Arcane Adventures: Durza, The Magic Thief

Chapter 1

In a remote village in the middle of the continent, there lived a young boy named Durza. He was born completely inept to magic, because of this, he was an outcast. The entire village, even his own family shunned Him. The other children from his village refused to let him join their games, his family barely gave him food, but he managed to survive by working for an elder, this old man was the only person who ever treated him fairly, he was like a grandfather to him.

Until one day, bandits arrived, demanding properties and lamina. Durza ran as fast as he could into the forest, and he kept running and running and running, and before he knew it, he was lost. He kept wandering in the forest until he could faintly see a dim glow in the darkness, he hesitated for a bit but eventually decided to go investigate. As he got closer he discovered a small clearing in the forest, and in the middle, a large glowing purple cube stood. He cautiously approached it, getting closer and closer until he touched it.

The cube grew brighter as he could feel energy flow through him, the dried leaves on the ground flew away from him, it was exhilarating. It went on for a few more seconds and then...nothing, it was as if nothing happened, the cube disappeared and the leaves settled. 'Am i seeing things?' Durza thought to himself. It was then he picked up the scent of smoke, turning around he could see another glow, but it was not dim, it was bright like fire. Durza hurried towards the fire, feeling worry for the old man.

But when he arrived, he was too late, for the old man was hit directly in the chest by a light beam, the culprit being one of the bandits. "Grandpa!" Durza yelled, getting the attention of the bandits, one of the bandits prepared their weapon but their leader stopped them, "Don't, he's not worth your arrow." Durza ran to his grandfather's side and checked his heartbeat. No pulse.

This was Durza's last straw, the only man who treated him with kindness, the only man who was with him in his darkest moments, was killed by these bandits." I'LL KILL YOU! " Durza shouted as he sprinted towards the bandit who killed his grandfather. The bandit prepared his magic once more but was too late as Durza tackled him to the ground. When Durza made contact, he felt something different this time, like a muscle he could flex, a string he could pull, Durza focused on this feeling as the bandit prepared another spell, but the magic circle disappeared before the bandit's eyes as magic energy flew out of his body and his vision went black. Durza on the other hand noted that that magic energy flowing into his veins felt really good, it was addicting and he wanted to experience it again. He tried to focus on the feeling once more but to no avail, it was a one time thing he assumed.

The other bandits watched surprised at their comrade's defeat, how did this young boy manage to defeat him they ally thought. But they were even more shocked when Durza picked up the fallen bandit's sword and stabbed it through the bandit's heart. "Kill him!" the bandit leader yelled at them. The bandits charged at Durza but halted when they saw the boy charging a magic circle out of his palm pointed towards them. Durza was shocked that he could cast magic but eventually connected the dots, the large purple cube, the bandit he killed having light magic, it was all coming together, he had absorbed a curse, not just any elemental curse, but one of the most powerful, the absorption curse. Durza had heard about curses from his grandfather's stories, curses are pure magic, far more powerful than any magic, the absorption curse allowed someone to take magic for themselves.

Back to the fight, the bandits were really clumped up which allowed Durza to eliminate all them at once, fortunately for Durza it appeared that the magic he took was just as powerful as it was with the original user. The bandit leader was furious that his men were defeated so quickly. "I'll just kill you myself!" he yelled, the bandit struck first sending a massive fireball towards Durza. Durza barely dodged the attack as the heat pricked at his skin, the fireball had obscured the bandit's vision which allowed Durza to hide behind a nearby boulder, 'I can't beat him in a direct fight. I'll have to get closer if I want to take his magic, I'll blind him with a light blast and take his magic, yeah that'll work. Durza thought to himself. "Come out you coward!" the bandit yelled, "Over here" Durza said, getting the bandit's attention, the bandit leader turned his head to the direction of the voice but was met by a bright flash of light which blinded him temporarily, Durza took this chance and charged the bandit, he grabbed the bandit's neck and the odd feeling from earlier returned, Durza focused on the feeling once more and felt magic energy flow through him once more as the bandit passed out.

The villagers who were watching the fight nearby cheered for him, but they were not met with a warm smile but with a light beam. Durza hated them, despised them for how they treated him, he would have done this a long time ago if he had magic and his grandfather wasn't holding him back. The villagers may be dead but they still had magic energy within their veins and he could still take their magics. Normally wizards can only have 3 source magics, but the absorption curse allows the user to have as many as they can take. Durza now had 5 magics, Light, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning, the last 3 being significantly weaker than the first two because they had weaker users but he could still cultivate them himself. He left that town as nothing but ashes. He swore that he would become the most powerful person in this world and all those who challenge him would meet their end at his hand. From then on he would be known as The Magic Thief.

(A/n: This is my first book, constructive criticism is very appreciated but just don't be mean to me in the comments, this is not a oneshot a second chapter is coming soon, I still don't have a book cover, I'll try and find a suitable one, byeeee)
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