{This is the writer. I am thankful to anybody who put this fantic into their collection.}
{I wanted to post the other chapters as well but my exams got announced the next day after the first chapter. I will post regularly after I deal with those annoyances.}
(:˘∧˘:)
{Anyway. Thanks for reading my yapping and let's continue.}
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Somewhere near the northern edge of clover kingdom, a group of bald monks could be seen descending down their mountains.
Numbering in dozens, the monks scavenged through for food and herbs. They were uncaring of cold, a warmth of mana surrounding them, they even went as far as walk barefooted in the frosted grass while chanting their words.
Among all this chants a single voice called out:
"Brother, have you found any aerodile herbs?"
One of monks told another, he was the youngest among them. There was a sparkle of innocence in his eyes, a emotion of excitement.
... The other monks looked at the kid and sighed, it was not like they could force their beliefs on a child.
"How many times have we told you to not interrup-... Forget it. Here take them and scram!"
The yound smiled as his Seniors swallowed their frustration and gave him the herbs. He had gotten what he needs, so he scrammed like he was told.
Ever since he was brought here, the monks have raised him as one of them. But the child knew he had no interest in becoming one of them.
But nevertheless, he couldn't just leave the mountains alone when he knew nothing about the lands below. Luckily for him, he had found someone who does.
Whoosh.. Snap!
It took the young monk quite a bit of time to reach his hut- a lone hut in the corner of the mountain where he wasn't forced to hear the lame chanting of prayers every hour.
"I brought the herbs!"
The boy said as he slammed open the door, revealing a black skinned creature sitting inside as he bathed in the sunlight coming through the hole in the roof.
The creature turned to him, his bone spiked head and black horns looking as if it was someone monster from a nightmare. However the monk didn't panic as he who it actually was.
The creature was none other than Asta, however to understand, we would have to go a little back in time.
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-3 days ago, Asta's pov-
'Where... am i?'
Opening his eyes to a night sky, Asta found himself laying down inside a wooden hut, staring upwards at the moon.
He felt fuzzy, almost as if he had been spun and squeezed like a wet cloth before being left to dry on a wire.
Without even realising he groaned, his body cackling with each movement as he pushed himself up.
Even moving felt like torture to him, His bones almost feeling like as they were made of stone. But despite the pain, Asta felt relieved for someone reason, but he didn't know why.
Looking around, he began muttering in confusion, trying to figure out where he was.
"What was I doing here? Shouldn't I be in the capital?"
Asta tried to remember, his head was fuzzy and foggy beyond anything he faced before. Nevertheless sitting around wasn't gonna him figure things out.
So, slowly rising up to his feet as he endured through the pain, he stood up and stretched out of habit only to collapse to ground again.
"Huh?"
Confusion struck him, his legs felt non existent and out of control. However he incidentally looked at his arms, a fear rising in his heart as he looked down at himself.
Black crumbled skin, claw like finger and crimson veins across his arms, Asta was flabbergasted into silence as he found both his terms resembling a devil's.
"It can't be right. Surely this is a dream!"
... It wasn't a dream, it was too real to be felt like a dream.
A feeling rose, the feeling of panic and diagust. At the corner of sight Asta saw a mirror and without hesitation turned. His hope vanished, replaced by disbelief, soon turning into denial.
He looked at himself, his eyes widdening as he glanced at his reflection. He had become a devil, a same type as those who he had slayed hundreds of and have swore to destroy all of.
Where once was his Ash coloured hair is now a dozens of bone resembling his hairstyle. His face looks liebe's, not in appearance but in shape.
However above everything else, Asta realised something much worse- He was butt-naked with not a single thread of cloth on his body.
" My Clothes!! That was the only pair I had!!!"
Only Asta himself knew how much he had spent on his outfit, it was a custom made specially to hide his devil features. It took over 3 months of constant missions to have Vanessa made him those clothes and now they were gone.
"Why... WHY!?! "
His mood plummets, regret washed over him as his foggy memories began to clear, sitting there in despair he began reminiscing about what has happened:
"I remember.. I proposed to sister Lily for the last time and then...!!!"
The mist in his head began clearing, the painful memories resurfacing once into Asta's head.
He first remembered the ambush by Lucius, then he remembered the training in the land of sun, It was like his mind was trying to suppress the truth. However the memories broke through.
The earlier regret about the clothes faded away, replaced by unrelenting rage and fury from losing his family and friends to Lucius's plans.
The air surrounding Asta became heavy, pressured by the intense amount of bloodlust coming from him as the world itself seemed to vanish from his vision.
"Everything is worthless. "
"Destroy everything."
"There is no need for this world to exist."
Asta began hearing voices, each suggesting and slowly nudging him towards the edge of his sanity, it felt he was in a nightmare, reliving the scene of his defeat again and again.
"Are you gonna give up?"
A single insult reached his ears among the voices, a single image of a giant eye flashing past as a obsidian coloured board formed in front of his eyes.
[Do not forget, There may not be a third chance.]
"... Huh?"
The deal with the giant eye, the promise to save another world from a ending like his own. Asta had finally remembered the last hope he was clutching to, his final bastion of strength.
He grit his teeth till it hurt, waving his hand in the darkness as blasted away the voices from his mind. The sound of something breaking reached him as he found himself back in the hut with a broken mirror tossed to the side.
"I am not gonna give up. Never!"
Asta said with resolve, there was no moment for him to waste. The pain in his body was nothing he couldn't overcome so he pushed through with sheer will and stood up again.
He looked around, his eye scanning the surroundings like hawk, his vision locked onto the door and a wardrobe beside it in the other corner of the room.
The obsidian coloured panel also appeared before him again, moving wherever he looked as words flashed on it. It was following his sight, or rather it would be better to say it was in his mind.
[ Trait system | stage 1
Current traits: (1)
Hints: (7)
Unread message from the contracter: (1) ]
"So this is what that big eye was talking about. *smirks* I hope it is helpful."
Asta smiles, his eyes stuck on the panel that seemed to react to his wishes and commands. He had no idea of what this panel was capable of but it looks like he was gonna find it out by himself.
However while he was busy trying to use it, he heard something click in front of him.
The door opener, revealing a boy of similar age to him who wore monk clothes.
The boy didn't make a voice, only turning around and closing the door as he sprinted out with full speed.
It took Asta and his bird brain a little time to react, a fear rising as he broke through the gate and sprinted at the boy while screaming at him.
"STOP!!"
There was no way Asta was gonna let the boy go, if the guards as much as wiffed a single news about him, he was gonna get royally stacked on a cross.
So as the boy ran for his life, so did Asta to chase him. He had to stop the boy at any cost, and least to say- the sprint looked comical and hilariously funny at the same time.
-flash back ends-