Pietro Agustin’s fascination with mythical creatures wasn’t just a hobby—it was his life. His room was a museum of the macabre, with walls plastered in posters of aswang, diwata, and other creatures from Filipino folklore. Shelves groaned under the weight of books, many of them rare finds written in ancient scripts. For Pietro, these weren’t just stories; they were windows into a world far more exciting than his mundane existence.
One day, while wandering through Manila’s bustling streets, Pietro stumbled upon a peculiar stall tucked into an alleyway. The vendor was an old woman with piercing eyes that seemed to see through him.
“Manang, what’s that?” Pietro asked, pointing to a book bound in cracked leather.
“This?” The woman held it up. “It’s useless. The language is dead.”
Pietro’s heart raced. He recognized the script immediately—it was from an ancient dialect he’d studied in his endless pursuit of myths.
“How much?” he asked eagerly.
The woman hesitated. “You can have it for free, but only if you promise to use it wisely.”
Pietro nodded without hesitation. As he clutched the book to his chest and turned to leave, the screech of tires filled the air. A truck barreled toward him. There was no time to react.When Pietro opened his eyes, he wasn’t in Manila anymore. The sky above him was a swirling mix of purples and reds, and the air smelled faintly of sulfur. He sat up, disoriented, and found himself surrounded by small green creatures with wide eyes and sharp teeth.
“P-please to meet you, sir,” one of them stammered. “I am Rak’ishi, the strongest goblin sorcerer in this village. We summoned you to be our demon lord.”
Pietro blinked. “Huh?”
The goblins bowed deeply. Rak’ishi explained that their village was under threat from Rungald, the demon lord of orcs. In their desperation, they had performed an ancient summoning ritual to bring forth a powerful being from another world.
“But I’m not powerful,” Pietro protested. “I don’t even know how to use magic.”
Rak’ishi smiled nervously. “The book will guide you.”
As if on cue, the book Pietro had taken began to glow. He opened it cautiously and read the words etched into its pages: He who reads this book will receive my powers. Use them wisely.
The letters lifted off the page and embedded themselves into Pietro’s skin like tattoos. A surge of energy coursed through him.
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“What just happened?” he demanded.
“You’ve been marked,” Rak’ishi said reverently. “You are now one of us.”
Over the next few days, Pietro struggled to adapt to his new role. The goblins looked up to him with unwavering faith, but he felt like a fraud. Rak’ishi tried to teach him basic spells, but progress was slow.
“Why me?” Pietro muttered one night as he pored over the book.
The answer came in fragments as he pieced together the book’s history. It had belonged to Hanagob, a powerful sorcerer who had been betrayed by his own kind. The book contained not only spells but also maps and instructions for summoning mythical creatures—creatures Pietro had only read about in his old life.
On the fourth day, while exploring the forest with Rak’ishi and a small group of goblins, Pietro stumbled upon an overturned carriage. Bodies lay scattered around it—victims of an ambush. Inside the carriage was a young girl barely clinging to life.
“We have to help her,” Pietro said urgently.
Rak’ishi shook his head. “We don’t have healers.”
Desperate, Pietro turned to the book again. He found a ritual that could save her but at a cost: three drops of his blood and a binding spell that would tie her fate to his.
As he completed the ritual, the girl’s eyes snapped open. Her once-pale skin flushed with color, but her hair turned crimson and her eyes glowed red.
“Who are you?” she asked weakly.
“My name is Pietro,” he said. “What’s yours?”
“Anika Verch,” she replied. “Thank you for saving me.”
But as Anika sat up, Pietro noticed something strange—her teeth were sharper than before
Back at the goblin village, Anika revealed her story. She was the daughter of a merchant noble who had been traveling through dangerous territory when her caravan was attacked by orcs loyal to Rungald.
“I owe you my life,” she said to Pietro one evening as they sat by a fire.
Pietro nodded but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her transformation. Consulting the book again, he discovered that Anika had become a bangkilan, a vampire-like creature from Cebuano mythology known for its strength and shape-shifting abilities.
Despite his unease, Anika proved invaluable in training the goblins for battle. Her speed and agility inspired them, and her knowledge of noble politics gave Pietro insight into Rungald’s plans.
As Rungald’s forces drew closer, Pietro worked tirelessly to unite the goblins and prepare them for war. He used Hanagob’s book to summon small groups of aswang—ferocious monsters that added much-needed strength to their ranks.
But not everyone trusted him. A faction within the village began whispering that Pietro was unfit to lead—that summoning creatures like Anika would bring doom upon them all.
“I didn’t ask for this,” Pietro snapped during one heated argument with Rak’ishi.
“No,” Rak’ishi replied calmly, “but you were chosen for a reason.”
When Rungald’s army finally arrived, it was larger than anyone had anticipated—hundreds of orcs armed with crude weapons and led by Rungald himself, a towering figure with eyes like burning coals.
The goblin village became a battlefield as chaos erupted on all sides. Pietro fought alongside his allies, using spells from Hanagob’s book to hold back the tide of enemies.
Anika proved her worth once again by taking down several orc commanders single-handedly. But even she struggled against Rungald’s immense power.
Chapter 8: The Turning Point
Just when all seemed lost, Pietro discovered a hidden section in Hanagob’s book—a spell so powerful it could turn the tide of battle but at great personal risk. With no other options left, he cast it.
The ground trembled as shadowy figures emerged—ancient aswang bound by Hanagob’s magic who tore through Rungald’s forces with terrifying efficiency.
In the end, Rungald fell—not by brute force but by Pietro’s cunning use of strategy and magic.
With Rungald defeated, peace returned to the goblin village—for now. But Pietro knew this was only the beginning. The power he wielded came at a cost, and whispers of his victory had already reached Sietan—the most powerful demon lord in Revertha.
Anika stayed by his side as they prepared for whatever came next. For better or worse, Pietro Agustin had become more than just an outsider in this world; he was now its unlikely protector—and perhaps its greatest threat.
