Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – The Corruption of One’s Desire

 

Time seemed to fly by as the test drew closer and closer. I had always been a fairly decent student, not Rowan levels, but good enough to get consistent low A’s and high B’s on tests. This section was easier for me to handle as it was covering lower tier Beasts which had relatively less content than other sections.

 

‘Lower tier beasts come through smaller wormholes as a means of survival. These beasts typically could be domesticated depending on their natures. Tier 10 Beasts could be domesticated 90% of the time simply because they tended to be at the bottom of the food chain in the Realm of Beasts making them have a submissive nature. Some examples of the Tenth Tier of Beasts are the Dire Wolves and Shadow Foxes.

 

But just because a Beast starts off as Tier 10, that does not mean they cannot become stronger. That was one trait both Humans and Beasts shared, by consuming the flesh of any animal with a high density of mana within them they are able to increase their level of power.

 

In fact, one of the first recorded Disaster-Tier Beasts was a Fenrir, the evolution of a Dire Wolf that takes place after ascending from Tier 1, powerful enough to eradicate half of the neighboring continent, Edafi despite its gargantuan size.’

 

At this point I had reached the classroom around five minutes before class would actually start, and I began to look around for Ally or Rowan, as they were the only two in the same class as me while Nico and Kevin were stuck in the Chemistry of Magic class.

 

I found Rowan tucked into the back right corner of the class with confidence showing upon his face. To be truthful, I was jealous of him, he had something called ‘Perfect Memory’ allowing him to recall everything he has ever seen after the age of five. Apparently, this was due to having an overactive hippocampus, thus causing multiple memories to be saved for every bit of information he took in. This allowed him to memorize combat styles, all knowledge he had read, as well as having a high comprehension of a variety of languages.

 

However, before I could reach him an alarm began to bellow out its warning as the speakers crackled before they turned on.

 

I could hear the panicked voice of the female vice-principal come out of the speakers in the typical distorted manner.

 

“Seek shelter immediately, a Tier-1 Wormhole has been tracked to within a 20km vicinity of the school. Remember our drills everyone, in a calm and orderly fashion report to the nearest classroom and begin the Tier-5 and higher procedure.”

 

Despite her maintaining a calm tone in her words there was an obvious urgency to the words that anybody could tell if they were paying attention.

 

—

 

[Pov Unknown]

 

This is it, the opportunity to get back what is rightfully mine! 

 

Despite the panicked students around me rushing to the nearest classrooms I began to go towards the Beast Studies classroom.

 

The green flame I felt burning inside of me had finally taken on a humanoid shape. At first I had been worried as to what it was, but I now knew. It wasn’t something evil or good, it was simply the embodiment of Desire, and I was to be its incarnation.

 

—

 

[Pov Joshua]

 

It was clear that the wormhole that had opened was a large threat. I had witnessed several students checking their phones to see the public information regarding the wormhole. As their eyes seemed to grow to the size of dinner plates their skin slowly began to lose its color. Panic filled their faces as they began trembling in fear.

 

The fact was if the strong students with wealth were in fear, what was the likelihood of my survival.

 

Rowan closed in on me as his mouth formed a thin line across his face as he was thinking hard. That was when the initial impact of the Beasts struck, feeling as though a high magnitude earthquake had struck and we were located at its epicenter.

 

The ground underneath us seemingly becoming a liquid was difficult to tread on as our teacher led us out of the classroom and towards the red doors located near the east side of the campus. Several classes were merging together as we marched our way to the bunker.

 

As we marched, I was able to take note that both Kevin and Nico who were in the Chemistry of Magic class had also ended up here. But that was when the first Beast reached the campus.

 

Rowan seemed slightly skittish as he looked toward them but then he suddenly turned his head upward.

 

There was a sound of glass shattering as all the students looked towards the source of the sound, up. Above us lied a blue magic barrier now with a multitude of cracks surging through it. As we continued to look at it, we were able to spot the creator of these cracks.

 

“A Hierodula.” I heard Rowan whisper with an incredulous tone.

 

The Beast's namesake was spot on as a giant praying mantis stood atop the barrier with its head twisting and turning as it looked down upon us. A menacing aura seemingly distorted the air around it.

 

Slowly with all its prey’s eyes locked upon it the Hierodula raised its claw, and then with one swift motion its serrated edge sheared through the barrier as if cutting through butter.

 

You are reading story The Thirteenth Realm at novel35.com

As it began to fall down from the top of the barrier its wings began to unfurl from its back allowing it to hover in the air. The Beast looking at its prey finally chose its target as its eyes finally locked onto somebody, Rowan.

 

As the Beast blitzed its way over her at Mach 1 speeds. As it began its downward swipe the Beast Studies teacher seemingly teleported in front of Rowan and nudged the claw to the side completely missing the both of them.

 

The teacher had now drawn his sword and prepared to fight the creature as another Beast dropped from above… another Hierodula.

 

It was at this moment all hope was lost, the teachers of other classes were no strong heroes, the main reason the Beast Studies teacher had yet to die is because of his immense research about the field of the more insect-like Beasts.

 

I began to move without thought as I began pushing people forward trying to get them to continue moving into the bunker.

 

However, just as I was about to call out to get moving the second wave hit.

 

The rumbling of the ground below us came at an even more immense level as a pressure now began to radiate from north of us, the origin of the wormhole. It was obvious what the Beast’s Tier was just based on the terrifying aura cloaking the city. It was a Disaster-Tier Beast.

 

The Hierodula ahead of us immediately gave up on their pursuit of Rowan to instead flee, the aura overpowering their obsession.

 

The remaining students had begun to flood into the lower shelter as the rumbling of the Beast still echoed from the center of the city.

 

That was when I saw the enormous head of a turtle poke out nearly 50km above us, its eyes locked onto the small humans beneath it. A flood of water seemingly appeared out of nowhere as the Celona, the Turtle Beast, activated its magic.

 

I began to flee from the bunker which would likely end as a death trap if one were to be in it while water poured in. The instant flood began carrying the student outside of the bunker away including Ally, Nico, Rowan, Kevin, and I.

 

As the flood continued to wash everything, I found myself being slammed around. As the frantic waves crashed against the wall of a building, I felt something in my arm crack nearly fainting from the pain. I then found myself thrashing for survival as I had gotten stuck underwater, the current blocking me from reaching the surface of the water. I tried to channel the little magic I had into a sort of webbing between my fingers allowing me to better catch the water and pull myself upward.

 

I felt the air leaving my lungs as I got closer and closer to the surface. I felt myself hacking out the water in my lungs as I allowed myself to be carried through the streets riding the wave through.

 

That was when I saw two people stuck in the wave with me, one being a random person who wasn’t even a student while the other was Nico seemingly panicking as he tried to remain afloat. His hair had pressed against his face as his eyes seemed to shine with a slight green light.

 

Soon the water seemed to start descending as I found myself swimming towards Nico in hopes of survival when we descended onto the city streets.

 

I knew the water wasn’t likely to remain in the streets for long as it would end up being drained into the sewer system as well as the stray wormhole allowing the water to travel from this Realm to another.

 

Finally, as we reached the bottom of the water and found ourselves being able to stand upright were we able to take in the carnage around us. I saw a ragdoll of a person lying face down nearby, obviously dead.

I shuttered from terror as I knew how easily that could have been me if I had been bashed against any more objects at such a high pressure. I felt myself flop onto the ground smiling at my survival.

 

But then, I felt my smile drop as I heard the shriek and immediate silence following its occurrence. I opened my eyes as I looked back to see Nico, green flames licking around his body as a crazed look filled his eyes. His clothes had dried instantly with the flames licking them, but they hadn’t begun to burn.

 

“She's going to be mine! You took her from me! She’s mine, mine, mine, MINE! With you gone she’ll be just mine. I had her first anyway. You’re a traitor! You stole her from me!”

 

I felt an overwhelming sense of terror fill me as I understood what had gone on… The Demon of Desire had chosen its incarnation. The Demon of Desire was nearly as powerful as one of the Kings or Queens of Sin because of its ties to a multitude of the sins. It held connections to the deadliest of Demons, the Demon of Envy, Demon of Gluttony, Demon of Greed, Demon of Sloth, and finally, the Demon of Lust.

 

I knew there was no way I would be able to survive until I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. There was a small wormhole, no bigger than a dog, that had opened in one of the nearby alleys, likely a good chunk of the water had drained through wormholes just like this one.

 

There was also the fact that with its size there was no doubt about it being a Tier 9 or 10 wormhole meaning I had a chance of surviving in the short term.

 

I began to run as fast as I could, feeling the sensation of heat radiating around my right shoulder I dove into a roll, dodging the green fireball flying by. My arm rolled badly making the pain even worse, I had no doubt I at least had a fracture in it, but now was not the time to focus on the pain, instead I would need to focus on survival.

 

I was within a few meters of the portal as I felt another fireball coming my way, diving once more the fireball instead of flying over me like expected began to follow me as I dove into the wormhole, beginning my journey of exploring its mysterious depths.

 

—

 

Author’s Note - Thus Begins Volume 1, Realm of Beasts.

This is being release at a little faster of a rate due to how recently I first uploaded.

 

You can find story with these keywords: The Thirteenth Realm, Read The Thirteenth Realm, The Thirteenth Realm novel, The Thirteenth Realm book, The Thirteenth Realm story, The Thirteenth Realm full, The Thirteenth Realm Latest Chapter