Rise Of The Cosmic Emperor

There are three realms in the multi verse; The Cosmic, the Mortal and the Nether realm.

Hal grew up in the mortal realm with no idea whatsoever of who his parents were.

His love for relics, adventure and the occasional danger would aid him in finding a genie's lamp.

Rubbing a genie's lamp should grant three wishes, but Hal is struck by lightening instead and eventually arrives in the Cosmic realm with a large book in his mind space titled; The Primordial Cosmic Grimiore, that apparently holds all knowledge for a perpetual reign.

And so Hal's journey begins in a little city called Salmon city, in the body of a 17 year old boy also named Hal but was sold into slavery by his own father.

Hal finds out who his mother (prior to reincarnation) whose bloodline now flows unmixed in his new body is...

Join Hal as he battles mortals, Dragons, phoenixes, Gods and many more together with his harem of Beauties for the complete subjugation of the three realms.

Read Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor Chapter 1 - This Is So Unfair online for free - AllNovelFull

It was in a fit of desperation that Hal frantically rubbed the bronze lamp he held in his hands, Dark clouds began to swirl overhead as he stared expectantly at it, his instinct finally informed him that something was wrong when no fog came out of the lamp

Crackle!

Somehow he knew it was the lamp in his hands that was causing the ominous clouds in the sky

"Give me the lamp" a calm voice said, the voice brought hal back to the present and the predicament he was in.

"Come and get it you big bellied mongrel" Hal spat at the big bellied man in front of him flanked by five men. He was Sahad, Hal's nemesis. What he lacked in physique he always made up for in manpower.

"Such power are not for the likes of you" Sahad didn't look offended he merely shook his head as though Hal was just a child having a tantrum

"I tried to help you" he told Hal " 'join me and we will grow more powerful together' my offer still stands"

"And my answer is still no" Hal sighed "I know I'm incomparably handsome but my looks are only for women to enjoy, I hope you understand"

Sahad's face twisted in anger, all calmness gone "give me the lamp or die"

Hal looked at the face of his once upon a time friend. They had grown up in the same orphanage and while they were not best of friends they got along well, however they had begun to grow apart after a stranger arrived and told Hal he had been enrolled in a prestigious boarding school on an 'unofficial scholarship' Hal would from then on only return during the holidays. One holiday he returned and Sahad was gone, he had been adopted, which for someone his age was both joyful and rare. They wouldn't see each other for years to come, Hal would eventually become an archeologist. He tried to investigate where the sponsorship for his education came from but he would find no leads, it was like they did not exist.

Sahad would eventually show up at hal's doorstep and greet him as an old friend and then invite him to join him in selling of national artifacts. Hal was no saint but his instinct told him not to trust Sahad and besides his mysterious benefactor had left him a small fortune and he was satisfied, his continuance in his archeological career was merely for the thrill of the search. Sahad would leave unsatisfied and Hal would continue to progress in his career.

When Hal received a lead about a genie lamp, he scoffed at it because while during his ten year career he had seen a lot of great things some even bordering the supernatural, a lamp granting wishes was just wishful thinking right?, His curiosity was however piqued and his research would borderline obsession for the more he searched the more he believed.

Hal would find the lamp (after a year of research and false information) in a mountain cave on an uninhabited island. The cave would come crashing down on him and he would only survive thanks to his agility and luck.

Only to come outside and come face to face with Sahad who after hal rejected his proposal had taken to thwarting all his endeavours, or so he thought. What Hal did not know was that the lead he got was from Sahad who hoped Hal would do the dirty work and he would reap the fruit.

Sahad took a deep breath and said "Hal don't be stupid. You're outnumbered"

"I don't know why you even want it" hal said "I've been rubbing it and so far nothing"

He looked up "except for those clouds though"

Sahad shrugged "maybe it doesn't work for everyone or maybe it just doesn't like you" he chuckled "hand it over"

Crackle!!

"That's not good" Hal said nervously and a black fog came out of the lamp and merged with him, the lightening struck down and it was as if the bronze lamp was a lightening rod as it struck hal directly, the force from the Strike threw Sahad and his goons far away with little hope of survival.

While Hal should have died instantaneously, he instead felt excruciating pain

"Fuck me" he cussed "I didn't even get to make one wish? This is so unfair"

Little did he know that the one who struck him down was smiling at the sight from upon his obsidian throne.

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In a dark throne room lit only by emerald green flames which cast an eerie light, sat a black haired middle age man, his eyes closed and an expression of pleasure upon his attractive face. His throne was made of obsidian and looked anything but comfortable, however, he lounged on it as though it was a velvet cushioned couch moving his hand in tune with the shrill screams in the background.

"Was that really necessary?" The white robed man in front of him asked with a sigh

"Of course it was" the man said his eyes still closed "you know how much pleasure I gain from the misery of others"

"The lightening was a little ostentatious, don't you think?" The white robed man pressed on

"Ah, but what is life without a blast" he chuckled "you asked for my help and I rendered it. Stop complaining"

There was silence for a while and then he continued "I am however curious about that lamp"

"It wasn't yours?" The white robed man was surprised he had thought the lamp was a way for his friend to spice things up

"No" the blacked haired man open up his eyes, They were an emerald green and they looked frustrated "what's worse is, the instant the fog appeared his presence began to fade"

"Who could possibly shield anyone from you" the white robed man seemed skeptical "I never thought you would be so humble, Zalser"

"It's not humility, it's a fact" he smirked "someone or something is now involved in your little game"

A sense of urgency gripped the white robed man as he called "Roran"

A white mist answered his call and it coalesced into a red haired man equally garbed in a white robe

"My lord" roran bowed

"Someone is messing with my plans. Escort the boy here and kill anyone who tries to stop you"

Roran vanished in a white mist.

"I hate it when things don't go according to plan"

Hal woke up drifting in a space occupied by equally drifting hills, the space appeared desolate

'So this is hell' he thought ' doesn't fit any description I ever got'

He held his hands up to his eyes and could see it shift from healthy to skeletal, he could feel it happening to his whole body .

He tried to steer himself to one of the hills but soon gave it up as impossible. He drifted for what felt like hours

"I take it back, this is Hell!." He exclaimed "I'm been tortured with boredom"

"This isn't hell" a benign voice said

Hal turned to come face to face with a bald monk in black robes seated on one of the hills, he smiled at hal and waved his sleeve. A gentle force steered hal to the hill and he sat opposite him

"Who are you?" Hal asked, because when a bald headed man smiles at you in purgatory you ask for introductions

"*Sigh* I'm not able to say for now" the monk said "if we meet again ask me then, I should be able to reply"

"So where is this?" Hal asked

"A bridge" the monk replied "a bridge between the mortal realm and the nether realm"

Hal blinked "excuse me what?"

"A bridge between the mortal and nether realms" The monk repeated

Taking a quick look around, he could see that all evidence pointed to the fact that the monk was being truthful but Hal still did not want to believe it.

The monk chuckled "you will have to believe me, your life will depend on this from now on, your time here is almost up" he sighed "there are forces at work in your life. Ah, look" he pointed "here comes one of them now"

A mist appeared and solidified into a red haired man in white robes

Roran ignored the monk and made to grab Hal's hand but Hal jumped backwards inwardly glad he could move but surprised by the speed with which he made the move.

"Hold on Mister grabby" he snarled "hands off the merchandize" He was after all still Hal, a ladies man, so he had to uphold his dignity

"You will come with me" Roran said with confidence he dispersed into fine mist and appeared instantly right in front of Hal and grabbed his arm or he would have if a black mist had not enveloped Hal at that moment and he was gone.

"Sigh, what a dilemma" the monk said with melancholy but his smile was wide

"Where did you send him?" Roran snarled

"I have nothing to do with it" the monk said "you know I don't have the power to hide someone from his majesty"

Roran growled and vanished to report his failure

After he was gone the monk sighed "You just can't help but cause problems can you? Brother"

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A stage was raised with quite a few seats around it, seated around the stage were men and women in luxurious attire.

Standing atop the stage where young men and women chained to avoid a fruitless escape attempt, and paraded as goods to be sold. The auctioneer was now handling the bid of the most handsome young man among them, he looked to be 17 years old with Black hair and deep blue eyes, even though he looked slightly malnourished, his worth was clear.

"...1000 gold coins" a pleasant voice called right off the bat

"Lady Melinda? Are you sure you want to spend that much on a slave with no cultivation" The middle-aged man seated beside her asked, he didn't look pleased that she was ignoring his advances and stooping to such means again

"Hehe, I just feel like he's special" she chucked "Besides, my business is flourishing, so I should treat myself"

"Are there any counteroffers?" The auctioneer/slaver asked "None?, Then sold for 1000 gold coins"

Some applauded while others sneered, as handsome as the slave as he was after all unable to cultivate, buying him for 1000 gold coins was wasteful at best.

Or so they thought.

...

'What the fuck?' Hal exclaimed inwardly, one week had passed since he woke up in this strange world in a strange body, and since then things had only gotten worst.

First, he had gotten the memory of the body's previous owner who was also named Hal and came from a wealthy family with more ambition than compassion, the instant they realized he could not cultivate he was ostracized and eventually sold into a slave house to be 'useful for once'. The life of a slave was too hard for poor Hal and he died soon after he arrived, after which Hal found himself possessing a dead and useless body.

He knew he was now on the Haron continent, where the strong ruled with an iron fist and yet the only thing of note about him was a black fog that floated in his mind space that he could view with a thought.

'Why do I have to be so unlucky?, first I had no parents, now I have parents who don't give a shit about me' he thought.

The woman who bid for him must have been insane though, buying someone as useless as him for 1000 gold coins, with that amount of gold, a commoner family need not work for at least five years. 'However, at least she's pretty, maybe things are finally looking up' Hal thought.

Although he wouldn't bet on it, he was after all in a city where slave trade was allowed, even though it wasn't a career paraded with pride, as long as there was a front, it would be allowed to thrive.

After the transaction was finalized, he entered a carriage with her, heading back towards God knows where.

Melinda did not know how to feel, this was the most she had ever spent on a slave. And she had only done it so as inflame the rumors about her and keep the creeps off her back. When she bought her first slave and set him, even helped him out of the city, his absence had raised questions, and eventually, it was concluded that he was dead and somehow she was capable of absorbing the essence of a man to grow stronger. At first, she snorted 'I'm not a succubus, you idiots'. That rumor, however, kept the creeps at bay but Lord kraut was persistent and she hoped this purchase would do what the others could not, She planned to release The slave soon after, just like she had done for the others.

Hal couldn't help but marvel at the woman's beauty, she was probably in her early thirties, but her skin was smooth and flawless, now that she was no longer smiling at him like a hungry wolf her brown eyes looked warm and sad, she would also occasionally sigh which would cause her large bust to rise and fall seductively. However this woman had acted at the slave house, he could see now it was an act, so she was probably planning to set him free as soon as they were away from prying eyes. He was instantly disappointed.

'Yaawwwwwwn!!!' A voice yawned in his head and caused Hal to jolt.

After one week of inactivity, the fog was finally doing something different, it was solidifying.

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Hal watched the fog solidify into a Large book with blood red covers, a Title was written in gold letters on it, before he could read what it said, his body was riddled with pain, the pain completely wreaked havoc on his system and forced him unto the floor of the carriage. Melinda was worried, and decided checked on him, but before she could, his body became still, she checked and discovered he was still breathing, in fact, his aura was growing stronger. This new purchase was far from ordinary.

Meanwhile, in his mind space, Hal was gasping for air, the lingering effects of the pain could not be scoffed at. He moved closer to the book and could now read it's title :-PRIMORDIAL COSMIC GRIMOIRE

"What an overbearing name" Hal stretched his hand to touch it, but a mouth opened underneath the title

"BOO!" It bellowed, Hal jumped back, startled, but the book was already laughing hysterically

"Oh you should have seen your face" it cackled "priceless"

...Hal was speechless 'since when do books play pranks' he thought

"Don't be scared, I was only messing with you" The book sobered a little but was still grinning

"I wasn't scared" Hal shook his head

"You weren't? That's good. It would have been embarrassing if my new host was a scaredy cat" the book seemed satisfied

"New host?" Hal asked confused, he after all still believed the fog had caused his death by summoning that lightening strike, which begs the question, if Hal was it's host why would it try to kill him?.

"Yes, New host. You are not the first host I've had, and it is unfortunate that my previous hosts let the abilities and knowledge they are privy to through the grimoire go to their head and end up making wrong decisions. Some of them even brag about an heaven defying artifact that makes them invincible. After my third host, I was kept in a lamp and fables of a magic genie lamp were spread to attract the interest of humans to seek me out.

"Their motive for seeking me out is not important as long as they can find me and rub the lamp to release me, then I'll merge with the host and together we'll ascend to the cosmic realm" the grimoire explained

"But things didn't go according to plan" Hal said as he recalled the words of the monk 'There are many forces at work in your life' or something like that.

"No shit Sherlock" the grimoire was indignant "You have the worst luck i ever saw. The instant I merged with you, you were struck by lightening and killed!, and even then your soul won't let me go, I had no choice but to trigger a transmigration which brought you to the cosmic realm but also put me in deep sleep"

"What exactly can you do?" Hal asked

"I have all the information you would ever need across both the cosmic and nether realms, including the mortal realm as well. I also contain information about all professions so long as you have an aptitude to learn them. There are also skills, functions and abilities you will come to know of later, right now your cultivation is what matters..."

A sharp pain on his cheek forced hal to regain consciousness and interrupt what grimoire was saying. He sat bolt upright, his cheek stinging, the culprit was none other than Melinda who slapped him to force him awake, he turned to face her but his eyes were no longer blue but a deep black colour, even his scelera was black and from his pores a light gray fog erupted and instantly attacked Melinda, who unleashed her cultivation base to keep it at bay but when she sniffed it's scent, she was reminded of her favorite flower and let her guard down, The fog seeped into her body linking her mind, being and life purpose to Hal's, his mission and ambition would be her's as well.

Hal's eyes returned to a deep blue and his scelera, white, the pheromones were then reined in

'What just happened?" He asked grimoire

'I believe you just activated your bloodline. When I woke up I fixed your meridians, that's what caused the pain you felt, after which you absorbed cosmic energy in a rush and quickly reached Energy sensing realm 3rd stage, the presence of cosmic energy in your body must have activated the dormant bloodline kept hidden in your soul.'

Hal wanted to ask what he meant exactly but he was interrupted when Melinda bowed to him...

"Master"

...and called him that.

It goes without saying that Hal was shocked, 'what just happened' he wondered, Melinda kept looking at him with a gaze filled with awe, what made it worse was that hal could feel her emotions, and could sense her loyalty to him he just didn't understand why.

'Your bloodline caused it' grimoire told him telepathically

Hal had suspected as much, the fog of pheromones he had released and Melinda had inhaled had turned her into a loyal vassal. He felt conflicted as though he had robbed her of her free will.

"Order me master, I will do anything to satisfy you?" And now she was back to being coquettish and it was creeping Hal out, Don't get him wrong Hal klint lived for the ladies but this particular lady didn't seem to be in her right mind and being a respecter of females he could not take advantage of her.

...

An half an hour later Hal and Melinda were in her mansion trying to have a conversation in her study. Getting here without arousing suspicion had been difficult, Hal did not want the servants to know what was going on so he had asked Melinda to act normal and she took it as an order but now that they were alone in the study the look of awe returned.

"Master, what is the matter" Melinda asked when Hal remained lost in thought

Hal sighed and shook his head "Nothing" he told her

'The fact that she had no bad intentions towards me makes this a little harder, I didn't want to do it and even now that it's done, she's still her, she's only eternally loyal to me" he reasoned

"Melinda, do you have a cultivation Technique?" He asked

"Yes,master" Melinda replied and put her hand Into a pouch hanging from her waist. Melinda didn't bother asking what Hal planned to do with the technique, because through the aura he released before she slapped him conscious, she could sense that somehow he was now a cultivator as well.

'You don't need those thrash cultivation techniques, and besides you won't be able to use them' grimoire told Hal telepathically.

'Why not?' Hal asked

'Because you have the Primordial Cosmic Grimiore and as such you have to practice it's technique'

With a thought Hal was once again in his mind space and out of the Grimoire came a manual

"Primordial cosmic art : Energy sensing realm" He read aloud

"The first is free but you will need currency to redeem the others" It told him

"You primordial cheat!!" Hal exclaimed

"Hey, don't sully my proud name, if I had hands I'd slap you right now"

"I dare you"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did you expect everything to be free? If it was free it would only make you lazy, or cause you to coop yourself inside a room all in the name of cultivation"

...Silence

Sigh* "I understand. I just felt wronged and broke"

He then studied the primordial cosmic art. The energy sensing realm was the basis of cultivation and requires a cultivator to sense cosmic energy, use it to refine their bodies and even store it in their body. A cultivator will not be able to harness cosmic energy until the next major realm.

Their conversation only lasted a few seconds in the outside world, by then Melinda had pulled a manual out of the pouch. "It's a family heirloom peak Yellow grade 'Swan feather art'"

Cultivation techniques are divided into Yellow, Green, Blue, purple grades, and each grade is further divided into low, mid and peak. The higher the grade, the faster the cultivation speed.

Commoner usually cultivated without a cultivation technique which was why thy hardly ever got past the energy sensing realm. A peak yellow grade technique was quite good and increased cultivation speed about five times, but Hal planned to buy her an higher grade technique from the Grimoire.

Speaking about money, Hal didn't know how he could make some, he wished to destroy the slave house and in the process, rob them blind but he knew he was far from strong enough, so he decided to raise his strength first.

Hal went into the room he had selected in Melinda's mansion, took a bath and changed into robes she had picked out for him. He lay down on his bed to try to come up with a plan, he had not forgotten the red haired man who had come after him or the words of the monk, neither did he believe they had forgotten about him.

To the Grimoire he asked "what was that pouch Melinda used?"

"Pay 100 gold coins for the information"

Hal:...

"Hahahaha" Grimoire cackled " oh you should have seen your face, you looked so shocked"

Right now Hal did not feel shocked, he felt murderous, even though he knew he could not strangle the grimoire, he was tempted to try.

"Would you relax?" Grimoire said, "I was just messing with you. The pouch was just an application of spatial runes"

Hal was instantly intrigued, he could tell it was a big deal so he prompted the grimoire to continue

"It's the easiest application and makes the pouch the cheapest spatial treasure, even though in this city it's a big deal. Another application is spatial rings.

"Spatial pouches are the cheapest no matter the amount of space they contain because they have a low level of security, anyone in possession of it can retrieve the items inside without the permission of the owner, objects in spatial rings, however, can only be retrieved by their owner after they have imprinted on it with their soul. Once again you don't need that thrash. With the Primordial Cosmic Grimoire, you have access to an inventory of immense size accessible only to you" The grimoire Explained

"I don't want a spatial treasure, I want to learn how to make one" Hal said

The grimoire allowed a moment of silence to pass before it told Hal "Spatial treasures are the work of rune-masters, to make one, you have to be able to harness astral energy"

"Can you help me with that?" Hal asked

"There's only so much I can do. To harness astral energy you must have astral sense and it is an ability that is far from common, I can, however, help you to realize if you have it or not."

"Do it"

Hal felt he had possibly found a solution to his money issues. While he could have asked for the money from Melinda as she was a sufficiently wealthy merchant, he still wished to be reasonably independent.

As soon as the grimoire began, Hal felt lightheaded, and then an ethereal perception flowed from his mind, even with his eyes closed Hal could 'see' his room, he could even 'see' his body cross-legged on the bed breathing gently, not to mention he could still feel himself sitting on the bed, it felt like being in two places at the same time.

He decided to extend his astral perception outside of his room and ended up in Melinda's room. She was asleep but her eyes twitched, he knew that if his perception got closer, she would awaken.

Hal reined in his perception and cheered inwardly. Now that he knew he had an astral sense, he would find someone to teach him. The Grimoire had insisted that he couldn't teach him anything without Gold.

The next morning, during breakfast, he asked Melinda if there was a rune-master in Salmon city. The city was named thus not because of its proficiency in fishing, but because of a legend that struck terror into the hearts of its denizens, but that's a story for another time.

"Yes master, There are 3 rune-masters in the city but if you want the best, I'd have suggested you visit Master Swanson, but he only provides services to the Four great families"

The four great families were the strongest in Salmon city, were the Krast, Horst, Edgar, and Payne. The old Hal was a member of the Payne family.

"I'll have castor lead you to one of the two others" Melinda signaled for her most trusted man.

"No, I want to visit master Swanson instead," Hal said

'If he refuses me, at least it won't be for lack of trying'

...

Master Swanson's shop looked small and comfortable, which made it seem out of place in the business district it was situated in, flanked by much larger stores, the look it received from a passerby was however filled with respect

What caught Hal's attention was the burly, snot-faced youth crying his eyes out, yelling and screaming.

"Please make me your apprentice Master Swanson" The youth looked devoted as he yelled the sentence over and over bowing in front of the shop. Two men were trying to pick him up to prevent their young master from embarrassing himself further.

"You don't have astral sense", the plump manager said "without it, you can't become master Master Swanson's apprentice"

The burly youth sobbed harder.

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Hal could understand the lure of becoming a rune master, heck he just learned about it yesterday and he couldn't stop thinking about it, however he still felt that the burly youth was being extreme.

"Young master Frank, please stop causing a scene" The plump manager signalled Frank's guards to take him away.

"I won't leave until I see master Master Swanson" Frank resisted, and he was able to shake off his guards.

'It seems his size is not just for show, or maybe they dare not ruffle him up' Hal thought

"Master Swanson is not here, He has secluded himself with the hope of breaking through to the next realm" The manager was exasperated, The youth was being very unreasonable.

Hal spread his perception throughout the store, if master Swanson really wasn't here, then his trip would be a waste. Hal could vaguely identify another person's presence in the store untill his astral perception clashed with theirs, and while he believed he could overpower it if he pushed through, he retracted his perception instantly.

A man emerged from the store barely a second later. He looked to be in his forties but his brown hair was streaked with gray, his eyes were feverish with expectations. When he caught sight of Hal, he gestured for him to come closer and Hal did after a split second hesitation.

'Such strong and pure astral sense, I can't let such a gem get away' Master Swanson thought

"Young man, you should be careful not to invade other people's privacy with astral perception, but I will forgive you if you consent to become my apprentice" was what he actually said

"I would be honoured" Hal bowed

'This seems a little anti-climatic, I was expecting to have to prove my worth' Hal thought

'You already did" grimoire told him

Hal knew the astral perception he sensed belonged to Master Swanson, but he had already learned that Master Swanson had never accepted an apprentice before, even when they possessed astral sense, Unlike the other two rune-masters in the city, who had an influx of apprentices because of Master Swanson's rejections, but he wasn't about to complain.

Before returning into the store master Swanson turned towards the youth who looked like he was about to resume his pleas but Master Swanson cut him off

"Stop making a scene or I will no longer provide my services to the Horst family. If you really want to learn, you should plead to one of the other rune-masters instead, however without astral sense there isn't much even they can teach you"

...

Inside Master Swanson's private study room at the back of the store, Hal sat opposite his new master who served two cups of of a black herbal tea and handed him one of the cups. Hal took a sip and was tempted to spit it out, it was revolting, however feeling that it would be disrespectful he swallowed it and placed the cup back on the table.

Master Swanson laughed loudly at the expression on his face.

"The taste is bad, but it will help you clear your mind and improve your affinity with astral energy"

Hal picked up the cup with some trepidation but mustered up the courage and took another sip.

"Now, what do you know about runes?" Master Swanson asked

Hal repeated everything grimoire had told him but master Swanson didn't look satisfied.

"Runes can indeed be used to create spatial treasures, but it can also be used for so much more. Runes are words of power said to be the language of the gods. Legend tells us that the gods make use of runes to traverse worlds. While rune-masters are unable to perform such feats, we're still a force to reckon with among mortals" Master Swanson produced a bunch of rectangular sheets from seemingly out of nowhere (but Hal knew they had come out from the ring on his middle finger) and placed them on the small round table which separated them.

The rectangular sheets were about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide. Master Swanson picked up a brush and drew complicated looking runes on four of them then he infused the runes with a formless energy with hal effortlessly recognized as astral energy, the rune glowed cyan before returning to an ordinary inky black but now it radiated power, it was mild, but it was power nonetheless.

"This is a rune" Master Swanson tossed the drawn rune into the empty space beside him and it exploded into red flames.

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There were times when Hal resented how introverted his past self was and discovering things he should have known and didn't, was not making him feel better.

Take the spatial pouch for example, a family like the Paynes had to make use of them but because of the ostracism he faced from his family, he was ignorant about that and everything else. The memory Hal had inherited was filled with instances of bullying and a wasted life. Even though the soul was gone, the resentment towards the Payne family remained strong and Hal had already decided to destroy them. In his eyes they were already condemned.

"That's just a tip of the mountain of what a rune-master is capable of." Master Swanson picked up the brush once again and drew two more runes which he placed in front of hal for identification "can you identify the difference between this two runes"

Hal studied the two but the only difference he could spot was in the aura

"This one" he pointed at the one on his right "seems stronger than the other"

"That's because it's a rank two rune and the other is only at rank one. A rank one rune is only useful against those in the energy sensing realm, in fact those at higher stages can probably resist it's effects. A rank two rune however will succeed where it's counterpart fails. What tells the difference between runes is the astral energy its infused with and not how complicated it is, contrary to what the public believes.

"That's just a way for some rune-masters to dupe customers who believe that the more complicated a rune is the more powerful it is" Master Swanson picked up the brush and drew a more complicated rune but did not inject it with astral energy

"This is a defensive rune, They are basically more complicated to draw which is why the ruse of those rune-masters work"

"Master, Do you employ such tactics too,?" Hal asked, he wasn't judging, he believed it was a business tactic and there had been many of those on earth as well

"I don't need to. My reputation precedes me" Master Swanson smiled , he made a big scroll materialize and spread it open, the scroll was covered in so many runes "this is an array, all a person needs to do is inject cosmic energy in this and they can activate it, however the higher the rank the more cosmic energy is needed for it to function." Master Swanson raised his index finger and drew a cyan colored rune in mid air which he injected with cosmic energy and it became a small cyclone.

"The Stronger and purer the astral sense the higher a person can rank up. Rune-masters can bypass the ink process and draw their runes directly with Astral energy, however don't try to attempt it until you are at rank two, without proper control, it can backfire"

"How can astral sense be made stronger and purer?"

"Putting your astral sense in a strain by constantly trying to draw runes of higher ranks can help, There are also some astral sense refining techniques, they are however more legend than true, however some people are naturally gifted with pure and strong astral sense, some people like you"

'Let me guess, there is an astral sense refining art in you' Hal said to grmoire

'*Yawn, of course there is, what do you take me for' Grimiore sounded bored

"Your astral sense is the purest I've felt in a long time, I'm sure with practice you can become a rank 3 rune-master or maybe even higher"

"Thank you Master, for your praise" Hal had come here for a means to make money but now a whole new range of possibilities was now spread out before him.

...

While Master Swanson explained rune-mastering to Hal, a carriage stopped in front of the store and out of the carriage alighted a graceful young woman of about 17 years of age, and while beauty is usually a constant with ladies who cultivate, this lady took the ball, her features were perfect and her youthful curves were bound to entrance men and case in point a young man alighted from the carriage and he stared at the lady with unbridled desire.

The lady was the genius of Salmon city; Amelia Horst, and the young man behind her was Alexander Edgar, heir of the Edgar family and Amelia's outspoken suitor.

Amelia had come to apologize for her brother, Frank's outburst, when she heard Master Swanson was busy with his new apprentice, she was determined to wait, after all, what better way to show her sincerity than with patience.

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Luckily for her, she did not have to wait for long, Master Swanson would escort hal out of the store just ten minutes later, she would apologize for her brother's misconduct and master Swanson would accept her apologies and retreat back into his store.

Throughout the conversation, Alexander was upset at the gaze the 'apprentice' was giving the girl he had set his eyes on, so the instant master Swanson was back in his store he decided to give him a piece of his mind but alas...

"Hi, my name is Hal"

...the pervert would introduce himself first. The fact that hal had not mentioned his last name, should have calmed him down because that would have meant he either was a commoner and did not have one (which was unlikely, judging by his clothes ) or it was not important enough to be mentioned, but his instinct were screaming at him to be careful of this skinny, handsome youth. To make matters worse...

"I'm Amelia Horst"

...she introduced herself with a smile.

"And I'm Alexander Edgar, Amelia's boyfriend" so he decided to mark his territory. Amelia glared at him but said nothing, But how could Hal possibly miss it.

"That's too long, I'll just call you Alex instead" Hal said and turned towards Amelia "You're very beautiful by the way, is he really your boyfriend"

Amelia smiled "Thank you and no, he is not"

"And are you by any chance already with someone?" Hal asked, glancing furtively at Alex

"No, not at the moment" she replied, she found Hal uncharacteristically charming

"Oh, that's good" Hal sighed

"Why is that good?" Alex snarled

"'Cause, that makes you and me kindred spirits, both equal admirers of Lady Horst's beauty" Hal said honestly

"And what if I reject you both?" Amelia was intrigued

"We're still allowed to try, aren't we?"

"You are" Amelia said with emphasis on the 'you'

Hal winked at her and drew a blush from her for the first time.

Alexander was fuming 'who the hell does he think he is?' The truth was that being a member of a great family, he had intimidated a lot of Amelia's admirers, it was the fist time someone disregarded him this much.

What he did not know was that Amelia knew what he did to those poor young men behind her back and while she did not condone bullying, she had no interest in standing up for people who didn't give themselves a chance due to intimidation. That was what intrigued her the most about Hal, even after hearing Alexander's family name and receiving multiple glares, he still spoke his mind and was even so carefree, he was either a fool or he genuinely did not care.

How could she have known hal was trying to provoke Alexander

'All those novels I read were so wrong, I expected this guy to punch the moment I shortened his name, *sigh* who would have thought cultivators were such cowards' Hal lamented to grimoire

If Alexander could hear Hal's thoughts, he would have completely lost it 'who would possibly be so insane to attack Master Swanson's apprentice right outside his store'

"Where do you live Hal?" Amelia asked

"I live in Melinda Dane's mansion"

"Oh, are you two related?" Alexander did not like the curiosity in Amelia's voice

"Kind of" Hal smiled and Amelia decided not to pry, Alexander however was smiling like Christmas just came early

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Horst but I have to be on my way" Hal took Amelia's hand and kissed it like the gentleman he was not. However knowing Alexander was more likely to punch him than shake his hand, Hal patted him on the shoulder, smiled at him like an old friend, and then left with castor.

As soon as he was gone Alex turned towards Amelia grinning triumphantly

"What is it?" Amelia asked

"I know who he is. He is a slave that Melinda Dane purchased just yesterday" Alex said grinning from ear to ear

"And why does that make you smile you sicko, he must have suffered a lot in that slave house but you couldn't care less" Amelia was livid

"You do know what the rumors about Melinda are, don't you?" Alex asked, his smile unchanged

"Does he look unwell to you" Amelia asked before returning to her carriage. Alex followed soon after believing there was no way this slave could compete with him.

If only he knew how wrong he was and how the reverse was the case.

...

Melinda's mansion

Hal had told Melinda all about his day after she had told him about hers. He noticed she acted weird when he mentioned the encounter with Amelia but it passed so quickly that he later believed he had imagined it.

That night when he decided to go to sleep, someone knocked on the door

"Hal it's me, can I come in?" Melinda's voice sounded from the other side

He was about to tell her to come inside when he noticed that she had not called him master. His Instincts kicked to high gear.

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"Come in" Hal said. the bedroom door opened and Melinda walked in dressed in her nightgown

"We need to talk" she told him and sat at the edge of the bed, Hal nodded, seemingly calm but his mind was in turmoil. Those four words had meant the death of many relationships on earth and Hal doubted it meant something good in this one.

Why did his powers not seem to hold?, was it because she was stronger? Or was it because he had no idea how to control his abilities?. Those were some of the questions running through hal's mind.

"First off I don't blame you for what happened in the carriage yesterday, I'm inclined to believe it was not your fault"

"And why not?" Hal had no intention of denying anything, since she brought it up, it was time to talk things out

"You looked confused and surprised, shocked even when I called you 'master'"

"I thought that kind of made you my slave"

Melinda chuckled "No, of course not. I felt a subservient nudge towards you but no, I was not consumed by it. However, Your ambition is now mine as well and I'll do my best to help you accomplish it"

'Bummer' grimoire said

'I'm actually kind of relieved' Hal told it

'Of course you are relieved, you're lame' Grimoire yawned

"Why did you continue with it" Hal asked Melinda

"For the same reason I let those ridiculous rumors about me thrive. To mess with you or more accurately, men" Melinda smiled coldly

'She seems like a real sociopath. I like her' grimoire cooed

"And why do you like to mess with men? If I may ask"

"I don't have good experiences when dealing with men. When I turned fifteen, My cousin, the best man I ever knew molested me, he was a martial genius and I looked up to him, he almost succeeded in raping me, however his libido must have caused him to lose his common sense, the moment he let his guard down I castrated him with the same move he taught me. Of course my family's patriarch and my father demanded I apologize to him, when I refused, I was banished to salmon city to 'improve' our business here and that cousin of mine was healed and continues been a genius. So I plan to kill all the men in my family...it's my secret ambition"

Hal had found her coquettish attitude creepy just yesterday, but this psychotic dream of hers was honestly endearing to him. A woman who hated all men, who wouldn't like that?, who wouldn't like a woman who would not bat an eyelid when castrating a man and secretly plotted her vengeance, who wouldn't like that?

Hal found himself liking Melinda more and more, Looking at Melinda speaking so fondly of committing murder really touched him.

"Judge me all you want but your family wasn't at all better to you Hal Payne" Melinda did not like feeling as vulnerable as she felt at the moment so she decided to try to turn the tables. Misreading his expression of appraisal for disgust.

However Hal would have been an idiot if he didn't expect her to know who he was and Hal was many things (including discovering he might have a thing for hot and sexy female psychopaths) but he was not an idiot.

"If you hate men so much, why did you hire castor and your male guards?" Hal asked with a smile

"Same reason I save male slaves, I believe in giving opportunities to the less privileged and I won't let my prejudice against men stop that" Melinda sighed and Hal moved closer to her

"What is it?" He asked

"I'm broken"

"You sure are"

"What? Are you going to 'fix' me" Melinda scoffed

"God no. I'm as broken as you are and I love the fact that you hate men. Because... I'm not a fan of the male gender either. Men are dull and uninteresting, presently company, -me-, excluded of course

"however, I can't let you hate me, I like you too much, so let me 'cure' you for me"

"That's selfish of you"

"And what made you think I was selfless" and he kissed her.

Melinda placed her hand on his chest in a hopeless bid to push him away before colorless pheromones were released from his body which washed away all of her inhibitions, Hal placed one hand on her back and used the other to expose her shoulders which he sucked on harshly

"Ahhn" Melinda moaned as they both fell on the bed with Hal kissing down her neck to her breasts, Again, Melinda moaned. Not for the first time that night and definitely not the last as she allowed Hal to claim her body according to his own tunes.

As it happens in moments like this, Hal stripped her and Melinda did the same to him

"I won't be the only naked one, you rogue" she purred. Her voice was slightly breathless, because while she might be a confident woman, this remained her first time.

Hal on the other hand was quite confident. This was not his first rodeo, and he knew just where to touch to get the juices flowing.

And he touched.

Oh, he touched her so much.

Her body was trailed and peppered with kisses.

But Hal soon reached a part of her body that made Melinda summon strength in her pleasure wracked body so as to dissuade him.

"Not there" She moaned, her hand atop his head

But Hal simply smiled at her and delved into her wet pussy region. Licking it for all he was worth.

Not just because of how much he loved her juices but also because he felt like something in him wanted the juices badly.

He pushed two fingers into her to loosen her further, but he stayed away from her hymen, that was for his cock to break.

Melinda looked down at him licking her out and she moaned loudly and squirted her juices into his face.

Hal rose and Melinda gave a long look at his tool, before he placed it at her opening and hesitated slightly

"What are you waiting for?" She asked with a groan of anticipation as she gripped the sheets.

Hal smiled and pushed into her, breaking her hymen in one quick jab

"Ahhhg" Melinda gritted her teeth. There was pain but it was nothing she could not handle.

Hal withdrew and trusted forward slowly. He eased her body into it. He wanted her to be truly ready.

"What are you doing?" She asked suddenly "Move faster, I want it soooo bad"

Hal had never had the intention of teasing her and the began to increase the tempo of his hips.

Pah* *Pah* *Pah*

"Ahhn" "ohhh" "Yesssss"

Melinda's moans also increased in tempo and then she shuddered and twitched as Hal could feel her tighten about him as she came.

However even after the intense orgasm, Melinda turned them over...

"Why should you have all the fun"

Smack* *Smack* *Smack*

...and started riding him with her buttocks making loud smacking noise on his pelvis.

But, something happened as the moment kicked off, Hal looked into her eyes and Melinda looked into his and somehow they both knew that something had changed within them and that from this moment on they belonged with each other.

The moment of sentimentality was the last straw and Melinda came once again, atop Hal.

But she was far from satisfied and it would take much longer, possibly eternity for her to never want more.

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