The First King of Beasts

"Normally, introductions start with names, but I can't say my name, since I have do not have one. Therefore, you can refer to me however you like. If I like it, then I will allow it." The man said before continuing. "I'm not one for long stories, so I'll just cut it short, as you won't even know even if I was to tell the full story." Then, the man began his summarized story and told it to Dustin.

This mysterious man was actually a human, in a way. Originally, he was a human, but then during an accident involving rune magic, his soul and body got mixed with something else which changed his being forever. Till that very day, no one could explain what exactly happened, but whatever it was it had created a new being. Before all these though, there was a story that led up to it.

Many, many year ago, so far lost in history that the man couldn't exactly say how long it had being, he lived on the earth as a mortal human, but as a strong and powerful one at that. Long story short, his life was full of adventures and wonderful events, and by the young age of 50, he had already become the ruler of his people, the entire nation.

"Wait, how is 50 years young? Isn't that the diamond age or something like that?" Dustin asked, kind of confused. From what he knew, 50 year olds were already passed the age where children referred to them as uncles, they had become old uncles! That is of course unless the person was gifted, and happened to be one of the few people who retained their youthful appearance for a long time. By all standards, that was not young at all!

"Well, I don't know about the present era, but back in my times, people lived up to the ages of five-hundred and even higher, so being at the mere age of fifty was kind of young, don't you think?" The man said.

"But at such age, wouldn't they have just become weak and dependent on others for day to day living?" Dustin said.

"No, not exactly. I know a man who fought alongside me in battle against the Northland monsters, and he was around the age of four hundred if I remember correctly, not to mention that he was very strong."

Hearing this, Dustin didn't even try to argue further. He was sure the times they lived in were different, and the person before him might not even be from their own earth if possible, or maybe back then magic was a thing. But, why did it then die out? Hmm...

The man continued his story as they had gone off track talking about life expectancy. The mere thought that people died of old age at such a young age of 90 wasn't something he wanted to think of at this moment. Even normal people that had never felt magic lived up to 300 years in many cases, no body he knew of had ever died at any age lower than 200 out of old age. Heh, alas the times were truly different.

So, after becoming the ruler of his people at such a young age, of 50, it was natural and expected that the rulers and kings of other kingdoms and nations would not support something like that, and would try to put a rein on him, and not just because he had become king, but because of many other reasons.

For one, it wouldn't have been a loss to refer to him as the most talented person that had ever roamed the lands, as what made him so deadly wasn't his strength and power alone, but his immerse skill. He was proficient in every weapon he had ever held, and when it came to techniques or ways to counter magic and things like that, he alone was regarded as the top 10. It was just completely unreal what he was capable of.

Another thing which may have also led to his down fall was his immerse kindness and willingness to do good and help others. This particular trait was one of the things that made him very loved amongst his people, and it was also the reason for his down fall.

For someone like that to become a king of a nation, he now had the overwhelming power to influence how every other kingdom acted, to a very large extent. Back than power was everything, not like that had changed one bit though, and for the kind of kingdoms that existed then, two nations going to war over some trivial matter was not uncommon.

The thing was none of them was truly the ruler of their kingdoms, as each and every kingdom belonged to a god, a being that ruled supreme over the entirety of humanity, and that was also where they drew their supernatural powers from.

The era in which the man lived in was a dark era where the entirety of humanity answered to one single god, and though normally this may be seen as something that isn't necessarily bad, as everyone would work towards a single goal, this god was different from the rest. He was a war god, one that enjoyed the humans being left t their own devices. Why he did that, no one knew, after all, who could understand a god.

The other monarchs and rulers of the other nations began plotting against the man, and although he couldn't remember just how much and how many times they plotted to kill him or do something to get rid of him, one thing he remembered was that it was so much that even with his peace loving personality, he always felt like storming their kingdom and completely obliterating them.

.

.

"So.. Where does the part about the runes come into play." Dustin asked.

"Why so impatient? We are getting there." The man said. "Fine, I'll skip to that part then."

"Yes."

"..."

.

During one of their attempts to kill the man, they lured him into some ancient ruins where some demons seemed to have been spawning from lately, and this was just after the war against the demons came to an end,, which was also one of his most difficult and intense battle he had ever fought against monsters. The report was that demons were coming from the place and were attacking the nearby villagers. As any other day, the man rushed there without much of a research about whether or not this information was true. He did do some information gathering from the people, and confirmed that the information he was given was true, but that was it, nothing else.

Normally, he would find out more before going ahead with things like this, but after seeing firsthand how the village and villagers looked, not to mention the fact that the war had only just ended and there would still be demons roaming around, the man didn't bother thinking much and just headed for the ruins.

After he got there, weirdly enough, he didn't run into single demon, and instead just ended up killing many wild beasts, and that was only on the way there and within the beginning parts of the ruins, which were in the form of an ancient underground temple that stretched many acres underground with many compartments and routes. After a while there, he actually began thinking of the possibility that he might have actually entered a trap set by the other kingdom monarchs and lords.

To cut the long story short, he ended up spending some days trapped in the ruins as he had somehow become unable to find the exit. He later came face to face with one of the lords of a neighbouring kingdom, and just like he had suspected, it was a trap all along. They happened to run into each other within some kid of room that had inscriptions all over the walls, ceiling and floor, covering every open space and leaving nowhere free.

The moment the man cast his magic, his magic seemed to have awakened something within the room, and he had unknowingly activated something that was arcane and way above their level, they could feel it. They both tried to run and escape out of the constraints of the room disregarding the other, but after taking just a few steps, their bodies became stuck in place, and the markings that covered the room began crawling unto their bodies. According to the man, that was the first time he experienced suck pain in his life, it felt like his very skin was being rolled off his body, and even in some places he could remember seeing ruptures here and there...

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"Or is that just my imagination?... I can't really remember, but you get the gist of it, the pain was that bad."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway..."

Following the writings crawling towards their body, the feeling of their skin being ripped off intensified, and as though that wasn't enough, his entire body felt like a thousand swords were being stabbed into his very flesh, and through. The only difference this time was that the pain was nothing like any stab he had ever received in his life. Compared to the pain he remembered getting from a stab, it was unimaginably amplified, tenfold.

"Of course, I'm not going to pretend that whenever I about that event I still remember the pain... I don't. I just know that it felt incredibly painful at the moment it happened."

"Sure."

"Hm, now to the interesting part."