Chapter 1
Phoenix: The Beginning
Chapter 1: Ilyanor
The weather was cold, and the village was covered in snow. A remote village in Northern Norway [Hålogaland] during the ninth century. Its people lived through difficult days, terrifying days, one could say.
There was an old man in this village, said to be the one who supervised its construction. He taught young children different kinds of knowledge and, from time to time, told them ancient stories and legends.
And here we are today, another cold day with snow falling endlessly. Several children gathered inside a small house to listen to his usual stories.
The old man arrived, sat among them, looked at them, and said:
“My children, what would you like to know about this world?”
One of his students spoke:
“The story of the legendary bird... Phoenix.”
The old man smiled and replied:
“You children truly love stories about that bird. I have already told you many tales about it... Ah well... I shall tell you a story I have never told before.
The legendary Phoenix, known for immortality, lives for a thousand years. But what you do not know is that it reaches its peak power at half of its lifespan — five hundred years.
Its flames grow stronger and fiercer. However, when it reaches nine hundred years, its flames begin to fade gradually. And when it is reborn, it returns as a small bird with red feathers, its flames no longer visible...
In a way, it is similar to us. We are born weak, become strong during the middle of our lives, then grow old and weak once again.”
The old man then stood up and told the children to return to their homes before sunset.
The children left, each heading home.
Among them was a boy named (Ilyanor), fourteen years old. He was intelligent and quiet.
Ilyanor lived with his father, who had taught him combat skills since childhood, along with his mother and younger brother, (Joseph). A simple family.
On his way home, between the wooden houses, he noticed a small injured wolf.
He approached it.
Its leg was wounded, and blood dripped slowly from it.
While Ilyanor held the little wolf and thought about treating it, his thoughts were interrupted by someone standing near the edge of the village between the trees.
“Boy, bring me that wolf. It is my prey. I was chasing it until it disappeared among the trees, but luckily, I wounded it and followed its blood.”
Ilyanor hesitated.
He looked at the man suspiciously and said:
“I didn’t know there were people who enjoyed eating wolf meat. But in the end... you’re not getting it. I’ll treat it and return it to the forest.”
The man replied:
“Fine. Treat it. Return it to the forest... and I’ll hunt it again.”
He said that with a mocking smile.
Then the man stepped forward and kicked Ilyanor in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.
The stranger grabbed the wolf and rushed into the forest.
Ilyanor refused to accept this. He picked up a wooden stick and ran after him.
Night had already fallen.
The man continued running until he was far enough from the village.
Then he stopped and turned toward Ilyanor.
Ilyanor stopped as well, gripping the wooden stick tightly.
The man then said:
“Another child has fallen into our trap.”
Suddenly, someone struck Ilyanor on the head from behind.
He lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he found himself tied to a table.
Candles surrounded him everywhere.
A cult wearing black robes stood around him.
This was the same cult that terrorized the village during the night... the same cult his parents had warned him about.
Ilyanor remained silent, unable to understand what was happening.
He was afraid.
Then one of them stepped closer and said:
“Do not fear. If you survive... you will become the strongest. I hope you survive.”
One of the cult members pulled out a syringe and injected blood into Ilyanor’s body.
Not once.
Not twice.
Many times.
Then he lost consciousness once more.
The cult waited in silence, hoping the experiment would succeed.
Two hours later, the candles suddenly went out, and darkness filled the cabin.
Everyone stood up in shock.
“What is happening?”
One of them whispered:
“I think... it worked.”
The candles ignited once again.
But this was no ordinary fire.
The flames were purple.
Then Ilyanor rose.
His eyes glowed with a violet light.
His body ached, and dizziness overwhelmed him.
But amidst the pain, he felt something strange.
He could see their fear.
Their joy.
He could even sense what was happening outside the cabin.
His vision had changed.
He began seeing things he had never seen before.
White auras.
Blue auras.
And around himself, a massive purple aura spreading across the entire area.
But then he noticed something else.
A distant aura deep beneath the earth.
It was not the aura of a single being...
It felt like an entire tribe.
And it possessed terrifying power.
Ilyanor could not understand why he suddenly sensed their fear and weakness.
Standing among the cult members, he slowly felt his fear disappear.
Then he dashed toward the door.
They tried to stop him.
But a single punch was enough to kill the first man who stood in his way.
One punch pierced through his skull.
Ilyanor was not shocked.
He was not afraid.
Instead, he felt cold.
As though he wanted to kill even more.
He rushed toward the village.
The cult chased after him with swords and arrows.
As Ilyanor ran, every step revealed strange new things to him.
His body felt lighter.
Stronger.
His senses sharper.
Then he stopped.
He turned around.
Two cult members stood behind him.
The first one stepped forward, shouting:
“I won’t kill you, boy!”
He swung his sword.
But Ilyanor disappeared.
The second man screamed:
“Behind you!!”
Ilyanor crushed the first man’s head into pieces with a single strike from a rock.
The man collapsed.
Ilyanor said coldly:
“But I want to kill all of you.”
He grabbed the man’s sword and charged at the second cultist.
The cultist swung toward Ilyanor’s head.
Ilyanor slid across the ground and cut off the man’s leg.
The man screamed in agony:
“We don’t want to kill you! We want to help you!!”
A sword pierced through his mouth.
Ilyanor killed him.
Then he noticed the remaining cult members had stopped chasing him.
Without hesitation, he continued toward the village.
As he approached, he sensed countless auras of fear and sorrow.
He stepped out from the trees...
And witnessed a horrifying sight.
Screams echoed everywhere.
Bodies covered the snow.
Children.
Elderly people.
Women.
Ilyanor stood frozen.
Then his father staggered toward him.
His throat had been deeply slashed.
With difficulty, his father spoke:
“...Your mother... your brother... Ilya...!!”
Then he collapsed dead.
Ilyanor showed no reaction.
He walked toward his house.
Inside, he found his mother and younger brother lying in pools of blood.
He stared at them silently.
Then he turned and walked back outside.
He knew the cult was responsible.
So he returned toward the cabin in the forest.
Halfway there, he encountered the cult leader.
The man said:
“We never wanted things to go this far, boy. We told you we would not kill you. We only wished to teach you how to use your power... so you could become useful to everyone.”
While speaking, the leader noticed something strange.
No aura was coming from Ilyanor.
The leader was shocked.
In the blink of an eye, Ilyanor rushed toward him with his sword.
The cult leader raised both hands and unleashed a massive wave of fire.
The flames burned Ilyanor and blasted him away.
As pain spread through his body, it slowly began fading.
He stood up once more.
Sword in hand.
The cult leader prepared another attack.
As Ilyanor charged again, the leader released another inferno.
The flames completely swallowed him.
The leader smiled.
“Ilyanor!! You will die if you continue attacking me.”
But when the smoke cleared...
Ilyanor emerged from the flames.
Completely unharmed.
Only his clothes had burned.
He leaped forward and swung his sword toward the leader’s neck.
In his final moments, the leader finally understood Ilyanor’s true power.
Then his head was severed.
Throughout the battle, the remaining cult members had been watching.
Every movement Ilyanor made had been part of their plan.
Five members hid among the trees.
Each represented one point of a pentagram.
And Ilyanor stood directly at its center.
They began chanting a spell.
A glowing pentagram formed beneath Ilyanor.
And within less than a second...
He vanished.
One of the cult members approached the corpse of their leader and said:
“I suppose you discovered his power just as I did, Satan.
We will send him away so he may discover it himself.
Perhaps he will return.
Perhaps not.”
The man removed his ring and declared:
“I declare myself the new leader of this organization...
I am Marlo... Lodir.”
At the same moment, Ilyanor awoke in an underground place.
Strange creatures surrounded him.
They resembled humans, yet their skin was reddish, their bodies taller, and their eyes unlike anything he had ever seen.
The same strange aura he had sensed earlier radiated from them.
One of the creatures stepped forward and spoke in a language Ilyanor could not understand.
Then a woman emerged from the crowd.
She looked directly at him and said:
“Welcome to Hell
