Crimson Core

‘Now I can have my revenge on that son of a bitch, Denzel.’ Kai was really a petty son of a…

Kai and Chelsea’s snuggled together all through the night. It was soon morning, and Chelsea’s body clock woke her up. She opened her eyes and Kai… Was not there.

“Uwu… It was only a dream.” Chelsea could still not believe that she had sex with Kai the night before. The only thing was that Chelsea felt really tired, she could only sit up, her inner thighs were sore, and her cave felt weird.

“I am naked?” Chelsea’s was confused. “Hiss…” Chelsea drew in cold air as she saw blood on her sheets, thoughts trailed her mind. ‘What happened? Where did this blood come from?’

Chelsea was lost in thought, her legs were numb. She could not move she felt exhausted, what happened last night seemed like a dream.

“Good morning my sunshine. I see that you are awake.” Chelsea was jolted out of her thoughts by a familiar masculine voice.

Chelsea turned her line of sight towards where the voice came from, she saw someone that made her heart flutter. Kai was smiling from cheek to cheek, it looked weird and sweet at the same time. Chelsea looked aside, Kai was almost naked. He had only a towel around his waist.

“Come, I prepared a bath for us.” Kai went forward to pick Chelsea up from her bed.

“Us?”. Chelsea asked in disbelief.

“Yes, us… Did you already forget about last night?” Kai asked Chelsea with a smug expression.

The memory of what happened last night flashed through Chelsea’s head. “No…” Chelsea managed to say with a red face. “—Oh…” She exclaimed as Kai lifted her from her bed.

“I know last night was your first time, so I prepared a hot bath for both of us. Don’t be shy, I have already seen everything.” Kai was calm as he carried Chelsea into the bathroom.

“Everything?” Chelsea refused to believe that what happened last night was real. Although she saw all the evidence, her kind could not come to an acceptance of the fact.

“He he~” Kai laughed slyly as if to say ‘Yes everything.’

Chelsea almost died of having blood rushing to her face as she blushed hard and hid her face in Kai’s arms.

‘He still smells nice.’ Chelsea was enjoying Kai’s body scent and Kai was enjoying the view, as well as the feel of her skin on his.

To cut the story short, Kai and Chelsea had a bath together, and Chelsea could not believe what she was seeing. Kai on the other hand, never enjoyed a sight as beautiful as this. Chelsea truly was the one for him.

Chelsea hid her face most of the time turning her back to Kai… Little did she know that Kai wanted nothing more than to give her buttocks a little spank, to see her red skin; then soothe it with some balm.

Kai truly was a cultured man. After some time, Kai and Chelsea were on her bed they were talking; this was before breakfast.

Kai placed his hands over Chelsea’s thighs and healed them. The sore sensation she felt in her legs was gone, but her legs were still numb from all that skin interaction the night before.

“—ouch!” Kai felt a feeble— Scratch that, a powerful blow to his head. “What was that for?” He asked the only other person in the room.

Chelsea had her lips pouted. “You could have done this last night when I was bleeding.” Chelsea tried her best to seem angry.

“Hahaha…” Kai laughed. “…if I had done that, you would not remember last night for a long time. Don’t worry the next time I will go harder~”

The moment Kai said those words Chelsea blushed again. “Harder? You want to kill me?”.

Kai was seriously not taking this conversation seriously. “You have me here what is there to worry about?”

After some time of banter, Kai’s expression changed. He had a serious face when he spoke. “Chelsea I have to go now, do you want me to go?”

Of course, Chelsea wanted him to stay, but he had the magic academy to attend. Although the students didn’t have class every day. “I want you to stay but it’s alright if you go, it’s important for you”.

“No, it’s important for us,” Kai placed a light kiss on her lips, causing Chelsea’s face to burn up.

Kai stood up from Chelsea’s bed and walked to the centre of her room.

“Bye…. I’ll miss you.” A familiar black door appeared in front of Kai and he walked through it.

“I… Will miss you too.”

Kai looked at Kai back as he walked away into the door. Chelsea’s expression portrayed the message that she would miss Kai. She started at the door until it disappeared into nothingness.

—Knock. Knock—

Someone rapped on the door dragging Chelsea out of her trance. “Oh… Who is that?” Chelsea stretched her dress and regained her ladylike prominence. “…come in”.

“it is I, milady,” Victoria said as she opened the door.

The thick scent of Kai sailed into her nose. ‘The young master was here.’

Victoria could perceive Kai’s scent in the room because she was a hybrid, not even the ancient books had records of her race, she was a half-human half beast. Her tail said It all.

Chelsea’s mother had found her when she was still pregnant, carrying Chelsea within her. She had grown up with Chelsea but after the age of 14, she stopped growing, or so they thought. Her stunted growth resulted in her small stature.

“Milady your breakfast is ready… May I ask a question, Milady?”

“Yes ask away” Chelsea responded.

Victoria took no time to ask her question, she had a close relationship with Chelsea after all. “Young master Kai was here, right?”

The question was unexpected. “How did you…”

Chelsea understood when Victoria touched her nose, her next words almost made Chelsea vomit blood.

“How was it?”.

Chelsea turned red. “Were we loud last night?” Chelsea asked.

“No, it’s just that I can smell blood on your sheets. You lost your virginity, tell me how was it?”

“Hmmph…. You don’t need to know, you are a small girl”

Victoria tried her best to look shocked. “Me? Am older than you, you know?” The atmosphere was light.

“But I am bigger than you.” Chelsea taunted. She was especially free with Victoria, she took Victoria as her sister and best friend.

“Oh… That’s how it is? I’ll still grow, just you wait.”

—Whizz—

A weird sound was heard in Kai’s bedroom, and a black door materialized out of nothingness in the center of his bedroom.

Kai stepped out of the door; what he saw next scared him. He didn’t expect it. But for some reason, he stood his ground. “Oh, hey!”

Kai asked fearlessly. Mind you, it wasn’t as though he wasn’t scared.

The man in white armour with a golden family crest engraved so boldly on his chest plate stood up from the chair he sat on. He walked slowly, but he looked menacing; although he was clad in white armor, he reeked of death.

“Your death is soon.” The voice that came out through the helmet sounded too gruff to belong to a human.

That was all the person in the armour said before murmuring a few words before disappearing into thin air.

That mage was most likely a wind elemental.

—whizz—

The black door behind Kai disappeared into nothingness. Kai stood there, confused about what just happened.

“Argh… I just came back!” Kai fell on his bed. He had no class today, and he still hadn’t even prepared for the mid-yearly assessment.

Kai looked over his bedside counter and saw an envelope on it. The envelope had the same golden crust as the white armoured threaten-er.

The first thought that ran through Kai’s mind was, ‘That guy sure has an obsession with the colour white.’

Kai tore open the white envelope to reveal two pieces of paper.

Kai read the two neatly folded pieces of paper. After reading, a cold smile was drawn on Kai’s face. “Hahaha… Hahahahaha… This is exciting.”

The first piece of paper was an official challenge note; it stated that he had to fight with a mysterious person. It stated the date and time, but it came with requirements that Kai must fulfil.

The requirement was that he, Kai, had to fight in the Death Ring against ten different students already on the Death Table.

Failure to adhere would lead to an unspecified punishment, but with the words written on that piece of paper, it was most likely death.

The second piece of paper was actually a wrap for a golden token with the same crest boldly engraved on it.

It was a pass for him to register into the Death Table.

“This guy’s family is a big shot; I wonder if he is related to one of the nobles.” Kai thought aloud.

—Knock. Knock—

Soon enough, a knock was heard on his door, dragging him out of his train of thought.

“Come in!” He called out.

The person at the door opened it and entered inside. “Hey…! Umm... I think I have the wrong room.”

The male student bowed apologetically and left.

Kai massaged his temples with his fingers in frustration. “sheesh!! These people do know how to mess with me.”

Kai rested in his chamber for a while before heading out to the Death Ring to register.

The queue to register was short. To be clear, there was no queue at all, but the queue to watch was crazy long.

“You sure you want to do this?” The old man at the counter asked with concern in his eyes.

“I have to.” Kai was haughty and narcissistic, but he still had to show respect to the elderly. Although the man was technically younger than Kai.

“You are a first-year; you can’t register.” The man said mostly out of care and partly to enforce the rules. He had seen things like his; the boy before him must have been bullied into registering.

The old man said this after looking at Kai’s file; surprisingly, the school had an organised database on every student.

Kai brought out the token that the white armour guy gave to him.

“So it’s like this.” The old man said nothing else; he simply brought out a stamp and approved Kai.

“What’s your character name?” The old man asked.

“Hmm… I never really thought about it; let’s see.” Kai thought for some time. “The name Demon is befitting.”

“Demon or what ever it is, remember to be careful.” The old man managed to say to Kai as he handed him the approved piece of paper.

Kai thanked the old man and walked away. “Youngsters these days... So hot-blooded, he actually had that family’s token. Haa… I hope he doesn’t die.”

Kai’s character name had already been placed on the Death Table.

“Who is that on the table, demon? What a weird name,” Some random person said.

The other person listening was confused. “Demon? What a weird name... Wait, he fights today, and it’s free; let’s go watch it.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Hahaha, my plans are coming together; let’s see how powerful he is.”

Kai walked to the equipment stall; the death ring had a policy of giving students weapons to fight with, for obvious reasons.

Some of the students here didn’t want their identities to be exposed, as every student at the central academy was already known for his weapon.

It took time but Kai found no weapon of choice for him; rather, he chose a mask. A few moments later, Kai’s time to fight had come; his fight was next.

Kai was standing in front of the Death Table. ‘I wonder if he is on the list.’

“ITS TIME FOR THE NEXT FIGHT!! ITS THE BRIDGE KING AGAINST THE DEMON!!! PLACE YOUR BETS AND KEEP YOUR SLIPS”.

These words resounded throughout the Death Ring.

“it’s time to get some fans.”

Not so long after Kai said those words, he walked into the fighting arena of the Death Ring. He had a mask on, a black mask with a beast teeth design on it; the mask only covered the lower half of his face.

“AND HERE IS OUR CHALLENGER!! DEMON!!” The announcer announced.

“He has a good build and looks like a good mage, but I think Bridge King would not go easy on him.”

“You think so? But this demon has a weird aura around him; never the less, this match is free. Not much could come out of a free match, don’t you think?”

Some spectators could only give half-hearted comments.

“NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE BIG DOUG, RANKED SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOURTH ON THE DEATH TABLE.”

Before the announcer could finish announcing, female fans were already screaming, and male supporters were doing what they normally did when the bridge king came out, they sang his song.

“…THE BRIDGE KING!!!”

“WOO…”

“YEAH… BRIDGE!!”

Kai was a bit flustered, the mere reaction to his opponent’s name being called out was huge.

“He really seems like a star, oh…” The next person in that came out through the underpass, a child?!

“Uhm… Guys I should fight a child?” Kai was confused, everyone seemed fine with it, and the screams even went up. ‘This doesn’t seem right…. But what the hell, let’s get this over with.’

The baby, aka. The bridge king stopped in front of Kai, about five meters away.

“Introduce yourselves,” a voice said to both of them only.

“I am the bridge king.” The baby said

—Poof—

The baby changed; he had grown. He was a man now; he was burly and had more muscle than Kai. With his blue hair and all, the bridge king looked hot. Kai almost lost to him in that aspect.

“That’s unexpected, well, young one... Let me teach you.” Kai had to have the upper hand.

“you…”

“FIGHT”

Kai didn’t have the chance to activate the gauntlet of the gods. The next thing he experienced was dust and sand in his mouth and eyes.

‘What just happened?’ Kai was so confused. The bridge king knocked Kai off the ground. His foot was on Kai’s head, pressing it to the ground.

“giving up already? I wanted this to be more fun… So disappointing… Tsk, tsk.” The bridge king shook his head.

“Hahaha… This is fun”. Kai laughed maniacally. I had been so long since he felt something like this.

“Are you having a concussion or something? You are beneath my feet and you are laughing? Did I perhaps hit you too hard?”

In the stands, the spectators were just as confused as the bridge king was.

“Did you see what just happened?”

"Yeah, Bridge King just brought Kai to the ground and made him eat dust, but he is just laughing like a maniac.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Kai was still under the bridge king’s foot.

—Du, Du—

“Gasp~” Kai’s aura was weak compared to how it was before his fission with the cipher. Nonetheless, it was still sinister and menacing to the bridge king.

Kai’s hand held the bridge king by the ankle; Kai pulled and the bridge king was totally defenceless against it. In a few moments, he was the one on the ground and Kai’s foot pressed against his head.

“How do you like me now?” The whole scene made the entire Colosseum explode in inaudible mutterings.

The bridge king under Kai’s foot was enraged. “You asked for this.”

—Sheiw—

The bridge king disappeared from under Kai’s foot.

“This is fun!”

Kai truly was not alright in the head, he wanted more, he wanted to clobber this opponent of his.

“DIE!” The bridge king truly wanted to end this fight as soon as possible, so he tore through space behind Kai and stabbed him from behind.

“You have the rare space element; it’s a pity.” Kai seemed unfazed even with the sword sticking out of his chest.

—Plop—

Kai fell to his knees.

“What do you mean that it’s a pity you are about to die by my hands?” The bridge king walked towards Kai and stopped in front of him.

It seemed as though it was only the two of them in the Colosseum. The screams and chants of the spectators, of the bridge king’s fans—none of the sounds that made seemed to get to him.

The bridge king stopped and squatted in front of Kai. “Do you accept defeat?”

The menacing aura leaking out of Kai’s body was sinister; the bridge king had a hard time staying close to Kai. The fear in his heart was true, but what was before him gave him the courage to ignore the fear in his heart.

Kai was still kneeling. “I wanted to ask you that question as well.”

The bridge king was confused. “Huh?”

The bridge king was about to pick Kai off the floor, but before he could touch Kai.

—Sink—

Kai held him by the neck; the sharp gauntlet tip sank into the bridge king’s neck, causing blood to drip out of the openings.

These words were the last words the Bridge King heard before he died.

“Die for me.”

—Crack—

Kai had just broken the Bridge King’s neck in front of the entire Death Ring spectators; the whole Colosseum was drop-dead silent. It wasn’t uncommon for a lower-ranking mage to kill a higher-ranking mage, but this was simply absurd.

This was his first match.

Kai still held the Bridge King’s lifeless body in his hands, but he felt something; it was weird. He had unlocked another skill, a passive one. The blood essence within the Bridge King was being absorbed into Kai.

“This feels amazing.” Kai felt wonderful; his body felt as though it were in a hot bath, and his meridians were greedily absorbing the bridge king’s essence.

After some moments of this process going on, the bridge king was almost unrecognizable; he looked dry and sucked up. Kai walked out of the death ring and kept a straight face, as though nothing happened. Inwardly, he was simply ecstatic. ‘I no longer have to take blood from Samantha or Darcy.’ But that didn’t mean that he would stop taking blood from them nonetheless.

Up on the Death Table, Kai’s character name Demon had gone up and replaced the bridge king.

It wasn’t as though Kai’s opponent was weak… He was far from weak. He was a bright second year, and he had a good potential to grow to become a Lord-level mage.

It was just his bad luck to have met Kai, who had the gauntlets of the gods.

Kai may not have seen it, but if the bridge king had been ruthless, he would have been decapitated or worse, killed.

Right now Kai still basked in the newfound blood essence; his body was refining the blood essence of the bridge king like crazy.

‘I could really get addicted to this sensation.’