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Thousands of years ago, at that time the human population was not that large and lived side by side with all living things that already inhabited the Earth.
This story is taken far back when the human population was just developing and humans became a minority creature that was considered weak from all races. Recorded in history there was the Elf or Fairy Race, the Dwarves, the Nisnas a mixed races of humans and animals, the Nymp of the Mermaids, a giant monsters such as Dragons, Hydra, Kraken and giant snakes.
Why are Humans the Weakest Race? Because Humans are born without any abilities, they are born like blank paper that can’t do anything, but without realizing it, that is the potential because when Humans are in state of Awakening, they can become anything, have any power, even exceed Gods.
However, there is one creature that is famous for its brutality because it likes to cause damage. This creature is called Magog, a creature known for being very greedy. No one knows for sure whether Magog is from the Human Race or the Nisnas race because its body shape is quite strange. Some are like humans, some are also those with four legs, three legs, hard skin like rocks and their bodies are like monsters or reptiles, some are giant and some are very small.
The Magog race is a race that likes to kidnap humans to be used as toys like pets. They rape, pit humans against other creatures like cockfighting, they even eat them.
And this is where the story begins. A young man with grayish-white hair and red eyes with a handsome face, he is named Sylus who lives in a cage, imprisoned with several humans who are trapped in a wooden prison by the Magogs.
They were told to fight each other and the loser will be immediately destroyed. Who knows how long Sylus has been trapped there and become a toy of the Magogs but what he knows is that he has been imprisoned there since childhood.
One of the Magogs pulled him out of the cage to be pitted against a man whose body was much bigger than his. The Magogs pushed Sylus' body until he fell to the ground, he saw the eyes of the man in front of him scared because he didn't want to die.
"Forgive me, Kid." Said the Man ran quickly, Sylus swiftly dodged to the side while watching the annoyed expression on the man's face who immediately picked up a stone on the ground and threw it at Sylus. Sylus easily dodged again then took the soil below throwing the dust into the man's face until he screamed.
"Akh! My eyes!" Sylus could hear the cheers of the Magogs who were starting to get noisy mixed with screams of pain then with a quick movement he ran closer kicked the man’s legs until he fell and punched him in the solar plexus, delivering several merciless punches to the man’s face until his face bled. When the man's body fell and gave up one of the Magog dragged the man's body.
"NO! Don't! Let me go! Please—" Sylus closed his eyes as he saw the next horrific incident, then a big hand grabbed his collar from behind, pulled him into the cage and threw a raw meat with a water bag —wages from hard work— then they took another human to fight again, almost every day there would be bloodshed.
Feelings of disgust and anger spurred Sylus to fight back, but he realized his abilities had not yet awakened. He realized that he couldn’t fight if he didn’t have any strength, but with his determination to become stronger was inevitable. He gathered some usable items and studied the Magog weaknesses to fight them and invited other prisoners to work with him on the escape mission.
Magog are creatures with a sharp sense of smell and hard skin like stone, fighting them requires the use of very sharp and powerful weapons to scratch their skin. Sylus also began to learn to make sharp weapons using stones around him and learned to hide his body odor by covering his body with soil and mud. With determination and support from his friends who were trapped with him, they tried to survive while thinking about how to escape from the Magog.
Until that day came, that night all the Magog fell asleep because they were indeed not active at night. Sylus and several other people who were ready with the tools they made tried to pry the wooden cage very slowly and carefully, after a few moments of silence with tension finally the wooden door opened, one by one they came out without a sound. After smearing their bodies with soil they began to release several people from other wooden cages. Meanwhile, Sylus watches over the Magog who are still sleeping.
A cracking sound of wood was heard causing one of the Magogs to move restlessly, Sylus held his breath and made a gesture to stop but at the same time Sylus felt the tension around him and when he turned his head, a large hand flew towards him reflexively making him immediately dodge rolling to the side. The large Magog hand hit the ground, destroying where he was standing. Sylus glared as he felt the other Magogs start to wake up.
"RUN!" Shouted one of the men which made some of those who managed to get out of the cage run for their lives. However, the movement and size of the Magogs were too impossible to deal with. Sylus saw his comrades being pulled and smashed to the ground until their bodies were covered in blood, some were stepped on, it all looked like Hell. Instantly time stopped, Sylus felt a large hand wanting to hit again and miraculously he dodged before being crushed into a flat human.
"RUN-" The body of one of his friends was kicked and hit the rocks. Sylus held his breath seeing one by one the people who had supported him all this time die at the hands of the Magogs before his own eyes making the anger that had been pent up peak. The feeling of hurt and anger made him want to scream.
"AAAAAGGH!" Like an explosion of anger inside him, Sylus ran quickly towards Magog who was about to step on his friend's fallen body.
His fists clenched tightly. Who knows where this courage came from, his hands seemed to be covered in a blackish red aura that was so strong that Sylus jumped and slammed his fist, making Magog's head explode instantly. Sylus' body trembled when he saw Magog's three-meter-long body without a head collapse to the ground, making the other Magogs roar like wild animals.
"Y-your eyes... are glowing red..." His friend said in a weak tone. Huh? What?
When Sylus wanted to approach him, several Magogs ran towards him with a growl. Sylus with his anger still peaked, clenched his fists and punched them, several small Magogs just stood there watching his actions, while the larger Magogs that reached five meters walked closer, stomping the ground until it shook.
Sylus confidently clenched his fists to attack, but something unexpected happened. His head suddenly felt dizzy and his gaze was dizzy, his body suddenly went limp and fell to the ground. At that time, Sylus could no longer think whether he would live or not. With the rest of his strength, he saw Magog's big hand approaching to hit his head but before that happened his vision had gone black.
===
The first thing Sylus felt when he opened his eyes was pain all over his body.
"Stop, don't move." A soft voice that somehow made Sylus calm down instantly. Slowly he turned his head and saw the figure of a beautiful woman beside him.
"Am I in Heaven now?" The sentence came out of Sylus' mouth without a filter, making the beautiful woman laugh softly with sweet dimples and a charming smile. Her golden brown eyes made Sylus amazed and familiar, as if he had met that gaze before.
"No, you are now in our Camp." The woman said.
"Camp?" Sylus tried to get up to sit up with a little pain.
"Wait, don't move." The woman held Sylus' body so that he remained lying down then from both of her hands came a golden light that radiated warmth instantly relieving the pain in his body.
"Thank you, so you're a Healer?" Sylus asked and was answered with a graceful nod.
"Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lemora, an Awakened type Healer from the Southern Special Forces." Sylus was silent for a moment digesting the explanation.
"What's your name?" The woman asked again.
"Name? Sylus... and what is the Southern Special Forces?" Sylus asked making Lemora tilt her head.
"The Southern Special Forces, formed to eradicate the Magogs that plague humans and other creatures. We also consist of several races, but specifically for the Human race only Awakenings can join." Lemora explained.
"Oh... I see, then what about my friends? The Humans I was with? Are they safe?" Lemora was silent long enough to answer the question.
"When we got to your place, everyone was dead and when we found you, you were almost trampled by Magog. Thankfully we arrived just in time and were able to save you." Lemora squeezed Sylus' arm with a sad face then she hugged him making Sylus a little surprised. Do I need a hug at a time like this? She thought.
"Sorry. We didn't come in time to save you guys..." Sylus remained silent and didn't answer, the feeling of loss had been experienced many times before, it made him accustomed to death, but for some reason Sylus felt a vibration in his chest when Lemora hugged him— like there was a tightness in his chest that was roiling— I don't know what it was.
"I'm fine." Sylus muttered. Lemora let go of her hug and looked at him seriously.
"Are you sure?" She asked in a worried tone, Sylus nodded reassuringly.
Lemora sighed softly, then looked at him seriously. "Okay, if you're okay. By the way, Sylus... your wound healed really fast. I wonder... Do you have mixed Dragon blood?"
"I don't know, but my wounds have always healed quickly since before," Sylus said while remembering that every time I fought my wounds would heal quickly. Lemora put on a thoughtful expression. When Sylus wanted to ask again a big man entered the tent and looked at him with a smile.
"Hey, young man. How are you?" The man asked.
"Let me introduce you. This man is our best soldier, his name is Fred. He is also the one who saved you," said Lemora.
"Let me introduce myself, Fred," Fred extended his hand.
"Sylus." Sylus shook Fred's hand.
"Good, so Sylus, do you want to join us? Special forces? Because I see you are an Awakening." Fred exclaimed.
"Me?" Fred nodded.
"Yes, come with me." Fred gestured to follow him. Sylus glanced at Lemora and Lemora nodded.
"I will accompany you," Lemora reached out and held his hand.
They then left the Camp and there Sylus saw many humans living side by side with several races. Fred took him into a large tent containing the Nisnas race whose heads resembled eagles but their mouths resembled humans while their bodies still resembled humans with hairy arms.
"Greetings," Fred and the Nisnas race greeted each other.
"Greetings, let me introduce myself, my name is Indie from the Nisnas race." Indie greeted Sylus.
"Greetings, let me introduce myself, my name is Sylus, Human..." Sylus followed his way of greeting.
"So he's going to do an Evol test?" Indie asked and Fred agreed. Fred told her the whole chronology of how they met and believed that Sylus was an Awakening.
"Okay, then Sylus come here and put your hand on this cube." Indie took out a crystal glass cube that was very shiny, looking beautiful with faint colors decorating its sides. When Sylus put his hand on the cube a reddish light appeared with red smoke surrounding it.
"Apparently an Energy Controller." Indie muttered.
"He can Manipulate Energy? But why is it red?"
"Because when his power awakens the trigger is a wave of Anger and blood around him. That's what makes the energy around him red." Indie explained.
"Wow, so your power can manipulate Energy, that's great." Lemora exclaimed happily.
"But Sylus can only manipulate Energy around living things, he can't manipulate natural Energy. His power focuses on combat and destruction." Indie continued.
"What about healing? It seems like his wounds heal quickly," Lemora asked Indie.
"Let me see," Indie took a dagger and scratched Sylus' fingertip, making it bleed, then the wound closed immediately. "So that's it, this is because he has Dragon blood, that's why he can speed up his healing."
Sylus' eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "Dragon? But how is that possible?" Because as far as he could remember he lived side by side with humans and Magog.
"Don't you remember who your parents or family are, Sylus?" Fred asked, Sylus shook his head.
Fred rubbed his chin in thought. "I see... So you don't know huh. Well... at least it's beneficial for you because your wounds heal quickly. Alright then, since we now know you're an Awakened, let's start your training. Because it seems like your powers will be very useful during the raid." They left the place and headed to Sylus' first training ground.
Within six months, Sylus continued to be trained using all available weapons, but of all the weapons, Sylus was only interested in the ability of empty-handed self-defense or Martial Arts. Because fighting with bare hands while using his energy manipulation abilities made him more free to move, although occasionally he also learned to use arrows and swords.
One year passed, Sylus' abilities developed rapidly and he became the best Southern Special Forces Soldier with extraordinary strength. They traveled through the cities and villages to eradicate the Magogs who were causing trouble and free the humans who were being held hostage by the inhumane Magogs.
Gradually, the Southern Special Forces became famous throughout the region because of Sylus. In addition to being famous for being strong, his handsome face, good body, and charming nature made him popular among women. He was even proposed to by a princess from the Northern Kingdom who strangely always rejected him and chose to hunt the Magogs —not that he was not interested in women, it was just that he had already decided which woman he would marry someday —
At least, that was what was on Sylus' mind after being a Special Forces soldier for quite a long time. Fighting with other soldiers and also Lemora. Yes, that beautiful woman. For some reason, she always made him feel comfortable, he even treated Lemora differently from all the women he met.
As if he already knew her quite well. And this is also one of the reasons for him to become stronger so that he can protect the people he loves. While thinking so, Sylus looked at Lemora's face which looked familiar, like they had lived together before.
Slowly their relationship became closer, where Lemora was there, Sylus was always there and vice versa. Their relationship that looked like a couple sometimes made other soldiers jealous because they knew that Lemora was not the type of woman who would easily melt with the opposite sex.
Like Sylus, Lemora was also quite famous for her healing powers and she even often received proposals from handsome and rich men to make her his wife, which sometimes made Sylus emit a blackish red aura behind him. The two of them looked like a perfect couple because for some reason they complemented each other.
One day when the two of them were walking alone, relaxing in a field full of blooming wildflowers, there Sylus lay on Lemora's lap while Lemora was busy decorating Sylus with the flowers there.
"You know, it feels like... this has happened before," Sylus said, breaking the silence, the wind blowing Lemora's long hair fluttering.
"Really? I feel the same way," Lemora smiled, still picking flowers and arranging them into a flower crown. Sylus's hand rose, tucking the woman's hair behind her ear, his calm eyes staring at her with a mixture of affection.
"Do you believe that Reincarnation exists?" The hand gently stroked Lemora's cheek.
"Do you think we lived together in the past?" Sylus's left eye twitched hearing that then he smiled and nodded.
"I think so," Sylus pulled Lemora's hand and placed it on his chest.
"In my dream, you took my heart. Here," Sylus said, his gaze staring seriously at Lemora.
Lemora chuckled, "Am I doing it again now?" She asked making Sylus laugh too.
"I don't know, but what I do know... You are my destiny," Lemora fell silent hearing that sentence come out of Sylus' lips, making her heart beat fast. A warm feeling that she had never felt even with a handsome prince.
Lemora approached making their faces only a few inches apart, "Yes, I think so." She smiled and kissed Sylus' lips gently. The peaceful and romantic atmosphere was disturbed by the sound of an explosion from a scream from a distance making them both turn their heads towards the smoke that was rising high.
"The village—" Lemora choked looking at Sylus who nodded then left. They rushed to the village that had been destroyed by the Magogs who suddenly appeared. Their size was very large, destroying people's houses and capturing humans inside. They ate them.
"Troops! Form a formation and attack!" Fred ordered all Special Forces soldiers to handle the Magogs. Sylus also fought with his bare hands, relying on his strength and abilities. While Lemora rushed to try to save some of the injured residents with several other Healers.
Fred drew his sword on the body of one of the Magogs then tore the hard skin until his body was scattered. "Why are there so many of them?" As Fred turned to save the villagers, he was nearly kicked by the still-undead Magog before being destroyed by Sylus' Evol. "Stay alert and be careful. It looks like they're evolving," Sylus said.
"No wonder their movements are a bit agile and they can dodge. I thought they were just stupid creatures who couldn't learn to fight." Fred held his sword, blue flames burning at the tip of his sword.
Sylus put on a gloomy face while hitting the Magogs, clearly this time Magog could dodge and block his attacks making this fight even fiercer. But they forgot Sylus had an Evol that could destroy their hard bodies. With the reddish black energy that enveloped Sylus' body, he moved agilely and quickly, kicking and slamming his fists. Destroying the Magogs one by one. Making their bodies full of holes and destroyed.
But no matter how strong Sylus is, he also has weaknesses. Busy fighting to destroy the Magogs, one of the Magogs ran and hit Lemora's body until she was thrown and another terrible thing happened when the Magog bit one of her legs until it was severed.
Sylus' eyes widened, making him filled with anger. A reddish black aura enveloped his body, his eyes lit up and Magog's body was instantly destroyed.
At that time, his eyes stared blankly at Lemora's unconscious body, blood everywhere and her legs—
Sylus approached Lemora's sprawled body. His face was expressionless but his eyes radiated anger and sadness, then he lifted the body. Some people offered to help but Sylus just kept quiet and didn't let anyone touch Lemora.
"She'll be fine, it's just..." Said Lyli, one of the Female Healers at the Camp. She checked Lemora's condition with a blue Aura radiating from her palm.
"Her leg... can't it come back?" Sylus asked the Healer.
"Our abilities haven't reached that stage yet." Lyli answered.
"This is all my fault. I couldn't protect her," When Sylus was blaming himself for everything that happened to the girl he loved, a hand patted his shoulder.
"Hey, there's nothing we can do if it's already happened." Fred said trying to comfort her which seemed futile.
"Why did this happen to her?"
"You don't need to think about that, Lemora will be fine when she wakes up. We should leave this place soon. We can't stay long in the Village that Magog just destroyed because it will invite the Giant Snake here." Fred said again and packed his equipment, helping Sylus pack some of Lemora's belongings.
Sylus nodded and lifted Lemora's body, carrying her. Holding her tightly to his chest on his horse.
"Don't you want her to rest in the freight train?" Fred asked, Sylus shook his head. He wanted to keep the weak body in his arms.
Then the ground shook, the shaking made the Soldiers panic.
"Giant Snake. We have to move fast. Quick! Quick! Everyone!" Fred told the others to hurry away before the Snake came.
Why were they so afraid of this Giant Snake? That's because this Snake can't be killed just like that. Its body contains poison. Even its body can be reassembled—the point is this snake is immortal who protects the earth from pests—like humans in the present day—
"Quick—" The voice stopped when suddenly the Giant Snake with big red eyes and skin like crystal stone devoured Fred's body whole making all the Soldiers glare and hold their breath.
"RUN AWAY, STUPID!" They quickly stomped their horses away from the Giant Snake, as did Sylus who quickly spurred his horse away from the place while the Great Snake spewed its poisonous purple smoke throughout the forest. Making them have no choice but to put on their face masks. Sylus put on the face mask for Lemora who was still unconscious, hugging her body tightly while spurring his horse quickly.
Suddenly the horse's feet stumbled making them both fall, Sylus swiftly hugged Lemora's body tightly protecting her as their bodies fell rolling on the rocky ground.
Sylus' body was full of scratches but the wounds healed quickly as usual. There was no time. Sylus tried to stand up while hugging Lemora to his chest, but the growl of the Giant Snake was too close.
"Damn. This won't work." Sylus lowered Lemora's body gently and stroked her cheek with a bitter smile as he felt the intimidation from the giant creature.
The snake growled, Sylus turned around and released his reddish black aura, using his evolution. With this size, it would take a lot of energy to destroy it. He thought.
Sylus then ran, clenching his fists with determination to protect the great one. He used all his energy to wrap around the Giant Snake and slammed his fists. Its skin was apparently harder than that damn Magog.
He punched, kicked and tried to tear the Snake's skin, but to no avail. Sylus slowly began to get frustrated, his hands were injured and blistered, his fists that were usually harder and sharper than the blade of a sword had no effect on the creature.
Then he remembered Lemora who could make explosives, Sylus ran to get an explosive ball in his small bag and changed plans to attack the Snake.
He ran away from where Lemora was lying, luring the Snake a little bit away, then slammed his fist on the snake's head making the Giant Snake roar. The snake smacked its tail trying to attack Sylus but he was able to dodge quickly. Then the awaited thing happened, the Snake gaped open its mouth to devour Sylus.
Sylus took advantage of the moment, holding back his poisonous fangs making his palms blister. Then he threw a bag containing explosive balls into the Snake's mouth, slamming it into the Great Snake's body with the remaining evol energy.
BOOM!!!
The explosion occurred making the Great Snake's body explode and scatter while Sylus' body was thrown far away. His body hit rough rocks and rolled around then landed near Lemora who was lying unconscious. The Giant Snake's body that scattered like rain with its poisonous purple blood caused plants and animals to die instantly.
Sylus who saw the phenomenon rushed to protect Lemora's body. His large body blocked anything from the Giant Snake to hit Lemora.
"Agh." Sylus winced in pain feeling his skin starting to blister and burn, even though his body could heal quickly he could also feel pain and hurt if he continued to receive wounds.
At the same time Lemora finally woke up, her eyes widened in shock to see Sylus's condition which was full of wounds. His skin was smoking—blistered by the acid rain from the blood of the Giant Snake—
"Sylus—" Her voice choked as she winced as she felt her legs hurt. Sylus held Lemora's face, holding her back to keep her from looking at him. "Don't look," she whispered hoarsely.
But what they didn't expect was when the Snake's fangs flew towards them both, piercing through their backs and piercing Sylus' heart, making Lemora's eyes widen even more.
"S-Sylus..." Her voice trembled holding back tears. Her hands reached out to hold Sylus' face who was smiling bitterly in pain. Blood flowed from the corners of her lips.
Instantly like a movie loop, Sylus saw all the flashes of their past when he was still a Dragon feared by all humans... and that's where you are. Lemora. Her lover, the person she cared about, the person who filled her life at that time, and the person who killed her in the past and cried for her at the same time. Ironic.
Sylus laughed softly, making the blood in his mouth flow out more and more onto Lemora's beautiful face. His hand wiped the traces of his own blood from Lemora's face.
"In the past... now... even in the future... I will give my life again and again. Die for you... over and over again... until the end of time... if it keeps you alive... I will do anything... so that you... stay alive... Happy—" The body collapsed beside Lemora, still and stiff.
Lemora who was still silently processing everything glanced at Sylus' stiff body, tears flowing from the corner of her eyes.
"No... no... this is not what I want." Lemora's sobs broke out while shaking Sylus' body which was bleeding profusely.
"No. No. You can't die in front of me like this... Hikh... Sylus, wake up." Lemora with her tears that kept flowing tried to pull the purplish fangs of the Giant Snake. The poison that spread throughout Sylus' body stopped his body's healing system.
Lemora's hands blistered as she tried to pull the fangs that pierced Sylus' chest from behind his back, and when the fangs came out she quickly covered Sylus' wounds with both hands trying to stop the bleeding that was flowing heavily with her strength.
"Please.... Hikh- Please... stop coming out..." Her Evol glowed golden in both palms trying to heal Sylus' wounds.
"No. I won't let you die in front of me. Even if you choose to die for me... I... I too... I can't live without you," Lemora's sobs became louder, her body trembling and her head bowed looking at Sylus' pale face.
Lemora lifted Sylus' head and pressed their foreheads together, kissing the lifeless man's forehead. "If this is a curse, I want to stay with you."
"If in the past... I once took your life... Then all I have to do is return it, right?" Lemora smiled bitterly, her tears dripping down Sylus' pale face. Someone who had recently made her life more colorful and happy.
Then she kissed the man's lips, causing the golden light from Lemora's body to radiate and flow into Sylus' body like a stream of life given through a sacred kiss. One of her hidden abilities—Sharing her life energy to other dying creatures—
"This time... let me do it for you," The light in her body shone brighter, flowing into Sylus' body, making the wound on his back close instantly.
Thunder suddenly sounded in the cloudy sky. Raindrops dripped one by one and wet the two people who were hugging each other under the increasingly heavy rain. Cleaning the remaining poison and blood there, delivering warmth to one of the bodies that lay limp.
===
A month passed. The incident made some people afraid and traumatized. All the Special Forces soldiers mourned the death of a very influential figure in their troops. Fred the leader and—
Red eyes opened, got up and gasped. His body was wrapped in bandages but his heart somehow felt sore. Sylus glanced in all directions, saw the treatment room and tried to get up but fell because his legs were cramping.
"Are you awake?" A woman entered his room and helped Sylus sit back on the patient's bed.
"Where?"
"You're at the Health Center, we found you with—"
"Where is Lemora?" Sylus interrupted with a gasp making the woman silent for a moment, as if choosing the right words.
"Come with me." The woman reached out her hand and helped Sylus stand up.
The two of them walked out of the treatment room, seeing several special forces soldiers who were active. Sylus' heart beat faster as they entered the cemetery area.
"We found you two, but Lemora's condition at that time did not allow—"
"Haha- you must be kidding. That's impossible. I protected her." Then Sylus fell silent, staring at the tombstone with Lemora's name written on it.
"This must be a joke. How could she..." A soft pat rested on Sylus' shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"I protected her. This can't happen!" The voice that came out was shaking.
"She... She saved you..." Sylus fell silent.
"She? Saved me? Hahaha? How is that possible?"
"She gave her life energy to save you." Sylus fell silent again, he bit his lower lip until blood flowed from the corner.
"And... it seems... she wrote her last message before she left." The woman handed him a white cloth with red stains on it. The writing was written untidy and hastily with black chalk on the white cloth.
"Finally my Dragon can live happily." That was all that was written, making the corner of Sylus's eye twitch. He never thought someone he cared about... Died for him. His hands trembled as he squeezed the cloth.
"In the next life. I will find you again. I will protect you. I will not let this happen. No. Never again." That was the promise he made while kissing the cloth in his hand.
===
April 18, 2025
In a beautifully arranged garden, flowers bloomed with the wind blowing carrying a refreshing scent.
"Happy Birthday Sylus," said the woman with a cheerful smile. Sylus smiled too, while holding the woman who had stolen his heart from the past until now. He kissed the woman's forehead while praying for her happiness.
'In the Past, Present, or Future. You will always be tied to me, because You are Mine'