(Sc.u.m Son POV)

Life had been good for me.

I had an influential father and I had been blessed with a strong const.i.tution that allowed me to boss over the weak kids.

What's even better was I got to take the village's future prettiest girl all for myself even before she was born.

With how I properly maintained the ruse that I was a well-behaved and hard working kid in front of the adults, I cemented my place as a trustworthy child in their eyes.

Even as I got older, I thought this life of mine could continue. I would boss over the other boys to work for me and the girl would be my thing to use whenever I want.

Nothing could be more perfect for me.

But on the day before our marriage, monsters just had to come and ruin everything for me.

The girl's parents still trusted me enough to think I would take her to safety.

Too bad for them, at this point of time, my life takes precedence over anyone else's.

But still, the fact that I was blue-balled all this while so that she can 'remain pure for our wedding night' has been a rather sore point for me throughout my life.

Thus, I took her away under the pretense of saving her before restraining her deep inside the forest in order to have my way with that nice piece of a.s.s.

I had just managed to force open her legs to plunge my finger inside of her when the roars of monsters echoed nearby, most likely attracted by this b.i.t.c.h's screams.

I chose to make a run for it and let the monsters have her, my life was more important than hers of course.

But what I hadn't expected was for the monsters to chase after me instead.

Just seeing those monsters nipping at my heels was enough to spur me to run faster than I ever had before.

But when one of them managed to leap on top of me, I thought I was done for.

The pain that a.s.saulted me after my arm was ripped off was beyond imagination.

I had thought I would have just died there and then but someone had came by and killed the monsters just before they devoured me.

It was a young man dressed entirely in black, wielding a longsword that seemed to suck in the light.

I immediately genuflected to him, if this man was stronger than those monsters, I was no doubt a complete weakling in his eyes.

I wanted to live, after all.

He took one look at me, healed my arm and scoffed, "You… Hmph, I guess your heart is dark enough. Come with me."

What else could I do but follow him? It didn't even cross my mind to ask him to save anyone else, no one else was more important than me.

I had thought the man would bring me to somewhere safe after saving me, why else would he bother with me, right?

My life became a h.e.l.lish nightmare after that.

I learnt that he was a wandering Pract.i.tioner that was quite proficient in Dark Elemental Quarks.

I was supposed to be his a.s.sistant, though for what reason he chose me over anyone else was kept secret from me then.

For the next few years I followed him around, watching him collude with Dark Sect members, burning down other villages and even summoning demons to do his bidding.

As for me, he would use me to perform his rituals by cutting off my limbs before regenerating them as materials or have me go through torture sessions to bring out the feelings of pain and despair as a catalyst.

I had tried to escape once but the punishments he gave me made sure I never thought to attempt it again.

The silver lining was that a year into following him, he realised my potential for practicing Dark Elemental Techniques and my position was elevated from slave into a potential disciple.

Life became good for me again as I tasted the allure of power.

I took to my new position with relish, the things I could do once I mastered this skill was enormous. I wouldn't need to play second fiddle to anyone after I'm done!

Yes, even this guy wouldn't be my match after I've learned everything from him!

It took me a total of three years for me to finally break free, but it was all worth it.

He had let down his guard over the years and I undid all his protective inscriptions one night without waking him up. It was a simple thing to just slit his throat and watch him die without being able to do anything after that.

I have to admit, seeing the rage and regret in his eyes as he died was totally worth it.

I took over his place, using all that I've learnt from him to further my own studies of Dark Elemental Quarks. I even made use of his past contacts, none of them seemed to even mind that I took over him since it was just business as usual for them.

A year pa.s.sed by and I was a Master in my own right. I learnt that negative emotions and thoughts were the best catalysts for utilising Dark Techniques, which explained why he wanted me along.

I admit my personality leans towards the darker side of the spectrum so it made sense.

Now, I don't even need to try and woo girls into my bed any more. Just a display of the power I wield would send a few in my direction without further prompting.

Failing that, nothing a little threatening and a bit of tempering with their wills with my technique couldn't solve.

Life was absolutely perfect for me.

I lived for myself without needing to answer to anyone else and I can do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.

I just felt that it was a waste I didn't properly take the virginity of my village's beauty back when I had the chance, the girls that I've taken so far couldn't even begin to compare to her beauty even at that age.

Today, I've came back to Jin city after several months to meet up with some Dark Sect contacts and get some catalysts for a ritual I'm attempting to complete.

The only problem was that the contact was nowhere to be seen at his usual spot. In fact, the entire area of the slums seemed to have been cleared out mysteriously and its residents gone without a trace.

While I was walking through the city's main streets towards the Xi Family's mansion to see if any of my other contacts was around, I noticed an exceptionally beautiful girl standing near one of the boutique shops.

Deciding the Xi Family could wait, I approached her with the intention to ensnare her for some fun.

It was only when she turned her head slightly that I recognised her for who she was.

"Eh?! Is that you, Lian Li?!"