Tale of Lignum prologue

A kid wondered around the city, looking at the immense trees that were drafting them

“Sometimes I wonder when did they appear or what is the origin of our world” he asked himself

As he got out of the city, he saw a strange figure entirely covered up with a cape standing next to a tree. He didn’t recognize him at first, but his presence felt…odd. It was as if he was totally in peace but also like he has seen the worst life could even give you. As the kid approached, he noticed a necklace around his neck with a strange symbol, it emanated immense power. Suddenly,the figure noticed him and asked:

“Need anything kid?” His voice was rusty and broken, yet it felt appeasing.

The kid instantly recognized the voice through multiple medias that he’s heard it,as he screamed:

“ARE YOU THE EXPLORER? THE ONE THAT MANAGED TO FIND SO MANY THINGS HIDDEN IN OUR WORLD AND WHO SURVIVED AGAINST GODS? I have sooooo many question it feels like my brain is overloaded!”

“Wow chill out kid,you are going to attract many people and I don’t want another interview,I’ve already had 51 today and I want to chill a bit” he said

“Sorry, I was just shocked…can I still asked you question though?” He mumbled, embarrassed

“Sure, I don’t mind sharing my knowledge” the Explorer said

“Where do these tree come from,what are their origin? What is our origin” the kid asked

“Usually people ask where I got my clothes or if I’m faking my voice, so it feels nice for someone to ask me an actual question” the Explorer said as he started laughing. As he stopped and became more serious

“One day, on a decently sized island, a tree was born, no one knows how or by what,but it was born ,as well as a couple, a man and his wife. The tree was immeasurably big,so big even the couple’s house seemed like an atom compared to it. As the couple got a child, the island got bigger,and at a certain point, another tree grew, followed by a third, a fourth, until it became an entire forest. As our civilization continued to evolve, some people thought that we should explore this gigantic forest to maybe find other humans. And so a team, leaded by me, headed towards what was beyond our civilization. The group was composed of 30 people, leaded by me and my friend as the second in commend, we also had a younger one which I took under my wing, he was very worried and nervous, and I told him everything was going to be okay, what an idiot I was” The Explorer said with sadness, thinking about the past, to a time he would rather forget

“Wait what?! What happened?” The kid asked,worried

“Sorry for making you worry kid, I was just thinking about the past….Where was I again? Oh right. As we continued to walk for what felt like days, we suddenly reached something we have never seen before: a massive structure make out of gold, it’s size, although smaller than the trees, was still incredibly big, as we walked to the gigantic door, we took our weapons to make a hole in it”

“You mean like this one?” The kid interrupted,pointing at a futuristic pistol

“Yes,as you may know we are capable of manipulating energy,though most of us mostly are only capable of projecting it,these weapons are made to amplify our energy,whereas these wrists allow us to make our control over energy more precise” the Explorer described

“THAT’S AMAZING” The kid screamed, almost raising his voice too loud

“Quiet kid you are going to drop the medias on me” the Explorer partly laughed

“So, we opened a hole through the gigantic door and started exploring the place: from gems, ancient writing, corpse, there was everything, as if a civilization once leaved here, as our group kept going downstairs, we stumbled across a gigantic room with a glass separating something from us. It was a yellow wall, with some strange motives at the top and at the bottom, as some of us took pictures and two of us were examining the glass, we suddenly were shocked as the wall behind the glass was….moving, it was the eye of a gigantic creature”The Explorer described with sorrow in his voice,as he continued:

“I understood too late, the creature bursted through the glass killing the two that were examining it ,this giant leviathan creature was following us at high speed, eating everything on its path, tripping meant death, I saw many of my comrades tripping, but I couldn’t save them, it was too late for them, I continued to run, trying to ignore the screams of my comrades dying one after the other, it was beyond painful. My friend who was way faster than us found a switch, likely a mechanism from that ancient civilization in case the beast escaped, my friend flipped it and kept running, as I was running with the younger one by my side, the creature was behind us, losing terrain because of its size, I slipped through the opened gap that was between the ground and the wall made out of a matter we had never seen before. As the younger one tripped, I rescued to save him and grabbed his hand, I tried to make him go through the gap but his leg got bitten by the creature. Taking a look back at that scene, if it wasn’t for the creature sadistic ambitions to make the younger one die right in front of my eyes, I would have died with him back then.” The Explorer stopped a bit,as he felt empty inside. The kid didn’t interrupt him, he knew the Explorer was already painfully enough describing those horrible events

“….I was trying to hold his hand as best as I could,but it was useless, I was just a normal man,and I eventually couldn’t hold on anymore, as he was dragged and the wall fully closed, I heard him screaming out my name, pleading for help, I felt guilty, me, who dared promise him everything was going to be okay, wasn’t even able to save his life. Me and my friend started running again in case the wall couldn’t hold the creature for too long, and we were right,as a beam of concentrated energy bursted through the door and blasted the whole floor,we were running through stairs as we saw light, the exit was right there! I turned around, and I saw the creature wasn’t there, it was gone. I didn’t bother to overthink it, as I was in panic and my brain couldn’t think much other than run, I simply said to myself: everything I going to be okay, the creature probably gave up on us, we are going to live! But, to my terror, the stairs we were running on started cracking, as the creature bursted out of it. I felt unconscious,when I woke up, my friend was fighting the creature, but it was useless. His attacks weren’t doing any damage and even when he aimed for the eyes the wounds instantly regenerated. As my friend was grabbed by the creature’s tail and was getting closer to its mouth. My friend looked at me, he didn’t speak, but his face meant it:run. I ran, like a coward I ran while my friend was being eaten by the monster, as I was running through the woods, I heard splashing as the creature returned to the water that was surrounding the island our world lives on. That creature, you probably heard of it,was the Godly Leviathan, the beast that already ate many of the forest’s trees as well as multiple city that are far away from the capital,and who can regenerate any wounds,even to this day this creature scares me”The Explorer said with a mix of sadness and regret in his voice, finished with his story

“T-this is a lot to take in but,you still fear it? Aren’t you an invincible and fearless hero that fought with gods?”The kid asked

“Kid,how old are you?” The Explorer asked

“13” The kid replied

“That’s why you don’t know,usually you learn that at the age of 16” The Explorer declared

“Learn what?” The kid asked,worried

“That I’m a normal man. I’m no hero, I can’t save everyone, I still fear death, and I never fought with gods, I survived against them. People think that I’m an invincible hero that can save our kind alone, but the truth is, I’m none of that. People think of heroism as someone who doesn’t fear, well let me tell you something kid, heroism is being fearful, acknowledging that fear and overcoming it, I still fear up to this day. I can’t save everyone, for example the people that were eaten by the Godly Leviathan, I can’t save them, the truth is kid, I’m no hero of justice who save the day, I’m just what I am:a man, a man who try to help his kind as best as he can”The Explorer replied

The kid couldn’t say anything,his vision of the world was broken, he though humanity was fighting against these creatures, but in truth it’s just surviving.

“Sorry kid, I shouldn’t have said such things to someone as young as you, but I just wanted to shout out what I’ve been keeping inside me for all these years, it’s really childish for someone like m-“The Explorer couldn’t finish this sentence, as an explosion occurred and scream were heard, people were running from the city who was consumed in flames.

And as everyone was running away, the Explorer saw a figure standing on top of a building.

“EEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH!!! RUN, RUN ALL YOU WANT! AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU JUST LIVE TO DIE ANOTHER DAY!!”Buerat screamed hysterically, until he saw the Explorer who wasn’t running away

“Ehehe look at what we have here, surely a mysterious character that hides a forbidden secret of shit like that, anyways I don’t give a fuck, all that I know is that people like this are strong as fuck and that’s what I’m looking for.”Buerat declared while ready to move toward the Explorer before stopping

“Wait, those chickens are annoying me with their screams, I’ll take care of them”Buerat said before moving forward at speeds so high only the Explorer could react by taking the kid and stepping back, when Buerat landed on the ground the crowns was behind him and he was in front of the Explorer, just before they could realize, everyone that was present in the crowd had their head slashed, as Buerat waved toward the Explorer in a respectful way

“I took care of the annoying peasants, now, shall we dance?”Buerat asked with a smile so huge it was visible even with his mask on

“Sorry, I don’t dance with dirty people covered in blood”The Explorer joked, while having his face covered in sweat

Buerat immediately jumped towards the Explorer and slashed him, however, The Explorer body started to fade away,Buerat looked only to see the Explorer standing back.

“Using tricks? I though you would be better than this”Buerat said in disappointment

“I might be stronger than the others but I’m still a human, I know one hit will be able to kill me”the Explorer declared

“Nice argument, however, I disagree with it, therefore it’s wrong”Buerat said

“What kind of logic is t-“The Explorer couldn’t finish his sentence as Buerat blitzed towards him, the Explorer barely had the time to make an energy shield

“Sorry, I’m not the talkative guy.”Buerat said

“Weren’t you monologuing not even 5 minutes ago?”the Explorer replied, before parrying Buerat knife with an energy shield around his arm.

“Yeah,I can kinda get mixed up, let’s just say I’m so strong I can’t even handle myself”Buerat said before disengaging the Explorer’s arm and reinforcing his 3 knifes on his left with energy, slashing the Explorer, the aftermath of this attack caused a purplish slash that destroyed everything on its path before slashing a tree in half, however what Buerat slashed was another mirage, the moment he realized it, the Explorer was already behind him, kicking Buerat with his leg covered in energy. The Explorer didn’t even let Buerat breath and took out some sort of core,he pressed a button and the core created multiple metal pieces, which the Explorer put together with magic, forming some sort of magic gun that sent a blast so powerful it made Buerat fly into a tree nearby, entirely shaking it, however just as Buerat got up on his leg he immediately appeared in front of the Explorer.

“Those things that your race use fire a magic blast that varies depending on the power of its user, you made me cross a great distance in an instant and made me shake a whole tree just by landing on it, you are different than the others and I’m into it, let’s get serious now”Buerat said with happiness and insanity in his voice

Buerat jumped as high as he could before falling down at high speed, which the Explorer responded by jumping towards Buerat with his leg infused with energy, which Buerat would respond by putting his 6 blades next to eachother in a circular pattern. The clash of the two would cause a shockwave that would blast and send flying everything around it, including the trees which were ready to deracinate due to the impact.

“Such raw power! I’m barely able to withstand it”The Explorer thought before deflecting Buerat’s attack, sending them both back to the ground.

“I know under that hood you are sweating, not the easiest thing to keep up with me when I’m serious uh? Guess I’ll be kind then and give you an advantage.”Buerat said as he threw his blades in the air so high they couldn’t be seen

“I’ll be finished with you before my blades fall to the ground”Buerat declared

“Is this some sort of joke? Is he provoking me so I fall in his trap? No,he’s just too sure of him, I’ll take the opportunity”The Explorer thought before aiming at Buerat, only for Buerat to use two of his arms and deflect the beam with his palm,much to the Explorer’s surprise.

“Thought I was just a dumbass who only fights like a beast? You should stop underestimating me, I’m a demon that was born in a “prestigious” family”Buerat said, only for him to rush at the Explorer, to which the Explorer replied by summoned a gigantic version of him made out of energy that aimed at Buerat with a punch.

“Nice try but I can deflect your attacks remember?”Buerat said however much to his surprise the Explorer would fire a beam from his gun,which Buerat would deflect.

“I don’t fall for the same trick twice”The Explorer said as the fist of the giant would collide with Buerat causing a massive shockwave.

“OKAY YOU HIT ME ONCE SO WHAT,DON’T THINK I’LL FALL FOR IT TWIC-“however Buerat was interrupted by the Explorer who kicked him with such strength Buerat went flying.

As Buerat was flying through the sky, he was caught by another gigantic version of the Explorer who threw him to the ground, Buerat looked to the sky as the two giants were joined by two others, as they started beating him down.

“I’ll just wait until he’s beaten up enough and I’ll kill him with my gun”The Explorer thought before noticing the blades that Buerat threw some seconds before.

“They're are already back?! It hasn’t even been a minute! For them to fall so fast at the height he threw them these things must be heavier than an entire city, he was fighting like it was nothing with that? Now I understand why his attack was so powerful the shield that was covering my leg almost broke when all 6 of these landed onto it!”the Explorer thought before the blades fell right where Buerat was, and at the instant Buerat caught it the giants were slashed into pieces until the energy they were made of disappeared.

“I though you would finish me off before those fell to the ground?”The Explorer remarked

“They didn’t fall to the ground, I caught them”Buerat said while licking the blood on his mask with his tongue, until he suddenly stopped, and looked elsewhere,before looking back at the Explorer

“….nah”Buerat said unamused

“What? What do you mean?”the Explorer asked in confusion

“Nah, I’m done here, I’ve had enough of this fight”Buerat declared

“What? Why? What’s the meaning of this? You destroyed a city, killed multiple people, and now you are just getting away?”the Explorer asked in confusion

“Yes, I’m done for, this was fun for a second but now I’m tired”Buerat

“What is wrong with you? You contradict yourself, you change mood, you make weird decisions, what is it that motivates you? What’s your purpose? What’s your goal?”the Explorer asked

“Before answering, let me ask you a question, have you ever wondered why people set themselves goals and purpose? So that they could either have a negative or positive impact on people, or just to make themselves feel righteous, they aren’t doing this because they want to, they are doing this because they need to, either to make themselves feel better, destroy people lives, or just get recognition from people, do you think this is freedom? Everyone is always talking about finding a higher cause to their act or some bullshit like that, I’m not like that, I do what I truly want to do, getting mixed up and contradicting myself? I can do that. Killing people and getting away with it while giving up on a fight? I can also do that. I’m not like you people, I’m truly free, and since I do what I want, I’m no continuing this fight”Buerat said as he started to walk away, the Explorer started to pull up his gun and aim at his back, however much to his surprise Buerat continued his monologue

“I mean, I’m not continuing this fight unless you want to die, choice is yours”Buerat said with a cruel laugh, before disappearing in the immeasurably big forest

“….”the Explorer couldn’t say a word,he was frozen in place by what he just saw, he fought many gods and this guy was far from being stronger than most of what he fought, yet he was….different

As Buerat continued to walk, a strange figure appeared in front of him

“And who may you be?”Buerat asked

“How rude, you don’t even recognize someone that you’ve seen since you were little”the figure said

“Are you?!”Buerat asked, realizing who was in front of him

“Yes it’s me,Alucard, a friend of your father and a famous vampire”Alucard said

“Are you here for revenge because I killed my father”Buerat asked annoyed

“Mostly yes, but also to see again the fool who decided to wear the mask of Interitus, that mask that amplifies the darkness of anyone that wears it, turning them into a monster”Alucard declared

“Oh you mean that shitty mask, I sense nothing special about it, and honestly I don’t give a fuck about it and what you are saying, so get out of my way”Buerat said pissed

“I see the mask has made you worst than you were, however, you seem to have forgotten something..”Alucard said before shooting a beam from his finger which blasted Buerat away

“…No one messes with me and get away with it, especially not when it comes to your father, he was my friend”Alucard said in rage

“You asked for it”Buerat said before blitzing towards Alucard with his 6 blades, to which Alucard responded by making his wings hard enough to block all 6 of Buerat’s blades with no effort

“Pathetic, I don’t get how you could have beaten your father with this level”Alucard said before punching Buerat in the stomach and kicking him to the air, before transforming into bats that drain Buerat’s blood as well as scratching Buerat, before merging turning back into Alucard who blasted him to the ground

“I’m not done yet!”Alucard said before shooting a beam from his finger to Buerat’s shoulder.

“I could have killed you with this one blast if I had put more power behind it, but I’ve decided to make your death painful”Alucard said before blasting Buerat with energy beam of the same power as the first one.

“THAT’S WHAT YOU GET YOU FOOL, YOU KILLED YOUR FATHER, YOU KILLED YOUR FAMILY, YOU’VE ACTED LIKE A MONSTER TO YOUR OWN KIND, BUT NOW ITS PAYBACK, YOU ARE DONE FOR!”Alucard said before firing a blast to Buerat’s head which took his mask off

Buerat’s mask went flying to the ground, as the atmosphere suddenly changed

“What is happening? Is this a god’s doing? I rather kill this kid and get out of here quickly then”Alucard thought, before looking at Buerat, and seeing that everything around him started to collapse

“WHAT THE!? Is this his true power? Wait no…I can only sense aggressiveness, his wrath alone is what shatters everything around him?”Alucard thought in fear

“You have made one fatal mistake:fighting me when you didn’t know what I was capable off”Buerat said

“What the? B-but t-the mask is s-supposed t-to..”Alucard couldn’t finish his sentence as he was cut out by Buerat

“It’s supposed to make me stronger and more evil blah blah blah shut the fuck up, because of you I’m in a bad mood now thanks, to give you an explanation, this mask did the opposite, I was so strong for it that it became a limiter for my power. When I was young I was too strong for my environment and my emotions could literally affect it, hence why everything around me is collapsing, I’m fucking mad and you’ll pay for ruining my day”Buerat said in anger

“W-WAIT PLEASE SPARE M-“but Alucard couldn’t finish his sentence as he was slashed an uncountable amount of times until he entered into a stage below atoms, as a well as a whole chunk of the forest

“Phew this feels good”Buerat said before putting back his mask

“Anyways, I really went out this time, it feels good to let out my anger but I should have maybe tone down things a little. Eh it’s probably fine, although if there is something I noted while not having my mask that some things were off, something is happening in this world and it ain’t normal, things are going to change”Buerat said, before walking deeper into the forest