casual tone ,
" That was surprisingly quick " .
"The part of the city was already 'quite' ... there was no need to hold back too much"
She maintained her posture as she continued,
"It has been 'quiet' ever since the dreadspawn attack rate increased "
"Roughly over 1.2 million peoplehave been reported dead,injured or missing..."
She added, "...As a result, this region of the city has been labelled unsafe and sealed from the general public ..."
"Businesses and homes have been abandoned "
Kogoshi proceeds to grab a near by seat as he sits close to the opened window .
He then asks in a serious tone ,
"Are you aware of what truly caused this?"
"Sadly I don't, but..."
"According to The Monad archives ... ; "
"It's because of a giant cluster of raw Ryoku floating above the site, ready to explode with the force of twenty-four nukes," a woman with glasses explained.
"And a rare artifact was found below it," she added.
"Normal humans only release small amounts of Ryoku, and it usually dissipates over time," she continued.
"The only explanation for the cluster was if a large enough amount of raw Ryoku was released at once. The surface tension itself was sufficient to hold the cluster together."
Kogoshi looked at the destroyed city, his face grim.
"Where is our missing person?" he asked.
The missing person was Kuroshiraga Arufa. The Ryoku residue matched his signature perfectly.
He was the only one confirmed missing as all other present at the hamatsu site have been confirmed dead .
---
In an unknown plain, Kuroshiraga whos hair was a bright white and the sides of his head where pitch black , had a brief flashback of the first events of the hamatsu high school incident while unconscious:
It was him and a girl, Tami , at high school.
"I'm gonna walk home with you," she said.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Because you don't have friends, silly," she giggled.
Tami realized she left her notebook and told Kuro (Kuroshiraga's nickname) to wait.
Some time passed by as tami seemed to have taken longer than excepted to get her book and return
An object landed and bounced off Kuro's head. It was Tami's pocket watch, gifted to her late grandmother.
Visibly concerned, he lunged toward the classroom window three stories high. A sudden burst of energy erupted from the window, but Kuro managed to hold onto the frame. Once the onslaught was over, he pulled himself inside.
"Why is a summoning burst happening here?" he wondered.
Kogoshi was shaken by a voice.
"Kill me… please… kill me!" a disfigured man skin on bone cried. He was undead, a spectral shell of a soul body.
Kuro wasted no time, slaughtering the group of undead with one fell swoop.
However, when an undead is slain, it rises again from "consuming the of its fallen brethren," giving rise to a Greater Undead.
The Greater Undead used its huge fist attack kuro the fist misses kuro as a huge crater is left
Kuro doges to the side
"I just want to help… put you out of your misery," Kuro said.
He used Solar Flare, a beam strong enough to reach space, destroying the undead.
Standing among the destruction, something felt off. He heard Tami-chan's voice pleading with him to run, but she was instantly diced to bits.
A figure wearing a mask made of fingers and a dark coat appeared, with grey hair. Tami's entrails were absorbed into an orb wrapped in a symbol-covered cloth.
The man was accompanied by a Dreadspawn morphed from fingers, with large black eyes, a crown of long black fingernails, and numerous protruding arms.
The creature glared at Kuro.
"The 10th objective is near," it stated.
The man looked at Kuro.
"Is that him?"
"Certainly," the creature replied.
"What do you mean, Objective No. 10?" Kogoshi asked, confused.
"What did you do to Tami" he screamed.
"I'll make you pay! Lim for lim!"
...
Five minutes later, Kuro stood, battered and barely standing, smiling mockingly.
"Is that all you got?" he taunted.
"Summoning..."
Suddenly, a massive driver truck hurtled toward Kogoshi. He dodged, but the figure appeared in front of him. A second driverless truck appeared, hitting him and sending him flying into a building ,when , he fell unconscious.