Ya-ho I was somewhat bored with my current stories (don't worry, I will be still updating and writing them) so I figured I'd post a teaser chapter for System Imperfections. Don't expect this to update for quite some time.

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Along a road running through a peaceful field, blood was spilling as many well-armed soldiers struggled to hold their formation against a far overwhelming force of peasants.

Not far behind the center of the line stood a scrawny, red-eyed man in leather; his very presence influencing the nearby soldiers and making them far more effective than the soldiers further away from their lord. His eyes carefully watched the backs of his men, spotting any enemy militia that broke through the line and charged straight for him.

Every enemy that came within twenty feet, however, was swiftly felled by a single stroke of the saber. No matter how many charged at a time, none managed to pass the twenty-foot barrier established by a lone soldier.

“I shall protect your body, lord Lucifer,” the soldier declared, a brief wave of blush coming to his cheeks as he said so.

“Assess the situation,” Lucifer ordered, keeping steady watch for any further rogue enemies.

The soldier’s eyes glazed over and he seemingly lost all awareness for a minute before a line of blood oozed from his nose.

“My lord, they merely outnumber us by three to one now; victory is assured. Their commander is a mercenary, though a fairly powerful one. He could be slain by our soldiers, but only after a reasonable loss.”

“Are your soldiers gaining any worthwhile experience in this battle?”

“No, my lord, there’ll be no noticeable improvement by having them win by their own merit.”

“Very well, I’ll end this quickly. Resume your guarding, Darien,” Lucifer ordered as another pair of militiamen charged.

Raising a clawed hand to his left forearm, he sent his sharpened nails into his skin and let the blood collect on the ground at his feet.

After he removed his nails from his flesh, the cuts quickly closed and he stared at the collection of crimson writhing on the grass. It speedily expanded to the size of a giant, and a nefarious grin spread over Lucifer’s lips.

“It retained its lack of a consistent physical form and grew this much. It is unfortunate that such luck was used against such vermin.”

Pointing a bony finger at the battle between his soldiers and the armed rally, he gave the command. “Kill all but my allies!”

The large creature made entirely of blood began to rapidly flow over to the center of battle. Collapsing into a thin puddle of blood, it moved along the ground until it was behind the enemy; there, it reformed into a long vertical pole with the greater portion of its self on the top. Before any of the peasants could react, its top spread out to numerous, fine spears that impaled all those nearby. When the spears had made their kill, they retracted back into the creature’s body before lunging for another killing blow.

The slaughter repeated several times over before the enemies of the line’s center was devoid of opponents. The soldiers proceeded to divide and began assisting the wings as the blood spawn began moving further behind the line to where the enemy commander stood.

The spawn launched a spear straight for the mercenary’s heart, but had the attack destroyed by the swing of a mace. Modifying its tactic, it formed a ring around him and began attacking with spears from all sides. A couple attacks were parried, a couple were dodged; but in the end, the commander had was pierced several times in every area of the body.

Shortly after, the soldiers finished their slaughter of the militia, and the spawn collapsed into its original form; its purpose fulfilled.

The soldiers let out a deafening cheer and Darien casually patted Lucifer on the back. “Congratulations, my lord; with this, you now control Gebied, Fiume, and Erba.”

Lucifer didn’t appear terribly impressed. “At least it’ll help my coffers and offer some new recruits. Have only the bare minimum be spent on improving this region; when the time comes, I’ve no intention of bothering to protect it.”

“As you command, my lord,” Darien said, bowing low. “Oh, and your body?”

“It will be perfect within twenty minutes.”

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Having returned to his castle, a servant ran up to Lucifer and his bodyguard; her eyes ever on the floor.

“Speak,” Lucifer commanded.

“There are some adventurers here, my lord.”

“What do they want?”

“A man named Itemus wishes to speak with you.”

“About?”

“I’m sorry, my lord, but none could understand what he spoke of.”

“Very well; have them wait in the throne room, and have four soldiers guarding each guest.”

“My lord, they won’t all fit.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “How many are in this party?”

“Thirty-four, my lord.”

“Allow only this Itemus into the throne room and ten guards. Have the rest remain in the courtyard.”

“As you wish, my lord,” the servant replied politely, hurrying off to fulfill her orders.

Changing into their royal garb, Lucifer and Darien walked to the throne and the lord took his seat.

In front of him stood a lean black-haired man in a mage’s robe.

“What is it you wish?”

“To reveal to you the falsity of this world.”

“I need not listen to false prophets and madmen.”

“I am no prophet, nor am I mad,” Itemus replied.

“I fail to see how you might convince me otherwise.”

Itemus brought an arm out from his robe and made certain he had the attention of the lord. “Ordinarily, this cannot be seen, so I will alter it so that you may.”

Around his forearm the air began to take the appearance of a prism; formed as though the arm itself was within a blade made of the purest crystal.

“You expect us to believe this is something remarkable? Your type has all manners of trickery,” Lucifer commented, receiving a nod of agreement from Darien.

“Very well, allow me to show you this, then,” Itemus sighed, swinging the blade at the air before him, causing a tear in nothing.

Lucifer stared at the contents of the rip, in disbelief. Not only were they unable to descript what it was they saw; the contents themselves were indescribable.”

The tear began to slowly close, but before it did, Lucifer gave his command. “Darien, analyze!”

Once more, Darien’s eyes took on the glazed look and after a few seconds, blood dripped from his nose. “My apologizes, my lord, but I know nothing of it. His blade is neither a spell nor is it a mage’s weapon. This…thing is no illusion, either. It isn’t anything; it has no sign of existing, not even traces of mana.”

“So…you speak the truth. What is it, though?”

Itemus smiled and made the weapon disappear from sight. “It cannot be truly described. All I might say is that this world does not exist; everything you see is but an illusion. You, yourself, do in fact exist, but not as you are now. I have come to help you escape this deception.”

“You’re asking me to give up my position as lord of my kingdom to join you?” Lucifer asked in disbelief.

“But of course, this is all an illusion; nothing here is real but yourself, and the man beside you. If you were to join, the chances of escape are far higher; your funds, your followers, and your skills, all will benefit us greatly.”

Lucifer stared at him silently for a few moments and simply laughed. “Yet still, how can I hope for something better than this? In the ‘real world’, would I still have an army at my beck and call? Perhaps I am really a lowly pauper, one unable to create my precious spawns. Perhaps I’m a crippled mage, placed in this illusion to be able to have a useful body. Whatever it is, this world is real enough to me.”

“But–” Itemus began in a pleading tone.

“No, no, you have spoken the truth; my eyes are open to this truth. But I will not leave this behind. You and your friends, all who wish to leave, will have my support,” he motioned for a guard to fetch a servant. “Servant, prepare for this man a gift of fifty thousand riji.”

“Are you certain you wish to live out your life in a lie?” Itemus asked, making one last effort.

“Are you certain you wish to live out your life in the truth?” Lucifer countered with a devious smile.

Sighing, he simply bowed. “I accept your generosity, and wish your kingdom the greatest of fortune; but before I leave, a warning. Within a year–”

“I’ve heard this already,” Lucifer replied, dismissing him with the wave of a hand. “That is why I’ve been so quick to grab as much territory and increase my army as much possible. A man with Mind’s Eye told me.”

Itemus stared at him in disbelief before sighing and walking off. As he stepped from the throne room, Lucifer overheard him mention something about old comrades.

“Darien, by tomorrow, I wish for you to have the next region to conquer decided.” Lucifer commanded. “I shall leave you with your regular duties of organizing the soldiers.”

“As you command, my lord; your every command shall be done,” Darien reassured, bowing low to hide his reddening face from his lord.