The Paradisum (Series)

## The War of Paradisum (Book 1)

### **Prologue**

*In the ages after the birth of the Protogenoi and their children, the protogenoi formed a new race, one made in their image, Humanity. The first 2 Humans were named Abel and Kara, they were gifted many things by the Protogenoi but the most important of these gifts was the Garden of Paradisum, the garden was a home for the 2 Humans a place where they would be safe from the dangers of the outside world and a place where they could raise their family something they did soon after their creation.*

#### **The 10 Children**

"Lysander this Lysander that it's like he's a God," Damien thought with a sneer as he climbed up the cliff, Damien was the 5th and last son of Abel and Kara. Abel and Kara had a total of 10 children, 5 Sons, and 5 Daughters their names from eldest to youngest are:

* **Lysander**: Lysander is the oldest of the children, 26 years of age and the one loved by the entire family except for Damien. Lysander was favored not only by his family but by the Gods as well, resulting in him being gifted many abilities that showed their love for him.

* **Joanna**: Joanna is the first-born daughter of Abel and Kara as well as their second child, she has a kind, compassionate, and playful attitude one that has led to her being loved by everyone from Gods to her Human family even Damien the black sheep of the family loves her dearly. She was born a year after Lysander making her 25 years old.
* **Alexius**: Alexius is the second son and the 3rd child of Abel and Kara, he was loved by the Gods Magnus and Vulkan due to his stubbornness and creative nature. Alexius being the 3rd born puts him in age behind Lysander and Joanna as he is 24 years old.
* **Lemuel**: Lemuel is the 4th born child and 3rd son of Abel and Kara and is 20 years of age, the gods of Wisdom, Knowledge, and Intelligence favor him and as such he is the wittiest amongst his siblings only second in trickery to Damien. Lemuel is 22 years old and the
* **Lucretia**: Lucretia is the 5th born child of Abel and Kara as well as their 2nd daughter, Lucretia has a bright but arrogant attitude though it can be endearing it has annoyed most of her siblings except for Lysander and Joanna. Lucretia was blessed by Alexandra and Amara which resulted in her having Light and Love based powers. As Lucretia is the 5th born child she is 20 years old
* **Emer**: Emer is the 6th born child of Abel and Kara as well as their 3rd daughter, Emer has a fiery and stubborn personality like her older brother Alexius which led to her being blessed by the Goddess Pele who liked her headstrong demeanor. Emer is also a fraternal twin her twin being Stigr, she and Stigr are 19 years old.
* **Stigr**: Stigr is the 7th born child of Abel and Kara as well as their 4th born son, he is known for his combative abilities as he is blessed by the War Gods Brares and Frey. Stigr and Lucretia are very close in fact it is the only time that Lucretia isn't arrogant as she practically purrs under his touch and cuddles up to him. Stigr is a fraternal twin his twin being his momentary elder sister Emer, because of this he and Emer are both 19 years of age.
* **Korrina:**Korrina is the 8th born child and the 4th daughter, Korrina has a happy go lucky attitude and has a love for fashion considering she designed, sowed, and dyed all of her sister's garments except for her younger sister's clothing which is due to Kassandra's closeness with Damien.
* **Damien:**Damien is the 9th child of Abel and Kara as well as their 5th and youngest son. Damien is the black sheep of the family as he has no blessings from the Gods and is generally sneered at by them, he has no love for the Gods and tends to be disrespectful towards them, his pull towards destruction doesn't help him fit in either but he is close with Kassandra and Joanna as he loves them both dearly.
* **Kassandra**: Kassandra is the 10th and last child of Abel and Kara, she is the youngest child and as such would have been spoiled rotten by her family but she like her brother Damien has no blessings from the Gods and is generally looked down upon by them, she like Damien has a distaste and overall negative attitude towards the Gods. Kassandra loves Damien dearly and trusts him completely.

### **Chapter 1**

**Damien**

Damien scaled the cliff, hauling himself onto the ledge, and pushing to his feet he gazed across the land looking at the [Border of Paradisum], [The Reach] as the lands outside [Paradisum] had come to be called were lands of Chaos, Destruction, Brutality, and Slaughter, life there has no peace, it is a place where the strong rule and the weak grovel and die but it called to Damien , it pulled at him drawing him closer and closer, until Damien jerked from its pull, he wanted to find what was pulling him to understand it so he planned his journey and came, Damien swayed from his thoughts as he traced his route to [The Reach], "I have 2 more days at most before I reach the border and the food that is available off the land is dwindling", he concentrates his mind and lists his inventory, "I packed provisions for 4 days so that I could spend some time outside the Border, but the food on the land won't last until the border so if I use a days ration I can make it to the Border and still spend 2 to 3 days in [The Reach]," he had been planning this trip for weeks, stealing food, equipment, and other stuff that could be useful in [The Reach] but it seems that he won't be able to spend much time in [The Reach], Damien began trecking once more determination to reach the border intensifying.

*4 Hours Later*

As night fell Damien made camp, as he rested at the fire his knees at his chest he watched the fire as it crackled into the night, little lights flowing into the sky, as he watched the fire he thought about the pull that was tugging him towards [The Reach], [The Pull] as he had named it seemed to come from the [The Reach] and when it took a hold of him he felt a power permeating through him, swelling in him, coursing through his veins, burning through him, strengthening him, making him powerful, he had been drawn by it, the power of it addicted him, and he wanted more of that feeling coursing through him, and he was going to get it. Damien began to sway to the motion of the fire, slowly dozing off into oblivion...

As he slept [The Pull] crept upon him anew, this time however it wasn't a warm feeling, it was a sharp feeling as if he was being dragged into the abyss, he felt his body rotting away as he still lived, his flesh slackened against his bones, soon he began to feel overwhelming dread as he fell into the pit the life draining from his bones, as he fell he screamed but his voice did not emerge it was as if sound could not exist within the pit, as he fell he longed for one thing, one person, and he whispered as if he could be heard, Kassandra...

**Kassandra**

Kassandra paced back in forth in her room restlessly, it was the middle of night and she couldn't sleep, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Damien, she always knew when something was wrong with him, she would always get this hot prick in heart when he was in distress but this wasn't just a prick it was a knife right through the heart and it was excruciating, she knew something was wrong but she couldn't go and find him, he said he was going to [The Reach] and that he would be back in a few days but he had lied about his true destination to their parents if she went and said something was wrong they would have questions, hard to answer questions, and with Lemuel their he'd know if she was lying, "God" she said with a sigh, she could do nothing but hope he was alright and wait.

In her worry she began throwing knives at her target, Damien had made it for her when she turned 11 as an apology gift for leaving her behind when he went to the [Hot Spring], he had even agreed to teach her how to throw knives something she had begged him to teach her since she was 6, he had laughed at her the first 2 times she missed the target but he had spent every day after lunch teaching her until she could do it on her own, she smiled remembering those days and her worry melted away, "If he could teach me to be such a good knife thrower he can take care of himself in [The Reach]," she slowly winded down and went to sleep, though she was still worried she had hope and trust in him that he would return safe and sound.

**Damien**

5 Days Later

Damien screamed his heart out begging for anyone to help him, to release him from his torment but no one answered, he had been lying at the bottom of the pit for days unable to move, breathe, or even see, his body felt like stone, lifeless and unmoving, the only indication that he was still alive was the low pulse of his heart, his attention, however, had been captured by something else, during the hours he had spent in the pit he had felt a presence in it, something always flickering in the peripherals of his vision, a red flash as far as he could tell would dart away from him whenever his eyes fell on it, he had been rotting and had begged whoever it was to help him, not that he knew it was a who maybe it's a what, he thought, he began to miss his younger sister Kassandra, he had loved her from the first day he saw her in their mother's arms, she had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and a need to keep her safe had followed him soon after their first meeting, he sighed mentally praying that he would see her again, then he heard a voice saying to him "When have you ever begged the Gods for help? they did not give you power like your siblings because they hate you, will they help you now that you are dying?"

His rage began to burn from within him licking at his flesh searing it, calcifying it back together, he felt rage in his every connection to life, and he spoke "If they won't help me, then I'll prove to them that they should have, I'll kill every last one of those they thought to help right in front of their eyes" he heard a venomous laugh from the darkness surrounding him "Good boy, Good, your hate will make you strong, the Gods above do not love you but I do, I am the God of Evil, Set and I bless you and your hatred that you should slaughter the blessed ones of the Gods above, Now Rise my Chosen One," Damien began to feel his body lighten, strength filling him, fueling him, and focusing him, when he opened his eyes he saw 5 beings standing in a half-circle around him, on the edge to his left there was a man with black hair and a black robe, his eyes glowed blue with an intensity that didn't allow Damien to stare into his eyes for long, the next one was a woman, she was beautiful in a black lace dress but her face gave off other intentions, she had a chaotic look in eyes, as if she wanted to cause trouble, she probably does he thought, next to her in the middle sat the one most impresive amongst the 5, he wore an armor or black and gold metal, his eyes in the armor were a claret red and the being eminatned power, next to him another man sat, he also had black hair and red eyes but he didn't give off the same feeling as the man in the middle, no he felt like tragedy was brewing in him just waiting to spew out of him, he winked at Damien causing him to flinch, he quickly turned away from him to the last indivual he hadn't seen, this man was different from all of them, he had a pale white glow eminating from him, and as Damien looked at him he began to feel sleepy as if he was being rocked to sleep, then the man in the middle spoke up, "Now that you've had time to observe us I belive it's time for business," Damien snapped out of his stooper and looked at the man,"Who are you people?" he asked with curiosity in his every word, the woman laughed, she seemed genuinly amused by his question "Well for starters" she said "We're not people. we're Gods, just not the ones your used to," Damien stared at the woman, Well Goddess, he thought, "If your Gods what do you want from me" venom spewed out with every word, this time it was the man in the middle who laughed "If we wanted something from you we would've taken it from you ourselves, we're not like the Gods above who pretend to be good, we do what we want when we want because we want, it's that simple and all we want now is to give you our blessings,"

Damien stared dumbfounded Gods wanted to give him their blessings, he had begged for a god to give him their blessing since he was a child and had stopped only because he realized that he would never get it from them, the God in the middle spoke once more "To those above we are considered "Gods of Evil" but to those who have been cast down we are saviors, and you, my friend have been cast out from your own family," Damien managed to speek once more "Why," the woman spoke this time "Because we want to, we like you, they hate you just like they hate us and they pity and look down on you beacue you have no blessing, we don't like it, plus among your brethren your the only one who had the guts to brave [The Reach], we didn't want someone like you to die so early so here we are to bless you," Damien's senses sharpened  when he heard the word [Reach], he spoke again but with intent oozing from him "Well, then if your going to bless me lets get on with it," 3 of the 5 Gods smiled in unison and said "Lets,"

The first to stand was the woman she was even more beautiful the closer she came to him, she had beautiful creamy light skin and warmth seemed to emanate from her, had a beautiful voice, it warmed him on the insides comforting him, strengthening him, she smiled at him saying "*My name is Eris and I bless you, son of man, Damien, "You are of the Blessed. You will be loved. You will be hated. You will be brilliant. you will be chaos, you will be strife and you will find the weakness in your enemies, you will turn them on each other, you will be beautiful to those who love destruction, you will be blessed,"* power began to flow from Eris into Damien, flaming velvet and crimson energy flowed into him, he felt his body strengthening, an unsuppressible craving for destruction welled in him until it burst forth from him, his hands were emitting a blazing crimson energy that raged in his palms, Eris spoke saying "This is my gift to you, Damien, you can control the Energy of Chaos, have fun with it, honey," she smiled at the last part of her sentence and kissed Damien on the forehead as a mother would and returned to her seat.

Damien stared down at the crimson flames raging in his hands and smiled saying "Thank You, Eris," Eris smiled even larger showing her pearly white teeth, "Your welcome honey, but you can prove how much you appreciate it by using it," Damien responded immediately "Yes, Mam," Eris chuckled and slid back into her seat as she blew kiss at him, he didn't understand why he wanted to please her so much, he hadn't wanted to please anyone like that since he was young and wanted his mother's attention but he didn't have much time to think about that before another God strode toward him this one was the one who sat next to the main god on his left.

This god was not like Eris at all he seemed to ooze with the desire to harm, he spoke saying "My name is Lelantos God of Torment, Tragedy, and Melancholy, and you will be my first Blessed, don't let me down," before Damien could respond Lelantos began blessing him "*My name is Lelantos and I bless you, son of man, You are of the Blessed. You will be loved. You will be hated. You will be glorious. you will be Tragedy, you will be Torment and you will crush your enemies, you will be the downfall of all those you despise, you will be blessed."*once more power flowed into Damien this time the energy was in the form black and crimson shadows seeping out of Lelantos and into Damien, Damien felt the energy flow into him but unlike Eris's gift it didn't just change his body but his mind as well, he felt knowledge filling his mind inscribing the skills of Lelantos into him, "My gift to you is the ability to truly Torment those you hate, you will be able to break them if you so desire, use it well,"  and he walked back to his throne, as he did so Damien felt his skin begin to burn and he howled in agony, black chains began to appear on his him designing his skin until his arms were covered in tattoos of black chains, "Oh I forgot" Leleantos said "Those chains are gonna look awesome when your torturing things so have fun," Damien stared at the now enthroned God, maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but before he could continue that line of thought the God that had been to his left stood up and strode to him.

As the god approached Damien, he could have sworn he saw arms reaching out from him under his robe, the god spoke his voice dead and emotionless "*My name is Thanatos and I bless you, son of man, you are of the blessed. You will be hated and you will inspire fear and madness among your enemies, you will be unstoppable and unbindable, you will be the death that your enemies run from, you will be a King among monsters, you will be blessed,"*energy once more flowed from a god to Damien but this time the energy wasn't smoky and the intensity of the flames was stronger than that of Eris's blessing, blue-streaked white-hot flames poured from Thanatos into Damien changing him, his flesh began to fill with power as hot as the sun under the energy of Thanatos, his body enhanced from Thanatos felt unstoppable, Thanatos spoke again with that dead voice of his "You cannot be bound against your will, you cannot be stopped if you do not wish to stop, you will be reborn from the ashes of your defeat if you wish, and you will have dominion over the Nether-Wordly beasts," Thanatos turned and returned to his throne, once more Damien's skin burned and like flowers budding from the branches of trees, skulls began to blossom on his chain tattoos, Damien laughed utterly insane with his power until the main god spoke again "Don't get to excited yet, you still have 2 more blessings to get," and yet another god came to Damien.

This one was had stark white skin, a pale otherworldy glow emitted from him, his eyes were half-massed milky with the effects of sleep swirling in them, he spoke in a groggy half-asleep tone "*My name is Hypnos, and I bless you, son of man, you are blessed, you will be loved and you will inspire the spark of imagination in those who follow you, you will grant rest to those who follow you and insanity to those who do not, you are the nightmare that fills the dreams of men, you are the idea that will haunt the ages, you will be blessed"*once more Damien received power, the power of Hypnos was unlike those of the others his power was like a stream of beautiful silk white energy, as his power flowed through Damien he felt the spark of Ideas flooding his mind on how to use his powers and it was amazing he could see thousands even millions of ideas and ways to achieve them in an endless corridor of images, eventually the flood of power stopped bringing Damien back to the present, Hypnos had already returned to his throne, the main god spoke again "Well now, I've saved the best for last," he smirked as he walked towards Damien but before he could reach him Eris grabbed his arm saying "Not too much, you know what your power does to people," there was hint of murderous intent in her words, the God responded "I know how to control my power Eris, but do you know your place,?" there was an oppressive power radiating from the God that put all of the Gods there on edge but Eris didn't back down, she said "I know my place but he lives," the Gods there were shocked but the God nodded in agreement "He will live Eris," she released her hold on him and slumped back into her throne, the God turned his attention back to Damien "It seems you have won Eris to your side already," the God chuckled and strode towards Damien halting once in front of him.

"Do you know why your family hates you, Damien,?" Damien was surprised by the question but answered "No," the God stared deep into Damien's eyes and said "They hate you because you are not like them, you do not fawn over the Gods above, you do not love what they love, and you do not fear what they fear, they hate you because you are everything they are not and will never be," Damien stared back into the Gods eyes and said "Then I will embrace everything they hate and rebel against them and everything they love," the anger that possessed Damien must have been visible to the God because he responded  "Then you are everything I hoped for in a Champion and more," the God raised Damien to his feet and said "This power will consume you but do not fear it will become you and you will become it, do you understand?" Damien responded without hesitation "Yes," the God replied "*Then you are blessed, my name is Set the God of Evil and Rebellion, and you Damien son of man will be blessed, you will be loved, you will be hated, you will rebel, you will conquer, you will be Evil to some but Good to others, you will be Vengeance, you will be Freedom, you will be Passion, you will be Power, you will bring the end that the Gods Above fear, you will be the King of your Infernal Realm, you will be the Raging Lion of Man, you will be a Lord among Lords, you will be blessed,"*power began to flow from Set in droves, golden and obsidian torrents of energy began flowing into Damien, Damien's skin began to glow a faint gold, his eyes began to shimmer with sparks of  power in them, his body strengthened even more, his mind sharpened, his emotions flooded through him more palpable than ever before, his tattoos burned with a fury as if they were being given life and slowly his vision faded to darkness but before he fell he heard the voice of Eris speak "You will always be loved by us beacause you were always a part of us," and then the emptyness of the void enveloped him.

10 Days Later

**Lysander**

Lysander walked into the living room of the house to see everyone  there eating breakfast or talking, he smiled looking at his family, Lucretia and Stigr were snuggling up to one another as usual and Joanna and Mom were fending off dad from stealing food off the stove, Korrina was embroidering a dress while Alexius complimented her work, Lemuel and Emer were off in a corner probably planning another prank, "Note to self: Look out for traps" he thought to himself, as Lysander walked in everyone smiled at him, Joanna the most as her beaming smile always managed to lighten his mood no matter how down he was, he spoke up asking "Where's Kassandra and Damien,?" everyone's demeanor suddenly tensed up and Lucretia asked "Why? what did those 2 animals do now," Joanna immediately began scolding Lucretia saying "What's wrong with you Tia, they are not animals they are your siblings treat them that way," Lucretia hissed and settled back into Stigr's side saying "Fine Anna you win, but we all know the truth" Joanna sighed, saying "Just drop it, Tia" Lucretia replied with mock surrender lacing her voice "Fine, Fine, I surrender but you know what I'm saying is the truth," Joanna stared at Lucretia, her anger flashing across her features before she sighed, Joanna had always had a soft spot for Kassandra and Damien, she had always defended them from the cutting remarks of everyone, Lysander never understood why but he went with it because he loved her, "Alright, enough with the bickering," Kara said, "Kassandra is in her room, and Damien is still somewhere is Paradisum, doing what I don't know," Lysander nodded acknowledging his mothers reply, it was clear by the demeanor in the room that they were all remembering what had pushed Damien to leave.

**Flashback**

Lucretia spat a venomous insult at Kassandra, "And what does your opinion matter tramp," she said, "You don't even have a blessing, so, who are you to comment on fashion," Lysander watched from above thinking about whether he should intervene but he knew Lucretia wouldn't listen and if he touched her he'd have hell to pay with Stigr sitting right next to her, so he decided to wait and see how it played out, that's when he saw Damien enter the room, he had clearly just come back from a hunt, he looked harsh and ruthless though he had a genuinely happy expression when he saw Kassandra, that was until he saw Lucretia which killed his happy mood off immediately, he inquired "What's going on here ladies," caution was written all over his face, Lucretia spat her venom at him as well "Looky here, the bastard came to protect his tramp of a woman," her eyes exuded malice, and so did Damien's but he still maintained his diplomatic attitude "Whatever she did Lucretia its not enough to warrant a verbal smackdown, let it go," Stigr enraged that Damien commanded Lucretia got involved now, "And who are you to order her around,?" Stigr stood war-ready, wrath written in his every movement "We tolerate you and your little whore, Damien, you don't belong here and you never did," Stigr slammed a fist into Damien's jaw sending him to the floor, everyone was there watching it unfold except Joanna, if she had been there she would've stopped it before it got to this point but Lysander had been curious to see what Damien would do if no one interfered, Damien had looked shocked at the hit until his shock shifted to fury but he still controlled himself, Lysander was impressed at Damien's control, even Lemuel who was usually composed looked shocked at Damien and seemed to expect Damien to retaliate immediately, that expectation was dashed when Kassandra rushed to Damien's side soothing him from his anger. Stigr wasn't happy about Kassandra's interference and he slammed his foot into her chest sending her flying into the stairs, "Who gave you permission to help him, whore,?" Lucretia laughed at Stigr's antics which made him lower his guard because if he had paid attention he would have seen the inferno behind Damien's eyes roar with fury, Damien launched to his feet using the force of his ascent to slam his fist into Stigr's gut causing him to double over but Damien spared him no mercy immediately slamming his knee into Stigr's nose with a CRACK!!!, Stigr flew up blood splattering around them from his broken nose, Stigr was furious and took a swing at Damien but he grabbed the punch and slammed his fist from above into Stigr's jaw causing Stigr to collapse on the floor, Lysander was shocked, when he sparred with Stigr he could never hit him hard enough for him to fall but Damien just did, his shock was interrupted when he noticed the look in Damien's eyes, his usually gold-flaked hazel eyes were glowing, the gold was sparkling brightly with energy, the hazel was glowing as well though not as strong, in Damien's triumph there seemed to be an aura exuding from him, this aura killed the light in the room and for a moment Lysander thought he saw another face under Damien's skin, one with glowing red eyes but just as abruptly as it had appeared it was gone, then Damien raged he began to pummel Stigr mercilessly beating him black and blue.

Over and Over again Damien slammed his fists into Stigr, Lysander was terrified, he had never seen Damien like this and he honestly didn't want to fight him when he was so furious but he was spared when Kassandra rushed to Damien grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her, whatever passed between the 2 at that moment caused Damien to pause and pull back from Stigr allowing Lucretia to rush to his side and whisper soothing words into his ears as well as heal him to some extent, Kassandra was holding Damien's hand and dragging him out of the room before everyone in the room could respond to what happened.

**End of Flashback**

Lysander had always worried about Damien's capabilities and what he could do if he ever turned on the family but he had never acted on it because of Joanna and her love for Damien something that had always sparked malice in him for Damien though he didn't understand it, he had always felt a certain sense of difference between himself and Damien, Damien had never wanted to fit in with the rest of the family he had always done his own thing something that had both garnered Lysander's respect and hatred, Lysander sighed knowing that trying to understand Damien was pointless, Damien was different and that was all there was to it, he walked out of the living room going outside to practice archery.

**Kassandra**

Kassandra was in her room with her knees to her chest, she was missing Damien he said he would only be gone for 5 days at most but it had been almost 2 weeks, she was worried, really worried, she wanted to tell Joanna but she knew if she did that Joanna would tell Lysander and Lysander would tell Lemuel and Lemuel would tell Emer and she would tell everyone, so she opted to keep it to herself, while she brooded she heard a soft warm voice speak to her in a whisper saying "He lives and he will come for you, be ready for he will need you as you need him," she jumped to her feet in shock looking around her room in a frantic dance of fear saying "Who said that?" a low chuckle sounded in her room "A goddess said that" Kassandra was shocked she had seen goddesses before but none had ever bothered to speak to her only sneering at her if they even acknowledged her presence at all, Kassandra's hatred began to creep into her voice as she spoke "What do you want?" she snapped, the goddess laughed and spoke softly saying "Is that any way to speak to your soon to be patron,?" it took a few moments before Kassandra realized what the goddess meant by Patron, "You want to bless me,?" she said in shock, "Well when you say it like that it sounds like I want to marry you," the goddess said sarcasticly, Kassandra's mind was going a thousand miles a minute, she was thinking about what would happen if she took the blessing, Would her family love her? Did she even want her families love? Would Damien still love her? What would be expected of her if she excepted? as if the Goddess could read her thoughts she said "Nothing will be expected of you, No your family will not love you just because of my blessing, yes Damien will still love you if not more than before considering he has already received our blessings," Kassandra was stunned "Damien already received your blessing,?" the goddess chuckled "More like 5 blessings from 5 different gods but yes he has received my blessing,?" Kassandra stopped and stared into space thinking if what the goddess said is true then I have no reason to decline the blessing and just like that she spoke "Yes I want your blessing," and her eyes began to haze and before she knew it she was surrounded by black and 3 woman surrounded her, the one in the middle spoke "Hello Kassandra nice to meet you in person and not just through mental thoughts," she smiled as she spoke, Kassandra thought, What have I gotten myself into.

**Damien**

Light began streaking into his eyes, destroying the darkness in his vision, as he stirred he felt power pulsing through his body a reminder that his meeting with the 5 Gods had actually happened, as he woke Damien saw his

   surroundings were not that of where he had gone to sleep, he was on a plain, Vermillion sand surrounded him, slowly he took to his feet scanning his surroundings when he noticed a beast, it had dirt brown fur, sharp bulky tusks, gleaming yellow eyes, and bulging muscles, the beast attention was set on him, it huffed, steam freely flowed from the beast's mouth, a testament to its strength and power, Damien smiled, his smile was so warped and twisted with bloodlust that the light around him began to dim and die at his presence, this elicited even more joy from Damien before his attention was brought back to the beast that stamped the ground before it charged at him, normally anyone looking at such a hulking monstrosity charging at them would be afraid but not so for Damien now that he had the [Blessing of Eris] no, now he was empowered by the prospect of battle of war, of blood, of struggle, now he craved it, desired it, lusted for it, and then the beast slammed into him knocking the breath out of his lungs before he gripped the horns of the beast and began to push back with equal force, the beast strained against him trying to impale him on his horns, Damien smiled before he thrust the beast's horns up and slamming into its underside pushing the boar to its back, Damien's sense of pride swelled, he had never felt so empowered, so powerful in his life as if he could do anything in the world, Damien's attention was snapped from the clouds as he noticed the boar was still alive, "That won't be for long," he thought before he slammed his fist into the beast's ribcage crushing its heart, killing it instantly, he laughed indignantly as the beasts life-force flowed into him, strengthening him, empowering him, making him more than what he was before the fight,