(Flashback Alioth to Oolia)

  "Quicia I imagine your ready for your training today "

  A figure clad in royal red, that was around my height said while not looking at me. You could tell due to years of me following his orders , he didn’t even feel the need to address me directly.

  My life, if you could even call this one, was emotionless. Sometimes I felt like I Just wanted to feel something.I mean for once in my life let me do something other than training. In combat was the only place where the barons allowed emotions .This constrained way of life was slowly driving me up the wall, but I guess what's another day. I was always being told to control myself but what if I didn't want to control myself.Why did I never get to decide what I did?

  "Yes sir " I said in response in complete obedience

  Oh how I hated this guy. But I knew that if I disobeyed him the whole thunder quill faction of the level would be trying to kill me.so for now I listened.

  Lifting my head I had to mentally prepare myself for what was coming. A battle with a so called master, then literature with teacher Reynold , then etiquette practice for how to seduce a man , then ugh my mind spun in flurry.

  " You need to lead by example of how a royal should be." He said in an unforgiving tone , as if my yes sir wasn't enough.

  Yes I was at the top of the social hierarchy for this world. But I wondered if this really was what power entailed.Powerful in the eyes of others but powerless in one's own .

  Walking down the ivory encrusted isles I felt a sensation of dread wash over me.The halls themselves were big enough to fit hundreds of people but felt claustrophobic ,is this going to be my whole life? I was just going along because what more could I do?I feel chained. Like a bird in a cage as they say. To put it bluntly I think I was experiencing something known as depression.

  My life felt worthless as I was nothing but a puppet being directed by the marionette master.

  But before I could complete my daily self loathing I reached the ending of the hall.

  Through the door in front of me was a colosseum there where thousands of monsters in the crowds waiting on me.Today was my battle with the master Eser, it was a battle to the death but i wasn’t scared .Weaker emotions like fear or compassion where beaten out of me ,So of what little remained tended to only help in battle. Because the baron wasnt my biological father to him, I was always first and foremost a warrior.

  I remembered when I first was traded over to the baron , at the time my family was poor.There truly was never any love in my parents heart ,as they chose to sell me for a few gold coins.That would be enough to last them a few winters hopefully. I just wondered how they felt spending those coins in place of me..

  As a child I was just happy to be of use to My family but as a teenager I wanted to take revenge. Only to find they were killed by random bandits.so funnily enough the barons were my only living "family" at this point. They do say the universe has a sense of humor, but I wondered what was funny about watching me suffer. Closing my eyes , I took a sharp breath choosing to suppress those memories, they would only serve as a detriment

  The barons liked to gather youths and make them fight until only 8 were left. Like poisonous insects in a pot, only the strongest survived. Their own children were supposed to be included but obviously they made exceptions for their favorites.

  I wondered if I was anyone's favorite… oh well no use asking questions you already knew the answer too.

  but in matters relating to killing I have always been skilled and therefore remained alive.

  I grew weary of this life , I wasn't traumatized by any means simply because this was what life was, happiness was only for the lucky . one tends to wonder what was the point of my proficiency? Simply to entertain a crowd? My life felt like a parody in ways but who was I to complain. That's right I was nobody.

  Walking through the doors fully disgraced I met with my opponent. A bird with all green feathers wearing a maroon cape with a blue rapier by his side.

  We both walked to the middle of the ring , we exchanged pleasantries.

  "Greetings Quicia"

  I said nothing because the dead couldn't speak, therefore who was he talking to?

  I readied my fighting stance and motioned with my feet talons for combat .Taking this as disrespect, a distasteful scorn flashed across his face.

  Tracing an arc in the ground with my talons I began focusing my energy into my legs. You know the real way to win a fight was to strike fast and hard .

  FIGHT

  I did my best to close the few meter distance between us, sweeping my feet into his trying to effectively incapacitate him by removing his legs . Parrying it with his rapier we traded attacks again and again.

  He was better than I gave him credit for but that only made it more exciting for me.I could finally feel something , between kicks I threw punches along with some feathers for good measure. I made sure to hold nothing back lest I waste these opportunities of emotion few and far between.

  Skillfully parrying everything he was unscathed

  "Pathetic " he boasted confidently

  He channeled power into his sword giving it a red glow. So he was finally getting serious? I had more tricks up my sleeve , focusing all my energy into my heart I activated my oradas form. In this form I was practically invincible . My reaction time was quintupled while my feathers could contest with legendary swords. But best of all my black feathers turned a beautiful all white.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  "Don't hold back" I said inviting a challenge

  At moments like this I forgot everything, stress, work, love ,death , all things came after the feeling of adrenaline. Pure adrenaline. This was what I lived for or rather this was the only thing I had to live for .

  A green blur appeared in front of me and I jumped over my attacker's weapon using his shoulder as a branch. Making sure to sink my claws into it as I passed by, it was a fatal mistake for him. Any and all injury meant death on the battlefield . Rolling backwards he managed to avoid getting his arm completely removed.

  A small smile appeared across my face in this world of battles there were no lies, nothing but skill dominated.

  Indeed his experiences proved helpful as he used the close distance between us to attack behind him, while still looking forward and attempted to pierce me straight through my chest.

  …

  At Least he tried , I used the momentum from his shoulder and twisted my body into a tornado effectively dodging his sly attack.

  Touching the gash on his shoulder it instantly healed , that was something I wasn't expecting. But I took into consideration that his wounds only healed if he managed to touch them. Circling my competitor, I rethought my gameplan. Since Eser is using a rapier the chances of him swinging are close to 0 , therefore I should sidestep his thrust attack and consider ripping off his sword arm. It's the best and most effective way to incapacitate him then kill him. If things go south we’ll readjust from there.

  ok plan start!

  Dashing in to meet my rival I purposely made myself appear slower and sloppier, it was hard to make quick decisions in the middle of combat so I would assume that he would think my actions were simply the result of me being worse comparably in skill. Pulling his arm back to make the thrusting motion , he pump faked , moving backwards 8 paces . Then he raised his hand making a green magic portal appear under me.

  OH SHIT , no one told me he knew magic.

  From the magic portal came roots filled with thorns to bind my passage.The thorns themselves didn’t hurt me but they stopped me dead in my tracks. I scratched and clawed at the roots but it was ineffective. A few seconds was enough to turn the tides of battle. Using his time wisely he wasted none of it by lunging straight towards my heart. In the nano seconds that separated me from death my life flashed before my eyes. At age 5 I was traded , at age 16 I was training , at age 22 , I was training , at age 34 I was … training.

  Training what for, all i ever was allowed to do was these gladiator contests or preparing myself for some type of leadership position. In truth the idea of polishing my skills only to become some pencil pushing figurehead brought out some of the weaker emotions in me. The ones I thought were long buried.. Even these matches were starting to get stale, what I wanted… I didn't know but I knew it wasn't this.

  I should’ve just let Eser end me, perhaps that would’ve at least saved me from another million years of this. My pessimistic thinking started to kick into overdrive.

  My whole life has been controlled by others up into this point. I couldn't even say i had a life i never got married, never had kids, friends, companionship I know I know a warrior/monster shouldn't need that but if that was the case why did i get this strange feeling in my chest.

  Seeing my enemy approach closer survival instinct took over, life sucked but I still couldn't bring my self to commit suicide.

  Channeling the last of my dying willpower I twisted my body so hard my back was thrown out of place. I felt something snap that sent a shiver through part of my spine, I couldn't feel the rest of it. This small adjustment of my posture allowed for his needle like sword to miss my vital organs and go straight through the far side of my shoulder.

  Terror flashed across his face because he used his whole body's momentum to try to end this fight with one strike, who knew being too confident would end up being a mistake .Said no one ever .Using this opportunity I gripped his head with my right hand sinking my claws deep into his eyes.

  Slherchh that was the sound of his flesh mending

  His screams being muffled from my ears by my razor like focus on killing the man in front of me. Then I mimicked this motion with my other hand and twisted like you would do a wet towel. The roots dissolved leaving only me , a corpse and a splattered mess.

  BLOOD was everywhere, the front side of my body was consequently painted red.

  I should be feeling relief but i wasn't. It was something more like nausea . I won today but now what… literature lessons at 6?

  No , No ,No

  This couldn't keep happening. Every single day I did things against my will, because I knew if I disobeyed … what even would happen. I wasn't even scared of death. If I did die at least it would be in battle. The only thing I could care for in this world was fighting, it has been the only thing that has been there for me. As far as I am concerned fighting was the love I never had

  And I wouldn’t be content with myself if i didn’t take control of my own life now. I wanted to see the heights of the martial world and I was determined to break free .

  . At that moment it was like my brain experienced a shift in its thinking. The neural pathways that used to exist were replaced in such a way that I felt like a stranger in my own body. Deep inside something primal awakened , flooding my body with that oh so good feeling of a apex predator, leaving a big smile on my beak.

  Ahh yes I think what changed was the

  Absence of fear

  With the big smile still plastered upon my mug I got to brainstorming

  Mhh let's think, to them I was nothing but a placeholder of sorts they wouldn't care if I disappeared tomorrow. That being said if I broke rank even in a minor way I would be punished.

  So what would happen if I pulverized rank instead of breaking it, I'll make sure it would be unrecognizable.

  This was the only way, a royal should lead by example

  " LETS CRANK THIS BITCH UP A NOTCH!!!" I screamed from the top of my lungs

  The crowd psyhically recoiled as if to say the fuck was wrong with her? But nothing was wrong with me , something was wrong with them , they’ve been domesticated into thinking life should be controlled. Boredom was the biggest sin of all and I despised them.

  Holding pieces of his fragmented skull both in each hand and that close encounter with death i finally think i understand what was the purpose of my training.Why everyday i looked death in the eye at on a daily basis. Why i was always the one who survived . Thats right i finally understand everything.

  (I WAS A KILLER)

  Throwing the dead master's head into the air, I hit it with a double spin kick sending it directly into two of the unlucky inhabitants of the crowd.

  An audible gasp was heard.

  Where they so used to peace that even as i killed the person next to them they were still unsure of what to do.

  I understand that me taking orders from my lesser was what was holding me back.

  Taking a deep breath I activated my oradas form Turing my feathers all white to match my perfectly pale skin. I heard dungeon raiders by killing us gained something called exp and I wanted to test that experiment a few thousand times, you can never be too exact.

  Dashing towards defenseless spectators I started ripping hearts out and shattering pelvis's. Feeling the blood run down my fingers and splatter on to my face made me feel a familiar thrill . That reliable friend or in this case feeling that you get when doing something you were born to do.

  Oolia!! Oolia!!! They exclaimed for all to hear

  The crowd began dispersing in exuberant manner monsters stepping on monsters , the veneer of civility being unmasked. This is how things are supposed to be .

  Killer they called me?

  Hmm i liked the ring of that

  From this moment forth let me be known as

  Oolia

  woah awaking from that dream like state like a drunken sailor I stumbled about the mid sized box, that was the soul bonding room.

  Oolia was still very much asleep.

  That was good. I needed time to process all the information I had just gathered.

  There was something very surreal about the hallucination I just went through. I'm actually somewhat glad I got to feel her emotions rather than just witness them .It made it hard , no impossible not to relate.

  I could see all her memories , even her deepest innermost secrets. I could feel every emotion and understand where it was coming from. We were actually combined.

  Quicia was nothing If not misunderstood. She was loveless and her life sucked to put it lightly. I didn't give her enough credit, she was strong, intelligent, brave , and accomplished something that I couldn't. She fought and won her freedom .Her method suited her situation, in this fucked up world who was to say she was wrong.

  Now that I understand her more I also understand this, on the battlefield… She was looking for love. Since I did know her now ,like literally everything about her.I felt compelled to give her what she never had ever. If anything I saw myself in her but stronger and more resilient.

  Friends, hope and excitement and most of all love.

  I think the ritual actually worked,

  Sounds weird coming from a supposed chaos summoner with no actual heart but these things were complicated ok.

  Walking over to the unconscious Quicia I held her in my lap , and cusped her face. Tears flowed from my eyes. She wasn't a savage or a brute but in pain, that changes Starting today.

  Quicia… I… I … Even if no one else understands I understand.

  I would greet her properly when she awoke.

  Even the worst people deserved love and she was far from the worst.