Book One: The Last Son of Mars
Book Summary
Balthazar "Billy" of Mars, a frail nobleman denied his place in the Martian Honorguard, is thrust into a life of suffering and survival when a Khaos Realm Tear consumes his homeworld. Escaping in the last moments, he is left adrift in the cosmos, alone and powerless. Rescued by chance, he struggles as a refugee before being betrayed and sold into a Nosferatu Blood Colony, where his mind and body are harvested for years. Amid this torment, his latent power awakens—the Rainbow Flames—allowing him to escape but leaving him shattered.
Taken in by Master Togomi of the Pakfot Sendojo, Billy is reforged through brutal training, enduring relentless hardship to become a warrior. Though his magical capacity remains weak, he compensates with strategy, weapons, and sheer will. Meanwhile, his closest friend, Chawchga Kichgad (Ireudae), chooses a different path, embracing forbidden Iamyabi Flames that promise power at the cost of his soul. As Billy discovers his dharma—his true path—Chawchga begins to unravel, his strength consuming him rather than elevating him.
In a desperate bid to reclaim himself, Chawchga turns to Billy, confessing that his magic is tied to the World-Destroying Flames of Muspelheim, a dangerous force that threatens to erase his soul beyond reincarnation. Determined to change, he seeks to return to Whimvis 238, the last place he ever felt at peace. Billy, ever loyal, agrees to stand by his friend. But as they journey through the Bifröst, a miscalculation sends them spiraling into the unknown, crashing toward a darkened world—leaving their fates uncertain, with only the hope of redemption or ruin ahead.
Plot points/Scenes
Episode I
On the planet Mars, in the capital city of Iaport, the young, soon-to-be 19-year-old Balthazar is refused from join the Martian Honorguard because he is too physically weak. He tries to argue that the army would make him stronger, but his mother is sent word of his location and comes to collect him post haste. Lady Ana Belen, known as the Wife of the Red God, is the mother of Billy and an influential Geisha within Iaport, respected by the cultural and religious community, and extremely wealthy and well-connected through high-profile clients. She has other plans for Billy that don't involve him getting himself hurt, but Billy, born frail, seeks danger and misadventure. He feels smothered by her love and protection, emasculated, and held back from maturing into a real man, or so he thinks.
A few days later, Lady Ana Belen, via leveraging her connection to Duke Akkeb, secures a formal introduction for Billy to Princess Rútu, daughter of Emperor Yekkub’ Wútu Nyyemso, and the Heir Apparent to the Obsidian Throne of the Ibraalic Empire, the ruling power of Mars. Lady Ana Belen had already gotten Billy past the Initial Screening last year, and now, thanks in part to Lord Akkeb, the Emperor’s cousin, Billy had made it to the Formal Introduction, one step away from Promising Ceremonies.
Marrying into the House of Ib would establish a safe and prosperous future for Billy, one where he could blossom into the man Ana Belen imagined he could be. She stresses as much to Billy the day they head to the Red Sandstone Palace, the House of Ib's ancestral Seat of Power on Mars’ moon Deimos. Billy remains unmotivated but obeys his mother’s wishes.
They arrive at the palace and are greeted by Lord Akkeb, who prepares them for the ordeal to follow. The Ibraalic Harem Small Council, the administration apparatus responsible for family planning, has found Billy’s bloodline to be strong and his mind to be of sound faculties. There are a few minor cues in his biology that concern them, but should Billy impress them, they are sure to suggest some form of genetic engineering or gene therapy to avoid any potential birth defects for offspring.
Akkeb pulls Ana Belen aside and expresses that moving forward, the council needs to test Billy in whatever way they deem fit; she cannot protect him forever. When Akkeb assures her the House of Ib will cover any medical bills, Ana Belen becomes concerned, but Akkeb reassures her that this is the way forward for a better life for her son.
Akkeb brings them before the Small Council, who introduce Billy to Princess Rútu. The council asks the Princess to give Billy a tour of their family's Lumbee forest while they discuss some boring details with Lady Ana Belen. Billy follows Princess Rútu and learns her real name is Madrobera, and Billy is the 14th suitor brought before her today alone. Billy finds her brash and straightforward, rather unlikeable, and not very noble like the folk he has met before. Madrobera responds that she finds his purple hair ridiculous and disapproves of the spoiled brat energy he brings to the room.
They are interrupted by one of Madrobera’s cousins, Yarham, who finds Billy’s slender and frail body disgusting. The council must be truly desperate to consider one so malformed and starved of food and sunlight. Billy, recalling his mother’s words to behave himself, holds his tongue and his temper, apologizing for offending the noble lordling, and tries to leave, but Yarham pushes him down into the lake. Billy rises from the lake, e and still, Yarham presses him, finally recognizing Billy as the son of that red whore from Iaport.
Billy spits on Yarham, and a fight breaks out. Yarham’s friends hold Billy down as Yarham repeatedly pummels him in the face and chest. The blows from the larger and more powerful boy quickly draw blood from the frail Billy, and yet he does not relent, even as Madrobera yells for him to. Meanwhile, the council took Ana Belen to a study where they had been observing Billy and Madrobera this entire time via a magical scrying eye. The council constantly took notes, scans, and feedback on Billy as Ana Belen watched them all. As Yarham attacked Billy and quickly began to wound him, she wanted to move to react in anger or outrage, but Akkeb, sitting next to her, stopped her, reminding her to let the ordeal pass.
Finally, one of the council members motioned to a staff member, and in a moment, Yarham seemed to grow bored of beating Billy black and blue. As he and his friends began to leave, Yarham provoked the broken Billy again, telling him to recall this defeat the next time he thought about applying to the Martian Honorguard. His family vets all of their suitors with an extreme eye for detail; they likely know more about Billy than his mother. And in summation, Yarham is utterly unimpressed. He finds Billy to be a disgusting little gremlin of a child, the unkept bastard of a whore who should count the stars he was born into wealth and not slavery or scrapped for organs. Yarham forbids Madrobera from helping Billy and makes her leave with them as the beaten Billy, reduced to tears, wallows in the mess of his broken body.
Over the next 9 days, Billy is transferred back to Mars, back to his mother’s estate, where she sees that he receives the top medical care the world has to offer. He suffered a broken rib and a broken jaw, as well as swelling and extreme bruising. Billy was, once again, bedridden, the same as he was when he was a child, literally too weak to play with the other children, always sheltered by his mother. He hated how it made him feel so weak, and he hated more that he really might be as weak as the world thinks.
Some days later, Lord Akkeb came to visit Ana Belen, who was outraged that he let her son be beaten within an inch of his life. Akkeb apologizes for misleading her but hopes to make it up to her with good news. The council was impressed with Billy’s resolve; he was one of the very few suitors who, when faced with adversity from Yarham, retaliated. He will be moving forward to the next phase early next year. Although they are still debating about wedding him to Madrobera if she wants, she could take him as a Consort instead, but they are considering her for one of the other female heirs.
Billy is finally able to move around on his own on the eve of his 19th Nameday after an utterly devastating revolution. He finds no real solace in the evening amidst the lavish party his mother arranged, the guests, or the mountains of presents. It all seems so far away, and the reality of his weakness seems so up in his face, as if they are celebrating him for finally realizing that he is weak, that he is not a real man. Billy has an emotional outburst at the party during an argument with his mother and, in a fit of anger, tells his mother that he hates her. Billy leaves his mother’s estate and ends up at a bar in the city, feeling more lost than ever before.
It is here he meets the Beggar Knight River, the Vagabond, a woman exiled from her homeland ages ago and turned to a wandering sword. They share a few drinks, and after hearing much of his plight, River offers him a spot on her starship; her crew explores and wonders about it all the time, and he would be more than welcome since his mother does not seem to have faith in him. River was a real warrior, not like the fancy fake sword fighting his mother did; he could learn from her and finally prove them all wrong. Billy does not even want to say goodbye to his mother after what happened; he wants to leave with River tonight, now, and finally begin his new life.
As midnight strikes and Billy turns 19, an Interdimensional Realm Tear occurs, a Real Tear opens above Mars, a portal directly into the Khaos Lands that slowly begins to consume the entire planet. The Martian War and Patrol Fleet activate countermeasures and defenses, but the chaos spreads so fast that pilots and engineers begin to go mad, combusting into flames and crashing their starships. From the portal itself, Khaos Daemons fall onto the planet by the billions. Khaos Lords and Greater Daemons emerge all around the world. These bearings are Deathless so long as that Realm Tear remains open and Mars is only getting sucked deeper and deeper in. Within six hours, only the major megacities on the surface remained. Within 3 hours after that, only Iaport remained. The city had a population of 33 million, but by sunrise, fewer than 33 life signs were barely visible, and only 1/10 of the planet was not yet consumed by the Realm Tear.
When the Dameons first arrived, Billy was with River, approaching her starship when a weaker Daemon fell from the sky and ripped River in half as casually as one rips paper, drenching Billy in her green blood. All hell broke out shortly after; cars crashed into buildings, and starships fell from the sky, exploding on impact and knocking out the power. Billy ran through the streets of Iaport, his ceremonial feet pieces soaking wet from the chromakopia of alien blood that pooled in the streets. Billy ran until his lungs burned and his knees shook. When his feet could carry him no more, he scrambled into a crawl space under a warehouse and collapsed from exhaustion.
When Billy regained his senses, the city was silent save for the odd scream or crash. The sky was no more, almost entirely consumed by the Realm tear, exposing larger and greater daemons that waited to eat the world. Only a small, quickly closing hole in the sky still connected Mars to the Mortal Multiverse, but not for long. Billy made his way through the ruined city, creeping about, not daring to even breathe too loudly, for monsters still roamed the streets looking for more food.
Billy was almost killed by a Khaos Daemon, but was saved when a woman severely burned her entire body with a sword, saved him, his mother, and Ana Belen, on death’s door herself, had finally found her son. She forbade him from speaking and rushed him along the city quietly, making for a small spaceport she had prepared while she looked for Billy. Daemons were approaching again; they needed to depart now. However, when Billy arrived, he saw that the starship was a Terminal Escape Pod (TEP), which could only hold one person. This was one of her oldest hidden escape plans from years ago, before Billy was born, when it was just her alone in a strange alien world.
Billy cannot even react before Ana Belen pushes him into the TEP as the hole in the sky closes rapidly. She turns to Billy and tells him that she loves him before the pod closes and rockets off into the sky, escaping through the hole in the sky back into the mortal cosmos just as the Realm Tear eats Mars. The TEP activates its emergency protocol and warps itself to the nearest star system unmolested by Kahos' energy. As it rockets away and begins to place Billy in a cryosleep stasis, Billy cannot remove the image of his mother saying she loves him before she dies, and the last thing he ever said to her was that he hated her.
Episode II
In the Rho C’aleko Coronal Stream star system, the Atlas Heavy Industries COM Freighter LHG.4-1482 (the Ox for short) starship begins its slow approach to the planet Alpha Omega Xe'addon-7 (AOX-7), transporting some couple thousand tons of grains and livestock for some noble lord. The starship is operated by Senior Operator Be'urian Tamerflen and his Junior Systems Technician Katogorn Klacut; the remainder of the ship's functions and systems are largely handled by the Ox’s onboard Co-Pilot, Aegis Systems-Typhon.IMPRINT.07-LINE.3-298734-B, called BOX for short.
Be'urian is currently resting in his room, leaving Katogorn to monitor the cockpit and tend to the livestock as needed. As he fiddles with another one of his machine trinkets, BOX informs him that what he initially identified as space debris in their path was scanned and shows signs of life, likely an escape pod of sorts. BOX also informs him that while their employer, Kaantus Aggregates Ltd, does not force them to rescue lost souls, Kaantus Aggregates Ltd does force them to comply with all local laws. After a quick database query, AOX-7 still has standing legislation dictating that any stranded or otherwise lost individuals, regardless of race, creed, or standing, should be rescued if they are within the AOX-7 Exclusive Economic Zone, which the Ox currently is.
BOX deploys its tractor beam to grab the debris as Katogorn fetches Be'urian. With some machines and tools, Katogorn forces his way into the pod and recovers Balthazar's body, which is caught in suspended animation. Be'urian has the man unsuspended and placed in their MedBay, sealed in case the young man is hostile should he wake up. Be'urian takes command of the vessel as the Ox approaches AOX-7 and informs them of their passenger. The AOX-7 Orbital Drydock and Portway (ODP) allows the Ox to port and begin processing its cargo. Billy is handed over to the on-site medical team, who prepare to shuttle him down to the surface for more extensive care. Be'urian and Katogorn are asked to take responsibility for the man, and the ODP refuses to allow the Ox to depart until the matter is resolved.
Billy finally wakes up a few days later in a hospital, where Be'urian and Katogorn explain what happened and how they found him. With him now awake and well, they take him to a Dharamshala staffed by volunteers and religious monks. Be'urian, feeling bad for the kid, gives him some money and puts him in contact with a Storehouse in the city, an old friend of his who owes him a favor to secure Billy a job. He wants to do more for him, but his young coworker Katogron reminds him they have already overstayed on AOX-7 and they will be late for their next route if they remain much longer. With Billy resolved with housing and a job, the AOX-7 ODP cleared the Ox for departure.
Alive and well, Billy felt more lost than he had ever been in his entire life. His homeworld, his mother, everything he ever knew or loved, all of it was gone. He was alone, weak, and powerless in an alien world at the mercy of state volunteers and the kindness of strangers. Billy quickly came to understand just how pampered he was back on Mars as he spent the next few revolutions working at the storehouse and living at the Dharamshala.
The Storehouse only had hours for him to work in the dead of night, doing clerical work and helping the staff with whatever they needed. The pay was measly, and after hours of work, he walked back to the Dharamshala to sleep in one of the many community rooms, surrounded by other lost souls. He slept until noon, when he would awaken and serve in the soup kitchen garden, picking up trash or anything the Dharamshala assigned to him to maintain his bed here.
The only good part about his days was the rare days when Rahmona would come to visit him. She was an employee of a blood bank here in the city who met Billy at an event he had to work at one afternoon. Rahmona was the closest thing Billy had to a friend; she would sometimes give him rides to and from work, get lunch for him, and cheer him up during such a depressing time. One day, while Billy was in the soup kitchen, Rahmona came through the line.
Her job was sending her on a trip off-world in a few days, and she wanted Billy to come with her. Billy is unsure at first, but she convinces him that she will cover all their expenses, they will have an amazing time, and after the trip, she floats the idea of him coming to live with her. She used to have a little brother, and he reminds her of him so much. He passed away a few years ago, and she just wants to see Billy succeed. Billy is slightly confused, as she has never mentioned a brother prior in the few conversations they have had, but figures it must have been a painful topic.
The night before they are set to depart, Billy spends the night at Rahmona’s apartment, sleeping in her guestroom on his own for the first time in a while. He eats like a king and enjoys the little perks that he used to have back on Mars. The next day, Rahmona takes Billy to a starport, which shuttles them up to the AOX-7 ODP, where her starship is waiting. The ship is well-maintained but staffed by employees from Xenalisflix Incorporated, not the company Rahmona claimed to work for. She is addressed as a Xenalisflix Incorporated Sourcing & Developing Manager II and, in a tone Billy finds apathetic, refers to Billy as her last one to meet her quota, leaving to depart on a different starship to enjoy her vacation for meeting her quota.
Billy feels powerless as the employees command him here and there, and his body obeys as his mind is slowly submerged. The starship departs the AOX-7 ODP, passing the Ox on the way in again to deliver another import of rare wine. Once docked, Be'urian contacts his friend at the storehouse while the Ox is unloaded and asks about the well-being of Billy. The storehouse found him a good employee, but he hasn't shown up to work in a few days. They called the Dharamshala as well, but they don't have him either. Be'urian is heartbroken and concludes Billy must have fallen through the cracks. He recites a small prayer for Billy as Katogorn approaches and asks him if he is ready to depart now.
In the Mirankien Quadrant star system on the planet Bognienides-9 (Bog-9), Xenalisflix Incorporated owned and operated a Nosferatu Blood Colony, the Bognine Research and Enrichment Facility (BREF), composed of about seven research, two administration, five storage buildings, and one on-site security barracks. The BREF storage buildings housed thousands of assets, people who have their minds tortured or stimulated by magical and chemical means with the intent of creating a desired aroma for their blood, which is then extracted, processed, packaged, and shipped off-world for purchase by other Vampires.
Billy would spend the next three years of his life drugged out of his mind and wired into a myriad of medical devices and machines to pump him full of proteins and vitamins and extract his blood. Over these three years, Billy was heavily sedated and immersed in an illusory world to keep his mind occupied. The worlds he lived in varied in terms of the facilities' aims. The experience in the mind of these hyper-realistic illusionary worlds impacted the quality and “aroma” of the blood. This was all controlled to meet customer satisfaction.
Billy’s continuous stream of awareness had been suspended and segmented from the moment he was caught. In this way, every new illusion was brand new to him, and he had no memory of where he was or how he got there. When one illusion ended, his mind was again heavily sedated, and a new one was spun up. This is not the same as memory erasure, which would be a clean slate at the very least. No, this way the BREF did it was more akin to taking the extreme trauma and pleasure they forced him through, stuffing it down into his mind, deeper every time, and then building a new illusion on top of that sedimentary foundation of wickedness. This way, the asset could faintly tell something was off but could never put its finger on it.
One day, an order came in for a particularly traumatic brew of blood for a high-value customer. To meet this request, the Dreamweavers pulled the memory of Billy’s mother’s death and amplified it significantly, increasing the pain, agony, and suffering by a magnitude of 100. They had done this countless times over the last three years, but this time, as they spun the dream up and Billy’s mind suffered the dream again, his mind lashed out as his body, pushed to the brink, finally manifested his Rainbow Flames. The flames grew uncontrollably, instantly killing the Dreamweaver that was managing Billy and spreading throughout the weave extremely fast, killing Dreamweavers and releasing Billy and others from their mental prison.
Billy finally awakens in BREF Asset Storage Facility No. 03, Floor 2, section 12. Disoriented and confused by the dream, from Billy’s point of view, as of right now, his mother just died when he was 19, and now, 22 years old, he wakes up in an alien facility with no idea how he got here. But even as he frees himself from the medical machines connected to him, fragments of his time on AOX-7 start to emerge. Billy crawls out of the med bed, holding him as the entire building descends into madness as more Assets begin to wake up. Billy crawls on the ground, his limbs numb, until an alien man picks him up, Borkit Squjos, recognizing Billy as the man who granted them their freedom in their dreams. Borkit throws Billy over his shoulder and, with other prisoners, begins to escape the storage.
BREF security is en route, so the prisoners split up and free more people to increase their odds of escape. Borkit takes Billy to an outlet used as a sewer to wash out to the nearby river. He places Billy inside and promises to return shortly, but he needs to go back and grab his sister. Billy, still weak, tries to convince him they need to leave whatever this place is now, but Borkit refuses to abandon his sister; he will be back in a few minutes, and they are all leaving together. As Borkit departs, Billy slips into a slumber for several hours.
When Billy awakens, the sun is setting, and Storage Building Three is no longer in chaos, as the BREF security forces finish sweeping the area for stragglers. Borkit never returned. Billy is spotted by scouts who release Metrorid, genetically engineered spider-like creatures used for security in some places in the universe, into the system to root him out. Billy runs through the sewer system frantically in the dark, limping along as fast as he can. The scrapping and screeching of the Metroids can be heard bouncing off the walls and echoing throughout the system, making it seem like they are all around him.
It takes no time for the monsters to catch Billy, and for the first time in his life, he is fighting tooth and nail for his life. The Metroids dive their pincers into his flesh, injecting some sort of venom, they claw at his body and spew goo to slow him down. A larger one killed a smaller one and tried to begin eating Billy. Using one of the spikes ripped off its back, he tore the beast's soft underbelly asunder, searing his entire body in deadly stomach acid.
Billy convulsed violently as the stomach acid sapped the air out of his lungs, forcing him to gasp for air. When he finally recovered, he let out a putrid scream that came from the darkest pit of his being. He quickly heard the sound of more Metroid coming, and climbing out of the mess of guts the dead Metroid spilled out, Billy ran, injuries be damned, with them on his heels. When the night sky was visible, Billy jumped from the pipes, washed out down the waterfall, and disappeared into the great river.
In the Deep Wouria Territory star system on the planet Las Plingaroid lies the city of Pakfot, and in this megacity is the 21st Paambi Thegnuruta Sisukhee & Ndi Sendōjō of Pakfot. The sendojo is sponsored in part by the state but primarily by private parties, such as political organizations, special interest groups, noble households, and state officials. This funding is provided in exchange for their offspring being selected by the most prestigious Master's program for training and a guaranteed spot in the school.
Master Hss’fan explains as much to Master Togomi, an old goat woman and the most stubborn person the sendojo has to offer. Togomi needs to take on a few students, but every time it comes around for selection, she only picks one student or none, finding none of them interesting. Most masters take on at least 3-4 students, but because of Togomi’s skill and prestige, she is afforded special treatment. She finds none of the students to her liking and departs Las Plingaroid to her estate on Bog-9 to clear her mind.
Togomi and her staff ended up at her estate on Bognienides-9, enjoying a peaceful evening as the lazy river carried itself through her estate. From the grand steps, her guards spotted a body floating in the river and retrieved it at once. The man fought them, but after a contest, they subdued him and dropped him at their master’s feet. Togomi asked who he was, where he came from, why he was hear, and how he came to be so injured. The man answered, noting, looking at her as if she were his sworn enemy despite just meeting each other. Togomi looked into his eyes and saw the story of his passion, his anger, his loss; his eyes reminded her of the eyes of a wild dog, beaten and battered but standing all the same. It was a sort of primal, barbaric vibe that she shared in her youth.
Togomi laughed and clapped her hands; she declared that he was now under her charge and gave him his religious name, Leshka Lidshaṣag, meaning ‘One Who is Blinded by Passion.’ He protested immediately; his name was Balthazar, and he would belong to nobody ever again, but Togomi disagreed as she ordered her staff to take him away and prepare them for departure. They were returning to Pakfot immediately to get Billy admitted into the sendojo. Billy was to be her pupil, and he would be the greatest work yet.
Episode III
On the planet Las Plingaroid at the 21st Paambi Thegnuruta Sisukhee & Ndi Sendōjō of Pakfot, Master Togomi has a private meeting with Nalan Neepsloffillit, another senior admin of the sendojo who is responsible for admitting students. Nalan has the utmost respect for Togomi and her craft, but he wishes she would take any of the more than-qualified candidates the sendojo receives every year, and not this lost cause, Billy. Extensive medical examinations of Billy’s body and mental capabilities reveal several flaws that do not lend themselves naturally to the environment of the sendojo.
- His body is physically weak and prone to sickness.
- A low Mana Cell count indicates low to mediocre magical ability, if any, to speak of at all.l
- He has no Inherited Magical Technique
- He seems to be a slow learner and struggles with understanding
Togomi argues that it is these very imperfections that drive him to victory; he is the unexpected variable, the underdog, and she has a soft place for them. Nalan requests that, at the very least, she take on other students in addition to Billy, but Togomi refuses; her teaching style favors having all of her attention on one pupil at a time to guide and mold correctly. Nalan can get Billy’s approval, but this will not be a popular choice, even for her. If Billy fails out or becomes anything less than exceptional, it will stain her reputation. Nalan asks if she is willing to put that on the line for this stranger, and still, she agrees.
Togomi, with Billy’s admission in hand, returns to her quarters on the sendojo grounds, where Billy is being kept for the time being. The journey from Bog-9 back to Las Plingaroid allowed her staff to stabilize Billy, heal his wounds, and mend his broken bones. He looked healthier, but mentally and emotionally, Togomi could tell he was still within his shell, haunted by what happened at the Blood Colony.
Togomi has a private dinner with Billy that night and informs him of the results of his medical examinations. She admits that, perhaps, she was a bit overzealous back at her Bog-9 estate, but Billy’s entire anatomy is wholly unfit for this kind of work. Instead, Togomi tells him to forget about the sendojo and says she will arrange for Billy to be an Overseer of one of her larger estates here on Las Plingaroid, the Palaside Estate just outside of Pakfot city. It is a large and lavish estate staffed by some 200 employees and on-site security personnel.
All Billy would need to do is live there and administer the bookkeeping of the farmland, oversee the lands, and maintain the property. Almost all the work would be carried out by the staff. Billy could retire there, and with her connections and influence, she could easily find his position within the city’s government and high society. Within a few years, he could find himself a lover or two and have a few rugrats running around. If he loved it there, she admits she is open to the prospect of even selling it to him to own one day.
Billy sits in silence; he recalls the blood colony Alpha Omega Xe'addon-7, the destruction of Mars and the death of his mother, the laughing faces all around him, and the humiliation he faced at the Ibraalic palace. He was weak, and it took him a while to accept it. He was naive, inexperienced, and easily played for a fool. He has been at the mercy of strangers and enemies these last few years, used, abused, almost killed on more than one occasion, and cast aside and looked down on.
He had no power, and thus, he had no freedom or agency. Had he been strong, he could have defended himself and saved his mother, but for all his bluster and claims, when she needed him the most, he was useless. Balthazar decided he would never be useless or powerless again.
Billy refuses the lavish offer, and still, Togomi presses him; the path ahead for someone like him is not an easy one. The journey will be long, and the pace will be hot. Everyone expects him to fail, and if by some miracle he doesn’t, they might help him fail all the same; they will kick him when he falls and ridicule him for even trying in the first place. She promises Billy absolutely nothing along this path except pain and adversity; there will be no glory, and there will be no riches to obtain. Billy Steel's his nerves; he puts all his fear and weakness deep down in a place that can't touch him anymore. He will see this through to the very end: win, lose, or draw.
Togomi smiles, pleased with the answer he has given. The easy path in life is often so boring, and Togomi hates to be bored. She has Billy kneel, and he dons an Obediadem. She gives him his admission and has a dorm room prepared for him. His days will be taken up by lectures and training delivered by Professors in addition to personal lessons and training directly from his master, Tipaama.
As Billy gets settled into his dorm room, he finds the quarters very accommodating. Students have their bedrooms, with their bathrooms and a small kitchen. The dorms are housed in the Kod Complex, in addition to some markets and other services for students. Classes are early; they last for hours on end before he is released. The topics are complex, the training is physical and demanding, and his peers seem to reserve a certain special type of hatred for him, the same type Yarham had when they met all those years ago on Deimos. Billy could not play by the rules; he had to work ten times as hard for a fraction of the results of his peers.
Relations
Protagonists
- Bālthazar ibn Ana Belen ibnat Madelyn Al Ana Belenid:
- Ireudae Chawchga Kichgad ibn Ito ibn Idison Al Ianeid | 21st Paambi Thegnuruta Sisukhee & Ndi Sendōjō of Pakfot Student:
Allies
- Ana Belen ibnat Ana Soraya Al Ana Belenid:
- Big-Hat Blair ibnat Phiona Ahl Tabeous | Junior Witch of the 12th District Coven of Talankor Anttrock:
- Togomi Tipaama, Hihiikhee Tihelaa XII | Archmage of the Eightfold Path:
Neutrals/Bystanders
- Madrobera Rútu ibnat Chalmers X ibn Acelin III ibn Lucian I Al Ib-Zeneid al-Mortimer | Princess of the Ibraalic Empire and Heir Apparent to the Throne:
Adversaries
- Rahmona | Xenalisflix Incorporated Sourcing & Developing Manager II:
Sources
- Spoiler Button Tabs created by STORMBRIL
- Commissioned Concept Artist & Illustrator Caio Bellim ([email protected])
- Commissioned Digital Artist Xharknguyen | brittaisthebest (@xhark2003)
- Commissioned 2D Artist Maxim Schastny ([email protected])
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