Alt: Introduction

Discord | Twitter

Make a one time donation: https://ko-fi.com/keirrevival

Cardin waited for the other initiates to move down the pathway to where Beacon loomed. While Beacon was a school, it also served as a fortification and a base of operations for culling the Grimm in the Emerald Forest and Forever Falls. The school rested on Vale's right flank. If the students did their jobs, the Grimm would never amass enough numbers to threaten the city, and even if the Grimm did march as a unified horde, the school would be the first to face the enemy, giving the city a chance to rally troops. Consequently, while Beacon was a school, it was structured like a fortress.

Cardin paid it no mind. The Winchester family lived in Sauvignon Castle, an old fortification that defended the southern plains of Sanus. While Beacon was more prominent than he was used to, spires and towers don’t have the same impact when you grow up around them.

Once the other students had moved on, Cardin slipped behind a tree. He rummaged through his knapsack, looking for the brown parcel his father had given him. Before Cardin left for Beacon, his father had given him a Winchester heirloom as a gift.

Giving your son a gift because he had gotten into a prestigious school wasn’t unusual, nor was it unusual to provide him with an eighteenth birthday gift. What was odd was his father’s insistence that he keeps the parcel closed until he arrived, as well as instructions to keep the parcel's content hidden.

Curiosity had been gnawing at him the entire journey to Beacon. Cardin tore the packaging open, ripping the coarse paper. To Cardin’s disappointment, there was a letter and a simplistic ring inside the box. The ring was a band of polished silver, unadorned by precious gems. Cardin only realized there was something unusual about the ring when he tried to lift the ring out of the box. It was deceptively heavy.

Cardin rolled the ring between his fingers, trying to find the origin of the added weight. The only decoration he could see was a stylized letter 'W' inside the band. The ring was an heirloom. Cardin could make an educated guess the ‘W’ stood for Winchester.

He slipped the ring on and got his second hint of something unusual about the jewelry piece. The ring began to heat up. Unsettled, Cardin turned to the letter his father had packed with the ring, searching for an explanation.

To my heir,

This relic has been in our family for generations since the days of Charles Magnus. This ring is the secret to our family's success. Only someone with Winchester blood can utilize the ring's magic.

The World Ring can do two things. The first is mental. The ring can warp the minds, changing or reinforcing their desires. The second is physical. The ring can enhance your and your allies' bodies while weakening your foes.

Use the right words and phrases, and you can do anything you desire- is what some of our more foolish ancestors would tell you. Those ancestors died despite possessing the ring.

I waited until you were eighteen- a man grown- to give this ring to you. I wanted you to mature without the power the ring bestows.

The World Ring is a tool. It is the most incredible tool known to man, but it is a tool. The changes it inflicts are limited to people you are conversing with, and every change you make costs aura. Make too many commands in a dangerous situation, and you might run low at an inopportune time. Run out of aura in the middle of a fight, and you will die.

Be wise in the utilization of the World Ring.

Bring glory to the Winchester name,

Marcus Winchester

"A prank?" Cardin doubted his father's words. This sounded too good to be true- but the promise was also too enticing to ignore. Marcus Winchester was neither a liar nor insane. Cardin’s father always did things for a reason.

Cardin came up with two hypotheses. The first was that the ring had some surveillance built into it- hence the weight- and his father was testing him. His father often told him power didn't corrupt men but revealed their character. It could be that Marcus was providing Cardin with the ring to see what its power would reveal about Cardin's character.

If this were a test, then Cardin using the mental abilities of the ring to build himself a harem of huntresses would result in him failing. Cardin could see himself attempting hypnosis, the hypnosis not working because the ring was a dud, getting expelled for sexual harassment, and being sent home where his father would- Cardin wasn't sure what his father would do if Cardin failed. Still, he was confident his father’s reaction wouldn't be pleasant.

Despite hypothesis one being the simplest and most probable explanation, Cardin still entertained the idea the ring's powers could be authentic. His father had explicitly written that the ring could weaken Cardin's opponents physically while strengthening himself. If Cardin believed the claim and it turned out to be false, there was a chance that Grimm would kill Cardin. Marcus didn't want Cardin dead, and Cardin didn't think his father was short-sighted enough to make this claim without thinking through the consequences.

Fortunately, there was a simple way to test hypothesis two. The letter mentioned Cardin could use the ring to enhance his body. Consequently, Cardin channeled his aura into his ring and issued a command to make himself three inches taller- enough of a difference to be noticeable.

The ring heated up, accompanied by a flash of euphoria. Cardin felt like someone had grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him, elongating his spine. Simultaneously, his muscles swelled to maintain proportions with his new height, and his aura shrunk- a tenth of it depleted to feed his growth.

Cardin was incredulous. “It worked,” he whispered to himself in disbelief. “Holy shit, the ring worked!”

A smile crossed his face, interrupted only by his conscience. It spoke to him in a voice that sounded like his father, reminding him that those with great power had a responsibility to use it wisely. For a second, Cardin hesitated, but then he remembered what huntresses looked like.

Foreign irritants cause most skin conditions. When someone got a splinter stuck in them, the area around it would redden and swell. Pus would be a lubricant to help ease the fragment out of the body.

A huntress would never have to worry about splinters or any skin condition. Their aura would prevent the irritants from ever reaching them. Consequently, most huntresses had better skin than supermodels, despite spending time hunting Grimm in the wilderness.

Simultaneously, huntresses tended to have unbelievably fit bodies due to their active lifestyle. Cardin was talking perky breasts, toned arms, thighs, round asses- the whole nine yards.

Cardin’s dick hardened, and he shoved his conscience to the side. Nice guys finished last.