"This is how it happened. This is how we killed the Raven.
As a little girl, my mother always told me the legends of the Spirits of Chaos. Dark and Evil spirits that only sought to further their own goals, rather than help humanity. And they always told me that I'd be the one to rid Aerith of the last one. I'm Olivia, and Torrin chose me at birth. An honor to carry such a title, but also a burden. Responsibilities to my home, and to the world. I was supposed to live up to the likes of other Chosen, and it always scared me.
I always was quite proficient with bending the magic around me to my will, but it took me years to use any of it effectively. Years of studies, of training, and even meditation. People said that humans could ascend beyond our limits. Remove our ties to this world, and unlock powers never before seen. I never believed that, or at least didn't want to, because there was no way I could achieve such a thing.
By the time I was 18, I was sent out into the world, to leave behind the protection of my home, my family, and to fulfill my destiny. To kill Synin. A plague on our lands. Preying on the weak. Taking advantage of fools. I would bring an end to him, whatever the cost.
I met many other adventurers in my travels, from all around the world. But among them was a girl who would become my closest ally. I had found a camp of outlaws, slavers by trade. Cages with people within, incredibly thin due to malnutrition, and not just Torran, either. The way they treated them was horrible. Only rags covering the bare minimum, although on the women...? They were barely even covered, if they even were. I had to free them, but there were at least 10 of these outlaws in the camp, and who knew how many more were out "working". In the dead of night, only lit by a campfire on the center of this camp, I made my move. I could hear these poor girls getting overpowered by these men. I couldn't stand idly. As silent as the breeze, I had made it inside one of the tents, and there was a man inside, moving up and down while a young lady cried muffled by some cloth in her mouth. At that moment, my soul stirred with rage, but I calmed myself. I couldn't give myself away. I snuck up besides the bedroll they were on, and in one swift movement, covered the man's mouth, and slit his throat, pulling him aside so that he wouldn't bleed all over the poor girl. She looked incredibly weak, her eyes staring at me with disbelief. I could tell right away she was Arian. Cat-like ears, and a tail, both as black as the night. Eyes a sort of yellow, bright, with a shocked stare. Short, thin, and malnourished. I must admit, I took a bit of time killing the man, wanting him to suffer a bit before he was presented to the Twins for judgment. Once I was sure he was dead, I helped out the poor girl, giving her my cloak to cover herself, and obviously removing the primitive gag. "Thank you, stranger, you-..." She tried to speak in her mother tongue, her voice rough, tired, almost gone. "Don't worry. I'm getting you all out of here. Stay quiet, and take this." I responded in her language and gave her a scroll. I had it for emergencies, but she needed it more, just in case. It contained a spell to completely freeze someone. I cleared out the remainder of the camp, sending outlaw after outlaw to the Twins. Giving them a lot of work it seemed, but I doubted it was hard to judge these men for their deeds. Perhaps when it was my time, I'd be deemed evil by them, but it didn't matter to me. One by one their lives were snuffed out, they never saw it coming. I was surprised how good at this I was. I hadn't even killed anyone before this, but somehow I just didn't hesitate. I knew I had to help these people. I left the ones closer to the middle for last, and I eventually was done. The last man with a hole in his neck. I was about to turn back to free the rest of the slaves, when I felt something really cold against my own neck. I was about to shout in surprise, but my beak was also held closed by the stranger's hand. "Move, and you're dead, kid. I should kill you right now, for killing all my men, but... I think I'll enjoy breaking you so much more. As payback." A voice was audible right against my ear, whispery. The knife he had against my throat was ice cold, it was probably magical to be that cold. I knew that was the way I died. Without fulfilling my destiny, dead in a ditch somewhere, killed by some slaver. But... my preparedness was rewarded. The man suddenly froze over, a cut-off scream coming from his throat as his entire body was completely encased in ice. The girl I saved came up behind him and put a knife through his head, which proceeded to break into bits, his frozen body falling over. I sighed a breath of relief, thankful I had given her the scroll. "W-We are even now." The girl said to me, the scroll freezing over and breaking into tiny little bits in her hand. I took the magical knife to inspect it properly later, and looked at her. "Thank you. Please help me free the others, and then you can be on your way." And so we did. Must have been about 20 slaves total. Most of them female, but I didn't count. The less squeamish ones just took the clothes of the dead slavers, but most of them remained barely clothed in rags. I pointed them to the city, and they all began the travel back towards safety. All except the girl. She had dressed herself in the clothes of the man that had been taking advantage of her. Perhaps as some sort of trophy or something. She gave me my cloak back, and seemed to hesitate for a second. "Why are you here?" She asked, her voice slowly recovering, more serious. "I'm on my way to Synin's lands. I want to get rid of his plague on my home." I answered, no reason to hide that. "Take me with you. Even if I saved you just now I still feel like I owe you. You didn't save me from death, you saved me from a fate even worse. I'm not taking no for an answer." She seemed so different from the shocked girl I had seen earlier. She seemed... like she now had determination. And a vendetta against something. Injustice like this maybe. "I don't see a reason to say no, you seem capable." I put on my cloak again, and resumed the journey to find Synin, with this girl, who I later on knew as Shiho, as a companion. Across the few weeks that took us to reach the eastern shores, she began to warm up to me. She was a sweet girl, really, but transformed into a serious woman by her trauma. Business first, personal matters later. I respected it. I was told Synin inhabited islands to the east of the Domain, and so we took a ship. This ship had been Arranged by Torrin in advance, and I was surprised to see the captain was... A rabbit. I had never seen such a thing. And I don't mean a humanoid rabbit, I mean an actual rabbit. Brown in color, with a bandana on her head. She could talk and everything, and told me her name was Kyrrha. She was a lesser spirit, brought to life by Torrin himself. During the journey, I got to know her desire of freedom, and that sailing helped her feel free and happy, and that she wanted to share this feeling with humanity one day. It took us a few days, but we made it to the islands. Cold, and snowy, similar to the southern areas of Torrin's Domain. i could feel the chaotic energy all around. He was here. One of the crew members joined the journey further in. A lad, 20 years old. A Paladin. He wore the armor, had the symbol and everything. Sword and shield in hand, he walked with us. He never seemed to want to tell us his real name, and instead wanted us to refer to him as Tower. Neither me nor Shiho wanted to fight this guy about it, so we just decided it didn't matter. Along the way, we had to fight some of Synin's people. Using mimicry to try and psych us out, mimicking people screaming in despair, or some almost demonic noises. They seemed to be using some sort of dark magic, bringing each other back to life whenever we killed one of them. It was rough, and we almost lost multiple times, but we persevered, but not without some losses. Shiho had her hand cut clean off by one of these people. I did my best, but her hand was now unusable. She was still determined to finish this, so we pressed on. Eventually, we were face to face with the Raven. "Synin! I'm here to stop your blight in our lands. You either stop what you're doing, or I'll be forced to kill you."
"You? You're just a kid that Torrin sent to their death. You're getting involved in forces and dealings that you just cannot understand."
"What I understand is that killing you will end the suffering of everyone."
"Kill a spirit? You really are just a child. Come then, Chosen. I shall show you what the power over life and death really means."
Tower quickly rushed Synin, follwed by Shiho, who was trying to flank him. AS I tried to cast magic at him, it all seemed to just... get diverted elsewhere, almost hitting my own comrades. It was as if the chaotic aura worked as a magnet, but repelling the magic. So... I had to just face him head on. I used my crossbow, not wanting to get in too close, since I wasn't particularly sturdy or armored. Both Tower and Shiho managed to get some hits in, but soon after Synin seemed to surge with chaotic energy, and with the touch of a feather on Shiho's cheek, darkness entered her bloodstream, and with a scream of searing pain, she fell to the ground. I could see her aura dissipate. She was dead. Tower and me managed to get a couple more hits, mostly in the haze of revenge. But as we thought we had him cornered... he surged again. We pulled away. But this time... he pointed his magic at Shiho again. And darkness consumed her, almost possessing her, and she stood up again. She looked at the two of us with empty, midless eyes. A mere shadow of her former self. He used her like a puppet to fight us. I didn't want to kill her again. "Shiho! Stop! I'm Olivia your friend!" Synin cackled. "She's not in there anymore! Quite a shame too, she was a rather feisty one. Still... her skills shall be used to fend you off." I couldn't believe it. Perhaps she was indeed gone. But she deserved a burial proper, and I wasn't about to shoot her in the face. In the middle of Synin's gloating, Tower had managed to get up behind him. He knocked him on his face with his shield, boot on the back of his neck, and blade right on his head. "Synin. Your evil shall be purged from this world. Now, surrender and die quick, or try something stupid and die slowly." Synin still laughed madly. "Kill me then, young paladin. But... we are not so different, you and I. You could say... we share a fate." Tower just raised his sword as Synin laughed and just stabbed him right through the back of the head. Just as I thought the suffering was over, I noticed that something magical had seeped into Tower's body. And suddenly... his head burst open out of nowhere. As if a sword had gone clean through it, exactly the same as Synin. "So... that's what he meant... It's finally over." I fell to my knees. At last... The evil was purged. I could still hear Synin's cackle in my head. It didn't go silent. I could barely think. I felt such spite and hatred, to a level I didn't even know I could have. I could have prevented this. If I had come in alone, perhaps these two could have lived. A young girl born into slavery. A devoted man, with a righteous heart. This story would be written in blood, sadly. Their blood. Synin's body began to almost fizzle away into darkness, leaving behind a sort of... purple looking pearl. 3 or 4 centimeters in diameter. It seemed to almost pulsate with magic. When I went to pick it up, I could feel an intense darkness creep its way into my soul. The power over life and death. Eternal youth. I could feel it try and take over my mind. But instead... all I did was bring back Shiho. Even if her former self was almost completely gone, I could still feel the fire in her eyes. I could surpass death itself. And after some healing, she was almost as good as new. But... I knew the power would corrupt me sooner or later. I told her to take Tower's body, and bury it somewhere, where his soul could properly leave this plane. And I stayed behind. I hid away the pearl, somewhere nobody would find it again. And then... I began writing this. The enlightenment of Synin's power taught me healing magic we never knew could exist. It made me feel like my purpose had been finally achieved. It taught me ways to bend the soothing aura of the world into stronger and more focused bursts. I have detailed these finds in the next pages. I know this is my time. Please... Use this knowledge wisely. If you don't y-" [The rest of the page is covered with blood. It's impossible to read. In the next couple pages, details of healing spells are laid out extensively.]
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