In a novel, the main character plays an important role. They are the person readers see most and experience the thoughts of. The goal of every main character is to get the readers to be on their side and to see things their way.

  Often, the narrative is viewed differently through the eyes of the main character, which can lead one to question what is fact and what is fiction. After all, some main characters can have vastly different views from others, and in rare cases, the main character might be evil or a bad person. Yet, the story isn’t good if the audience cannot enjoy the main character, so in cases like this, even someone who would generally be disliked must find a way to get people to root for them.

  The use of a sob story is often put into play. A sob story is a narrative device in which a character is given a sad or misguided past to justify their actions. It is also used a lot with villains. The author will feed readers a cheap, tragic backstory in an effort to create a sympathetic bond between the reader and a character.

  Of course, this isn’t a story.

  This is real life.

  In real life, it doesn’t matter if a person has a sad backstory. It doesn’t matter if the world hurts them, and they use that as an excuse to harm others. It doesn’t matter if they are charming and likable. It doesn’t matter if they are someone the audience will root for. It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter-

  All that matters is achieving the goal that they want to see. The outcome they have marched toward.

  Only Rome matters.

  This was all one big story, and everyone else was just living in ‘his’ world.

  Adam Hawker’s smile grew. His purple eyes shimmered, and he stared at Davi, completely ignoring Sieg.

  Both Davi and Sieg stood frozen in place. Davi couldn’t sense mana, but what he felt, the subtle shift in the air, made his body nearly give out. Sieg, on the other hand, looked even more worried as he could sense mana. From the beginning, he had been worried about going into this fight, as the Lord of Threads and Inyeon were both very powerful, but the feel of this new guy’s mana was next level.

  It felt bottomless. Only a single being had an energy this intense. Instantly, Sieg was reminded of the worst day of his life. The day he came face-to-face with a powerful, scaled beast that destroyed his village.

  It was hard to say who was truly stronger between Adam and the dragon, but one thing was for certain. They were both predators who stood at the top of the food chain.

  “You came here to meet with someone?” The Lord of Threads had a soft frown on his face as he stared at Adam. “You’re not here to steal my kill, are you?” Inyeon also stared at Adam with her dead eyes and fake smile.

  Adam’s smile was equally as fake as he flickered his gaze over to the Lord of Threads. “Susie Nyx, inheritor of the Core, is all yours. Be my guest. We don’t steal kills from one another, so no need to worry, dear Jeong.”

  “You will refer to me as the Lord of Threads.” The Lord growled, and Ineyon raised her sword.

  “Now, now, no need to fight!” Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around Adam’s waist, and Bloom poked ‘her’ head over his shoulder. This time, she looked like a gorgeous blonde woman. If not for the flower-like eyes or the slit across her throat, she might even have looked alive. “We’re all on the same side!” From behind Bloom, dozens of severed heads floated, streams of blood pouring out of them.

  “Bloom?” The Lord of Threads raised an eyebrow. “You’re here?”

  Bloom’s head detached, and a handsome, red-haired man took the creature's face. “Why wouldn’t I be here?” He unwrapped himself from Adam and nodded in the direction of Davi and Sieg. “My target is here.”

  The Lord of Thread’s eyes widened in shock. “What?” He whipped his head around and stared at Davi. “That one? He’s one of the seven?”

  “Not just him.” Adam chuckled. “Both he and his brother.”

  “Three of them are here?” The Lord of Threads let out a cackle. “So, I guess it is true. The seven do have ways of finding each other and ending up together. Destiny is on our side.”

  “Indeed.” Adam patted the Lord on the shoulder. “Now, why don’t you go catch up with your target? She is getting away. Bloom and I are going to deal with these two. I want to speak with one of them.”

  The Lord of Thread’s grin only grew, and he casually jumped into Inyeon’s arms. Her sword vanished, and she caught him, carrying him princess style. “You heard him, Inyeon! Oh, how lovely today is becoming! Let’s go take our target down!”

  “Of course.” Inyeon crouched down and then exploded into the air, launching herself away and leaping out of the town with her owner.

  Once she was gone, only four people remained in Daisy. A silence stretched out between them all. Bloom studied Davi while the two brothers raised their weapons. It was Adam, though, who broke the silence.

  “Davi.” The way he said the name made Davi shiver. “Davi. Davi. Davi, Davi, Davi.” Adam placed his hand over his face. “Damn. Even saying your name pisses me off. Why are you alive? I wonder, did you laugh? Were you giggling to yourself when you defied my story?”

  Davi somehow found his voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “It isn’t good, ‘Davi,’ when a character breaks the story.” Adam sighed. “Authors don’t like it when their characters defy them.”

  “What?”

  “Eight million, five hundred and eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty,” Adam announced.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Davi’s grip grew tighter on his weapon, and he felt his metal gloves start to dent and break. Sieg also lifted his spear, black lightning crackling off of him. “I don’t know who you are, but you should know you messed up. The Knights will be here soon and-”

  “Do you know why other nations don’t wear armor?” Adam cut Davi off and began walking forward. “It’s because armor is useless, for the most part. Sure, it’s a layer of protection, but one hit and-”

  Sieg struck first. He blitzed forward with blinding speed and appeared before Adam. The white-haired man didn’t even bother to draw his sword. He gently poked out with two fingers and pressed them directly into the center mass of Sieg’s stomach. There was a loud cracking sound, and suddenly Sieg felt his armor come undone as it shattered and broke. His perfect defense was undone in a single second.

  Adam then casually dodged the spear swing and jammed his hand up. He smashed it into the bottom of Sieg’s chin and pressed upward until a bone-shattering pop echoed through the empty city.

  Sieg’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he crashed to the ground, completely paralyzed.

  Adam threw out his hand and put a bit of mana into his fingers, making a scissor motion to catch Davi’s sword swing. He rotated his arms and forced Davi’s limbs to twist with him, easily tearing Storymaker out of the raven-haired man’s hands. Next, Adam did the same thing he had done to Sieg and poked Davi’s armor in a specific spot, causing the entire spell to collapse and break apart.

  Davi twisted his body and threw out a powerful right hook, but Adam blocked it and slid back. As he did, Adam’s hand flew out, and he grabbed a fistful of Davi’s hair. He did another corkscrew-like motion and twisted himself around, getting behind Davi, whom he then pulled into a chokehold.

  Davi gasped and gagged as pressure was placed on his neck. Adam’s arms wrapped tighter, and he began to press Davi down. In the position he was in, Davi realized he couldn’t speak, which meant no spells. At first, he tried to rip Adam’s arms off his neck but quickly figured out that Adam’s strength was beyond what he could handle. It would be like a normal person trying to uproot a mountain.

  Davi didn’t panic. He remained calm and used his trump card. A swirling mass of white and black energy formed into existence in his palm, and he struck back at Adam’s face.

  Adam gazed at the orb with a tiny amount of interest and blocked it by creating a swirling golden orb of his own, which appeared directly in front of his face and began to clash with Davi’s white orb.

  Adam had a Golden Core.

  The golden orb blew the white one to bits and then smashed into Davi’s left hand, burning his flesh and muscle away. When it was done, Davi’s skeletal hand dropped to his side, totally useless now.

  “That orb wasn’t something I expected.” Adam frowned softly. “Since when were you able to do that? You shouldn’t have your-”

  Davi fought through the pain and slammed his smoldering hand up, smashing the bony fingers into Adam’s face mid-sentence, catching the man off guard. The damage wasn’t enough to even make Adam flinch, but the shock of a burning, damaged, skeletal palm pressing into his face was enough to make his arms slacken, and Davi shoved all his weight forward and forced himself out of Adam’s grasp.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  It was all in vain, though, as Adam formed a spear-like shape with his hand, stepped forward, and then shoved it all the way through Davi’s stomach and out his back. Blood flowed down, and Davi collapsed to his knees, vomiting.

  Adam ripped his arm out of the hole in Davi’s stomach and swiped his hand through the air so fast the blood was thrown off him.

  “You get stabbed a lot.” Adam chuckled. “How many holes through you have you had now? I’m shocked you even have a stomach. It feels like every fight you get into, you’re getting the shit kicked out of you.”

  Davi tried to stand up, but Adam kicked him back down. He then drew his longsword, his fingers wrapping around the handle of the feather-shaped hilt. He pressed the tip of his sword into Davi’s throat, drawing a small amount of blood.

  “I thought you’d be taller,” Adam muttered. “You should have been. You’re not as muscular as- Hmm. It doesn’t matter.” Adam shook his head and glanced up at the dungeon-covered sky above. “Eight million, five hundred and eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty. This is a first, meeting under the Lord of Thread’s dungeon. Of course, this meeting should never have happened either. I wonder why you’re alive. Davi Hawker?” He glanced down, with his purple eyes staring longingly into Davi’s blue ones. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Adam Hawker.”

  Davi remained on his knees, sitting in a puddle of his own blood. He had lost fights before, but this was the first time he ever felt so helpless. Without even using a spell and with barely any effort, this man had defeated him with complete ease. He was absolutely powerless.

  It was in this state that he remembered the words of that Spell Sword woman.

  Power…

  Power…

  Power…

  It always came down to power. This guy had power, and so he wrote a story in which he defeated his foes.

  Davi hated it. Why couldn’t this be a story where those with heart prevailed? Why couldn’t he and everyone else get a happy ending? Why did his heart constantly long for the impossible?

  Adam reached out and gently grasped Davi’s chin. He seemed to admire the raven-haired man’s face, taking it all in. Slowly, Adam leaned forward and dropped to his knees so he could better look at Davi.

  “Blue eyes.” Adam chuckled. “At least that part checks out. I wonder how Ma-” Adam suddenly stopped, and his smile faded. Without warning, his grip grew tighter, and he pulled Davi’s face closer. He pried the Knight’s eyes open and gazed hard into those blue orbs. “What? No. The height makes sense; the same goes for the weight differences. A mild change in a diet, one brought on by a series of events I didn’t foresee, but what the hell is this?” Adam growled now and got so close his forehead was pressing into Davi’s. “Where is she? Why isn’t Maya with you?”

  Davi spat a glob of blood into Adam’s eye. Adam shoved him back and stood up, wiping his face clean.

  “This doesn’t make any sense. I don’t get why you don’t have her. You’ve always had her. Ever since the village, she has been with you, sleeping. She should be awake by now. She always wakes up before the test, but she isn’t just asleep; she’s totally gone.” Adam bit his lip and actually managed to look worried. “Where the hell did she run off to? Knowing that psycho, she’s going to try to recreate that ‘incident’.” Adam covered his face with his hand again and groaned. “Great. I wasn’t certain, but now I am. You used Roads Polymorph, didn’t you? Eight million, five hundred and eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty. Of course. The letters. Why wouldn’t it occur with a number like that? It even spells it out.” Adam laughed. “This one is turning out interesting.”

  Davi didn't listen. The rantings of this madman didn't matter to him.

  Power.

  Power.

  Power.

  He just needed power. The power that was required to stand. The power that was required to fight. The power that was required to craft a story of his own, one with an ending he desired.

  Why did he never have enough? What was he missing? How had Adam Hawker become so strong?

  "Row... Shadow Vault." His spell activated and on instinct, he created a Vow.

  Adam paid Davi no mind and instead continued to talk. "I think I get it now." Adam hummed. "At least a little. Davi, did you know that the main character isn't always the hero? This is something that a lot of people seem to have a hard time understanding. The main character simply refers to the one who is loved by the plot and the author. The one who the story follows. A main character can be evil. They can be mean and disgusting and lack all traits of being a hero. Likewise, the term antagonist doesn't automatically equal villainy. An antagonist can be a good person. They can even be a hero. This is because their goal is to stand as the opposition of the protagonist. In other words, you can have a heroic antagonist and an evil protagonist and still tell a compelling story."

  Davi felt a powerful chill creep through his body. His Vault was normally used for holding objects, but this time it would be used to fill something up.

  Shadows crawled over his flesh, and the hole in his stomach was plugged up. Like a second layer of flesh, the spell formed over his destroyed hand, creating new flesh. Davi stood up just as Adam turned to face him.

  "I think you're my antagonist!" Adam declared, only to receive a fist to the face.

  Davi slammed his arm into Adam's face as hard as he could. "I don't know what you're babbling about, but I'm getting sick and tired of everyone comparing life to some story. Even I've been doing it lately, and it's starting to piss me off. Life isn't a novel! It isn’t something that has rules and terms, like protagonists and antagonists have no weight! All that matters is a person's actions! And, if somehow I am wrong, and this really is all one big novel, then I hate to be the one who tells you, but this story is absolutely the worst one ever!"

  Adam's eyes narrowed, and in a flash, he appeared behind Davi, his blade coated in a layer of blood.

  Davi's eyes widened, and he grabbed his neck, which had been slit. He hadn’t even been able to process what had just happened.

  Davi dropped to his knees for the second time, struggling to hold back the tide of blood that poured from his wound.

  "Did you think you'd have some big power-up moment?" Adam taunted. "Sorry, but only a main character gets that-"

  Davi's eyes lit up, and his shadow kept growing. The darkness spread out from his neck wound as he plugged that one up as well.

  "I see you're putting your Enchantment skill to good use." Adam's eyes lit up just like Davi's as he watched the Knight stand back up. "I wonder where you learned that trick from, though? I am sure that last time I fought-"

  Davi generated another spiraling white orb and lunged toward Adam, but Adam easily countered with another golden orb. Unlike last time, Davi kept pressing forward and dropped his orb. He barely avoided the golden one and reached Adam, looping his arms around Adam's neck.

  "Can you just shut up?" Davi hissed, and a second white orb appeared directly in front of him, then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, until his entire body was glowing with them and he detonated!

  Just like when he fought Hana, Davi felt his body explode. Dozens of organs ruptured, his flesh became blistered and burned, and his muscles snapped. His heart nearly imploded, but he managed to cover it in as much mana as he could, keeping it safe.

  The force of the attack still sent him crashing back, and he slammed into the ground, burned and barely alive.

  And of course...

  "Eight million, five hundred and eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty." Adam was fine. Actually, that wasn't quite the right word that could be used. He was covered in a layer of black ash from head to toe, but he simply shook his body and it all dropped off his body revealing clean robes and unharmed skin. Like how in a cartoon, a person would be hit with a bomb, but just shake it off. "I have been the protagonist of that many stories. I don't plan for it to change. Sorry. You lose."

  “Umm, Adam?” Bloom called out. “What are you mumbling about? And why do you keep saying some eight million number?”

  Adam waved his hand at Bloom. “Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking and got a bit ahead of myself. I’m not quite sure, but I do think it’s possible that he has Roads Polymorph.”

  “Really?” Bloom’s eyes lit up. “That’s great. That’s the only one that can get in our way!”

  “Yes.” Adam gave a soft nod and turned away from Davi, no longer interested in the man. “This does mean I’ll have to change some things. I wonder if it’s a good idea to let things play out or skip to the next one…”

  “By the way,” Bloom called out. “What should I do with this one?” She now sported the head of an orange-haired woman and had her boot pressed into Sieg’s skull. The mutant was totally knocked out; his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Even if he had been awake, it wouldn’t have done him much good, as he’d be paralyzed from the neck down.

  “It’s not his time yet.” Adam shrugged. “He belongs to Tik, so we’ll let him deal with him. That will have to come at a later date, however. I haven’t written his death and fixed the story around his events yet. Susie’s events were just written out, so it is time for her to die, and this one here already evaded death, so you can kill him at any time you like without having to worry.”

  “Does that include now?” Bloom questioned.

  “Sure.” Adam nodded. “I’m curious what will happen anyway.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” Adam snorted and adjusted his robes. He finally resheathed his sword. “We’ll see for ourselves.”

  Bloom shrugged at his ominous words and stepped off Sieg’s head. He walked toward the panting Davi and stared down at the man. Bloom replaced his head with a raven-haired man who looked similar to Davi. “Last time, I was in a hurry. I ripped your heart out and ran off. This time, I can take my time. I’d like to have some fun. Sadly, you’re already one foot in the grave, but I’ll at least take your head. You have a handsome jaw, and I love that scar. I always wanted Adam’s head, but I am not allowed to have it. You two have similar cheekbones, and I bet if you smiled, you’d look like a version of him but with black hair. Your brother over there is the same. I guess it’s the Hawker genes. Sadly, I can’t have his head either, so you’re going to have to do. That’s okay with you, right?”

  Davi kept his eyes down, not looking at Bloom. He felt more of his blood leak out of him, and his heart was starting to beat faster and faster. It burned. The stream of blood felt like fire. Intense and hot. Yet he was also cold.

  Fire and ice.

  Hot and cold.

  He never seemed to be able to escape those elements. They always clung to him like a second layer of skin.

  Bloom reached toward one of his severed heads. He allowed the blood to flow into it, and he wrapped his fingers around the liquid, which began to grow solid. “Row Blood Branch.” The ichor became solid and rigid, forming into a jagged blade, which he pulled back and raised up, ready to swing. “Sit still, okay? This type of sword is very good at cutting heads off. It’s called a Branch blade and was invented in Gallenth. It can cut through bone like it's nothing and was made for making clean cuts. If I do it well enough, you’ll still be conscious. The lights won’t automatically go out in your eyes, and you’ll watch as I take your head. From there, I can perform my ritual, and then boom! You’ll be mine.” Bloom licked his lips. “Sounds fun, right?”

  “Could you stop stalling and just behead him already?” Adam took a seat on some debris and placed his head in his hands. “You’re stalling, Bloom.”

  Bloom let out a sheepish laugh. “Sorry. I thought maybe he would pull out some healing spell or something. To be honest, I’m kind of bummed that it’s going to be this easy. I mean, you did all the work. I barely get to have fun. Oh well.” Bloom shrugged and gripped his sword with both hands. “Seven… Seven beings are a blight on this world. Today one will die.” He twisted his grip. “Davi Hawker. You have inherited something you shouldn’t have. You hold its power. You, who should have died, made it to this point in history, and I am now here to fix that.” Bloom’s look became serious. “Inheritor of his h-”

  “Row Thread Cutter.” A white string suddenly tied its way around Bloom’s arm, and it pulled back, tearing the limb holding the sword clean off.

  “Ow,” Bloom said flatly.

  “Row Light Bolt.” A flash of glowing light smashed into Bloom’s back, sending him flying away from Davi. Moments later, several figures all landed on the ground next to him.

  Adam’s smile returned. “Looks like he has plot armor. Seconds before his death, the side cast shows up to save him. How typical that the main antagonist of my story doesn’t die like this.”

  Adam glanced up at the small crowd that now shielded Davi. Side characters indeed, yet two of them were important.

  Dressed in white armor, Laerton gripped her needle-shaped blade. Next to her, in golden armor, carrying a flaming sword and a shield of divine light, Father glared at Adam.

  Adam stood up and drew his sword. “Alright, Knights.” He pointed his blade forward. “Let’s make this a good chapter.”