Chapter 288: A Brief History Of A People Long Gone


    Laz had no idea what was going to happen in 72 hours, what this creature was or even if anyone found a way to open the door back. The only thing he did know was that if they didn''t find a way to leave within 72 hours, they would never leave.


    And that was not aforting thought.


    Be that as it may, Laz wasn''t going to freak out because there was a lot more he needed from this creature in front of him. For the first time since Laz had awakened those year ago, he finally found someone who knew more about him than he did. This kind of opportunity wasn''t something he was going to pass up.


    :You have many questions?: The voice asked.


    :Yes.:


    :Well, I''ve got nothing but time I suppose. After all... I''ve been dead for a long time...:


    :YOU WHAT?:


    :HA HA HA HA. Didn''t know that, did you? I can see that your small mind thinks of death as only an ending and a very final one at that. Well, you''re only half right, little one. In truth, even after death, if you are strong enough, you can live on.:


    :That''s....:


    :That''s not something you need to worry about for now. Let me tell you a bit about your ancestors, my people.... our people.:


    Inside Laz''s head, he suddenly saw many pictures and thoughts that went along with it. Although it was a bit of a strain, getting information in this way, it wasn''t ufortable. And it was also a much faster process than if the dead Asura in front of Laz had told him word by word.


    The Asura people used to be located on a beautiful, a very long ways away. Looking at it form space, the, due to it''s special life forms, had a purple tint to the oceans while thendmasses could be many colors, depending on what kind of nt life they contained. The Asura were war like from the beginning and constantly fought with each other. Empires would rise and fall all over the, sometimes within days.


    It was all they knew for the first part of their history.


    But all of that changed with the rise of one man. His strength was unmatched, his rule was iron d but not withoutpassion and his armies were like nothing the had seen before. Within only a few short years of conquest, thest independent nation fell and for the first time in thes long history, it was united under one ruler.


    They finally had peace.


    But peace was a very foreign concept to the war like people.


    The grand ruler understood this and knew that his people, his, was restless. Due to being united, the strength of the average person soared to new heights, not to mention the ruler''s armies. As such, they needed a new enemy to fight. Looking out upon thes in his sr system, they decided to spread the empire out to the stars. Although this didn''t give them anyone to fight, it allowed them a goal that everyone was keen to work on. There was more than one within their sr system that could support life and they were going to make it theirs.


    They made the first contact with a foreign species on the final they could inhabit. The creatures wererge but gentle, low in poption and not a challenge for the invading armies, so even though they loved war, they weren''t going tomit a genocide just to see blood. These new creatures greatly resembled whales that could fly through the air. More interestingly, they also possessed an intelligence that could match the Asura people. During conversation with these creatures, the Asura learned of a gateway, located on the that was considered a ce off limits for the native species.


    This peeked the Asura''s interest greatly.


    And this also started their peoples venturing out into many other gxies and the beginning of their gctic empire.


    As the half body showed Laz all of these images, like a movie in his head at an incredibly fast speed, Laz felt like he was there to witness the rise of this emperor, the movement out to the gxy, discovering new worlds and people and going to war with empires much older than that of the Asura..


    Laz could feel his blood responding to the story.


    On and on the narration in his head went, until theye upon a dark gxy that had no star and no light. Originally, the Asura ignored it, thinking that it couldn''t support life, but soon that decision would lead to a war that would decimate the empire.


    Within that dark gxy resided an ancient and vastly powerful people along with their subordinates. If one were able topletely map the entire length of the universe, they would learn that this dark gxy rested right in the dead center of all creation.


    While the Asura were at war with another huge empire, both sides upying a third of the known universe, enemies unlike anything that had ever seen started pouring out from the dark gxy,ying waste to everyone that stood in their way.


    The empire that the Asura were fighting were targeted first and fell within what could be considered the blink of an eye. Seeing this, the Asura started joining hands with every other major power that they could find, trying their best to hold back these unstoppable creatures.


    For what the could be told about them, they were like shadows made corporeal. They could survive anywhere and everywhere. The creatures that fought at their sides were also strange, beings made of wind and water, ground and fire. A peaceful, green would find themselves swarmed with fire creatures that destroyed the within days of arriving while a frozen wastnd full of strong and sturdy bodied, barbarian like creatures would find themselves assaulted by beings of wind and water that would turn the entire ce into a giant, frozen ice ball, truly devoid of life.


    But the Asura could hold their ground almost anywhere, causing the elemental creatures to have to retreat until their masters arrived.


    As the story seemed to near it''s conclusion, Laz was able to view the final battle between the shadow like creatures and the Asura, one that decimated the center of the universe, cutting off various areas from one another. In it, the Asura who Laz was currently hanging on the wall in front of Laz with was a warrior of great renown and valor, leading his armies into battle. He fought until his body broke in two and the spatial tears ripped the ce apart, causing him to be separated from the few remaining warriors left alive.


    This was almost thest scene to y in Laz''s head. The final scene was one of the Asura floating in space dead, while his soul still remained attached to his body. He seemed to be waiting for his people toe find him, only to eventually be picked up by a massive starship of non-organic creatures.


    This lead him to be brought here. He had no idea how long had passed since that final battle, or even since he arrived where ever he was. Time was hard to measure for a soul.


    Laz felt the sadness, despair and even longing from the creature in front of him. It was hard to miss it. The sadness and despair were easy to ce, but he was unsure of what the longing was.


    :And that is our story. A history of hundreds of thousands of years, many different rulers, all now in the past.:


    :Are there any of us alive out there?: Laz asked back. Having been a witness to their history, he felt more and more like one of their people as he epted it as a part of his heritage.


    :Perhaps. Even if they killed off most of us, I doubt they could have found all of us. And arn''t you standing before me? There must of been one member of our people who lived long enough to be your ancestor.:


    Hearing this, Laz realized something. The longing that the Asura in front of him felt was for that of his lost people. As of this moment, Laz was the closest thing he had to his kind.


    :Is there anything I can do for you?: Laz asked. He felt kinship to this person who''s name he didn''t even know.


    :Had you been stronger, you could have taken my soul with you. When I felt the resonance of our blood, I thought that maybe they hade for me. But instead it was you. I won''t lie and say that I am not saddened by this, but at the same time, I wasn''t going to be able to hold on long enough to find a new body anyway. Had I been weaker, my soul would have long dissipated. But I guess my strength was a blessing when I was alive and a curse now that I am dead.:


    If souls could sigh, Laz felt like he would have heard one. But they didn''t have a breath to sigh with.


    :I''m not sure if I will ever meet our people, but if I do... is there any message you want to pass on?: Laz wanted to do anything he could for this fallen brother.


    :There is. But that can wait a bit. My soul won''t survive that beasts awakening, but at least I have this time to fulfill one wish of mine.:


    :What is that?:


    :I used to lead my men into battle while never taking the time to have a life to myself. We are a people who thrived on battle, but that doesn''t mean we never wished for a life otherwise. I never had a family. You might have guessed it, but we, as a people, have low birth ratespared to other people. So the birth of every son and daughter was a blessing to us. It''s one of the reasons why in the early days of our people, even when fighting each other, we would never ughter a family. If anything like that did ur, everyone, regardless of affiliation, would hunt down the murderer and end them. So now... looking at you. I wish to take you as my first andst disciple.:


    :Me? You... me?: Laz was surprised. Based on everything he had seen, this Asura before him was one of the greater existences of their people. For him to want to take Laz as a disciple seemed pretty far fetched.


    :Had it been any other time, a lower mixed blood like you would never have entered into my eyes. But since I will soon returned to the grasps of our gods, I would like to not let everything that I have done in life be for nothing. And besides, you still do have our blood running through you, even if it is only a trace. That makes you at least worthy of what I can teach you.: It almost seemed like the dead man wasughing at Laz while still holding a bit of warmth while he spoke. And it was as he said. If the Asura was back in his prime, Laz would be nothing to it as there would have been scores of others looking to it for learning and guidance. It just so happened that Laz was who was standing in front of him right now, at his end.


    Laz felt overwhelmed, but he also knew that this was a great opportunity that could onlye once. Although he didn''t know what it would entail, at the very least, Laz hoped it would givefort to the dead man. And besides which, it could be considered repayment for the amazing story he had told Laz.


    Not know what to do to ept, Laz remembered a few stories he read where the disciple would bow to his master. For Laz, that felt a little weird and not enough respect, so instead he got down as though doing a superheronding on his knee and bowed his head.


    Seeing this, Laz felt like he heard the creature in front of himugh before his voice rang in Laz''s head.


    :Not like that, young one. We Asura are a proud race. Even to our ruler, we would at most bow our heads as a sign of respect. He or she would never ask more that that either since they wouldn''t insult the importance of their people. Instead, you should salute with your hand in front of your heart in a fist. For us, it shows that you are willing to fight and die for the one you are saluting. That is the way the disciple acknowledges the master. Of course, I won''t expect you to die for a dead man.: The Asura seemed tough even more at his own joke, showing a rare sign of actual happiness. He had given up hope, yet in his final moments, he was brought such a precious gift.


    How could he not be content?


    Laz, taking his words to heart, stood and ced his fist against his heart while lowering his head.


    :Good. Very good. Ah ha ha ha. Now then. We don''t have much time, especially if I am to help to to improve. It seems like you have already broken two blocks in your foundation realm, but the third one is leaving you stuck. Well, that''s easy enough to fix...: With just a thought from the Asura, Laz felt thest binding disappear... even without the answer. His already solid foundation was suddenly pushed forward, arriving at the peak of the foundation realm without so much as a hup.


    :But how...?: Laz was confused. He had found the keys to open the blocks randomly before, but now it just disappeared as though it didn''t exist. Looking at his base, Laz could see a long line of runes stretched out a along the bottom. The part that was confusing was that several of those runes were ones he had never seen before.


    :Confused?:


    :Yes...:


    :There was never a block. It was simply yourck of understanding of your Asura blood.:


    :Myck of understanding?:


    :Why do you think that a few phrases were enough for you to advance?:


    :Then what''s different now?:


    :Now... Now you understand yourself. What I gave you wasn''t just our history, it was us, as a people. You understand who we are... and that helps you to understand who you are. What you saw was only the surface story. But there was far more buried in there that you will understand in the future.:


    :What does that mean master?:


    :Ha... There are no shortcuts on this one. But don''t worried. As your master, I have a few presents for you before I send you off.:


    :Oh?: Laz''s interest was peeked.


    :But these gifts don''te without a price...:


    :If there is a price, are they really gifts?: Laz asked, obviously a little turned off not.


    "Of course. Gifts are gifts, it''s just not all gifts can just be given. For this first gift, you will need a pay a price in pain.:


    :In... pain...?:


    :Scared?: Laz''s new master seemed to be very amused at the moment.


    :What? Scared? No... no. Of course not. What is a little pain after all?:


    :HA. Good. As expected of my only... kind of forced disciple...:


    :When you say it like that.:


    :Well. Whatever. Alright. For this first gift, what you have to do is very easy.:


    :Whenever your ready master.:


    :Good spirit. Now... dig out your eyes!:


    :WELP, FUCK THIS SHIT I''M OUT.: Laz turned around to walk away.