《The Last Space King》 Auxiliary Chapter - Info Stage 1: {Needs blood to cultivate - Generally. Energy quantity increases} Stage 2: {Needs to comprehend through sight, willpower, inference, etc. Energy quality increases drastically}Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Stage 3: Humble Beginnings ''I wonder if they will attempt to kill me after this speech.'' A young man thinks and sits down on a desk chair, his face wincing as he remembers the past events that seemed to last an eternity. "I suppose I should start, huh?" He sighs and grabs his quill, placing it upon a piece of parchment. The quill dances about the paper, sending streaks of black ink forward. With each stroke and scratch of the quill, his mind feels pricks of pain, for the words he writes lay heavy on his heart. "My name is Jacob Reymond. Some of you, however, know me by the name of Rey Nefasi." He pauses and contemplates his next words. "The destruction that Lorea has seen, I take full responsibility for. My teacher, Hibari Kyoya, who was a Space King..." Rey crumbles up the piece of paper. "Damn it, how am I supposed to explain this without mentioning anything about who you and I are, Hibari." Clearing his mind, Rey stands up and leaves his small room. Closing his door, he walks into the hallway and out the front door. The sky is filled with stars and a bright full moon. The moonlight shines on Rey, highlighting his blonde hair and fair skin. With a field of agriculture to his left, a dirt road in front of him, a wooden barn to his right, and his house behind him, he walks straight ahead. Following the dirt road, Rey sees rubble and a fallen tree. "I should clear this path for merchants." He thinks as he walks up to the tree, and with a flick of his wrist, it vanishes. "I''m still too weak. Even with my rank and soul, Soma''s output was hundreds of times better than mine. One day, I''ll be stronger than him." His knuckles crackle as he reflects. Rey reaches out to the stars as he closes his hand into a fist. His eyes glint with rage and ferocity. Focusing on the things ahead of him, Rey walks back to his small home made of stone. Rey lies down on his bed to think and reflect before making his next decision. Millions of years ago¡­ At the back of a spacious palace filled with white engravings and expensive gems, a man sat on a throne. "Hibari." The man called out. Another man appeared out of nowhere and looked at the king on the throne. He had a stocky build with long black hair in a ponytail and eyes as black as the night sky. "My God, the Ancient''s puppets have come for us." Hibari smiled. "You were right." The man sat up from the throne. His slightly messy blonde hair fell to his ears as his eyes gleamed purple. He was handsome, and with a gentle smile, he walked down to meet the man. As he approached the man, the lights illuminated his armor formed of red threads that continuously weaved together. He placed his hand on Hibari''s shoulder as he spoke. "It''s about time. Hibari, you were once the most talented genius among us. If your soul wasn''t damaged, I''m sure that you would have surpassed me. From then on, you kept serving your race despite your inability to train. I can see the loyalty in your actions." He praised Hibari. "Thank you, master, for the Space Kings!" Hibari said as he put one hand over his heart. Seeing this, the man on the throne was satisfied. "Hibari¡­ none of us should survive this calamity." He said in such a calm voice that it was almost frightening. "I still do not know where the ancient came from, and its puppets will overpower us soon. You know how scary our consumption is to make use of the space law. We cannot contend against an army of that size." Hibari nodded in seriousness. He sensed outside and realized that legions of soldiers were already fighting the few thousands of Space Kings. Even though each soldier was weak, their numbers made them unstoppable. "Then it''ll be an honor to die in battle," he insisted. To see Hibari''s attitude at this moment, he could only bitterly smile. "We are bound to lose this fight. If I am captured, then our space bloodline falls into its hands. After that, it''s only a matter of time before its released. It will continue to chase me and the rest of my family down until we are controlled like those puppets." He spoke firmly, each word filled with hatred and indignance. "Let''s destroy our bloodline, wipe our memories. Then it won''t need to pursue you, me, or anyone else of your family!" Hibari gulped, "Even if we have to throw away our pride, we-" "Pride? Do you think I would value pride above my own family?" He shouted. Looking at Hibari staring at the ground, he sighed. "Look, Hibari, this issue isn''t so simple. After we and the other races sealed the Ancient away, I focus ed on comprehending time. There were only two paths that might work to preserve our race. The first was to create a miniature world inside my body and hide from the Ancient, but the difficulty of that is beyond me. Even creating this world was a challenge. So that only leaves the second option: time. If I worked on comprehending more of the time law, I might be able to preserve one of us and hope that our race lives after the Ancient is taken care of. All things die in the end, it cannot live forever." He paused and looked at Hibari, "I have learned to manipulate time, Hibari. I can send someone into the future." Hibari''s eyes widened for the first time since they spoke. "But, master! That''s too high of a price to make. Even if you could do it, that''s against the law of time! If you do this, your fate will be worse than death!" "I know! What else is there? This is the only way that we can ensure our race lives on. Enough talking, it''s time." The Space God said while moving his finger. Suddenly, a baby teleported before him. "You are a genius, Hibari. Your comprehension even puts me, the famed God of Space, to shame. Your loyalty and determination set you apart. As my disciple, and as a friend, please watch over my son." He knelt.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "I refuse!" Hibari interjected. "Let''s fight instead! We can win this war!" "Stop!" The Space God demanded, and, still kneeling, looked up at Hibari. "When I send him through space-time, watch over him. My control is far too weak to foresee that much of the future. He''ll need your guidance, Hibari. My control over the time law isn''t strong enough to send a warrior''s body through; leave it behind, I''ll send your soul into his body." The Space God ordered. "To be able to get you, the proud God of Space, to kneel to someone," Hibari winced and smiled. "this is impressive. Very well, my God. After all the life and death battles we have fought, to think you''ll stop here before me." With reddened eyes, a tear fell as he crossed his arm over his heart again. "I''ll take care of Rey for you. The Nefasi bloodline will prevail, I will make sure of that." "I know you will. Regarding the condition of your soul, you know what to do if there are problems. Make sure Soma doesn''t hurt Rey, though making him go through hardship is good. Perhaps you''ll even find a way to restore the damage done to you in the future." He said seriously. "Also, I will leave the power of a reverend with him. I personally stored this with three charges of space energy. You know how valuable this is; use it well." The Space God sighed, "That''s all I can bring or else there''s too much risk involved with traveling. Make sure you get yourself a capable body too, Hibari, his body cannot contain such a powerful, albeit fractured, soul for more than a decade or two without being negatively impacted." "I understand. I''ll seek another body as soon as Rey becomes coherent enough to understand me. Let''s get this over with." "Good luck, my friend." The Space God concentrated and opened a portal to a faraway planet into the future. He then turned to look at Rey, who was sleeping. His blonde hair was just starting to come in and his purple eyes were closed. "You and Hibari will be the sole testament to everything that happened here one day. Rey, you may never have my full bloodline. Please forgive me in advance! Hibari will accompany you as you grow up. At the cost of your bloodline, we shall live on in you." The Space God wept. Rey''s eyes turned from purple to black, and his hair from blonde to black also. "Goodbye, my son." He whispered and teleported Rey through space-time. He turned around and vanished. He appeared in the atmosphere, right before all the "puppets" fighting the rest of his race. "Ancient! I know you can hear me even with my space techniques suppressing you. To think you''d make all these people your slaves. Despicable! For two hundred years we have been fighting you, but it ends here." The Space God''s voice boomed across the planet. "Everyone, we are trapped. Unless you want the same fate as those in front of you, I suggest you either run or self-destruct!" Few Space Kings ran without any second thought, some continued to battle, but most submitted to the Space God''s command. They condensed all the energies within their bodies. When the various slaved enemies felt the power brewing within the Space Kings, they trembled in fear. "Run!" "Flee?" "Help me!" "Join me in hell, Ancient." The Space God, peering into space, softly spoke. Thousands of Space King self-destructed all of the Space energy in their bodies. A supermassive black hole formed and pulled everyone in, killing and annihilating all lifeforms nearby. After an eon of time... On a distant planet called Reje, there was a forest called the Vibrant Forest inhabited by humans. Two men were fighting over a lizard that was less than a meter tall and two meters with length. The scales on its body were an orange-green color and it had a ferocious bite. Its eyes seemed to be filled with passion and fierceness. This was a creature with a fire affinity named the Flame-scaled lizard. "He''s mine! I found him first, so I''ll be the one taking his comprehension!" The first man said with rage and a hint of worry. He had been stuck at the novice stage 20 for over a year, and he felt if he absorbed the beast''s understanding of the fire law, he would break through into the fire adept stage 1. Otherwise, it may take him another half year or more. "Please, you wouldn''t even be able to kill this creature by yourself, I''ll compensate you in advance!" The second man laughed. He gave off a feeling of radiance and life. His eyes were a light gold color, seemingly flashing. He had comprehended the light law to Novice stage 3. He didn''t need the fire affinity for his own cultivation, but he wanted to get some benefits from this situation. The bloodline understanding from the Flame-scaled lizard would dissipate after a few minutes, so he wanted to bargain with the man for some money within this time crunch. "ROAR!!!" As the two men were talking, the Flame-scaled lizard sent a small fireball toward the two men. The beast was also a Novice stage in the fire law. It was angered by seeing the two men fighting over its bloodline. What its fireball lacked in speed, it made up in deadly power. If someone got hit with it, they would definitely be seriously injured. The Light affinity man increased his speed to dodge, and then pulled out a blade. He flung it towards the Flame-scaled lizard at a startling speed that the lizard could barely move in time. Katcha! The Flame-scaled lizard used its claws to block it. The damage done to it had left a white mark on the claws. It looked at light affinity man toyingly. Suddenly, the Flame-scaled lizard''s scales ignited and was drenched in a fire. It then jumped towards the two humans, trying to rip them to shreds with its teeth. The fire affinity man lit a few blades on fire and then threw them towards the beast, hoping to do some damage. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! "This...." The fire affinity man was lost for words. He initially thought that he could take on this lizard with some losses at most, but who would think that its scales would be that strong. He couldn''t even make a mark on the lizard. The light affinity man chuckled at this sight, and then took out a sword and imbued his light energy into the sword, making it sharper and studier. He then proceeded to slash the Flame-scaled lizard''s throat. The man cut the lizard''s throat and blood seeped out from the wounds, but the blade got stuck on the third hit. Reluctant to abandon his sword, he tried to pull it out as he panicked. "ARGG-" The light affinity man screamed out. As he was pulling on his sword, the lizard released brilliant flames that scorched him. While he was in shock and pain, he took a step backward and the lizard chomped down on the man, ripping his head off. Dead. The fire affinity man sweated profusely as it strolled over to him. There was no hope for him to retreat or escape. It was over. If only he hadn''t angered this creature, he''d still be with his wife. "Why did I encounter such a beast...I didn''t even leave anything behind for people to remember me...." As his life was flashing through his eyes, something strange occurred. Space broke, destroying the area around the flame-scaled lizard, then time reversed, and the lizard was still standing there. It had just died, obliterated, and now it was fine. Both the Flame-scaled lizard and the flame affinity man were dumbfounded and confused at this. Again, space broke and the lizard cried in pain, it died, and then revived. Distressed cries rang out for a few moments as time sped up. Finally, space broke again, but this time, instead of reviving the Flame-scaled lizard again, a baby appeared where the lizard once was. "What just happened?" He had never seen anything like this in his entire life. He was very thankful that it happened and saved his life, but why did this happen? And a baby to appear through this? The fire affinity man cautiously crept towards the baby. The baby seemed to be a month old, with black hair and deep black eyes. It was almost if one could actually get lost by staring into them. He decided to pick up the child as he walked back to town. "I can''t just leave a child here to die." The man sighed as he realized he had to go back empty-handed. "Why do the heavens punish me so much. First by sending me a creature so strong, then by sending another person to compete with me, and now the entire creature is vaporized to the point that I cannot even absorb its understanding." The man didn''t know if he should laugh or cry at this moment. The Passing of Time The fire affinity man went in the opposite direction. After five hours of traveling through green trees, vines, and overgrown grass, he finally saw a town up ahead. A stone wall 5 meters tall and 2 meters thick barred his way in. There were four openings in each direction where guards were positioned. He walked up and entered through the eastern gate. "Back so soon, Liam? Have you finally advanced?" The guard said. He had light blonde hair with a gaze that seemed to linger. His face was one plastered with scars, making him look ferocious. He wore the classic guard uniform that was composed of a red and blue vest with black loose pants. "Johnathan! No, somebody else came along and I had a tussle with him." He let out a deep sigh. "I found an abandoned child out there though..." "What?!?" A voice came from behind as they were talking. Both Liam and Johnathan shuddered as they felt a chill run down their spines. Their expressions changed to ones of regret as they realized who was walking over. Johnathan whispered, "Great, now I gotta listen to Sonalius complain about how evil some people are for the rest of my shift." Jonathan''s expression kept changing as Sonalius stood in front of them in the same guard uniform. "The nerve of some people! Did they leave him in the Vibrant Forest too? The child cannot even defend himself in such a state!" Sonalius'' voice was loud, shocking any bystanders nearby. Liam smiled bitterly, "Yeah, I was battling a beast when I saw him appear." He didn''t want to explain the whole story and hear someone argue, so he tried to keep it brief. "I''m gonna go home and see about having him stay with us until we find his parents. See you later Sonalius and Johnathan!" Before Sonalious could even say anything, Liam already took off with the baby. Liam looked back and saw the helpless expression on Johnathan''s face. He heard Sonalius mutter, "Hmmph, I wouldn''t do that to my child..." Johnathan''s face wore a bitter smile as shouted goodbye in Liam''s direction. Liam slowly changed from running to walking as he saw other people traveling and the road change from dirt to cobblestone. Wooden and brick shops began to appear on his sides as he walked to the center of town. Crowds of people were all buying and selling items here. In the middle of the town square was a statue of the leader, Kiev. Engraved on it was a plague that said, "Acting leader of Lorea, Kiev Hemmes." As Liam walked past the metal statue of Kiev with a sword in his hand, he could help but speak. "You really do look better as a statue than in-person that''s for sure, Kiev." He said in disgust, "Maybe your statue, unlike yourself, can actually inspire people." Within another 15 minutes of walking, Liam reached his home near the northern gate. The roads turned back from gravel to dirt as he went home. A stone house stood in front of him. It was neither big nor small for him and his wife. He walked inside and saw his wife. She had long light red hair with a fair face. She wore a simple blue tunic with black pants. Liam immediately began to tell her everything that had happened to him. His wife, however, busted up laughing. "Hahaha, Liam, you''re joking, right?" She said in an unbelieving, somewhat loud voice. "I am not, this baby just appeared out of nowhere! Even space was breaking down!" When she realized that Liam was telling the truth, a barrage of emotions overcame her. Shock, worry, fear, and gratefulness were mixed into her expression. When Liam saw her complicated expression, he didn''t even know what to make of it. "I will continue searching for the actual parents, but for now, I think that we should have him stay with us," Liam said with resolute in his voice. "Are you sure about this? We''re not even sure what he is! Even though he looks human, I haven''t seen any person with those eyes in my life." She was very skeptical about this due to so many unknowns, especially about other races. "What if he grows powerful enough and decides to kill us? Something strong enough to fracture space..." She started to go off. "Serai, I am sure. I don''t feel like this baby will harm us when he grows up. If he truly does show signs of harming us, then I''ll do it. I''ll kill him if need be..." Liam struggled to make that promise, but he said it nonetheless. Serai pondered for a little bit "Okay, but if I start to sense any killing intent from him or any like that..." Her skin started to glow slightly as lightning crackled and curled around her fingertips for a moment. There were very few races that humans were allied with enough to trust them, much less live with. Almost all races only trusted their own race. One of the main reasons for this was that each species could kill other species and use their bloodlines to improve, but they couldn''t use a member of the same race''s bloodline; a human couldn''t use another human''s bloodline, however, they could use the bloodline of the demon race. Therefore, it became custom to kill first and ask questions later about other races.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Don''t worry, if it does come to that, I''ll make sure to deal with it." he quickly replied. "Very well. Do you know what his name is?" She said as she picked him up. "No, I forgot to ask the baby what his name is..." Liam rolled his eyes as he thought of the question. Serai smiled, embarrassed at asking such a question after having the whole story explained. "Why don''t we name him after your father, Jacob?" She thought about it for a moment before saying that. "Jacob," Liam pondered, "I like it! Jacob Reymond is his name for now. At least until we find his parents. While it''s still daylight, we should ask around town," Serai nodded as they both walked out. After searching for nine hours each day for three weeks, they gave up. Within those three weeks, Liam and Serai found someone capable of feeding Jacob, as he was still an infant, a bed, and bought clothes for him. They scoured the town yet they didn''t find anyone who could be his parent. There were some people claiming to be their son, but it was obvious because those people didn''t share any of his characteristics. Serai and Liam decided to write his name into the yearly census and he officially became their son. - - - - - - - - "Rey! Can you go grab your father? It''s almost time for dinner!" Serai shouted. "Yes, Mother!" Rey replied. At this time Rey was 12 years old and had been living with Liam and Serai for as long as he could remember. During these 12 years, he learned to write, read, speak, and walk; he learned basic functions and information about the world. Rey ran over to the back of their house, where his father was practicing the fire law. In this world, there were many mystical laws one could learn about and then use, the fire law was one of them. The amount of law one could use was proportional to their affinity. If a human had a low-tier fire affinity, they could break through easier, but wouldn''t be able to use the fire law as effectively or precisely as someone with a high or very high fire affinity. Think of each law as a book. The more affinity you have, the more pages you have to read before fully comprehending the book, whereas, with a low affinity, you are practically reading a summary of a chapter from the book. While summaries are quicker to comprehend, you are losing a lot of information in the process too. "Father, Mother said that dinner is ready and wanted me to come to get you" Rey said. "Okay, thank you, Rey, I''ll be over in a bit" Liam said as he was continuing to fire fireballs that would split into three, catching an enemy off guard hopefully while attacking many vital points at once. Another thing Rey learned was the qualitative changes within one''s body when they broke through. Each rank of a law they comprehended helped their control, and sometimes allowed them other abilities, such as making fire travel from the body to a medium, like air. These were the known ranks and were separated into 20 breakthroughs each. Ascended Stage Saint Stage Awakened Stage Scholar Stage Evolved Stage Adept Stage Novice Stage Along with the comprehension of each law, there would be some other benefits such as extended lifespans and body-strengthening. Comprehending different laws had different effects on the body. The fire law may strengthen one''s body more than the lightning law, but the lightning law would allow people more energy they could store and use (Endurance). One way to tell which law one had comprehended was through their eyes. To comprehend a law, one needed to find another species that was favored by the same law, kill it, and then absorb its innate understanding of the law through its blood. Another thing is that not all races can comprehend every law. The multiverse is fair. The higher one''s affinity for a specific law, the lower the affinity for other laws. Humans had a lesser middle affinity to every law known. Humans were able to practice every law, but they also weren''t the best at each law. This diversity and their insane breeding still made up for their lack of talent with sheer numbers and variation. There were, however, items capable of changing the affinities and bloodline of a creature. These were naturally occurring resources named legacies. There were man-made legacies, but the effect was horrible as it would lower many affinities to create or upgrade an affinity to the same grade. Natural legacies would still change affinities, but usually, it could change it for the better. It all depended on the bloodline being given and the bloodline you had. - - - - - - - - At the dinner table. "How is your new ability going, Father?" Rey asked "It is going. he improvements in it are slow, but I am starting to get ahold of my new understanding. I can almost fully control all 3 fireballs after being split" Liam said. Aside from absorbing understanding, one still needed to practice a lot to fully understand the portion of the law they had access to. "What about you Rey? Have you found your affinities yet? I know you aren''t fully human at least, but you have to have some understandings." "I haven''t found out much, I know I could feel some law, but I don''t know which one it is. It would truly help knowing where I came from an what race I am..." Rey said with displeasure "We''ve tried out the fire law, air law, lightning law, water law, and the darkness law. We could try out the light law while we''re at it, but I doubt it. You obviously have some other law I haven''t seen yet, perhaps something rarer. We can try the time law, space law, and the disintegration law when there is a creature nearby that isn''t dangerous. I know you are part human, so you must have a very low affinity towards other laws, just wait, in time those feelings will get more distinct. As for your race, even I have no clue. I tried searching for information about you when you were younger, but nothing came up." Liam said, feeling slightly guilty for not being able to help. "Tell you what, tomorrow, come with me and your mother, we''ll hunt something in the vicinity and you can try to absorb its bloodline again. That is if your mother is okay with it?" Liam said. "Perhaps after a year, you''ll be able to absorb the bloodline. If that is the case, head to bed Rey. You''ll need your energy since we''re getting up early." Serai said in a warm voice. "Yes, Father, Mother. Thank you!!" The Elemental Rewke Rey, Liam, and Serai traveled to a white zoned forest to hunt a rare creature that had a low power level. This was a dense forest with many shrubs, trees, and a few mountains. Each area was split into the rarity of creatures and their power levels. Usually the rarer the creature, the stronger. There were times though such as now where species were only rare because of people hunting them. Rarity was split into six categories: Orange - unique Purple - extremely rare Blue - rare Green - uncommon White - common Grey - very common Similarly, the laws were not equally distributed to creatures. The time law, space law, disintegration law, and a couple of other laws were known to be rarer than common ones such as the metal law, air law, ice law, blood law, and so on. "What are we planning on hunting?" Rey eagerly said. He was hoping that he could start comprehending a law. This was a world where one had to be strong to survive. As of right now, even the few friends he had already grasped the laws and became a beginner Novice or Adept in a law. What he really needed and desired was power. "Earlier, we found a Rewke near a pond. We''ll check it out and see if we can kill it." Serai said "What are its affinities and rarity?" He asked, curiously. "A Rewke is a water and ice affinity creature, which is a blue rarity," Serai said. They stopped a couple of times to take a rest while avoiding any grey tiered creatures. Neither one of them wanted to exhaust themselves before they actually found the Rewke. A couple more hours past before they found something. "Is that it?" Rey exclaimed. There was a creature adorned with a blue layer with mystical symbols over its skin. Underneath the layer of blue, was transparent skin and veins. It was about 2 meters tall, standing upright. It looked completely majestic and beautiful appearance. "Yes, this is a Rewke. No one knows how they''re formed, but one can think of them as an elemental being made up of the laws. The Rewke''s have a mid-high grade Affinity for the laws they possess. These beings are rare compared to most creatures. Due to them being made up of the laws, their understanding is grand, so many people have hunted them, thus making their rarity blue. This one must not have been born for very long, its power is not very great." Serai explained, "We still need to be careful though. It seems this one is at least in the mid-Novice stage of the water law. As for the ice law, I can''t detect much from it, I think it''s comprehension with the ice law must be very low." "Very good," He grinned with excitement "this Rewke won''t know what hit it. Then let''s start to commence the plan. Rey, hide near that rock for now. This might get messy" he said with a devious smile. "Yes, Please make sure to wallop him for me, Father!" Rey said with glee. Today, he was going to become a water law user, maybe even an ice law user too! - - - - - - - - - Laying down in a small pond in the forest, the Rewke was thinking about what it might do today. ''Life is great for me, barely anything in this forest can do much harm to me. Maybe I''ll go me around with that copper bird after this...'' the Rewke thought proudly. As it was laying there, suddenly a white powder fell into the water. It snapped out of its thinking and looked around suspiciously, going into full alert. Suddenly a blue light pierced its body, and it felt like it was on fire. All of its muscles twitching as it screamed out dreadfully. Crackle. "ARGGHH" The Rewke was infuriated at this. ''What is this horrendous feeling? Every single part of its body felt terrible!! ''Maybe this was some type of fire?'' It thought. It frantically looked around before it saw a woman with blue snake-like energy that coiled around her. It had never been electrocuted in its life, so it didn''t realize that this wasn''t fire. The Rewke, thinking this, spread more water around itself and sent a spear made of ice toward Serai. At this, she merely laughed at the Rewke and continued sending electricity to it. The Rewke, once again, began to feel a burning sensation, and its skin becoming charred and black. It then realized that water was making the attack stronger. As the ice spear was nearing Serai, a man jump out of a bush and thew a fireball towards the spear, melting it. The Rewke displaced all the water near its body and the electricity was canceled. ''It seems that weird fire needs water to activate. If that''s the case, then....'' the rewke thought. Once again, it cast water around itself, but this time, it froze all of the water. As the electricity began to coil around the ice, the damage done to the rewke was significantly reduced.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Liam, let''s finish this quickly," Serai said. Liam nodded as he created fireballs to melt the ice. Soon, the ice turned into water, and Serai readied herself to strike. The Rewke was in an awkward situation, it couldn''t keep reforming the ice for long, but also couldn''t let it turn back to the water. Never in its life had it encountered such a deadly duo. It had to be cunning if it was going to survive; a plan was formulating in its head. A few seconds later, the rewke turned all its ice into water. "Haha, given up?" Serai taunted while sending out her electricity momentarily. "Arg!!" A painful scream resounded as Liam fell to the ground. "Liam!" Serai screamed. Quickly, she retracted her energy and looked at Liam. She then noticed that the rewke tunneled its ice underground until it reached Liam and herself. It then turned the ice into water and attached to their legs. When she used the lightning law, instead of electrocuting it, the energy was directed towards Liam. The tides had changed, now Liam was also extremely wounded and couldn''t use his fire energy effectively. Seeing its plan work flawlessly, the Rewke was exuberant and started to send more ice spears towards them. "I''ll manage, I''m not gonna be as helpful right now..." Liam said while gasping for air. Both their faces were grim at this moment. The only reason they attempted to kill this creature was due to their advantage, but now, they were starting to lose that advantage. Rey, who was still hiding, was starting to get really worried at this moment. ''If this continued...'' Rey thought. Liam tried his best to melt as many ice spears, but his powers were dwindling. They both looked at each other, "Seems like we can only risk it." Liam said. Serai nodded, then proceeded to put on two spikey metal gloves and cover them in a white powder. Liam was focused on melting the spears with his fireballs. The Rewke became agitated at the sight of the gloves and that white powder, ''Wasn''t some of that powder tossed into the pond right before I got electrocuted?''. As it was still thinking of this with its ice barrier up, Serai started to sprint towards it at an alarming speed. Since she practiced the lightning law she could also move, react, and think quicker than most. She closed in on it, moving quickly while dodging the spears left and right. The reason why she didn''t do this early was due to the risk being so high. If one of those spears were to hit her, she''d be injured, or possibly end up dead if she underestimated it. "Now!" Serai shouted as she was less than 5 meters away. Liam, who was no longer melting the spears since it wasn''t targeting him, used his fire energy and condensed the fire energy within each fireball, making them burn fiercely. The fire law was essentially increasing the energy and movement in a particle. He could raise the temperature more, but the energy required for that increased exponentially. He wouldn''t be able to do that for long and was quite the strain on his body. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The fireballs pierced through the ice shield. Before the rewke had the chance to reform the ice around it, a dazzling blue radiance appeared and landed on the creature''s face. Crackle! Zap! Zap! Splat! The electricity was way more potent with direct contact, not to mention a hit to the head. Its head exploded, killing the Rewke. Only now did they realize how tired they were from battling the creature. "Haha, it truly is a good thing you brought so much salt. Otherwise, I don''t think we would''ve survived," Liam said as he was staring at the white powder on Serai''s gloves. "Better more than less," Serai sighed. "Rey, you can come out now, quickly try to absorb its blood," Serai shouted. A few moments past, yet no response was heard. "Rey?" Liam said but still didn''t hear a response. they hurried over to where they told him to stay, and saw him passed out, pale-faced with an ice spear impaled into his solar plex. When the rewke was frantically trying to attack Serai with its ice spears, one of them hit Rey, impaling him to the tree. Luckily, the spot and angle where he was hit missed his vital organs and spine. "REY!!!!!" They cried. If he didn''t receive healing, his chances of surviving were practically zero. The injury wasn''t fatal, but the blood loss just from standing there was already enough to kill him in a short amount of time. "Serai, absorb the Rewke''s water law understanding! Quick!!" He said. Serai quickly ran over and tried sensing the water law through the Rewke''s blood. She started absorbing the understanding of water law. "Rey! Can you hear me?! Come on, don''t die on me, Rey!" Liam said. With Rey now on the brink of death, black energy seeped out of him unnoticed to anyone and boosted Serai''s healing enough to stop the bleeding. She pulled out the bloodied ice spear and cast water healing on him. The water law infused water entered his wound, healing most of his external damage, saving his life. They both heaved a heavy sigh and rushed back to Lorea. Hibari Light particles flew past Rey''s eyes as his ears buzzed and body ached as if he just got thrown off a building. ''Am I dead?'' He thought. Rey tried to move, but it was to no avail. He couldn''t feel his fingers. He suddenly felt searing pain rushing over his head. Like the endless ocean waves, the pain intensified once again as he tried to distract himself. As he tried to focus on his environment, the pain and the buzzing in his ear started to intensify once more. As soon as he felt it was impossible to bear, and nearly screamed out, the pain gradually decreased. His vision and senses became crystal clear. He looked around and realized he was in a room of some sort. The building he was in didn''t even look normal. The steel-like walls were filled with intricate patterns that glowed a transparent light. To be precise, by just looking at the walls, he couldn''t see any light, yet he could still "feel" a light emanating off of them. He then recognized that he wasn''t even breathing in this space and that his body felt lighter than normal. He could visibly see outer space through the open roof on the building. As he looked around some more in bewilderment, he saw a man with medium-length golden hair standing in the middle of the room. Rey looked into his eyes, and he felt trapped as if he was in a vast and endless space. He lost sight of his own body and was enthralled. ''So scary! To think he would have that effect just by looking at him. Wait a second. Those eyes.'' Rey thought and suddenly realized. Abruptly, the man started to speak: "Commence the last resort. You will be the sole testament to everything that happened here one day." Time skipped forward and the man''s body jerked forward. "You may never have my full bloodline, so please forgive me in advance. Goodbye son, your name shall be Jacob Reymond from now on. As you grow up, Hibari will accompany you. At the cost of your bloodline, you shall live." He paused as space distorted and warped. When Rey awoke, he was in a simple wooden bedroom, with just a bed, table, and a mirror. He opened his eyes and sat himself up. A piercing pain came to him as he did, however. ''Not again!!!'' He prepared himself. After a moment the pain didn''t get worse and realized that it was different this time. He felt a very strong wincing pain, but unlike the last time, this was bearable. Truly, he would have endless nightmares of that feeling. As he stood up from bed, everything he heard in that vivid dream-like state came back to him. Walking over to a mirror facing the bed he slept in, Rey looked at his half-naked body, staring back into his own black eyes. ''What am I?'' He recalled that similar feeling. Unexpectedly, a voice called back to him. ''What are you? An incompetent fool whose soul isn''t even strong enough to hear me yelling at you!'' A deep masculine voice raged. "What the heck?" Rey shouted out as he covered his body with his hands. Embarrassment and fear overtook him as he looked around. ''Why did Space God give me such a hopeless responsibility?'' He made a clicking noise that sounded like it was right behind Rey. ''If only I had perished that day. Who would have thought I''d suffer the endless torture of being alone and almost dying with a weak kid like this. Not even comprehending a law yet. Pitifully delicate!'' "Who''s there?" Rey said with a knot in his throat as he was startled, stumbling backward and landing on his head. A slight bruise formed on the back of his head. Cold sweat formed on his back as he frantically got up again and looked around; nobody was there despite the voice Rey clearly heard. ''And to think that I have to exist while being able to hear every single thought of yours! Don''t go to sleep! How can a kid''s thoughts be so bland!'' He cried with bitterness. ''You know, I, Hibari, used to be a great being; comparable to a god in this world! And now?'' Hibari sniffled for a moment before getting mad again. ''Maybe a fly''s soul would have realized that I existed! Are you even his son?'' Hibari joked in an insane voice.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Rey''s eyes widened at the mention of his father. ''He knows my actual father?'' Rey didn''t know how to respond and stood in silence as his breathing became heavy. ''Of course, I knew your father!'' He laughed, ''He was a great teacher, a wonderful man.'' He bellowed before realizing something big. ''Wait. Wait, what did you say?'' He responded dryly. Rey''s breathing was rigid. His wounds hurt and made him feel woozy, yet the adrenaline and fear pumping through his veins kept him alert. "You knew my father?" Rey uttered with a slow and deliberate voice. ''Hold up!'' Hibari said in disbelief. ''Say my name!!'' Hibari said in a high-pitched and excited voice. "Hibari?" Rey replied meekly. "Again!" "Hibari" "Again!" "Hibari" "Again!" "Are you okay?" Rey said. ''This, this¡­'' Hibari started to cry and break down at this. ''Do you know how long it has been since I have talked with a person? 12 YEARS! I was a Space King, this isn''t a long time for me, but you¡­you made it into a perpetual nightmare! I even considered abandoning my master''s final request. But now¡­I am free!'' Hibari said with great joy. If looks could kill, Rey would have been a mass murderer at this point. He looked hauntingly at Hibari. ''This fella, isn''t he being way too impudent right now?'' ''No! I am not! Trust me, if you were me right now, you''d be saying the same things!'' He broke down crying again. It had truly been too hard for him these past 12 years. ''Wait¡­you can hear my thoughts?'' ''Yes, as I previously stated. Now do you realize why my life was so torturous?'' Hibari spat out. ''Sorry¡­'' With a bitter smile, Rey didn''t know what else to say. ''Oh, don''t worry. I''ll definitely get my revenge for the next 12 years of your life. Welcome to hell, Rey!!'' Hibari said with a mischievous voice. Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and two familiar faces walked in. Liam and Serai both walked in. "Rey! Good, you''re awake" They walked over and gave him a warm hug. "Father! Mother! What happened?" Rey exclaimed with worry. "We killed the Rewke, but¡­.." ''Rewke? What a ridiculous name! Who''d be so dumb to call an Undine a Rewke! It sounds like the noise you''d make when you throw up! Rewke!'' Hibari chuckled. ''Seems like this is what he meant when he said revenge¡­'' Rey thought. "¡­and then, out of nowhere, you got impaled by a spear and I had to absorb its blood to heal you enough to carry you back. " Serai''s voice quivered. "Sorry about the bloodline son, that was way too close. Next time, stay behind cover and hide. As for now, rest up. When you are healed and ready, we''ll go and hunt another creature." Liam said while Serai nodded. Kissing Rey farewell, they left. ''Hibari.'' He called. ''Yes, Rey?'' Hibari sounded happy. ''You said you knew my father, what I am, who I am?'' Rey''s breathing became rough as his voice cracked. ''I need answers.'' ''You are the descendant of the Space God, the leader of the Space Kings. But as of now, your bloodline is composed of half Space King DNA, as for the rest, it''s human DNA. Your original name was Rey Nefasi.'' Hibari laughed. ''Why do you think most people here call you Rey instead of Jacob?'' ''It''s what my parents picked.'' He said as thoughts ran through his mind, constantly theorizing. ''Stop thinking so much! And wrong. They call you Rey because that''s what I made them call you. My influence is nothing to be looked down apart.'' Hibari sounded frustrated. "You influenced my parents and everyone around me? Did I ask you to?" Rey blurted out. ''Keep quiet! Do you think you could even control me if you wish?'' Hibari made Rey''s thoughts slow as he felt his mind go blank, and his head throbbed. ''Don''t test me, Rey. Be it as you may, I won''t influence them any longer then. I''ll take back that gift since you don''t appreciate it. Use your thoughts and stop talking. You want someone to think you are crazy?'' Rey felt fear of just how powerful that suppression was. ''Alright,'' he pondered, ''What about my bloodline, why did my father change it?'' Hibari sighed. ''Just forget about it and accept you won''t get your birthright as an heir to the Space God. It is against his wishes, but that doesn''t mean that I can''t help you improve it and help you find some weaker space affinity creatures.'' Hibari said solemnly. Rey''s eyes lit up, ''Really? Do we have other affinities?'' ''Yes, we also have a time affinity, however, it is only a mid-tier affinity, but due to your crappy and diluted bloodline,'' he paused, ''I just have to say, you are so weak right now. Seriously, I¡ª'' Rey coughed and heaved. ''Ah, right.'' He gave an awkward laugh. ''You have a low mid-tier time affinity, and a high-tier space affinity, along with many trash-tier affinities. I''ve never seen affinities this low, so I came up with a new tier to describe yours.'' Hibari spoke with a jolly voice. "¡­" Rey ignored that last part ''Wow! A high-tier space affinity'' Rey felt like he hit gold! ''¡­You know us Space Kings had perfect tier space affinity.'' Hibari sighed. ''Oh,'' Rey itched his head, ''you said you can improve my bloodline?'' ''I can try to experiment a little, it shouldn''t be too hard though. Since you were already born as a Space King with your perfect bloodline, you already absorbed some understanding of those laws. With your soul upgraded from house fly state to decent, you should be able to use that portion of the law. Simply clear your mind, feel your connection to the space law and space energy within you, and will something to happen.'' Hibari advised him. ''Try to feel and release the space energy from within you.'' Hibari said ''Okay, clear your mind.'' Rey repeated and cleared his mind. ''Sense the space law¡­'' As he did this, he could feel some strange energy within himself. ''This is the space energy. Release!'' he willed. Instantly, energy formed at his fingertips and shot through the ground. ''Success!'' He thought. ''Hmm, not that bad kid! I thought that you might accidentally blow yourself up instead.'' Hibari laughed. ''What? I could have died?'' Rey looked pale as he also remembered his wounds. ''So gullible. It was a joke!'' Hibari''s deep bellows of laughter echoed in Rey''s ears. ''Anyway, even if you did somehow manage to do that, not that I''d put it past you, the Space God did somehow impart some of his power to us, so if we are truly in a dire situation, we can use it.'' ''Also, he did give you this." Hibari said mysteriously. ''You''re gonna feel a lot of pain. Brace yourself, Rey!'' Suddenly Rey felt an unbearable pain coming from his chest. "Not again!" He yelled before his vision blackened and his body fell onto the bed. Hibari sighed, ''Tempering your soul is always hard, Rey. We all have our nightmares from our pain and grief. Learn and grow your soul from it, let it be your guide. Good luck, Rey! Just maybe¡­'' Space Law Rey, once again, woke up from the most painful thing in his life. Getting hit in the solar plexus is the most painful thing one can experience with their body. This pain, however, was so much more, at least 10 times greater. This was the pain coming from his very soul. After a few moments of extreme anguish that felt like days, he finally woke up. "Ahhhh" Rey groaned lightly. ''Hehe, you awake Rey?'' Hibari said a surprised voice ''I thought that you''d have a tougher time going through that...'' ''WHY? Why did you make me go through that?!?!'' Rey mentally exclaimed as he was furious. His worst nightmare had just happened a few moments after the first time he felt that pain. ''Relax Rey, this was a necessary pain. Look what is inside your hand! This is something all the Space Kings had.'' Rey looked into his hand, and indeed, there was something. ''A ring?'' Rey was confused. ''I didn''t realize that Space Kings were into bling and fashion?'' ''...This ring isn''t for aesthetics! This is a spatial ring crafted by our race! With this, you won''t have to carry around things that would restrict you. This space, however, can''t have any other creatures in it. This is something created with its own space law, creating space out of nothing. Thus, the only law this has is the space law. No fire, ice, water, time, or anything else shall exist in this space, or it will collapse the artificial space law. ''Wow! How do I use it?'' Rey said with joviality. ''Each one has a passcode with voice recognition, simply yell out "I Love Hibari!". Mhmm, just like that, and it will open.'' Hibari said with a laugh. ''You''ve got to be kidding me...'' Rey exclaimed, Wasn''t this guy just trying to trick him? ''No, I am not tricking you, I personally set this password and the requirements, so go ahead!'' he stated proudly. ''...Alright. "i love Hibari "'' Rey said, feeling incredibly ridiculous. ''Louder! otherwise, it won''t work.'' ''I LoVe HiBaRi'' Rey said in a louder voice. ''Louder buddy! Give it some oomph!'' ''I LOVE HIBARI!'' Rey shouted at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, he could feel a connection with the ring. As he focused on that spatial feeling, he could see within the ring. It had two square-shaped boxes of space about 50 cubic meters next to each other, with a larger rectangular prism approximately 120 cubic meters between those two squares. All in all, it was 220 cubic meters of space. ''This is amazing!'' He started to become exuberant, despite the horrible way of accessing it. He then realized something was off about this shape...''Wait a second...wasn''t this a certain body part?'' ''Hehehe, do you like my present?'' Hibari merely laughed as he heard this. His mind had truly been too warped by Rey in these past 12 years. ''...Why are you acting like a 12-year-old?'' Rey was feeling very doubtful about the Space God''s choice of caretakers. ''The real question, is why aren''t you? After all, you are a 12-year-old.'' Hibari, despite his own childishness, couldn''t grasp this. ''Because I want to grow stronger. Hearing how my entire race had to destroy themselves because of some threat, I can''t sit by ideally playing some jokes'' He tried not to laugh. His mind, however, was still a 12-year-olds mind. ''I need to get stronger.'' Rey said with determination. ''Alright, alright! Jeez, kid, I''ll help you get stronger. Just learn to take a joke once in a while. Even the shouting my name was a joke. I''ll control your spatial ring for now due to your lack of proficiency, just will it, and I''ll open it for you.'' Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Rey merely rolled his eyes at this. ''By the way, why did I choose to go by the name of Rey even before I knew my name was originally Rey Nafasi? And the Space God gave me the name of Jacob Reymond even before I met the Reymonds, how is that possible?!?'' He was thoroughly confused by this. ''Hmm, I don''t know, perhaps you still unconsciously remembered your name before you recovered that portion of your memories? As for giving you the name before meeting them, perhaps he looked into the future while teleporting you? Space Gods do have an affinity towards time, though I don''t believe he had that ability.'' ''Oh, I guess that sorta makes sense...And the Ancient? What is that?'' Rey curiously said. ''Can''t divulge that information, that was a direct command from the Space God. Not until you at least reach the Saint Stage or it is pertinent to your survival.'' Hibari stated. ''In that case, it seems like I have to get stronger then.'' Rey responded. - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, in the tavern, outside of Rey''s room "Liam, I know you want to help Rey comprehend a law, but look at his and our state right now! We can''t go risking our lives and his just for a better chance at comprehending a law IF we kill it" Serai said with a serious tone. "It''s only a slightly stronger creature, and it''s of the space element! If we can kill it, I thoroughly believe that Rey will absorb the space law. I don''t know why I feel so strongly, I just do! Once we heal up, I think that we should..." Liam said before stopping abruptly "I LOVE HIBARI!" They heard from a voice that was strangely around Rey''s room. "We might''ve just found a bigger problem on our hand, who is this Hibari?" Serai said with a shocked face. "He''s never told me about a Hibari, perhaps this is a new girl he met?" Liam said with a vigorous face as he thought, ''He is finally socializing with girls!'' "Mhmm" Serai nodded "It would seem so. Looks like we''ll have to dig deeper on this topic." "Perhaps we can bring it up to him while we go hunt this space affinity creature?" Liam insisted, not relenting. "How about this, invite some of your friends with us, and I''ll think about it." Serai finally relented. "Great! We''ll go as soon as Rey is healed up!" He said with excitement. - - - - - - - - - - ''Hibari...Why does my body feel so exhausted right now?'' Rey stated, feeling as if he hadn''t gotten any sleep in days. ''You are on the verge of regaining your innate comprehension of the space law due to the strengthening of your soul'' Hibari said. ''Oh! that sounds grea...alright, I''m going back to sleep, I have to rest up and recov...'' Rey then suddenly felt extremely tired and fell into a deep sleep. ''Mhmm, don''t be thinking anything weird or you...'' Hibari said in a somewhat serious voice before suddenly stopping. ''Hehehe! The Guardian of Corinth...welcomes you...to hell!!!'' He said in a raspy, deranged voice. - - - - - - - - - - - Rey woke up after a long sleep. The damage that was done to his body wasn''t very severe, but due to him absorbing so much space energy for the first time, his body needed to adjust properly. Serai also needed to sleep after taking in ice energy, but due to her affinity being much lower, her body didn''t absorb much ice energy; the time she needed to adjust was significantly lower. "Oh, you''re finally awake!!!!" Riza exclaimed in a loud voice. Riza Arriero, one of his closest friends. Riza had short blonde hair, hazelnut eyes, and a cheerful face, giving her the look of fierceness with a trace of beauty. She was Light law user at the Novice stage 5 at the age of 13. She was exceptionally strong, probably due to the fact she received a legacy improving her light affinity to mid-tier. Now after 2 years, she hit the Novice stage 14. "Ah! Riza...It wasn''t that bad, I was only out for a couple of days..." Rey responded "Couple days? More like a couple of years! You gave us all a scare, we thought you really did get hurt, or not wake up again!!" Riza said in worry. "Couple...Couple years??" Rey stuttered, not wanting to believe this. Then, he looked around, and he was in his home. Indeed, it does seem like I was gone for a little bit. He noticed many different decorations around his wooden house. ''It''s because you just awakened the Space law, and your body worked to fill your being with space energy.'' Hibari stated in his mind. ''Your affinity made it so you had to rest while absorbing the space law for 2 years. This is quite normal for us due to our high affinity.'' "I''ll go tell Liam and Serai and the rest! They''ll be extremely happy!!" Riza went and hurried off. ''So I''ve finally comprehended a law??'' Rey said in disbelief. ''Yes, and right now, your body is full of space energy'' Hibari replied ''How much Space energy can I hold?'' Rey asked ''That''s not how Space energy is really quantified...I can, however, use a percentage form of your energy and then change it into a point system based off of your weakest ability.'' ''Do it, and list any other relevant information with it'' Rey said, as information was transmitted to his mind. /// Name: Jacob Reymond / Rey Nafasi Age: 14 years old, 5 months Bloodline: Crappy Human bloodline (50%) Space King bloodline (50%) Laws: Space law - (Pitifully only) High-tier affinity - Adept stage 1 Abilities: Teleportation, Imbue, Materiokinesis, Gravitation Manipulation, permeability Energy: Space - 25/25 - recharges 1 point per hour Teleportation: User can teleport an object in a 10-meter radius around himself for 1 point of space energy, or teleport the user 3 meters away from the initial position for 1.8 points of space energy. Uses more energy with greater distance and weight. Imbue: User can imbue an object with space energy, causing the object to become deadlier with variable damage. The more energy imbued, the more damage an object can do. Uses a minimum of 0.5 space energy. Materiokinesis: User can shape materials by controlling molecules. The energy required is based on material density, type, and size of manipulation. The space energy required is variable. Gravitation Manipulation: User can manipulate gravity within a 2-meter radius around the user. Space energy is variable based on total weight, amount gravity is manipulated by, and duration. Permeability: User can activate space energy inside his body, becoming permeable and passing through an object as he wishes. Energy consumption is based on the density of user and material passing through, time activated, and mass of user. Base energy cost is 12 points per meter traveled. /// ''Did you really have to transmit that my human bloodline made me weaker??'' Rey helplessly stated. ''Yep! I can''t help myself. I see something weak, and I just have to point it out.'' Hibari said in disdain for humans bloodline. "Rey!!!" Both Liam and Serai rushed over, hugging him almost until he collapsed. "Huh? Aren''t you a little bigger than you were before?" Liam said. ''Your body has become stronger with the space energy supplementing your body''s growth.'' Hibari stated. ''Woah!'' He checked his arms and muscles and saw he had become visibly stronger. His body was in peak condition thanks to the space energy within his body. "Father, Mother, Riza, I''ve finally acquired a law!!" Rey said and then pondered, "And there''s something else I need to tell you guys...about where I came from..." Shua! They looked at Rey incredulously. Field Test "You... comprehended a law?" Liam, Serai, and Riza all said in disbelief. "You haven''t even killed a space affinity creature... how is that possible? You must not be lucid yet and thinking that you comprehend a law. After all, you were asleep for 2 years." Serai said, shocked, and thinking he was dreaming or something, she disregarded what he said earlier. The rest of them nodded their heads, ''Ah, so that''s how it is'' they thought in their heads, before being shocked and surprised once again when they saw Rey vanish before their eyes and reappear right behind them. "Now do you believe me? Do not tell anyone else about this though, or it will be dangerous. The fewer people who know that I have control over space the better" Rey said according to what Hibari was telling him mentally. ''Good! Not many people should know this about you, or it will create trouble. Telling your family was necessary, but telling Riza was not a good idea...even if she is a close friend'' Hibari said with some worry. ''Relax, you can trust her.'' Rey responded mentally. After a long pause, Riza, Serai, and Liam finally calmed down. "So it is true..." Serai said, "When did you kill a Space affinity creature?" "I haven''t killed any space creatures, I was born with the Space law." Rey explained. "Is that even possible??" Riza spoke in bewilderment. "It is" Serai interjected, "There are rare creatures here on Reje that are born with a Novice stage 6 understanding of some laws, but that is nothing to the level you are at it seems." Rey continued to catch his family up to speed. Telling him all about what he had learned about the destruction of his race and the being called the Ancient while omitting any details about Hibari or the storage ring. "Maybe we can kill that creature now? Your abilities may be extremely helpful! What do you guys think? Riza couldn''t help but say. "No! He isn''t ready for fighting it. Back then we had over 5 times our strength, and our losses were still great with only being able to severely wound the creature before he could escape. We won''t be able to fight that creature, plus it has only gotten stronger over time. Maybe if there were a few experts around, but our remote town cannot hope to defeat such a creature!" Liam said, with a tinge of fear. "I''m confused, what is this creature? Why haven''t I heard of this?" Rey said. "About two years ago, when you fell into your coma, there appeared a space affinity creature that our father and I were going to hunt. Then you fell into your coma, and it started wreaking havoc wherever it went. We sent many Adept and Evolved stage fighters to kill the beast, yet we lost more than half of our group and it fled. Back then it was at the Adept stage 17 of the space law, and now it''s about the Evolved stage 3-6 I presume. I forbid you to challenge it! We just have to wait until some experts fight it." Serai said in a wavering voice. "I understand, I''ll have to train then until then" Rey with determination. "Just don''t push yourself too hard, so far the creature hasn''t hit our town and it doesn''t seem to be going for us at the moment," Serai said. They continued to catch up on all the social events for a good 30 minutes until Riza, Serai, and Liam all left, leaving Rey to think. ''At this instant, I need to focus on adapting to my powers.'' Rey stated mentally, ''Since I can teleport, both ranged attacks and melee are optimal. I''ll buy some arrows and a good bow, and then grab a couple of daggers for sneak attacks.'' Rey formulated his plan. ''Why not just create your own weapons? You do after all have the ability to shape materials.'' Hibari said. ''That works? I guess I''ll give it a try'' Rey walked out of his house, breathing in the fresh...Nevermind, the manure that filled the air. Oh, how he loved that familiar smell. He walked over to his parent''s shed and grabbed some scrap iron and some sticks. He then proceeded to cast his materiokenesis ability and will the metal and wood in his hand to transform. Chi! Chi! Pop! The mixture of wood and metal exploded and flew a couple of chunks around the shed. Failed! Rey then proceeded to try again but with only the metal this time. Chi! Chi! Chi! Slowly, the metal began to move and turn as space energy was poured into it. it formed into a ball before slowly flattening and becoming sharper. Gradually, beads of sweat began to form as Rey was nearing completion. He then gave it a quick design and smoothed any edges to help cut cleaner. ''Not bad! Although your energy is nearly depleted with your lack of experience and control over the space law, you still managed too manipulate a single material.'' Hibari said. I still need to make the handle too'' he thought. He began to manipulate the wood this time with the last bit of energy he had. Chi! Chi!Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Quickly, the wood moved and flowed into the desired shape. It seems the material matters quite a bit in regards to difficulty and energy drain. He quickly morphed the wood around the metal dagger blade. Success! The first weapon is completed! Rey tested it out on a sparing dummy he had to see how sharp he made it. Pshew! It cut cleanly through but still wasn''t very flexible. If the blade isn''t flexible enough, then it will slowly break and chip away. ''I''ll need to fine-tune each object I make for the desired effect.'' Rey said with satisfaction. He was super happy with this skill. ''Hibari, please show me my stats, and remove the nonsense!'' Rey said. ''Alright, alright...For having such strong bones, you don''t seem to have a single funny bone in your body!'' Hibari jested some more before pulling up Rey''s stats. /// Name: Jacob Reymond / Rey Nafasi Age: 14 years old, 5 months Bloodline: NOT Crappy Human bloodline (50%) Space King bloodline (50%) Laws: Space law - High-tier affinity - Adept stage 1 Abilities: Teleportation, Imbue, Materiokinesis, Gravitation Manipulation, Permeability Energy: Space - 0.1/25 - recharges 1 point per hour Teleportation: User can teleport an object in a 10-meter radius around himself for 1, or teleport user 3 meters from the initial position for 1.8 points of space energy. Uses more energy with greater distance and weight. Imbue: The user can imbue an object with space energy, causing the object to become deadlier with variable damage. The more energy imbued, the more damage an object can do. Uses a minimum of 0.5 space energy. Materiokinesis: The user can shape a material into any object he can think of by controlling atoms. The energy required is based on material density, type, and size of manipulation. The space energy required is variable. The user is somewhat experienced in this ability. Gravitation Manipulation: The user can manipulate gravity within a 2-meter radius around the user. Space energy is variable based on total weight, amount gravity is manipulated by, and duration. Permeability: The user can activate space energy inside his body, becoming permeable and passing through an object as he wishes. Energy consumption is based on the density of user and material passing through, time activated, and mass of user. The base energy cost is 12 points per meter traveled. /// ''Why must you continue taunting me?'' Rey helplessly said. ''Eh? Probably because I can. It is after all one of my favorite hobbies.'' Hibari said in a creepy laugh. ''Why do I feel like you are just getting crazier each second...'' Rey said helplessly. ''There''s something I should tell you, in those two years when you were asleep...It seems that I...somehow was also...asleep.'' Hibari said with great confusion. ''Normally, when you sleep, even if you go into a coma, I''ll still be awake, but somehow, something managed to even put me to sleep.'' Rey''s eyes open wide as he heard this. ''You think someone knows about you and did something?'' ''Not possible, I only exist as a soul attached to yours, so nobody at the level of your world should be able to detect me, much less manipulate souls.'' Hibari stated. ''Just keep your eyes open for answers. ''Got it!'' Rey said Rey decided to wait around and do chores or catch up more with Riza and Aizen, one of his other friends. It turned out that in those two years he was in a coma, Aizen reached the Novice stage 12 in both the air law and the metal law by the age of 15. People could train in multiple laws, but progress would typically be slower and tough to do. If one could accomplish such a feat though, then their future would be brighter. In the next 3 weeks, Rey made 2 more knives, 20 arrows, a bow, and some armor with help from Hibari. Rey was ready now to fight and absorb more space bloodlines. He needed to get stronger if he wanted to fight that space creature terrorizing their land. ''Hold up! Check out any other abilities you have right now so you aren''t surprised by them when push comes to shove. Don''t be too scared about permeability!'' Hibari suggested with a mischievous voice. Rey nodded to Hibari, then decided to test out his other abilities in sequential order. First, he threw his 3 daggers in different directions. shua shua shua! Hummm He then tried teleporting all three daggers headed towards a dummy, but the daggers he threw were too quick for him to process and was only able to teleport one dagger to the dummy. This was his limit until he practiced to be more proficient. Next up was Imbue. This was one skill he thought was pretty lame. He first cut the dummy without Imbue to create a baseline, then activated Imbue. He poured his space energy into the dagger and saw trace refractions of light around the dagger. Pshew! He took a big chunk of straw out of the dummy. The destructive power of Imbue was greater than he had imagined, albeit the dummy was just straw, but he could also increase the space energy he poured in. Since he already had some experience in Materiokenisis, he decided to skip that go on straight onto gravity manipulation. He put all unnecessary weight into his space ring and then proceeded to send his space energy outward below him, encircling and flowing around him. He then proceeded to jump 6 meters off the ground. He put more space energy into the bottom half of his space energy circle, and he started to hover in the air. He placed some energy behind him, and he started falling forwards. This skill for the short 8 seconds he had it going drained 5 space energy points. If he was able to get more space energy, Rey may very well be able to fly for short periods of time. ''Hehe, next up is permeability...For this skill, go outside where there isn''t a roof above you, also do it near a soft patch of dirt for less energy consumption.'' Hibari directed. Rey was feeling nervous about this skill. He thought that it couldn''t be that complicated, but Hibari was putting fear into his heart. Rey started to flow the space energy inside his body, and suddenly sight was getting blurry, he was starting to become deaf, and couldn''t feel anything around his body. He quickly stopped the space energy flow and his senses returned back to normal. He felt himself accelerating at an extremely fast rate upwards and then saw the ground. He continued rising until he was 50 meters high in the air when finally, he started falling. He quickly flowed energy in a half-circle below his body to counteract gravity before he crashed into the earth. He came to an abrupt stop. Scary! ''When you become illusory like that, all light, sound, touch, all of your senses are gone, and no one can see you as light passes through your body. Matter cannot exist in two places at once, so when you deactivated it as you were falling, your body bolted upwards through the ground.'' Hibari stated. ''Try permeating everything but the bottom of your feet. Also, you might want to quickly grab your clothes so you don''t create any embarrassing scenes...'' Hibari laughed. Rey, realizing this, felt embarrassed and quickly flowed space energy around his body except for his feet. Luckily no one else was around... This time, Rey could still feel the grass beneath his feet, he continued walking for a little bit before his energy ran out and he recovered his appearance. He quickly ran over to his clothes and put them back on. ''I''m ready! Tomorrow I''ll head out with Riza and Aizen to hunt some creatures, maybe even a space creature if we have time!'' Rey told Hibari. ''With my help, sensing space bloodlines should be a cakewalk!'' Hibari laughed with some bloodlust in his voice. Battle Experience A day later, in the center of the town Lorea. A youth with black hair and a worn face, looking tough, gathered there. He was a hulking 2 meters tall, standing upright like a tree. His eyes were almost see-through grey. If one looked closely, they would be able to see blood through his eyes. His skin had a slight sheen to it, and his muscles strong, looking like a chiseled piece of rock. "Aizen!!" a girl said, before walking up to him and slamming a fist into the ground. "Riza, you''re late!" Aizen said, then also proceeded to slam his fist in the ground, upsetting some gravel on the street. People glanced over at Aizen, who had created a small tremor. "I''m not late, you''re just early! Rey, however, seems like he will be late..." Riza replied. "Ah, as he usually is..." Aizen said in a distasteful voice, obviously annoyed. "He isn''t even a cultivator, I don''t know why he would be inviting us" "Aren''t you two somewhat close??" Riza questioned. "Well yes, as a person he is cool, and while I can respect most aspects of him except for his tardiness, outside of that, he has no right to join us" Aizen stated. This was a world where the strong thrived and the weak were dismissed and typically despised. Not many people would think about befriending a frail person because they tend to die quickly. Another reason was that those who didn''t cultivate couldn''t increase their lifespan at all. "Sheesh, well, you''d be wrong about Rey not comprehending a law. In fact, he just reached the Adept stage 1 in the law he is cultivating!" Riza exclaimed proudly. She enjoyed the fact the Rey wasn''t a cultivator at first. Riza always felt pressured to uphold her pride and could never relax around any other cultivators due to that. Having Rey as a friend was a breath of fresh air. No doubt that their friendship would only increase with time as they hunted together. "Th-Th-This...is impossible! He was in a coma for 2 years and had never hunted a creature before to even cultivate a law, much less breakthrough into the Adept stage! Even though I am dual cultivating the air and metal laws, I am still only a Novice stage 12! How did he achieve that so fast? Wh-What law is he comprehending?" Aizen exclaimed in bewilderment. He then thought about it more. "Ah, Haha! You''re joking! But of course!" "Guess you''ll just have to see with your own eyes then...If he ever arrives..." Riza said, even her becoming a little impatient. - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Crap Crap Crap!" Rey cursed himself as he hurried to grab some money and sprinted out of the house and went towards the market square. Rey flew past houses and various families as he reached the market to purchase rations of food and water, bandages, etcetera. He reached the market within 5 minutes after using his stronger and fit body. The market was many different stands with people all shouting and advertising their merchandise. "Come and get the best assortment of grains you can find! Best tasting in the whole town!" "Receive comprehension! If you drink this liquid, you''ll be able to cultivate so easily!" "Buy our Ryden guilds armor! Stronger than a Cerberus'' bones and made from top-tiered materials!" Rey heard various propaganda being shouted, especially about that liquid silver metal substance. He even heard about others drinking it to become immortal, but they died a couple of days later instead. Rey disregarded the rest of the shops and ran over to his usual shops to get his materials. He would go here for his parents whenever they were going out to hunt. He then started to feel a sense of pride and completeness, like he had finally come full circle and was now going to hunt. He mentally thanked Hibari for the mental torture that increased his soul''s growth enough to overcome the biological restrictions of his bloodline. "Hello, Arius!" Rey said before proceeding to send a fist towards the ground. "Could I quickly get 60 days'' worth of rations? Also, I need some gauze and medicinal herbs, please, and quickly!" Rey hurriedly said while giving him 40 silver coins. "Ah, Rey!" Arius said before doing the same, "Hold your horses, these old bones aren''t working as well these days." Arius said as he turned around. "Mylo come and get Rey his usual!" Arius said in a somewhat raspy, yet calm voice. Arius was an old man by now. Apparently, he was a big shot cultivator in the light law and the darkness law, but he suddenly decided not to pursue cultivation any longer. Whenever people asked him why he would only smile in response. "Thanks, Ol'' Ari!" Rey said right before he heard a voice in his head. ''The one who sees is blind indeed!'' Hibari resounded with the voice of a madman within Rey''s mind. ''...What? What do you mean Hibari?'' Rey thought while being thoroughly freaked out. ''Those who desire...will falsely believe in their own lies...HAHAHA, the prisoner will be free indeed!!'' Hibari raged in an even more deranged voice full of fury. ''Corinth cannot hold back this highness any longer it seems!'' "Just a minute longer Rey," Arius stated. ''Who are you? Where is Hibari?'' Rey thought in a worried voice. He knew by now that he wasn''t taking to Hibari, but that didn''t change the problem. ''I AM SOMA!! THE TRUE AND ONLY IN THE UNIVERSE!!! NOW THAT I AM FREE...'' Rey''s hand started to move uncontrollably towards his daggers. ''I SHALL HAVE SOME FUN, HAHAHA-'' Soma started to laugh before abruptly stopping. ''...AHHHH!! NO!! I WON''T BE SENT BACK! THIS PRISON WON''T HOLD ME, I''LL BE BACK!! DON''T GET COMFORTABLE IN THAT BODY OF YOURS!!! IT WILL SOON BE MINE, HAHAHAHA!!!'' Soma screamed out towards Rey. Rey quickly got control of his body back before and put his dagger back in its sheath. ''Soma? Who was that? What happened to Hibari? Take over my body? No way! I''ve got too much to live for and not enough to die for!'' Thoughts ran ablaze through Rey''s mind as he was thinking. "Hr-r-yr-itm-ey!" Rey heard someone talking vaguely as he quickly refocused. "Ah, sorry! What did you say?" Rey said. "I said, here are your items Rey." Ari said "Geez, youngsters these days, paying no respect... Didn''t you say you were in a hurry?" "Right!" Rey quickly grabbed the supplies and acted as if he put them into his pack, but in reality, he put it into his storage ring. "Thanks, Ol'' Ari!" Rey said before sprinting off towards the center of town. - - - - - - - - - - - - - "What''s taking him so long??" Aizen said, getting more impatient. ''The wait is killing me! Rey! Get over here so I can see what law you''ve cultivated!!'' He thought. "Hmm," Riza pondered before saying, "Maybe he forgot? That is, after all, a possibilit- Ah there he is!" She said helplessly. "Hmph, about time!" Aizen said as Rey was nearing closer to them. "Hey, guys! Sorry I am late!" Rey said before once again, throwing a punch into the ground.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Bop! "Oh? Looks like you have improved, your knuckles aren''t even damaged at all compared to the last times where you were bleeding" Aizen commented while being intrigued. "So! What law did you comprehend? Metal? Ice? Fire? Light? Hehe, maybe the darkness law?" "I''ll tell you later...There are too many people around here" Rey said. He then proceeded to transfer items back into his pack while handing Aizen and Riza their grain rations and water. "Here, I got these from Ol'' Ari" "Alright," Riza said while putting the items into her own pack. "Let''s go hunt! To the vibrant forest, it seems." The Vibrant forest, 120 km away from Lorea, was a green-tiered (uncommon level) creature-infested forest. The trees and bushes here were always green and lush, even during the death season, thus giving it its name. They started their 4-day hike towards the forest. ''Ahhh, I think it happened again'' Hibari said, in a slow and incoherent voice. ''I don''t know what is causing these blackouts, but man do I feel exhausted!'' "I think I do..." Rey said. "What?" Riza said, not knowing what he meant. "Nothing! Just thinking, haha" Rey quickly said. Too close, forgot that he''s only in my head. ''Hibari...Who is Soma?'' Rey said, emphasizing each word. Shua! ''How do you know that name?!?! It couldn''t be! You mean...but...how is that possible??'' Hibari started to go all over the place, sounding furious and worried at the same time. ''If this is true...then I am sorry for dragging you along with this...'' ''What do you mean??'' Rey was getting nervous by now too. ''My name, it used to be Soma. When I was out and about one day on a private mission for our Space God, I let down my guard and a soul attack reached me. Due to my strong will, it did not kill me. My soul was, however, damaged, broken, and split. The Space God and another friendly race combined their powers of space and soul to seal that section of my soul. This seal normally draws space energy from the user''s body, but you didn''t have any space energy within your body. These 12 years with my soul connected to yours probably unsealed him.'' Hibari lamented. ''Is there a way to seal him again? Can I use my space energy to replenish the seal on him again?'' Rey asked. ''No, the amount of space energy you have is not even a drop compared to the sea of space energy they used to seal my soul. Even if you use your space energy, you''d only be able to delay the breaking of the seal by a day or two.'' Hibari said. ''We have to be careful though, due to the nature of that soul attack, the other side of me (Soma) went crazy and delusional. Whatever he is planning, it can''t be good...'' ''About that...he pretty much said that he is going to take my body, but that is impossible right?'' Rey hesitantly said. ''Hmm...It is possible, but there are other ways to counter-act this too. Your body is most compatible with your soul, and putting another soul in control of your body can be dangerous, for him and for you. Since you only have 50% of the space king bloodline, he won''t be very compatible, but I doubt that will stop him.'' ''So how can I stop this??'' Rey said. ''There are two ways that would work: 1) Absorb Space and Time bloodlines and naturally increase your strength enough to hold him back with your own energy, but if you fail to get stronger, he probably will take over your body. 2) Go through soul temperament and either have your will strengthened, or you might break instead of being strengthened.'' Hibari said, ''So far, Soma won''t know about the hidden space energy of the Space God, so don''t worry about him being able to use that. I will preference though, that if you choose to go through soul temperament, not only will it be extremely painful, but this version of me will die once we start that. Both pieces of my soul will combine again, and Soma and I will be one. In the event of that happening, I''ll release full control over the space energy, storage ring, and information regarding everything that I know.'' ''Hey, Don''t joke like that! You can''t die, I...'' Rey was speechless and taken aback. ''My primary mission was to empower you and help you live. That is my purpose, so don''t be thinking my sacrifice is for you! It''s for our entire race.'' Hibari clarified. ''Okay...Anyway. I''ll attempt to absorb bloodlines for the time being. If I don''t have to go through...'' He shuddered for a moment, ''...soul temperament, then I won''t.'' Rey was still having nightmares about that event to this day. ''I''ll kill my way to the top, I''ll upgrade my soul''s willpower and strength! Find the nearest space or time bloodlines Hibari, and let the onslaught start! I will save you!'' Rey started with an unsatiated fire within himself. ''Hehe, this kid though,'' Hibari lamented ''If only this kid had been able to hear me from the start, maybe things might not have come to this...'' Hibari thought to himself (Rey wasn''t able to hear), as he now felt a desire to live, to continue onward, even as a soul who lost his body. ''...I suppose I have lived long enough, all good things must come to an end, but...I don''t wish to die!'' Hibari cried out. To be at death''s door was frightening, but as Hibari thought about all the things he had done, the joys and memories he created with his squad, the good he imparted into the world, and the people he protected, this feeling started to dissipate. ''Rey, I''m putting my trust in you to save both of us from him!!'' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Four days later, in the vibrant forest: "How much further until he meet this so-called grand creature? You also still have yet to show me what law you''ve cultivated!" Aizen said, with his anticipation rising. "Uhmm...A little further...Yes! About another 8 minutes" Rey unsurely said. He was going off of Hibari''s predictions, which was a relatively good method to find space and time affinity creatures. "Regarding my law, the only way to fully believe is to see" He said. Rey only had a limited amount of space energy and wanted to save every portion of it. About another 20 minutes later, they came to a small hill where the creature was positioned, within its nest. It was a blue and red bird that had the wingspan of a meter. Aizen and Riza merely thought it was a bird born of fire and water due to its colors, but only Rey and Hibari knew its exact nature. It had a third affinity, which was a mid-grade affinity space law. "Here is the plan, I will be rotating from support to attack depending on what the creature does, Aizen will be in front since you have the strongest body, and Riza will be in the back, casting protection spells or kiting the enemy into unfavorable positions. Sounds good?" Rey asked. "That is a good plan. I am, however, shocked that you came up with it. You''ve been acting a little weird this whole trip...What''s going on Rey?" Aizen pushed. "Aizen, he just woke up from a coma a month ago, of course, so it''s normal that he is not exactly the same right now," Riza said, feeling that Aizen was being insensitive. "I suppose..." Aizen said. They concluded their conversation and got into position. Aizen quickly burst forth toward the bird, but quickly wore a shocked expression. The bird, sensing danger, flapped its wings in a wreath of fire around the area, and then teleported a few seconds later! Riza started throwing shurikens that were headed towards the beast at an alarming speed. Aizen used his partial control over the air law to breathe in most of the oxygen around the area, causing its flames to die down a considerable amount. Then, Rey made his move. He clothed himself in space energy, positioned his body, and fell through the ground. Aizen was shocked at this, ''Where did he go? Earth affinity?'' He thought before completely disregarding that thinking when he saw what Rey did next. Rey instantly shot out from the ground towards the creature and shot out a couple of arrows near where the bird was. The bird, however, was confused at this and merely watched as the arrows were going to land 10 meters away from it. At this, Rey smirked, our plan succeeded! He warped space and teleported them towards the creature 2 meters away and headed for its face. Rey wanted to teleport the arrows closer but was met with some weird resistance. CAW! The bird became infuriated and tried teleporting away, but the time it needed was not enough. It instead tried dodging. Pshew Pshew! Two clefts were made in its wings instead of killing it. It looked to see where Rey was but was quickly confronted with Aizen punching it. Boom! The bird was sent flying. It quickly got up, seething with rage as it dashed towards Aizen with its talons ready to draw blood, but was then confronted by Riza throwing shurikens at it again. It teleported right before Aizen, thinking it would finally attack these bastards that decided to fight it. Rey however, saw this coming, he teleported himself a few times as Aizen punched the bird, and then teleported beside the bird with twice as much difficulty. ''Perhaps this is because he also has control over the space law?'' Rey thought before pulling out two daggers and activating imbue. He then cut it with both of his daggers as he completely split it in two with imbue, but he still cut it again and again and again, not knowing how many times he had cut it. This was Rey''s first time actually fighting, and he was still in shock about killing something. "Rey!! Rey!! It is dead!" Riza said Rey then came out of his shock and refocused his attention. "Hahaha! To think you have a space bloodline this powerful! You shocked me, Rey. You should probably start absorbing that bloodline though." Aizen said heartily. Realizing this, Rey did as Hibari had told him. He placed his hands on both halves of the creature, then dug and burrowed his fingers into the creature until he could feel its still-warm blood. Then he flowed his space energy and consciousness into the bird. There, within the bird''s body and soul, Rey connected to the space law of this universe. He could feel information rushing to his mind. Incomplete engravings, energy flowing in different patterns, many things that were incomprehensible too were all filling up his mind until he could no longer digest this information. ''Congratulations on killing your first space creature...can you feel it? The pleasant and yet craving feeling for more information and power? This feeling must not dismay you. Many great beings sought this feeling out so much that it possessed them, and ultimately leading to their death. Hmm...Seems like your comprehension is pretty good, you''re almost to the Adept stage 3." Hibari said. Bloodline Changes /// Name: Jacob Reymond / Rey Nafasi Age: 14 years old, 6 months Bloodline: Human bloodline (50%) Space King bloodline (50%) Laws: Space law - High-tier affinity - Adept stage 2 (Almost 3) Abilities: Teleportation, Imbue, Materiokinesis, Gravitation Manipulation, Permeability Energy: Space - 15/29 - recharges 1 point per hour Teleportation: User can teleport an object in a 10-meter radius around himself for 1 point of space energy, or teleport user 3 meters from the initial position for 1.6 points of space energy. Uses more energy with greater distance and weight. The user is somewhat proficient in this ability. Imbue: The user can imbue an object with space energy, causing the object to become deadlier with variable damage. The more energy imbued, the more damage an object can do. Uses a minimum of 0.4 space energy. The user has mastered this ability based on understanding. Materiokinesis: The user can shape a mixed material into any object he can think of by controlling atoms. The energy required is based on material density, type, and size of manipulation. The space energy required is variable. The user is experienced in this ability. Gravitation Manipulation: The user can manipulate gravity within a 2-meter radius around the user. Space energy is variable based on total weight, amount gravity is manipulated by, and duration. The user is somewhat experienced in this ability. Permeability: The user can activate space energy inside his body, becoming permeable and passing through an object as he wishes. Energy consumption is based on the density of user and material passing through, time activated, and mass of user. The base energy cost is 12 points per meter traveled. The user is slightly experienced in this ability. /// Rey quickly reminisced about that feeling. It was almost like an addiction to power. He quickly remembered what Hibari said though, and decided not to immediately kill the next creature even though he wanted to. He instead decided to talk about that feeling to Aizen and Riza since Hibari said to. "Mhmm, Indeed, any cultivator gets that sense of "high", but it''s important not to let it control your actions. Instead, recognize your purpose in life or what you want to be remembered for, then go do that. If you don''t have a purpose, then find one. Work towards that purpose and goal slowly, and always recognize that the purpose you are living for isn''t that high feeling, but to protect, to help, to serve." Riza explained, "Well, at least that''s my outlook on controlling that feeling, everyone''s methods will be different though. It''s not a one-size-fits-all situation" Riza said. "Agreed, I once had an uncle who cultivated 6 laws at once, and he grew so power-hungry and deigned in that feeling so much that he left our family and soon died from overexertion when fighting. Know your limits." Aizen grieved, "He was actually a pretty cool guy, but he just fell so hard that he didn''t get back up from it...Maybe if he stayed around those who supported him." This was one of the few times that Aizen shared any "weak" emotions over, as it involved the death of a family member. Emotions that portrayed weakness were often looked down upon in culture, but Aizen felt close enough with Rey and Riza to share these things. "Okay, I''ll keep these things in mind..." Rey said while thinking more about them and reflecting. He didn''t want to be controlled by his own emotions, yet he needed to get stronger by killing more creatures. They then proceeded to rest for a few more hours before continuing. Rey filled Aizen in on everything as it was pertinent, especially with all that was happening with Hibari and himself. Aizen, of course, was shocked to learn about Rey''s history and such. "So then, should I start calling you ''Your Highness''? I mean you''re practically royalty right?" Aizen jested. Rey coughed. "Lets not, that would be a little awkward. Plus I am the last of my race, so there technically isn''t anything like royalty anymore." He said. "Well, shall we head back out again tomorrow?" Riza said. "Sure! Let''s hunt a couple more creatures, then we''ll head back to Lorea" Aizen said. - - - - - - - - - - - - In the vibrant forest, the next morning, "It''s so peaceful here, if the human race weren''t here, it would be a nice place to settle down and live..." A humanoid-shaped creature said in a high pitched voice, stepping on the soft soil beneath her feet. She excluded a holy brilliance, glowing brightly with a fair face and blue skin while looking around the peaceful forest. Gathered here, there were 5 of them. She and the rest of them wore white and simple linen, almost like a dress or gown. These creatures were a meter tall at max while some were half a meter tall. They were a race called the Lychnus race. "Are you sure that there is a legacy around here, Cerea?" She said. "Yes, his holiness said that it should be around...14 km from here." Another person said definitively. This was a man who also shined forth with brilliance and wonder but was dimmer than the counterpart. "Good, onward!" She said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 km away from the group of Lychnus,Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Bam! Bam! "Now!!" Aizen shouted while punching a little light green fairy that was filled with life. Well, a little less life after being pummeled to the ground by Aizen. ''Shifting Earth: Flying Daggers!'' Rey thought before sinking into the ground, bursting forth towards the fairy horizontally, throwing 3 daggers imbued with space energy out towards the fairy, and then teleporting them towards the fairy. The fairy quickly zoomed out of the way, but then found herself caught by Rey, who was wielding a 1.5-meter long sword he created and slashed it towards her. Cut! Plop Plop! Having no time to react, the poor fairy simply cried right before being decapitated with its face still carrying the look of shock and sadness. "I feel so bad about killing this creature... It looked so peaceful." Rey said with guilt. "To kill or to be killed," Riza said, feeling the same guilt over the fairy before starting to absorb its light bloodline. "Yeah, I feel a little bad punching it in the face. Oh well, what''s done is done. I''m just glad that I''m not the one who killed it, I''m sure that there is some really bad omen for doing something so evil..." Aizen started laughing before joking. Rey started shuddering when he heard, "Don''t joke like that!" "Alright, done!" Riza said, "Let''s get going!" Rey nodded, "Alright! Also, guys, watch this!" Rey sunk through the ground, obviously planning on showing off, and then...and then...and then...and then...Nothing? They waited in anticipation for a few more moments before getting worried. "Rey??" Riza exclaimed. - - - - - - - - - - Rey, on the other hand... "AHHH!" Rey screamed as he was being hurdled downwards through the ground. He could only worry at this point. He tried to constrict the energy flow in his body, but to no avail, it didn''t relent. 10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters, 40 meters, 50 meters. ''How am I still in this state? I could only travel 2 meters with my energy levels!!'' Rey normally used up a base amount of 12 points per meter with permeability, yet he has already been at this state for over 50 meters. In this state, light, air, touch, it was all nonexistent. The real problem, however, was that he didn''t hold his breath before entering into this state, and he was getting close to passing out. If he passed out right now...SPLAT! He shuddered for a moment. ''Hibari! got any ideas??'' Rey quickly thought. ''Hibari isn''t here! Rest assured young Ouranos, I''ll recover your body... and the siege will continue, unabated, forever until we live once again!'' a voice rang out. ''Crap! Soma! What are you doing?! You''re gonna kill us both!'' Rey mentally roared. ''My space energy is dwindling! There won''t be a body to come back to if you do this!'' Rey checked and he only had 2 points of space energy left. He tried resisting control over Soma''s influence, but his body wouldn''t even budge this time. ''Don''t worry Ouranos, HAHAHA, the Swallow definitely won''t die, DEFINITELY! ALM...ost! YES, SO CLOSE!!! THEN OURANOS WILL REBIRTH!!! Yes yes yes! If not...If not...THEN ABLAZE WILL IT BE?'' Soma said. ''...'' Rey didn''t respond, his thoughts are so fragmented that he''s just turned crazy!! ''I''m really gonna die here!!! By a madman!!! And a dead madman at that!!!'' Rey thought, when just as his space energy hit one point, Soma deactivated permeability. "AHHH!" Rey exclaimed at once. He saw the bottom of what seemed to be a tower surrounded by stairs coming into view at an extremely fast speed. He could almost not even open his eyes due to the wind. Swoosh! Rey looked once again and saw that he was about to crash into the staircase leading downwards in a spiral-like fashion. He broke into a cold sweat, hoping that this madman wouldn''t kill him. As he was about to ram right into the staircase, Soma gracefully scrunched his body, controlling every muscle within Rey''s body. Soma then shifted his weight to fall perfectly in the middle of the staircase. He controlled and contorted the body so as to not hit anything and passed through. He dodged many times as they were descending. Soma then stored all clothes and items on his body into his storage ring and used the last point of space energy he had. Humm... Soma formed a concentrated point of energy right below his feet. He very quickly slowed down to a more normal speed. He was 5 meters off the ground and still falling when the energy point dissipated. Soma controlled his body to relax all of his muscles and roll around upon contact while protecting his head with his arms upward. Crash! Soma landed on the ground, injured from the impact even with everything that he did to minimize damage. His legs and arms were bloodied from the impact and some of his ribs were broken, but he survived. Soma shook off the pain, disregarding it completely as he looked into the room. ''How strong is this guy''s willpower!! To think this pain isn''t even affecting him in the slightest!!'' Rey thought. ''Seems the seal is going to be broken very soon...'' Rey stated. When Rey focused on their vision, he saw that they made it to a hallway to a very nice room, what looked like glowing jewels of all sorts of colors and shapes. Soma walked through to the corridor and saw the expanse of the room. This 12 meters long shaped room had grey walls with glistening jewels embedded within, creating a myriad of different colors. In the middle of this room were 3 fruit-like objects on a very exquisite pedestal. Rey started getting worried. From the look of the fruits, there didn''t look edible, but more like a perfect art piece. Soma walked up to one of the fruits, "Soul...Space...Light...THEY''RE ALL FOR OURANOS!!" Soma said in a deranged voice. He picked up the Space fruit, which was a pure black circle, not unlike a black hole. As Rey looked at it he felt that there was boundless space enveloped within it. Soma pressed it against his lips and bit a huge chunk out of it. Rey could feel his tongue being wrapped around by threads of space energy rushing in through his mouth, becoming one with his being. Soma then swallowed the rest of the fruit, and Rey was feeling even more delighted as Soma ate it. He could feel his bloodline changing, and his affinity with the space law increasing. As he felt this change, he also noticed that some other laws such as the ice and fire law were becoming more distant to him. ''My bloodline is changing?? So then these fruits...What will happen if Soma eats the other fruits??'' Rey thought. Soma then picked up the soul fruit, which had a glowing aura around itself that pulsated. It gave off an ethereal feeling as if it didn''t exist in the visible, but he could still see it. He once again pressed it to his lips and bit it. Rey felt a clarity rush over him as unknown energy flowed into his heart and mind. He also noticed that space begin to open up within himself. He chose not to focus on that right now as he was feeling that new DNA was being added to his body, instead of changing the already existing genes. Soma went over and was about to eat the light fruit when suddenly, the seal on Soma burst forth once more. ''NO NO NO!! NOT NOW! OURANOS IS SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE TO THE BEGINNING!'' Soma raged. He tried moving Rey''s body, but alas, he couldn''t as the seal started working again. Rey, on the other hand, was now in complete control. He placed the fruit back on the pedestal as he was still in some pain and decided to rest. ''Seems like he''s gone for now...I thought Soma was crazy? He didn''t seem too crazy to me...Well, I mean...it sounds like he had a plan for the fruits. Ouranos? Who is that?? This is turning bad quick, to think he would have this control over me right now. Seems like I can only do that then...'' Rey thought, pondering his next actions. - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, "Rey!!!" Aizen shouted loudly. "Where''d he go?" Riza worried, "And shouting won''t hel-" "Rey!!" Aizen shouted again, disregarding Riza. "We might as well set up here hoping that he comes back for now..." Riza said, ''Rey, where are you?'' Chaos! Somas Rampage! The next morning, Rey situated himself after a long rest. His injuries healed up somewhat faster than before. ''Guess that''s because of the fruits?'' Rey thought. He thought of the different energies flowing through him. Rey then remembered the space inside himself and focused on that feeling. As he focused, his mind began to explore and enter into a new space. This was a space created within his soul. He found his own body and began to move with it in this void space. As he walked he was thinking of Soma, and the things he said, when suddenly Soma appeared before him, shackled and imprisoned. He had Rey''s eyes and hair, but was much taller and bulkier then Rey; this was Soma and Hibari''s true body. "How are you here??" Hibari resounded. "What...has Soma done now while I was passed out?" Hibari started to recollect himself when Rey started telling him what had happened. "True legacies!!! To think there would be a Legacy Tower here!! These are legendary treasures born from the universe them self! Wait..." Hibari said after realizing something... "So this is how I plan to control your body...seems like there is still some sanity left in that part of me after all. It would be very challenging to control your body as a soul form with incompatible bloodlines, so he plans to change your bloodline...I''m trying to awaken and restore your bloodline!!" Hibari exclaimed. Rey felt like something was amiss. "Since when did you start referring to Soma as I? What''s going on Hibari ??" "I...don''t know, I just did. He is, after all, a part of me. Focus on the task at hand, you shouldn''t be thinking of this. You have to think about how we''re going to stop him." Hibari said in a fit. "Right, back then I had no chance of resisting, and we''re running out of time..." Rey stated, "Seems like we can only go through s-" "Stop! Don''t say the next words! I can feel Soma...merging and watching...my senses. Right now I am too weak to suppress him. You need to hurry, I think this is the final time before the seal breaks and we merge forever. You know the method that I''ve taught you...right now, I will purge my thoughts and memories. I will not remember you after this, so, I suppose this is goodbye, forever...Rey, uphold my teachings and train, perhaps one day, you''ll be able to defeat ancient. As for the information that I''ve collected, here it is!" Hibari said with finality. Rey felt an ocean of over 7000 years of experience and information rush into his mind. Unable to understand all of it in one moment, these thoughts burrowed into his mind for him to understand and comprehend as time passed. His mind feeling cramped as he screamed out in pain for a minute until that feeling dissipated. "Hibari?" He looked at the blank-faced Hibari who was standing there. "Who...are you?" Hibari said with a questioning and disorienting voice. Rey closed his eyes for a moment, feeling sad over his powerless self. ''If only I had been stronger...Hibari would still be alive'' "Thank You, Hibari, for all that you''ve done!" After that, he removed himself from that space, stood up with the light fruit, and then proceed to climb up the stairs and out of the Legacy Tower. - - - - - - - - - - "We''re almost there, it should be just over there, near that valley!" Cerea said with excitement. ''The light legacy will be ours!'' He thought. "Let''s go get it!" She said. "For his holiness!" They all said in one voice. A few minutes passed before they reached their destination. They came upon the area, but they were suddenly shocked as they heard voices coming from afar. "Eat it and be in your way! I don''t know how much longer I have!" a male voice said. They quickly ran over to get a clear sight of what was happening. "Okay, okay!" a female voice said as a slight crunch sound was heard. Their faces fell when they saw what she was eating. "The light legacy!" They exclaimed, but it was too late as she already ate the rest of it in another bite. - - - - - - - - - - "Okay, okay!" Riza said. "The light legacy!" Rey, Aizen, and Riza heard a few seconds later. "Someone''s here!! This is bad!!" Rey said. The five Lychnus race members bolted out in rage. They were enveloped in yellow light as they charged towards Riza with grandiose speed. Then Rey appeared before them.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "Your opponent is me!" Rey stated. "Hmph," The leader said in disdain. Humans were hated by almost every race as their bloodlines could absorb any law, causing many deaths from various races. The four other Lychnus race members went over to fight with Aizen and Riza, while the leader fought Rey. She threw circular blades at Rey that were so fast he could barely react. ''So fast! What stage is she on???'' Rey thought. He quickly teleported as they nicked him. His armor was easily torn through and started bleeding slightly on the face. The leader was shocked as she realized that he was using the space law. - - - - - - - - - - Aizen wasn''t fairing too well either, "Just give up, we''ll ensure a painless death for you!" They said. "Please, not in a million years would tiny little things beat me! Scuttle off, little bees" Aizen said while beating his chest. Two of them, extremely furious, approached him and started attacking him from afar with the same type of blades. Aizen formed a thin layer of titanium around his body, yet the blades were still able to create a thin slice in his armor, drawing a slight amount of blood. He used his control over the air law to form slight winds, hoping to change the blades directory, but it didn''t make much of a difference. Seeing this, he decided to burst forth towards the two Lychnus members, but they simply sped up and dodged him. ''Damn it! If I could only reach them!'' Aizen raged in his heart. Seeing how this didn''t work, he instead just tried to brute force it. He started collecting more titanium, filling his whole body that was already enormous, into a mountain of metal. He then started flinging the metal towards the two women crazily at an alarming speed. The two women''s faces dimmed for a moment before they decided to take up a new strategy. The random patterns made it hard for the two to attack with their blades, and soon they were covered in injuries if they didn''t change their attacks. The two decided to use their fist instead. They kept dodging until they reached Aizen. Then they punched out towards Aizen, who was still trying to throw metal spikes at them, and the light energy within their bodies flowed into him, wreaking havoc within Aizen. He coughed up blood right before he smiled. "You think that''s enough to stop me??" Aizen said while laughing as he grabbed the two people and smashed them to the ground. Before the two could respond from their shock, he grew two long metal spikes and drove them through their hearts, where light energy was stored. "Hmph, ants trying to compare to a lion..." Aizen said in disdain. They then died soon after. He had won the fight with quite a few injuries, which was a feat, but the battle was still ongoing. Riza, after eating the light fruit, became much stronger. A beam of light encircled her, causing the two other race member''s hearts to flutter just by looking at her. She was fairing much better than Aizen did, as she was even above the Lychnus leader''s level; her cultivation stage was raised, and she learned a powerful ability: Light Absorption. She ran towards them so fast that she became a blur in their eyes. Riza then cast this ability around her enemies eyes when they were a meter away from her, turning the area around their eyes pitch black. What she did was absorb the light that would collect into their eyes, effectively blinding them. "Im-Impossible! Cerea! Where are you?" One of them shouting while trying to look around. "I''m here! Fl-Flee! Princess Yu, Run!!! This Girl is too strong, we''ll hold her off!" He said. They tried to run away in the opposite direction of where they were originally facing, but Riza was too quick. They stumbled around as they were running and throwing blades randomly as they shouted in disbelief. Riza however, quickly flashed to them while dodging the few blades that reached her. With her hands, she touched them where both of their hearts were and sent light energy coursing through their bodies, disrupting their rhythm and incapacitating them. She didn''t want to kill them, but she also knew that they would be trouble if she didn''t stop them. - - - - - - - - - - Princess Yu, seeing how her Riza incapacitated her younger sister and brother, felt relieved as they could''ve been killed by Riza if she didn''t hold back. ''Thank goodness for their merc-'' She was in the middle of thinking, when she saw Aizen, suddenly killing her son and daughter, stabbing them through the heart and staining their white clothes red. She then suddenly stop fighting Rey as her eyes dimmed for a moment. ''No...No, this cannot be happening! Thi...'' She thought before screaming out, "LUCA!!!! DIANE!!!!" She tried rushing towards Aizen, wanting to rip his heart out but was confronted by Rey once more. "I said, your opponent is me!" Rey stated once more. "Human, it is admirable that you have achieved so much in the space law, but if you don''t get out of my way..." Yu''s eyes grew in radiance as a fire bloomed out along with light swirling about. "This is as far as you''ll go if you don''t get out of my way and let me save them!!!" She said. ''So scary! To think she has even more control over the fire law than the light law!'' He stepped back a few meters as the fire was starting to burn his skin. He didn''t really want to kill them too. All he wanted to do was have Aizen and Riza run away before... "Good decision..." She stated. ''OH CRAP!'' Rey forgot about Soma, ''Any second now...'' He looked into his soul as he saw the final chains on Soma breaking down. "Riza! Aizen! You guys have to run! Soma...he''s about to break free!!!" Rey said while Yu who just arrived at her son and daughter''s pierced bodies. Riza and Aizen looked at Rey in disbelief ''Already??'' they thought they had more time. "Okay, we''ll head back!" They said. Princess Yu examined her children''s bodies, and tried casting light healing on them, but then realized the tough truth of the matter. "YOU KILLED MY SON AND DAUGHTER!! HOW DARE YOU!!!" She said with fury, "He! Is not going anywhere, not until both of them are healed and alive!" Yu realized that they were dead, but she was in a state of mental shock and couldn''t accept that they were dead. "They''re dead! You''re the ones who attacked us, so this is your fault." Aizen said, feeling that she was blaming him for her mistake. "Besides, you''re from another race, why should I care about offending you?" "Aizen, Riza, run! I''ll take care of her, trust me!" Rey said. "YOU AREN''T LEAVING ALIVE!!" Yu said to Aizen. "Riza, leave! We''ll be right behind you!" Aizen said. "O-Okay!" She took off at an incredible speed. "Be safe!!" Riza left, leaving Rey and Aizen there with Yu. "Aizen, you need to leave! Once he awakens, I don''t know what he will do!!" Rey said hurriedly. "Until then, I''ll help you fight her!" Aizen said while using his control over the Air law to dampen Yu''s flames. "DIE DIE DIE!!!" Yu said before throwing the circular blades coated in a destructive fire at an even faster speed than last time. Rey, who was originally able to dodge with receiving a minor injury, was now in a worse position. Aizen, however, was unable to dodge at all and got seriously injured in a few moments. "AIZEN! I SAID RUN!! I...CAN''T...HOL-" Rey started to say before hesitating and collapsing on the ground. "REY!! Al-Alright! I''m off!!!" Aizen said, before getting intercepted by Yu once again. "No, you won''t!" Yu said as she threw a kick at his abdomen, setting his clothes and skin on fire, and making him fly into a nearby tree. "Blurgg" He coughed up blood before using the little energy he had left to put out the fire on his body. "This is the en-" Yu started to say, before glancing over where Rey was fallen and realizing he was gone. Then she suddenly heard a voice not far away. "AHAHAHAHA! I. AM. FREE!!!! THIS PRISON COULD NOT HOLD ME!!!" Rey glanced over at Yu. "Hmm, You shall die too! It is an honor to die by my hand, be grateful!" He said. "GO TO HELL!" Yu responded. "Been there! Not the best place to go, you know!" Rey said. "Now..." Rey said before his aura changed, growing more tyrannical and mysterious, "LET''S GET THIS PARTY STARTED, I HAVEN''T FOUGHT IN AGES!!" "...Who are you?" Yu questioned, she had felt this mysterious feeling before when she met his holiness. "Me? Well, that''s a dumb question now, isn''t it!!" "I. AM. SOOOOMA!!!" He said. CLAP CLAP CLAP! Soma clapped before saying, "No applause? If you''re not going to clap...THEN KNEEL!" Instantly, Yu felt a force on her body so unbearable that she was forced to kneel down in front of Soma for a moment before collapsing on the ground completely. "Oh? To think you couldn''t even handle this force. You''re no fun indeed!" Soma said as he stopped and pondered, "HAHA!! How would you like to be my apprentice?" "I...I''d be honore-" She was in the middle of saying before Soma teleported beside her. "I''m kidding!" He said, before he easily tore through her body, grabbed her heart, and squeezed. "I''d never want a disciple that is so pitifully weak like you!" "...You!!!" She said in a weak voice before falling lifelessly to the ground. All that remained now were Soma, a female Lychnus member, and Aizen. He walked over to the girl that was unconscious and stabbed her forehead with his finger. Next Soma walked over to the man resting by a tree. "Aizen, was it?" He said in a toying voice. Death, Sadness, and Resolution "Your Highness!!!" A man said while coming into a luxurious room, "We have disturbing news!!! Princess Yu and her family, they''re...they''re..." He stuttered as he spoke to the king on his throne. "What is it? Come out with it!" His Highness, feeling annoyed, barked. "They''re dead!!!" The man said grimly. His Highness stood in silence before he vanished from his throne, leaving the servant wondering. "This cannot be good..." The man said to himself. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Wh-where is this?" Rey questioned as he got up from a straw bed. He opened his eyes, and feeling extremely uncomfortable, he looked around and saw a vast space around him; everywhere he looked was pitch black, and he couldn''t see anything but that. Rey, feeling confused at that moment, aimlessly walked forward. Hum... As he walked he could hear a buzzing noise getting distinct. He then saw bars around him. He grabbed out at the bars but was unable to even touch them. Instead, his hands were bounced away. Rey looked ahead again, and this time, he could see a blurry image. He focused on it more and started to hear faint voices. "HAHA!! ow...to..e...m...apprntc?" "I...Id..b honor...-" Voices came and went as both the image and voices became clear as he realized what had happened: ''Soma!'' "I''m kidding!" He said, "I''d never want a disciple that is so pitifully weak like you!" Rey watched in horror as Soma tore through the woman. He tried to move his body but was completely cut off from all sensations this time. ''This cannot be happening!!!'' Rey screamed out as tears rolled down. He didn''t want to kill her, especially so sadistically. "...You!!!" A weak voice came to Rey''s ears, making him feel even more guilt as the petite woman fell down for the last time. Soma walked over to the other race members, killing them too. "SOMA!! STOP THIS NOW!! THEY DON''T DESERVE TO DIE!!!" Rey screamed out at Soma through the void, "WHY!!! WHY MUST YOU DO THIS?? I DON''T WANT TO KILL THEM!!!!" Rey''s heart skipped a beat when he felt Soma look at Aizen. - - - - - - - - - - - - "Aizen, was it?" Soma said. A few moments passed while Aizen stared back at Soma, who was looking at him impatiently. "So you are Soma then, right?" Aizen spoke while coughing up blood, "Give Rey his body back!! I don''t know who you think you are!! To try and take another person''s bod-" "ENOUGH!" Soma screamed out while teleporting by Aizen. "You''ve said your piece, boy. But I think that it is time you vanish from this existence...Do you ever wonder...what it would feel like to be ripped apart from the inside out?" Soma said while casting gravity manipulation. "ARGGG!!! AHHHH!!!" Aizen exclaimed and his body was being pulled two opposite directions, ripping pieces of flesh from Aizen as space pulsated. "YOU...YOU B-BASTARD!! REY WILL DEFEAT YOU!!!"Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Eh? A strong-willed one it seems...Maybe if you didn''t insult me, I would have let you be my slave!" Soma said with disdain, "But alas, goodbye little one. In the future, don''t provoke those you cannot contend with. Oh wait, I forgot...you won''t have a future left!!!" He then increased the gravitational pull to the point where Aizen''s bones were starting to show. "AAAUGH!!!!" He screamed out once more time before he lost his lungs. ''REy, DOn''t...G-give up...fight...fig...on'' Aizen thought while he started to lose consciousness. All that remained was Soma, Aizen''s steel-like skeleton, and corpses of the Lychnus. - - - - - - - - - - - - In Rey''s soul realm, "Aizen!!!" Rey said as he saw Aizen floating towards the bars. Rey tried to push past the bars but was still forced back by a mysterious energy, unable to touch the bars. "Damn it!!! This is my fault!!! I shouldn''t have arranged this whole trip!! Because of me...Aizen!'' Rey called out once more. "R-Rey? Where am I?" Aizen said before screaming out once more as his consciousness started to fade. "Aizen..." Rey said, trying to hold back from crying. He saw Aizen''s skeleton at this point and knew what was about to happen. Aizen reached his hand out towards Rey and passed through the bars. "REY! GET YOUR BOdy Back!!! DOn''t...Don''t gi-give up...fight on...for...me...and...for Riz-" Aizen said while his body in Rey''s soul realm started to disperse when he lost consciousness. "No!!! Don''t go!!" Rey said while trying to grab Aizen''s hand, but the moment Rey touched his hand, his body disappeared. "SOMA!!! I VOW TO AIZEN, HIBARI, THE SPACE KINGS, AND TO MYSELF, I WILL KILL YOU!!!" Rey shouted as killing intent began to build. - - - - - - - - - - - Rey stood in silence for minutes, then hours, then days, before finally moving. "It''s time...Soul Temperament!!" Rey said with determination as rage began to surge within himself. Suddenly, millions of symbols appeared. The symbols formed in a circle pattern around Rey. He then recalled what Hibari had said to him, "Shout ''Soul Temperament'' while freeing your mind, as symbols appear, command them into a rotating circle with you in the middle of it. Permeate your soul and being into those symbols, and then have those symbols enter into your spirit body." Rey recalled. Rey permeated his soul into those symbols, feeling his conscious freed and more lively. "So weird, I feel so...dynamic!" He said. Not wanting to waste time, he immediately proceeded to the next step. ''This will either break your will or strengthen it.'' Rey remembered Hibari telling him. "Here we go!" Rey said as he forced all of the symbols into his skin. Shua! Zoom! The symbols entered his body, and instead of pain, he felt a very strong and pleasant feeling wanting to wash over his heart; he felt the same as when he absorbed bloodlines, but the effect was thousands of times greater. "I see...The process is indeed painful! Having to resist this feeling...If I don''t resist, then I''ll become tortured, effectively becoming a mindless beast, only living for this high. But if I resist, then my willpower will increase!" Rey said as he was intrigued. "I can still go further though!" He said while pushing the symbols deeper into his skin. "Too much!!!" he forced them back, "Seems like I really need to know my limits. but I also need to push past my limits. Damn it! I need this to happen now! It can''t be this slow!!! I need to learn some techniques to help me resist and push myself..." He pondered. "Let''s think of something that is displeasing to me. Aha! I got it: WEEDs! Oh, how I hate that smell similar to death in the morning! I just want to walk outside in peace, why do I have to smell unpleasantries whenever I do..." Rey thought as he tried to stab the symbols near his heart, the source of desires. "Damn it! Not strong enough, I need to be more careful about this, I almost succame to that." "A strong repulsion...How about murder or death? " Rey said. "Death is always brutal...like what I did to Aizen..." Rey said to himself as he fell silent. "This might work..." He tried to have the millions of symbols enter his skin once again, headed for his heart. hum... Hum... HUM... HUMM!!!!! The desire to release that feeling intensified; the desire feel good. A voice entered his ears. "Come, let me in! You deserve this after all you''ve been through. Losing your friends, this wasn''t your fault, so come then, enjoy me! I will comfort you and give you everything you need and desire" The voices said. There were many more that were so quiet he couldn''t even hear them, regardless of if he could hear them or not though, he knew they were also affecting his will. "No! Focus, Rey! Focus!" Rey said to himself. "Just continue thinking about how I killed Aizen and those Lychni!" But as Rey focused on these people, the voices grew even louder. "IT''S NOT YOUR FAULT! LET ME HELP YOU, I CAN HELP YOU, I CAN HELP YOU, JUST ACCEPT ME!!! YOUR LIFE WILL BE BETTER, AND NO ONE WILL DIE!" The whispers grew louder and more powerful. "R-Really? No one will die? Wait...how can you promise that? NO! I will not be tricked, all life ends! Begone!" As Rey shouted this, the void reverberated, and one of the symbols became distinct. He pushed it out of his body and saw what it said. "I will give you eternal life," it wrote. "I can''t believe that I almost believed such a lie." Rey stated, "I get it now! All these symbols are the lies I tell myself and have believed in. To get stronger, I must defeat, believe, and prove the truth within my own life. The real trick is recognizing the lies within my mind!" As Rey said this, he looked at his body and heart, and realized that there were many lies! Before, he saw it was millions, but now that he realized that and grew slightly in his will, he now saw that there were billions of lies that were actually affecting him from the start. "This is going to be tricky. I am sure that the lie I just defeated was a very obvious one, and there will be more obscure lies to deal with..." Rey said. Rey started up once again, pressing the symbols into his heart. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Hmm, I suppose I should start recovering the pieces of our bloodline." Soma said to himself, "Still need another 48% to go..." He said while walking away from the area. A few hours later... A short humanoid looking man traveled at an alarming speed towards the forest. He was precisely the King of the Lychni Whoosh! He walked beside the tattered corpses until he reached a specific one. "Yu..." He said with grief as he stared at her mangled body, "They. Will. PAY!!!" He said as killing intent began to build. He cast his sight on a human-sized set of metallic bones. "Humans??? They''ve gone too far!!!!" At that moment, he wailed out loud in remembrance for them before setting off to travel to the nearest human settlement: Lorea. Destruction and Restoration "You are not worthy! You will not be good enough, ever!" a voice crept into Rey''s ear. "Nonsense! I have desired to become a cultivator my entire life! To become one of the greats, and to protect. I will be who I can be. I may not be good enough, but who is? Who is perfect, in this broken world! No one is!" Rey retorted. Then, the words became distinct and started to form before him. "You can never measure up," it wrote. "Time to single in on another voice," Rey stated. "Aizen, he was a good friend to you. Indeed, your relationship with him was...complex. Yet it was a good friendship. You two were life-or-death brothers in the end." the voice said in a soft tone. "Yes, we were...close and fought sometimes," Rey said, not knowing the trap he was walking into. "And you killed him? Why? Why do you destroy those around you, and take their life?" "I..." Rey froze, ''Was this a lie? No, this must be the truth, I did kill Aizen, those Lychni, and almost hurt Riza...'' Rey started to doubt himself. "Must you continue living on this path? You will just hurt more people. Just let go, you are tired. Find rest in me instead." The voice subtly hinted. ''R-rest? I am somewhat tired, maybe that is what I need. Rest never hurt anyone.'' Rey thought. "Yes...That''s right, just give up, i-" The voice started to speak again in a warm voice. "Don''t give up Rey!" a different, yet familiar voice resounded in his mind. "Fight on..." "That''s right...Fight on, kid! I did not sacrifice myself just so you could die here." Rey suddenly became aware of what was going on. ''Aizen? Hibari? That is right, I have to survive. Soma is the one that caused destruction. Through me, they did die, but my heart is far from Soma''s heart! I will turn this around, and Soma will not have control over me any longer.'' Another lie floated out of his heart, it wrote, "You hurt those around you, and are damaged beyond repair." "Again," Rey said with renewed vigor. "I need to grow stronger and break free from his hold!" - - - - - - - - - - - - "Kiev!!!! Damn you, humans!!! Cursed be your race!! Come, greet your master!! Or I will destroy this town!!" a bellowing voice of fury reverberated through the air. Everyone who heard it gathered, and soon there was a crowd surrounding a very short humanoid and a tall and somewhat extravagant house. "King Sig''car?" A voice said in a questionable manner as he walked out in front of king Sig''car. Suddenly, before Kiev could react, a fist was thrown into his stomach and launched him back a few hundred meters while crashing into various houses and wells. "Kiev...I put you in charge of a simple and small village to continue to produce revenue for me!!" King Sig''car shouted while punching him again. "Ki-King Sig''car, please, just tell me what it is!" Kiev said in an anxious and low voice. His face, which was fair, became bloodied and his ribs broken. "Talking will not bring back my daughter!! Oh...Kiev, you royally messed up!! To think one of your puny humans would kill my daughter, Yu..." King Sig''car said in a slightly deranged voice. "Blood is needed to quench my wrath, Kiev. Where are the damnable humans that killed her?" He said while walking up to the injured Kiev that was resting against some rubble. "Who was it?!?! Tell me!" He said right before something unexpected happened. "Mommy! Mommy! You were right, all Lychni really are smurf-sized!!!" A little girl''s voice, full of excitement, silenced the crowd. The mother quickly put her hand over her daughter''s mouth. "Smurf-sized, huh?" King Sig''car said in a creepily cold voice. Abruptly, a great radiance filled the commoner''s eyes, "Insolence!!" He slowly walked over to the woman while the crowd was fearing for their lives. "You, what did your daughter say you called me? smurf-sized?" "I am sorry, King Sig''car. I do not know where she picked up that kind of language, the Lychni are highly respected here! Please forgive her!" The woman said while mentally cursing at herself for making that joke.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Yes, you are highly esteemed, oh king Sig''car!" the crowd started to say. "Am I now?" He said while scanning the crowd. "You know, if you study one''s face, and have good observation skills, you can tell when someone is deceiving you. Kiev, what have you been teaching them? To hate me? I gave you this position to watch over your humans, and all I ask for was complete obedience. You failed, Kiev, both me and your fellow humans." King Sig''car said with disappointment and anger in his voice. "For those who lied against me, you shall never see again." He said while manipulating light to shine into their pupils at a high intensity, destroying their eyesight forever. "Little child, you were at least truthful, and because you are a child, you shall receive no punishment." He then raised his voice, "But for those who continue to be against me, I will no longer tolerate." "Kiev," King Sig''car said while grabbing a pair of metallic bones, "Whose bones are these? Who has studied the law of metal to make this color and the law of air to create these light-weight bones?" "I...will find out at once, my king!" Kiev said while wiping the sweat and blood off his forehead. - - - - - - - - - - A week later, about 150 km away from Lorea, there was a blue and red dome underneath the blood river. This was precisely named because anything that touched it died, turning the hue red over the years. Two creatures stood within. "Hahh, what a strange world, so nice! The earth, and life, so liberating!! Ah, more treats for Ouranos, yum!" Soma declared as he started to eat more fruits. "More...Ouranos needs more. Ah, yes, there''s more nearby, come on Ozzy!" Soma said while teleporting away. "OINK!!!" Ozzy replied. "I know you dislike teleporting, but I do not think you would enjoy becoming bacon, now would you? Although you would taste pretty tasty...." Soma debated. "OINK!! OINK OINK OINK!!!..." Ozzy hastily replied. "That''s more like it! Hahahaha!" Soma laughed. - - - - - - - - - - - - "King Sig''car!! I took a census, and there were two others, a boy and a girl, with a youth that matched those bones. The girl, Riza, has already returned, but the boy is still nowhere to be seen!" Kiev said. "Bring me to the girl...It''s time." King Sig''car said, ''I have been suppressing my bloodlust for this long, but now it is time to exact vengeance for Yu. Damnable Humans...'' he thought. Kiev and King Sig''car flew over to Riza''s family. - - - - - - - - - - - - "Riza, you have to leave! It is not safe! The king himself came over and declared in public that he was going to kill the ones responsible for his daughter''s death." Riza''s father said. "No, if I leave, he will...he will-" Riza started to say. "We will be fine Riza. We''ll manage, somehow." Her mother said, "Now go! The longer you wait, the more you put all of us at risk." "Come with me then!! I cannot leave you guys!!!! You''re all I have left..." Riza started to cry. "Honey, you know we would just slow you down, we are not cultivators. Neither of us would make it out alive if we joined you. Enough talking! Riza, go now before it is too late." Her father said while wiping away her tears. "Okay, I am headed off then. Please be safe!" Riza said while heading towards a window, looking back at her parents. She then jumped out the window, seeking to get far away from Lorea. "You too, and...do not look back, Riza" Riza''s mother and father said to themselves. A few moments later, "Johnathan, Teresa, and Riza Arriero...Come on out! Your king, Sig''car, demands you." Kiev shouted A moment passed, and Kiev started to get worried, ''please be there, or he is going to become reckless!!'' he anxiously thought. Soon, they started to hear the sound of walking. A man and a woman came out. "Where is your daughter, Riza?" Kiev said. "She is not here. Why?" Johnathan replied, acting as if he did not know. "Enough," king Sig''car said, "I know she was here, tell me where the girl is. Vengeance is necessary for what she and the boy have done to my daughter." He said. "We do not know where she is. Now please, let me and my wife get back to what we were doing," Johnathan said. When king Sig''car realized that they were not lying, or at least, were lying very well, he became infuriated. "Kiev, you are sure about your sources, that she was here?" he said. "Your Highness, my sources are never wrong, she was definitely here," Kiev said. "In that case, it would seem that she has left. Is this your doing?" He said to Johnathan and Teresa. "We have had no part in this, we have not seen our daughter in over a week!" Theresa quickly interjected. "Hmmph, what a blatant lie! If you had just told me the truth from the beginning, maybe this situation would have been better. Alas, I have been holding in this vengeance for too long, and my patience is already gone. For your insolent crimes against me and helping a prisoner flee, I sentence you both, to death!" King Sig''car said in a tongue full of hatred. "Very well, we have no regrets, so go ahead. Theresa, I love yo-" Johnathan was in the middle of saying before a fist was thrown to both his head and Theresa''s, instantly killing them before they could feel pain. "Kiev, clean up this mess, I need to...vent some more." King Sig''car said, flinging the blood off his hand and walking away. "Y-yes your Highness!" Kiev, immediately replied, ''How scary! I, an Evolved level 8, still have no way to contest against him, much less defend myself..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gulp! "Delicious! Ouranos needs more fruits! Oz, do you some?" Soma said. "Oink!" Ozzy said with drool starting to form. He went to quickly eat the purplish fruit, but when he was about to put it in his mouth, Soma snatched it and ate the rest. Ozzy then proceeded to stomp at him and cursed inwardly for having such a teasing master. "Enough, you funny-looking beast! Stop!" Soma demanded and lifted Oz up into the air. "Let''s see how far Ouranos has come" He pondered. /// Name: Soma ****** Age: Lost track long ago Bloodline: Human bloodline (46%) Space King bloodline (54%) Space law - High-tier affinity - Adept stage 4 Soul law - very low-tier affinity - Novice stage 5 Space Energy - 18,632 / 20,000 - recharges 250 points per hour Soul Energy - 1/1 point - recharges 8 points per hour /// "54%, Ouranos needs way more to be born..." Soma said, "Come on Ozzy, stop floating up there! We need more fruits!" Sanctuary Swoosh! Swoosh! Tap Tap Tap! The pitter-patter of little feet could be heard on the soft and wet ground. A girl was running through the forest, gasping for air as her legs continued to work endlessly. The cool wind howling out and rushing past her ears, she shivered for a moment. ''Faster!! I-I need to run...faster!'' Riza thought as her vision started to become blurry from over-exhaustion. Memories flashed into her mind as they overthrew any rational thinking; she became overwhelmed by past events. The only thought she was capable of thinking was to run and flee from king Sig''car. ''I need to get to safety, only then can I start to think...'' Riza kept telling herself as the day soon turned into night. The next morning, Riza decided to hide in an underground cave below water. It was very safe and she had found it by accident. ''I can not risk having other people caught up and getting killed because of me. I will just stay here for now and hone my skills. Lorea, Mom and Dad, Rey...wait for me! I will take down King Sig''car if it is the last thing I do!!'' Riza thought. - - - - - - - - - - "Turn to dust!" Soma laughed as a passage opened up on the side of a mountain. Soma continued to grow and recover the last space kind bloodline. The more he ate, the more his strength grew. "OINK!!!" Ozzy rushed forward in a bid to grab the fruit first. He knew it had to be good, but that damnable master of his always got to it before he could. How indignant he felt!!! "Haha," Ozzy heard that creepy laugh and shuddered before sprinting even faster through a corridor. Then he laid his eyes on the majestic fruit and gulped down his saliva. "Mine!" Soma appeared next to the fruit, about 5 meters in front of Ozzy. Soma cast his space energy around himself and started to float. As he was ascending upward, he nabbed the fruit. "OOOOINKKK!!" Ozzy rushed forward, charging like a mad bull, but once again, he failed. Soma sent a force hurling toward Ozzy, stopping him in his tracks. Crunch!! Ozzy heard the sound resound in his ears, and stared in disbelief towards his master. ''This fella!!'' "Again! Ouranos needs more!!" Soma laughed. - - - - - - - - - - - "Again! I need to get stronger! More!" Rey exclaimed as his blood began to boil, thinking about all that Soma had taken from him. Rey was currently facing his personal demons in order to grow his willpower. He needed to destroy any doubts in his mind; to come to a complete conclusion of things and find peace in that. Symbols appeared around once more. Rey controlled these symbols and pushed them into the depths of his heart. "Resist!! I must!!" Rey screamed out. This exuberant feeling of joy and much stronger than the last time, by a least 10 times. Struggling to stay firm, Rey started to break under the immense pressure. "It''s your fault that all of those people are dead. You caused Soma to break free, and those he killed...their blood is on your hands. Just stop. You killed me too, your friend. Give up, Rey." Aizen''s voice came to greet his ears. "Aizen..." Rey paused, "I know I killed you, but I know that you would not blame me. You said it yourself, we are gonna kill that bastard, Soma. Let''s fight for our future, for I no longer fear death. Let''s live and laugh while we still can." Rey said. After finally accepting Aizen''s death, he smiled for the first time since. Suddenly, those symbols, along with the countless symbols and texts from before, combined into a strange 3-dimensional engraving in front of Rey. It started pulsating and giving off an unfamiliar type of energy. Rey walked over and felt something he hadn''t felt for a long time. An absolute peace washed over himself, and all worries began to melt away. He began to think clearer, observe more, and he also felt a foreign connection to...everything. Curiously, he walked closer to the pulsating blue engraving, and he started to feel unique vibrations coming from the engraving. He focused solely on one frequency of vibrations and felt connected to a mysterious place. "Hahaha! I broke through into the Adept stage of my soul!! Heart like a mirror, reflecting and staying true to my own choices. Learning how to make my willpower concise and sharp when needed, yet also being able to flow like water...I understand now!" Rey said proudly. Shua! Shua! The engraving started to emit a clicking noise, and in a matter of a few seconds, the color shifted from blue to a purple, and from a strange pattern to a circular tunnel. He walked through the portal. Rey''s vision started to blur and warp, he felt nauseous, and even his mind was feeling strangled as if he could not think clearly. Luckily, this only lasted for a few moments until he felt normal. Rey refocused and decided to look around. He noticed that he was in some sort of temple area. He was cross-legged, sitting on a pillow. No one else was around either.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "How peculiar, where am I?" Rey stated. Gold pillars were placed on the corners of the room he was in, with red linen covering the walls of the room. The floor was a purple carpet that could only be described as exquisite and extremely fluffy. There were paintings depicting various fights between many races, humans included. Rising to his feet, Rey walked out of the room and into a long and wide corridor. Rey was startled as he saw people walking out of rooms that were exact copies to the room he was just in. ''How rich are the builders of this temple area??'' Rey thought right before he was interrupted. "Move kid!" An old man yelled at Rey as he shoved into him. "DON''T BLOCK THE WAY!" A hot-headed youth screamed out. "??? ????? !! ??? ???? ??? ??? ???. ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ????? ????!" One person spoke in an undiscernable language. Quickly, Rey started walking and decided to follow the crowd into a large open rotunda. There were signs located around the walls as well as many people who had tables out selling items. "Welcome to Sanctuary, where you can find all you will ever need! Do you need knowledge? A tutor? Need someone to talk to? Need weapons and armor? Sanctuary is the answer to all your problems!" "Sanctuary, huh? I wonder how this works..." Rey said while continuing to the next sign. "Skeptical on the logistics of how this works? It is simple! Complete tasks for the Sanctuary or sell your own items with a slight fee here in Sanctuary to gain contribution points. Then you can use these points to use any of our services or buy equipment. Obviously, as this is a world of consciousness, physical items cannot be transferred over, so our trusted employees will deliver these items to where you actually are. If you get our membership called ''Amazing Primal,'' we even do 2-day shipping along with other benefits, no extra charge!" The sign read. "It is that simple!?! Wow, sign me up!" Rey exclaimed. He then looked around and saw a sign that leads him to another room: The Quest Board. He was lead into a room with a clerk in it. The clerk was a beautiful excardes inber woman. These humanoid beings, the excardes inber race, had a high-tier fire affinity, mid-low-tier water affinity, low-tier affinity to the rest of the laws. She had red flaming hair, emerald-colored eyes, high cheekbones, and a cute smile. She wore a simple blue and gold dress that emphasized her beauty. "Hello, I was wondering what kind of jobs you guys have here?" Rey asked. "§µ §ß§Ñ§ã §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §â§Ñ§Ù§ß§í§ç §â§Ñ§Ò§à§ä, §ß§Ñ§é§Ú§ß§Ñ§ñ §à§ä §ã§Ò§à§â§Ñ §â§Ö§ã§å§â§ã§à§Ó, §ã§ä§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§Ý§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ §ß§Ñ§Ö§Þ§ß§í§Þ§Ú §â§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§ß§Ú§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §å§Ò§Ú§Û§ã§ä§Ó§Ñ §à§á§Ñ§ã§ß§í§ç §Ý§ð§Õ§Ö§Û §Ú§Ý§Ú §Ø§Ú§Ó§à§ä§ß§í§ç §Ú §ä.§Õ." The woman started aggressively yelling at Rey in an unknown language. "Woah! Relax, all I want to know-" Rey was saying as she walked off to get another man, one of the human race. "My apologies valued customer, my name is Tom. What can I help you with?" The man said with a sincere expression on his face. He looked like he was in his late 20s, with short black hair and wearing the same blue and gold-colored dress. "What was her deal?" Rey asked, not comprehending what had just occurred. "Ah, well, the excardes inber race''s language is often misunderstood. She was politely telling you the many different options you can choose from to contribute to Sanctuary. It''s just that many of their words and pronunciations make their speech sound aggressive." Tom explained, "She said that we have a lot of different jobs, ranging from collecting resources, becoming an employee, killing dangerous people or animals, etc. Do any of these sound good?" "How would I become an employee?" Rey asked, wanting to get some money. "It is pretty simple actually," Tom created and handed Rey a white, rectangular and thin, sheet and a stick, "Just fill out this form and you are ready to go." "Woah! So clear, these letters are all so uniform!" Rey exclaimed. "Have...you not seen paper before? Is this your first time going into a world of consciousness?" Tom asked in unbelief. "It is my first time. Why?" Rey said. "Here, watch this," he said while handing him a small disc and pointing over to a box, "In the soul realm, we can create anything we desire, but in the real world none of this stuff is actually possible!" Tom laughed, "Just put this into that box and it should catch you up on what you need to know." A few hours later... "Wow, so complex, yet so simple! This is simply amazing!" Rey''s mind was blown as he had just become cultured. He filled out his information on the ingenious invention that is called paper. A few moments later, Tom came out and said, "Good news, you got the position of ''Quest Helper,'' just like me! It does not pay extremely high, but it is one of the better starting out jobs." Tom said, "You''ll start your shift for 15 hours today. Oh, and here is your standard blue and gold attire." Rey nodded and agreed. During those 15 hours, Rey learned a lot about the world outside of Lorea. Firstly, high-quality weapons were greatly needed, and some were special with amplifying effects. Secondly, there were many other jobs he could take, such as being a counselor to somebody, helping promote companies, and even become a licensed professional hugger who gets paid to hug random people! Rey gained 60 contribution points for his 15 hours of work, plus a bonus 20 points for creating his own bank account. /// Name: Jacob Reymond / Rey Nafasi Age: 14 years old, 8 months Height: 1.3 meters Sanctuary Contribution Points: 80 points Bloodline: Human bloodline (40%) Space King bloodline (60%) Space law - High-tier affinity - Adept stage 7 Soul law - low-tier affinity - Adept stage 1 Energy: Space - 35/35 - recharges 1 point per hour Energy: Soul - 18/20 - recharges 1 point per hour Abilities: Teleportation, Imbue, Materiokinesis, Gravitation Manipulation, Permeability, Soul Tether /// "I cannot believe that it has already been two months since Aizen and Hibari died and I lost my body..." Rey, remembering those sacrifices, decided not to dawdle. He had an idea on what to do to recover his body. - - - - - - - - - - - - One month after setting up camp. "Over here!! I see footprints in the mud!!" A loud voice echoed throughout the dense forest. "Damn it!! They found me!" Riza cursed in a hushed voice, not wanting to alert any Lychni. Riza had been training her new abilities and killing other creatures for the past month to grow stronger, and now, she had just broken through into the Adept level 12. The boons of the light fruit not only increased her affinity to the light law but also her cultivation stage was improved greatly. Within a month of constant absorbing with the help of the natural treasure that was the light fruit, her growth was obscenely fast. "I''ve come back for you, Mom and Dad, please be safe!" Riza prayed. Infiltrate, Lorea!! "Mercenaries! Here we go." Rey said while walking into another luxurious room. He took a couple of looks around, and noticed that the people in the room were all rugged and aged, giving them a sense of fierceness. He then quickly spotted the clerk and waited in line. "NEXT!" The clerk shouted as it was Rey''s turn. "What do you need done?" She said in an uninterested voice. "I need to destroy a soul, but keep the body intact. Is there any mercenary that can do that?" Rey asked. "Haha," she laughed, "Anything is possible, for a price. How strong is this person''s willpower? What law do they cultivate? What race are they? Do they have any protections against soul attacks? When..." the woman kept asking more questions as Rey answered each one, albeit changing a few details such as his race. As time grew on, the woman''s face began to turn more and more depressed. "From what you are saying, this ''Soma'' seems very powerful, and with strong willpower...there is only one person I can think of who could annihilate his soul without harming the body that you can get in contact with. Gray Kioko is your best bet, he is a novice stage 12 in the soul law. He is a little hefty priced though. You''ll need at least 10,000 points, and he still may decline the request." She said. "10,000 points?!?! That''s so much!" He blurted out. "Okay, I''ll come back when I have the points." He said while waving goodbye. That was another custom within Sanctuary, instead of throwing ones fist to the ground, they waved with an open hand. Rey did the math in his head. "If each hour of work awarded about 5 credits, and there are 24 hours in a day, then it will take me...78 days of continuous to be able to hire Gray Kioko." He thought. "With some sleep in between, I''ll do it in three months!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Keep your eyes alert! For his Highness!" A commander shouted in a high-pitched voice. "For his Highness!" A surge of voices responded in the same pitch. "Hmph!" Riza said in disdain, "A pack of Lychni dogs." She whispered as she was crouched behind a wall, staying away from their field of vision. "It''s time to get some retribution, you damn bastards!" She said. As she was thinking of her family and having to leave them behind, fury began to boil and erupt within her. She headed for her first destination: Home. Creeping alongside the edge of the town wall, Riza snuck around and cast an illusion ability that she had learned through the light fruit. She could create perceived invisibility that would forcefully block the user''s ability to see that she was there. The problem was that if the subject was too keen, or if there was more than one person, then the ability would ultimately fail to keep her hidden; it could only fool one person''s sense of sight at a time. Luckily, after a long time of observing the guards, she finally learned their routines, and that there is only ever one guard on the eastern gate of the town of Lorea during the evening. "Hmmph, seems that they''re a lot of Lychni around Lorea after the Princess''s death. I''ll have to be more careful." Riza thought. The guard on shift was a tiny woman in comparison to Riza. She cast the ability and walked out in front of the guard. She waited a few moments to confirm that it was working. Seeing the guard unfazed by her presence, she heaved a heavy sigh of relief and walked into the shrubbery. Sticking to various walls, plants, and other structures, Riza was able to remain mostly unseen. The closer she had gotten to her house, the more guards she ran into. It was not long before she had been seen. She turned the corner and was startled to see a guard, who was similarly startled. The guard was not as strong though, and Riza was able to quickly jab them in the throat and puncture their lungs, preventing the guard from calling out and ending his life. "For the humans," Riza said to herself with determination. She arrived at her house and found it empty. Then she too felt empty. "M-maybe they''re just outside??" Riza thought, her mind struggling to come to that conclusion. But no matter how long she waited and paced around, she didn''t find them. 5 minutes. 20 minutes. 1 hour. 2 hours. After 3 hours of waiting, her anxiety took over as she covered her face and put on clean clothes. She went out the back of her home and blended in with other people walking on the dirt pathways. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! She walked to one of her parent''s friend''s house and found them. "Riza?!? Where have you been?? Nevermind that, I don''t want to know." A man said. He had darkish skin, brown hair, and gave off the perception of life and vitality. She disregarded his comment and got straight to the point. "Sonalius, where are my parents? Have you seen them at all?" "I...Riza, they were..." He paused, "They were executed right after you left..." Sonalius said solemnly. "King Sig''car killed them." Tears streamed down Riza eyes as she dropped to her knees. She found hope in the darkest situation and drew strength from the chance that they were still alive. Now that she knew they were gone, that hope and strength were shattered. "Where are their bodies?" Riza quietly said as she slowly got back to her feet. "I need to see them." "Riza, you don''t need to see them like that. Your parents were good people, and they cared so much about you. That''s why...you need to leave." Sonalius said with haste. "If any of these Lychnus soldiers learn you''re here, king Sig''car will rush over, and that''s bad for everyone here." "No, I need to see them, Sonalius!!" She almost shouted, "I...I want to bury them." She said. Sonalius paused for a moment. An awkward silence formed before he eventually sighed and said, "Okay, but if we''re doing this," He said while moving his finger in a circular motion on Riza''s forehead. He then pressed his finger into that circle on Riza''s forehead. "You won''t be implicated" Sonalius gave a weird smile. "W-what did you...do?" Riza mustered out. She felt something invade her body before falling to the ground. Plop! With Riza''s vision waning and tranquility flooding her mind, her consciousness faded. "This is not your battleground, Riza." He said as he hoisted her up and set her down on a bed made of straw. "To tell you the truth, I wanted to stop the abuse done to your parent''s bodies before, but I was too scared..." He said aloud, despite knowing that she could not hear him. "Johnathon and Teresa were some of my best friends," Sonalius realized, "No, they were more like family. When king Sig''car killed them, I held the grief and pain that death brings. But when he then decided to string their broken bodies up for all of Lorea to see...he went too far." He spoke with ferocity, "Nobody deserves that treatment, especially your parents." Sonalius concluded. "Having you come here and express your own sorrow and anger helped me recognize this." - - - - - - - - - - - ROOOAAARRR A lofty beast with wings crashed down into the ground. It was a hulking 6 meters tall, with a body length of 20 meters long. Its scaled underbelly and body were black, with gold patterns around its head, wings, and tail. It carried immense power with every movement, and destruction was its right hand. The beast caught sight of many cultivators appearing and starting to surround it. Humans, Excardes Inber, Spirits, Demons, and many other creatures started to shout in one voice. "Kill it!!" "Don''t let it escape!!" The beast became infuriated at these races and started to well up power of its own. A golden radiance started to shine down. Everyone else looked aghast, they had seen this ability before, and it took many of their comrades lives. The golden light started to crystallize and teleport around in a seemingly random order, slicing and killing anyone in a 25-meter radius. "Fight on!!!" Each races commanders shouted and urged on. Fire, Water, Ice, Soul, Life, Death, Light, Darkness, Lightning, Space, and Corrosive attacks were all hurled towards the beast. The amount of energy expended became an absurd amount, but none of the races could afford not using everything they could. The creature, under the barrage of constant attacks, became bloodied and bruised. Even though each person wasn''t extremely strong, the number of people made up for their lack of strength and cultivation. ROAR!! The beast quickly became scared and tried to fly away. "Quick!! After it!!" The united races became excited and all went towards it. Despite taking so much damage, the beast continued to fly for 2 hours. Its vitality and lifeforce were proven to be immense. The united races continued to follow it into a valley with no other exit. When there was nowhere else to go, it finally stopped and turned around. But when it did turn around, the beast looked like it was smiling at them shrewdly. Sweat drenched their backs as they realized that they weren''t chasing after it, but it was leading them into a trap. The beast''s wounds started to heal, and it looked like it was in perfect health. "R-run!!!" "Monster!!!" Chaos followed as every race disbanded and protected their own. The beast, however, vanished and reappeared behind them to trap everyone. Wuuuuu! The beast made a strange noise and another, smaller beast, appeared at his side. It jumped up and down, flapping its tiny wings in excitement. The beast, once again, shined out a golden light and crystalized it. But this time, the shards of golden crystals split even further and efficiently killed almost everything there. No matter how many shields the united races put up, they were all destroyed in a matter of seconds. Even those who were proficient in reflexes and movement were barely able to keep up. A few of the exceptional beings escaped, barely fleeing with their life. The beast, along with its child, howled towards the sun and began to feast. - - - - - - - - - - - A beautiful landscape with mountain ranges, trees that were as tall as the sky, and a myriad of colors were portrayed around a single person. Complex engravings entwined with each other as they formed full images. Purple light swiveled around as a smile formed on the youth''s face. "Found another!" He said with excitement plastered on his face, before furrowing his brows. "Oink?" Ozzy sounded curious. He had never seen anything able to provoke such a reaction to his master before, even with the countless battles he''s been through. "Hmm, I didn''t expect to find a common enemy to Ouranos here." Soma stated before smiling again, "All the better though!" - - - - - - - - - - - Searing light woke Riza up as she struggled to see. Her head rung inconsistently and throbbed as she sat up on a makeshift bed. After a few minutes of staring blankly at a wooden wall, clarity started to fill her mind again. The last words she heard from Sonalius replayed in her head. Seething anger filled her as she recognized that her parents were used to display Sig''car''s cruelty. But the thing that touched her most - Sonalius going to bring their bodies back - was also the thing that made her worry. ''Please be safe, Sonalius!'' She prayed while anxiously waiting. Half an hour later Riza, who was crouched inside Sonalius'' home near an open window, saw guards rushing to the center of town. Feeling nervous and not wanting to sit around, she took off in that direction. After two minutes of traveling, with the help of the light law, Riza arrived very quickly. She observed the town square which had normally been bustling with people and found that no commoner was around. Only the Lychni soldiers and Sonalius were there. There were 14 Lychni surrounding Sonalius, who was bloodied and sweating profusely. She looked at five different pikes that centered for all to see the atrocity painted there. The pikes were covered in the thick stench of blood. Their bodies seemed to have already been pulled down by Sonalius before the fight started. Riza''s gaze was hyper-focused as she stared coldly at more incoming lychni soldiers. A bright radiance started to form around Riza as she started using the law of light. Sigcars Fury Four of the soldiers that surrounded Sonalius saw Riza and immediately rushed to her. Riza, however, simply stood stared at them with a fierce gaze. As they were getting closer, she finally showed signs of reacting as she muttered a few words. "Light Absorption." Riza activated her inherited ability, and the soldiers quickly came to a halt. For a few moments they looked shocked, but they quickly recovered. Relying on their sense of hearing, touch, and their sixth sense, they became extremely defensive. With daggers in hand, they raised their hands to block any attacks. "Stay close! I do not know what accursed ability she used, but we have to keep defending!! For honor, for King Sig''car!" One of the warriors shouted as the rest followed suit, "For honor, for King Sig''car!" "Hmmph." Riza coldly snorted while dashing towards them. With a knife in one hand and another hand in the shape of a claw, she tried to break their defense. However, it was like they could still see her every move and blocked her just in the nick of time. Their quick reactions caused her to be unable to injure them with basic attacks. No matter how she tried to slash or maul at them, they swiftly stepped backward or to the side to dodge. "Hah, is this all a human can do?" One of the four spoke in disdain. Riza quickly became enraged as her killing intent rose. She exploded from anger and rushed in. With her dagger, she filled it with light energy and stabbed them with all her force. Just as the edge of the blade about to pierce one of the lychni, they all smiled elatedly. Riza suddenly felt something was amiss, but it was already too late for her to react. Puchi! Blood flowed as Riza looked down. There were four of them looking at her with a contemptuous gaze, while another one appeared and stabbed her in the stomach. A middle-aged lychnus with one red right eye and one yellow eye appeared before Riza''s eyes. Stumbling back, she looked at the five lychni in disbelief, wondering where the other person came from. "Thank you, Leo. If it wasn''t for your illusions, this girl would have been a hassle. What an annoying ability she has." One of them said. "Annoying ability? Humph, you guys need to learn to sense through your auras, otherwise, you''ll always be weak and caught off guard like this human." Leo said while shaking his head. The rest of the guards nodded their heads and laughed. "I-I''m not dead yet." Riza struggled to get to her feet as blood gushed out. She looked pale and was stumbling towards them. The guards, who were just celebrating, were shocked. "Oh? So she can still stand after taking such a hit?" Leo laughed and said while waving his right hand, "It''s a good thing that we need you aliv-" Just before he could finish his sentence, Leo saw one of his lackeys quickly dash forward and was about to stab Riza in the heart. "NO!" Leo quickly appeared next to the soldier, but he was too late. The soldier was smiling, "I did good, right? She''s dead!" He was about to laugh when he realized the mood didn''t feel right at all. Using his blades, Leo ran them through his friend''s neck as he kicked the shocked and small lychni back. Blood flowed out of his neck and mouth. Leo barked at him, "You idiot!! Now we''re all dead!!" Leo started to sweat and shake as he began to think how he''d die when suddenly he felt a strong killing intent lock onto him. Cold sweat drenched his back as he froze in place. Turning around to see who it was, he was stunned once more. Sonalius felt Riza''s lifeforce become incredibly faint while he was fighting and became worried. With blood flowing from the wound in her abdomen and her heart pierced, Sonalius became enraged as his vitality and aura changed. As if a weight was suddenly placed on the soldiers, everyone except Leo and Riza were struggling to stand. He started to dash towards Leo as the other 14 guards were barely standing. "Seems like you won''t be simple, huh?" Leo cautiously, "I doubt that I''d be able to beat someone like you under normal circumstances. But..." Leo flashed over towards Riza and kicked her back down to the ground, causing her to whimper from the pain. With his sword drawn to Riza''s neck, he smiled. "What''s stopping me from finishing the job?" He said devilishly.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "You''d dare!?!?" Sonalius raged as he stood in place. He couldn''t risk Riza''s life. Fraught with how to handle such an enemy he started sweating. "What do you want?" "For you to save her." He simply said. Sonalius was bewildered at such a request. "What''s the catch? It cannot be that simple. Why would you help me?" Leo scoffed at him as he was speaking. "It''s not for you to know. You''ve studied the law of life right? Surely you have some means of saving her." Leo said. Sonalius hesitated for a moment but quickly decided to agree. ''If I wait another moment, she''ll die.'' he thought. "Okay, I agree." He walked up and stuck his fingers into both of Riza''s stab wounds. Riza winced slightly before falling unconscious from the pain and blood loss. "Circulate the blood" "Regenerate the flesh" "Circulate the blood" "Regenerate the flesh" Sonalius kept chanting as he grew anxious. ''There should be some amount of healing by now!" "Circulate the blood" "Regenerate the flesh" "Circulate the blood" "Regenerate th-" "Damn it! Why isn''t this working?!?!" Sonalius shouted. "Her bodies natural regeneration, even with me amplifying it to this extent, is still not enough!" He turned to look at Leo, who was sweating after he heard Sonalius. "Yo-you cannot save her?!?" Leo shrieked in fright as he started to tug his hair. He looked at his dead friend''s blade and saw the problem. "He used poison..." Leo fell onto the floor and cursed. Sonalius also cursed. ''Well, of course, it''s not working then!'' He looked at Riza''s pale face and then back at Leo''s fragile figure. Leo composed himself before sneering, "Hmph, looks like I''m a dead man walking. King Sig''car will be here shortly, and then both of us will die by his hands!" He laughed hysterically, "If she dies, then both of us die too." "I can save her," Sonalius said. Leo, who was poised to attack, suddenly reeled himself back with a smile. "You can? Then do it!" He said hurriedly. Her life was akin to his life at this moment. If king Sig''car were to rush over here and find that his only lead was dead because of Leo and his subordinates, wouldn''t king Sig''car also kill him? Thus, he needed Sonalius. Sonalius gave a bitter smile as he frowned. "I''m sorry honey, it seems like I can''t keep my promise to you. Please forgive me..." Sonalius whispered and looked over at Leo, "Leo, was it? Don''t blame me for what is about to occur. This is the only way..." Leo stood there in bewilderment as he felt the aura of life around Sonalius become stronger and stronger while he and his team''s life force became weaker. Leo stood feebly as he pointed towards Sonalius, "W-what are you doing?!?" Sonalius, despite having brought the lychni to their knees, still looked depressed. He raised one finger into the air. "Lifeforce, gather!" Suddenly, all of the petite lychni, Riza, and even Sonalius himself began to have their life drained. By absorbing everyone''s life, he could greatly boost his powers temporarily. "Hang in their Riza!" He quickly rushed to her side as he feared she might pass away. "This is the only method I can think of...Only a forbidden technique would allow me to jump levels enough to heal you from the brink of death." He smiled before lunging his fingers back into her abdomen and heart, stimulating her own lifeforce while transferring his own to her. A few grey hairs surfaced after healing for a couple of moments. "If only I had known to do this back then, even with it being incomplete..." He sighed as a pained look surfaced on his face. Looking back at Riza, her face''s color started to return as her body continued to remove the rest of the poison and heal the internal damage done to her. With haste, he put Riza on one shoulder and the five corpses that were strung up on his other shoulder, then ran away while trying to mask their lifeforce. A few minutes later, Sonalius heard a loud scream as he felt a strong lifeforce approach the area where they had been. "YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER RIZA! IF I NEED TO, I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THIS TOWN JUST TO FIND YOU!" Sonalius shuddered as he heard that explosively loud voice full of hatred and frenzy. "What a Madman...though if someone had killed my kid, I suppose I''d do the same..." he thought. While he was still lost in thought about escaping and where they would hide, he felt movement on his left shoulder. Riza groaned as she started to speak. Sonalius quickly gave a recap of what happened but modified the part about using a forbidden spell that he created. "Let''s head back to where I was hiding earlier and bury our friends and family. I, I think I can use my powers to help us leave unseen." Riza said. With Sonalius helping block everyone''s sixth sense, and Riza blocking everyone''s sense of sight, they left almost effortlessly. King Sig''car showed up and circled the entire town wall as he was sensing for Riza, but with the empowerment of a forbidden skill, Sonalius was able to mask both of their presence. Seeing that they were relatively safe, Riza told Sonalius described where she hid. Sonalius then touched her forehead, "There''s no need for you to be awake right now, and your body is still only half-healed. I am going to make to fall into a deep sleep to help your body recover more. Don''t resist it." He said in a calm voice. Riza nodded, and a wave of drowsiness flushed over here. It wasn''t painful this time, instead, she felt extremely peaceful; Riza quickly succame to the spell and fell asleep. - - - - - - - - - - - Back at the town square, King Sig''car, who was fuming after seeing that not only did his men fail to capture Riza, but even took their prisoner''s bodies. This was a direct act of humiliation, and would likely add fuel to the fire for a revolution in Lorea. "What happened here?" He looked at Leo, who was struggling to stand, "Where did she go?" "Your Holiness, there was another man here that eradicated our people. I believe his name is Sonalius, he has good control with the law of life. He also took off in the east! I managed to severely wound Riza, but that man was too powerful. It felt like he was half a step away from becoming a pseudo-saint" Leo lowered his head as he spoke in fear. "I am sorry your Holiness, I won''t let you down again!" "I forgive you...and I know you won''t let me down again." He sighed as he had a cold look on his face. Puchi! King Sig''car rushed his hand through Leo''s chest, causing blood to splatter. A gaping hole was left where his solar plexus was. "Your Holiness..." Leo screamed as he fell to the floor with his eyes wide open. "You knew the rules. Failure means death. No exceptions." He wiped the blood off of his hand and then proceeded to search for Riza and the mysterious man. Goodbye For Now Riza and Sonalius finally saw the camp after three full days of travel. They walked through the dense forest which obstructed their view. After getting past the last few trees, they looked up ahead. They could see mountains on both sides of a valley with dense fog overshadowing it. A large river separated the forest from the valley. "Hmmph, good location. Situated near the Degasi River, and between both the Vibrant forest and Mist Valley." Sonalius gave a nod of approval. "Really? I knew that water sources attracted creatures, but the ones in the Vibrant forest are too weak to cause me trouble after eating-" Riza paused as she contemplated, "...after growing stronger. Thus, I thought that it would be safe if I kept my distance from Mist Valley. The water being close is also a good thing for us." Riza explained, "Plus, we are far enough from Lorea that the lychnus race only passes by here once a week. After all, we are over 200 km east of Lorea, and those fairy bastards live in the north over on Sunder Mountain..." Sonalius was speechless towards both Riza''s deduction and her knowledge for geography. Although he had already known this from his own experience and analysis, it was still impressive that this girl is very knowledgeable and wise despite her youth. "Riza, have you ever thought of taking the route of becoming a mage? Your intellect and wisdom are already so great, and you''ll surely learn the mysteries of the universe if you follow this route." Sonalius couldn''t help but ask as he set the captive bodies he was holding softly on the grass. "A mage? What''s the difference between that and what I am now?" Riza asked, unsure of what defines a mage. "Mages typically attack from afar and are almost always fully powered by the enlightenment of a law. In legends and old text, there was a woman who was named Magnus. She could call down meteors from the aether that struck the ground. Rather than using law-powered techniques, mages use spells created by mimicking the law itself." Sonalius explained. "A warrior''s path, however, uses the body as a medium to connect with the law; the body becomes infused with the law and is an extension to oneself. The warrior can then use an object like a spear or sword to create techniques that are applied directly from themselves. You should know that our world is separated into the Eastern and Western continent by this point. The two continents are believed to have been one, but someone with immense strength split the world apart with an ax. Nobody knows what level these beings were at." He said as he sat on a log and let his body rest. "Neither path is necessarily stronger. A warrior may not be able to comprehend as much through their mind, but their techniques are just as fierce and strong. The constitution and lifeforce of a warrior are also superior compared to a mage. Warriors may find themselves lacking in mind comprehension, but they make up for it in body comprehension. Letting the laws run through the body will strengthen it, and thus making their attacks and defense even tougher. A mage, on the other hand, can also become devastating. Their body may be weaker, but the power they output is no joke. They are exceptional support within a group too, boosting your teammates while hindering your enemies. There are even solo mages that are devasting with their attacks and illusions." Sonalius looked hesitant, like he wanted to say something else, but couldn''t decide if he should. After a few moments, however, he sighed and decided not to share what he was thinking. "Anyway, don''t think about it too much. Once you reach that level, you''ll naturally know what I mean." He said as he waved his hand dismissively. "Now..." Sonalius'' expression grew heavy, "Let''s say goodbye and bury your parents with Aizen''s parents, who stood up for Sig''car''s rampage." When someone from Lorea died, they would perform this old tradition. With each scoop of dirt dug by their own hands, beads of sweat formed on heads. Their hard work and perseverance were sown into the ground, signifying the difficult the loss was for them. Sonalius got on his knees and he started grabbing handfuls of dirt and scooping it back. Riza, who was looking at her parents, quickly rubbed her eyes and started doing the same. "Have I told you how your parents met?" Sonalius forced a smile as he continued clawing away at the dirt, "Johnathan, at the time, as cool-headed and dignified as he was, was consumed with revenge and bitterness. His brother, your uncle Sam, was captured by someone from the Excardes inber race and made into their slave. Johnathan vowed that he would get stronger one day and rescue his brother." "Enslave?!? Some humans are enslaved?" Riza said with apparent shock. She continued to dig but continued to think about the situation. Sonalius nodded, "I suppose it''s normal that they haven''t told you this yet. Although humans are strong due to our number, resilience, and will to overcome anything, ultimately we have been targeted by many races." He said with a sigh, "There''s still so many of us that are weak who become easy targets to other races. Many humans cannot even cultivate and are forced to become slaves just to live." He said with a frown as he was remembering bad memories.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "After spending 5 years of hunting and searching, he finally got his answer. He was supposedly taken by someone named the Red Berserker. After finding a lead, Johnathan did not stop there and decided to scout out the Red Berserker and see if his brother was truly there." Sonalius said with a heavy sigh. "Johnathan, a couple of other people, and I were from a small village far southwest of Lorea. He told me he finally got a lead on his brother and was going to check the validity of the claim. He had said this many times before, and I always ask him how he knew. Usually, he would say he found out from asking the few excardes inber that he knew. This time, however, he had told me that he went into their camp and took hostages, even having to kill a few of them. Needless to say, he was sure about his brother''s location." Sonalius continued as he voiced got lower. "I feared for him finally losing his mind and decided to go with him. When we got there, Johnathan confirmed that his brother was held captive there but..." His voice trailed off. "What was it?" Riza slowly said, feeling perturbed with the sudden break in speech. "We realized why the captor was named the Red Berserker. He was given the name due to being excessively cruel and berserk. He was the definition of a sadist. If the workers slacked at all, he pulled out whips with metal shards. Sometimes they were lucky with just a few whips, but if the Red Berserker wasn''t in a good mood and feel especially cruel, they would get tens of hits with the whip. It was a miracle that your Uncle and some of the other slaves survived as long as they did honestly. Johnathan, however, sunk even deeper into rage and fury. Seeing his brother after 5 years being torn apart broke him. Before I even realized it, he had started charging towards his brother. He had just broken into the novice level, and he decided to challenge the Red Berserker who was at the novice stage level 5. The Red Berserker viciously smiled at him like found a new toy and told Johnathan that he was going to enslave him too." Sonalius said seriously. "Other excardes inber were headed towards us, bells were being rung. We just stormed into their village, and chaos was brewing. While your father was fighting off the Red Berserker, I was dealing with the rest of the weaker enemies. We did not fare well and were becoming increasingly at a disadvantage." Sonalius smiled as he realized only one grave was left to dig. "What we didn''t know, though, was the Red Berserker had captured people from another village: Lorea. Your mother, Rey''s parents, and even that traitorous Kiev all saw Johnathan and me rush in and decided to fight. Me and Rey''s parent''s fought the waves of excardes inber, while Johnathan, your mom, and Kiev fought the Red Berserker. Feeling overwhelmed by the sudden change, both of the enemies were killed in a few minutes. After freeing the prisoners, Johnathan quickly ran to his brother and cried with him. It was a very touching moment for everyone there. Your mother and the rest introduced themselves and told us they admired Johnathan and my bravely. They said if we wanted to come to Lorea, we could. Johnathan quickly left with the rest of them with his brother because he was badly injured, and our small camp didn''t have anything in comparison to Lorea. I told the rest of our camp about Lorea, showed them the map, and left. Some came with me to Lorea, some stayed behind. After a year of living in Lorea on constantly spending time together, they married. Soon after, they got pregnant with you, Riza." Sonalius said as they finished the last grave. Riza''s eyes were teary after hearing that story about what her dad and uncle went through. "I tell you this story because I can see your father''s rage in you. I know that you want revenge for everything Sig''car has done. Do not lose control as your father did and get obsessed with it. Seeking revenge won''t bring them back, and it''ll get you killed. Only once you''re strong enough can you take revenge on them." Sonalius looked Riza in the eyes, "Don''t go on the same path your father did. The innocent families that he''s killed and guilt took him decades to reconcile." Riza, despite being angry, decided to bid her time and nodded in agreement. "Alright, do you remember what the next step is to burying them?" Sonalius tested Riza. "Covering them with evergreen leaves and placing a Sentira flower on their head?" Riza said unsurely. "Correct, we need to find evergreen trees and 4 Sentira flowers. Evergreens aren''t hard to find, but we''ll need to keep an eye out for the Sentira flower. Let''s go, we only have a few more hours of daylight. I''ve already placed a small ward to keep animals away from the graves, so we can both go." Sonalius said as he saw the bright red sun getting lower. They started treading through the forest, picking evergreen leaves and searching for the flower. "If I''m correct, This flower was one that is long-lived and quite pretty, right?" Riza asked. "Yes, it''s known mostly for its color and rebirth though. Within 1 year, the flower grows to maturity, dies, and is reborn into two through the previous flower. The original flower consumes itself after death, and then once it hit maturity, it releases another seed. Thus, the flower will live forever while its offspring floated and traveled with the wind. This is part of the significance of the flower and why we use it in death. We hope that the flower''s resurrection and rebirth are applied to the dead. That as they die and decompose, their soul goes through rebirth and reincarnates back to us." He explained the meaning behind the ritual they are completing. "What does the flower look like?" Riza inquired. "You''ll know when you see- ah, there''s one!" Sonalius smiled faintly. 20 meters away was a bright red and blue flower with a swirl pattern to it. Riza looked ahead and saw it. Her eyes shone with a marvelous light as she couldn''t help but smile towards it. "So pretty!!" Riza had the feeling that if she touched, it would become polluted and be destroyed. "Marvelous, right? I''ve heard that some people''s spirits are immediately lifted just by staring or touching the flower." Sonalius laughed, "It seems to be true of you, Riza. Go on, pick the flower." Riza walked over and pinched the stem of the Sentira flower. The flower''s stem broke, and she softly held the flower in her had. They searched for another 3 hours until they found three more of the flowers. Riza''s mood and outlook seemed to have improved a bit as she was smiling from time to time. Like a burden was lifted off, whenever she thought of her parents, she didn''t think of their death and Sig''car. Instead, she started remembering the memories and how much she misses them already. Exhausted from running there and digging the graves, they returned to their camp and covered all four bodies in the evergreen leaves and placed their bodies in the grave one by one. Both Riza and Sonalius grabbed two Sentira flowers each and held them in each hand. "To our ancestor, we give thanks for the life these brave men and women have lived. The battles forged for us, the tears shed for us," Riza started to sob as Sonalius was speaking, "and the sacrifices that were made for us to live happy lives. We thank our ancestors for the life they helped create too. Help bring these souls home and back to us. Amen." Sonalius concluded as he placed his flowers on Aizen''s parents and filled the grave. Riza placed the flower on her parent''s foreheads and softly said, "Goodbye for now..." Rude Awakening Riza and Sonalius slept on the soft and mossy ground burying their dead. Both of them were exhausted from traveling and slept until it was nearly afternoon. With the sun shining down in all of its brilliance, Riza furrowed her brows as she slowly opened her eyes, revealing her gold-colored irises. Her blurry vision rapidly adjusted to daylight within a few moments as she let out a soft yawn and stretched her arms and legs. Birds chirped merrily as they flew above Riza. She looked up at the blue and red birds in awe and wonder as she grabbed a nearby tree for support and rose to her feet. "Strange, I''ve seen plenty of Jade birds here, but never in blue and red until now..." Riza spoke to herself as she rubbed her eyes to ensure that she was seeing correctly. Even when she blinked, though, the Jade birds were still blue with a red belly and red-tipped wings. With the birds flying above the tall green trees and the few mountains in the distance, it almost looked like a beautiful painting had come alive. The Jade birds flew towards Mist Valley and disappeared from Riza''s sight as she was still lost in thought. Breaking away from her daydream, she noticed that Sonalius had already got up and wasn''t nearby. She dismissed her worries and decided to walk down to the Degasi river to get a drink of water. As Riza was walking, however, she continued to see strange things. The green leaves of some trees were purple, pink, red, and other fascinating colors. She saw a giant squirrel that had red and blue stripes, despite most being grey or brown. Recognizing these changes and abnormalities, Riza grew wary and began to approach the river cautiously. "This is too weird. First the jade birds, then the trees, and now the squirrels? What is happening? Not even practicing laws would create such changes in a creature''s body." Riza thought as she kept her guard up. Suddenly, however, she began to smell something extremely delectable. As if she couldn''t stop herself, or rather, she didn''t want to stop herself, Riza kept moving closer to the strong smell with each passing second. When she finally got into view, she saw a short man with blonde hair holding a giant worm in both his hands. There were a bunch of creatures around that were eating pieces of the worm and running off. Riza instinctively wanted to run away because she realized that the man was from the lychnus race, and that amazing smell was coming from a disgusting, bloated worm. However, when she tried to run away, her body wouldn''t listen to her, and Riza continued to walk towards the man. Just as she was about to walk into his view, a hand reached out and covered her face and mouth. Riza was about to scream from the sudden movement when she realized that the hand over her mouth was familiar. She turned her head and saw Sonalius plugging his nose. Before Riza even realized it, she was able to move her legs again. Sonalius gestured for her to be quiet and he placed Riza''s hand over her nose. They both silently walked away with their hands covering their nose. Sonalius gritted his teeth as they got far enough away from that man. "I think we should travel to Mist Valley." Sonalius whispered, "Even though the danger is great over there, it''s far better than staying with the lychni near us." Riza was shocked, yet she also realized that it was safer than where they were at currently. Riza thought of what her fate might have been if Sonalius didn''t show up at that moment. Being captured and tortured at the hands of the lychni and Sig''car was likely, and many other incomprehensible things. Needless to say, Riza nodded and agreed with Sonalius that going to Mist Valley was a better option. The creatures and other races there may be more powerful, but at least they were predictable and didn''t hold a grudge. Riza and Sonalius went back to their small make-shift camp and packed up everything they could hold that was of value and headed to cross the lake. Along the way, they saw more of those worms and a few hundred lychni combing around for them. "Over here! I found a fire and graves! It''s them!" They heard a high-pitched voice exclaim in a loud voice. "Contact his Holiness through Sanctuary! Relay the message to his Holiness!" Sonalius'' and Riza''s heart dropped to their stomach as they abandoned all stealth and, in a mad dash, quickly started to sprint to the river. Six other lychni who were in the area heard their rushed footsteps and saw the two run away. "We found them! Quick, don''t let them get away!" A shrill voice shouted as she took off after Riza and Sonalius. She and another five lychni were 50 meters to Riza''s right. Running through the tall grass hazardously, Sonalius bit his tongue and pushed ahead with Riza. He was having a harder time than Riza to put distance between him and the lychni. Riza was empowered by the light law to increase her speed, but Sonalius hadn''t trained much in the light law, so he could only gain a little boost in speed from the life law; most of his speed was coming from his physique and level. After 5 minutes of running, there were over 100 lychni and a few beasts following behind them another 150 meters away. Those who got in their path, watching and waiting to ambush, were directly killed by Sonalius when they neared him. By the time they reached the edge of the river, Sonalius'' and Riza''s bodies were covered with small cuts. Though none of the cuts were fatal on their own, each one bled and was filled with poison. Thankfully Sonalius had some degree in healing poisons, otherwise, they would have long collapsed. Even though it wasn''t much, especially since the death law was needed for most poison, it was still far below Sonalius'' capabilities. Since the poison wasn''t meant killing, but for incapacitating, removing or altering its effects wasn''t very hard for him.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Can you hold them off for another 15 minutes?" Sonalius asked with anxiety. They were surrounded by enemies with only the dark turbulent waters to give them some semblance of comfort, but they knew that even their best shot was dangerous. "Fighting a hundred at once?!? No, I don''t think I can..." Riza exclaimed as she continued to catch her breath. "What about fighting 10 at once?" Sonalius said. Riza looked at him as the army was 50 meters away, starting to throw their shurikens. "10...possibly, but wha-" "Then that''s enough," Sonalius said as his aura became mysterious and fiercer. Riza looked at him in shock. "This aura...a Pseudo-Saint??" Riza couldn''t help but say. She knew that Sonalius was a Novice, but suddenly his aura became incredibly ferocious and dense. The army seemed to notice the change in the atmosphere as they slowed their speed. Sonalius looked up at them and smiled. "Too late," Sonalius spoke and many of the lychni collapsed on the ground. Some were struggling to stand up, while there were 10 of them that seemed unaffected. "Buy me 15 minutes to catch a ride over the water." He spoke as he dived in. Riza turned back and saw the 10 people looking at her with madness in their eyes. The aura they were giving off was of peak Adept. Determination flashed in Riza''s eyes as she drew her daggers towards them. "Capture her at once!" One of them roared. The rest started attacking as well. Riza gritted her teeth as she performed light absorption. The soldiers slowed down slightly but were still charging towards her. Riza was momentarily shocked until she remembered that the lychni called Leo able to do the same thing by feeling the light energy around them. They could sense the packets of light around them and others who had light energy within their body. Riza, thinking of this, decided to try something before going head-on with 10 enemies. She grabbed a small rock and threw it at the closest lychni without using the light law. The lychni kept charging towards Riza, however, and didn''t even evade. Pang! The lychni got hit squarely in the face and hurled curses out towards Riza. It didn''t harm him, it just pissed him off. Seeing this, Riza''s lips curled into a mischievous smile. So that''s how it works, huh? Riza reached into her pouch to grab a few small daggers. She made sure to rely solely on her physical strength once again, and not use the empowerment of the light law. Pshew! The daggers cut through the air as they were sent towards three lychni. The first one felt movement, but by then it was too late, and he was stabbed deeply on his neck. He screamed out in pain, alerting the other two before he fell down and collapsed on the ground. Nine more to go! Hearing their friend''s scream, the rest of the lychni instinctively crouched down and put their hands over their head to block whatever was barreling towards them. The daggers made a sharp clang sound as they hit their armguards. "Enough, I want to test just how much light she can absorb!" A female lychni towards the back shouted with a smirk. She and the rest of the lychni let out a bright light that enveloped their surroundings. As if the sun descended onto the earth, the whole area was filled with radiance. Sweat began to form on their heads as Riza was also feeling the burden. Absorbing that much light was taking a toll on her too. After a few moments, her ability failed and she was forced to stop light absorption. "As I expected!" The lychni girl said as her vision cleared enough. However, their situation was less than desirable because they expanded quite a bit of energy to stop that ability. Riza furrowed her brows as she thought of how to buy more time. With the other 9 lychni soldiers headed towards her, she pulled out two better crafted and longer daggers. The lychnus threw shurikens and attacked Riza with their own daggers as she continuously dodged their attacks. Each person attacked one after the other, forcing her to defend with no hope to counter unless she could disrupt their flow. "Come on Sonalius. Hurry up!" Riza mentally urged, wondering what he was doing. For the split second that Riza was distracted, one of the lychni slashed at her arm, drawing blood. "You''re wide open!" one of the lychni said as he pulled his blade back. Gritting her teeth, Riza pushed the pain and thoughts out of her mind and became consumed with the rhythm of battle. If she was careless or distracted for a second, she may die. As she was fighting, her perception of fighting against people improved, and she began to notice small gaps in their defense and timing. As soon as the girl lychni, who was shouting, slashed 3 times, she would retreat and then attack three more times. "Should I attack?" Riza hesitated as she weaved through the oncoming thrusts and slashes, occasionally blocking them with her own. "What if it''s a trick and she can actually attack once more?" With this thought, Riza''s back was covered in sweat at the possibility. If she did try to attack, then she might be the one to die instead! How cunning and vicious are these people! Riza decided to just wait until Sonalius was done doing whatever it was. 15 minutes past and Riza was completely exhausted. Small cuts covered her body as she pushed herself to the limit. Her breathing was heavy, arms numb from the constant force, and feet sore from evading. Riza felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion when she pulled her head upward and saw a peculiar scene. A small bird''s wing was bloodied from their battle and the bird''s mother extended fire out from her body and ran it through the baby bird''s body. Strangely, the fire didn''t burn the creature, but invigorated it and boosted its natural ability to regenerate. Seeing the weird sight, Riza fell into enlightenment. She subconsciously coated her body in thin waves of light that meshed together and flowed around her organs and muscles. Suddenly, she felt a soothing warmth well up from her body and extend outward to her limbs. "A breakthrough? Right now, without blood?!" The female lychni said with dread. Her head was feeling fuzzy as she didn''t realize that it was even possible for someone who''s only a Pseudo-novice like herself. Foreign light entered Riza''s skin and pores, slightly restoring her fatigue and healing some minor cuts. As she was lost in comprehension and ranking up to the Pseudo-novice level 3, she unconsciously fought all 9 of them and still had the advantage; her body moved on its own as she was fully absorbing the knowledge of the light law. "Now, shall we continue?" Riza said in a monotone voice, scaring the rest of them. Through Tooth and Nail Puchi! Riza rammed her knife deep into a lychnus man''s back. Blood spilled and stained her clothes further. Just as the other Lychnus were about to attack Riza, she grabbed the man and used him as a shield. All of the soldiers hesitated for a moment. The woman and one other lychnus disregarded his life and attacked regardless. Two shurikens were flung towards Riza''s head, but she kicked the man forward and they pierced the small man''s stomach instead. Pale and bloodied, the lychnus stumbled with a look of horror on his face. Two more lychni stepped in and caught him before he fell down. They looked up and found Riza running towards them, brandishing her knives. A shiver ran down their spines as they instinctively dropped the man and fumbled to grab their weapons. With little time to react, they were slashed across their necks. "Damn you!" The woman spat out while running towards Riza. She was slower and couldn''t keep up in her enlightened state. As if she didn''t hear the girl''s words, Riza was unfazed and ran through their blood to another two lychni a hundred meters away. They threw shurikens towards Riza while another four rushed behind her. She looked behind and threw four daggers behind her while deflecting the other two soldier''s shurikens that darted to her. She swung her knife and changed their course. Looking behind, there were two daggers and two shurikens headed to the four lychni. With no options, they tried to dodge. The daggers flew by and delivered shallow wounds across their chest. After Riza deflected the shurikens, however, they became even faster and the other two soldiers could only watch it cut into them. Two of the four in the back dropped dead as the woman approached Riza from the side. Only five soldiers including the woman remained. It was at this moment that the energy within Riza stabilized as she finished her breakthrough. As her vision refocused, confusion was plastered over Riza''s face for a moment until her memories caught up with her. Covered in her enemies'' blood, she felt nauseous and sick. Adrenaline flushed the fear away as she tried to refocus on the battle. She tried to remember that fighting style and use it to her advantage. Once the power of enlightenment was over, however, Riza''s power output dropped back down to a normal Pseudo-novice. Her body felt drained as her breathing became heavier. The light that boosted her power vanished too. "Quick, her breakthrough is over," The woman screamed, "bring her back alive for his Highness!" By the time her mental state recovered, all five lychni surrounded her. Like a pack of wolves wanting to rip her apart, they launched a full assault. As they swung their daggers without regard, Riza cursed Sig''car''s name. Seeing a slight glint, Riza instinctively arched her spine backward as the female lychni swung her dagger right past Riza''s head and sliced off a few strands of her hair. Quickly steadying herself, Riza blocked the girl''s knife as sparks flew. Her arm felt numb as she firmly held the knife despite her exhaustion. ''I can''t keep this up.'' Riza panted and changed her plans. With the other lychni approaching, Riza ran toward the coast as the girl gave chase. Shurikens were hurled at Riza as she ran and deflected them. Her arm gave out as the dagger fell to the ground. With the lychnus girl right behind her, Riza jumped and rolled to the edge of the cliff. "Stop! We need her alive." She glared at Riza and called off her men. Just as they were approaching her, a man emerged from the side of the cliff and pulled her down into the murky waters. The rest of the lychnus was dumbfounded. They looked down and vaguely saw Riza and a man with her swimming away. "Get down there, now!" The girl shouted and abandoned all fears. The remaining four men jumped off and fell into the water. Anger clouded their perception, however. Once they jumped into the water, they saw several creatures swarming around them. As if the fish were happy that prey willingly invited themselves over as food, they kept gnashing their teeth and making strange gurgles. Riza and the man vanished before their eyes as the lychnus girl stood alone at the cliffside. Suddenly, the girl heard footsteps and turned around. Just as she did, a foot squarely kicked her in the face and sent her careening off the edge. Splash! The lychni rose to the surface and looked at Riza, shouting incomprehensible curses. All they got in return, however, was Riza looking down on them disdain. "Wait! Don''t leave us!" The female lychni spoke with haste, her face contorted as she desperately wanted to jump up to kill Riza. The girl discovered that she had nothing to offer Riza, though. With no option but to fight, she cursed Riza as she unsheathed her blades. "Don''t forget my name! Nydia Eichert III will kill you!" She spat out, every word sending dense waves of killing intent into the atmosphere. Riza had already walked away once she heard the name but discarded it from her memory. She was more worried about Sonalius than any lychni. After a few more minutes, the waters turned turbulent as Riza saw a giant shadow beneath the water. Its ginormous sea-creature swiftly approached her as a man''s figure slowly surfaced. Her eyes almost popped out of her skull as she saw the rugged Sonalius on top of it, peaking his body out of the water.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Sonalius, what took you so long?" Riza spoke with fatigue as sweat formed between her brows. "Getting us a ride over the Degasi." He said as he stroked the now visible creature''s head. It had a long, slender body, with dark green stripes on its red scales. With a single large eye and a gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth, it excluded a bloodthirsty nature. Rubbing some blood off his nose, Sonalius glanced at the hundreds of bodies before asking, "Where did the rest of the lychni go? Did they run off to seek help already?" "Dead," Riza stated. "Oh, okay. That makes sense." Sonalius said. A moment passed before Sonalius realized what Riza had said. "Wait, you killed them all?" Sonalius fumbled over his words as his eyes widened. "Yes. I made a breakthrough during combat after observing a bird healing its young." Riza casually said. "Oh, alright. That makes sense with the energy bath gained from breaking through-" Sonalius halted as his expression became almost comical. His jaw dropped to the point where you could almost fit a goose egg inside. "You broke through by observation and your own knowledge?" He asked, his voice full of disbelief. "Yep." "From enlightenment?" "Mhmm," Riza nodded. Sonalius wore a strange look before staring at Riza in awe. "Amazing! Fantastic! You already reached the point of comprehending the law by comprehension! Quick, we can talk later, let''s leave before there''s more trouble." He said with haste and vigilance. Sonalius clicked his tongue three times and motioned for Riza to climb onto the more than 6-meter long creature. With caution, Riza slowly got onto the creature and straddled it. Without a second to waste, the creature''s scales rotated, tunneling through the water at breakneck speed. The creature stayed above the surface as Sonalius communicated with it. The river spanned 3 kilometers in width. Once the three of them reached the half-way point, they heard a loud bang towards the coast of the Vibrant Forest. Riza instinctively turned around and saw two silhouettes near the rest of the dead lychni. The first appeared to be a tall man with gray hair, and the second was a short man with blue skin surrounded by light. The tall man vanished into thin air as the blue-skinned man ran towards her. Riza''s gaze grew cold as dense killing intent formed around her. "He''s here." Riza felt it was impossible to hold back her emotions as she wanted to kill the man right then and there. However, she didn''t act because she knew the aura he was giving off was far more powerful than her own by far. Despite her seething hatred for the man, she tried to stay calm. Just king Sig''car''s aura felt suffocating to Riza. Trying to go up against someone of his level was suicidal. The sea creature, noticing something was wrong, pushed itself to the limit. It went another half time faster than before. King Sig''car, who was on the opposite side of the Degasi river near the Vibrant forest, was also filled with sickening anger. He grabbed a handful of blue sand from a pouch on his hip and threw it into the river. Ice crystals formed on the surface of the water. After a few moments, over 50 meters of water turned into ice. King Sig''car slammed his foot into the ice and launched himself deeper into the river. Throwing the blue sand continuously, he was closing the distance between him and the creature. "Try to slow him down!" Sonalius shouted as he bit his hand and sunk it into the dark water. Riza unclicked her pouch as she grabbed a few shurikens and threw them towards king Sig''car. However, because Riza and Sonalius were still so far away from king Sig''car, her shurikens plummeted into the depths of the river. "Damn it! This cannot be happening!" Shock and terror flushed through Riza''s brain as she failed to come to a reasonable solution. With her one strongest ability, Riza cast Light Absorption on king Sig''car who was still freezing the water. "What a disgustingly simple trick!" He bellowed, his voice creating ripples on the water. King Sig''car''s entire self glowed with great brilliance, blinding both of them. Riza threw up blood as her complexion paled. The light released from Sig''car gave Riza burns, but in doing so, Sig''car accidentally melted some of the ice he had just formed. She fell down on her back with half-closed eyes. "Riza!" Sonalius retracted his hand from the water and checked her pulse. "Overexhaustion from energy. This girl is too damn reckless." With a heavy sigh, he looked at Sig''car with deep hatred. "Go!!!" He swung his arm forward, splashing blood into the river. Five small creatures came bursting up out of the water and rushed to Sig''car. Within a few seconds the creatures, with sharp teeth and claws, dived into Sig''car. "Riza Arriero from Lorea!" King Sig''car shouted as his fists shone with light. With every punch, a creature would be severely injured. After two punches each, the creatures looked at Sonalius with regret and hatred. Sonalius, Riza, and the creature they were already only 200 meters away to Mist Valley. Still, king Sig''car was catching up. "I need answers! Now! What happened that day? Who killed my daughter? You? Rey Nefasi? Aizen Poniel? Someone else? You greedy, damn, humans! Your fate is sealed! If you come to me, I won''t kill anyone else. But for every day you prolong, one person from Lorea will die because of you. Their blood will be on your hands. It''s your choice, Riza!" King Sig''car spat out in fury. "Nydia Eichert III." Riza muttered, which caused king Sig''car to feel anxious. "What? How do you know that name? Nydia... where is she?" Bubbling anger rose to his chest as he stopped chasing. The creature also stopped under Sonalius'' command. With ragged breathing, Riza tried to sit up. The burns on her skin flared up and she almost fainted from the pain. "Promise me, on the honor of the Lychni, that if I tell you where she is so you can save her, you will not harm those who are innocent." Silence pervaded the atmosphere as king Sig''car thought. "If you tell me where she is, and who killed my daughter, on the honor of the Lychni, I will not kill those who do not deserve it." He bit his lip as he bowed. "She is at the cliffside in the water, where the rest of your men are lying. She was fighting monsters in the water. you should hurry if you want to save her." She paused and muttered something under her breath. Her voice quivered as she looked back and forth between Sonalius and king Sig''car. "The one who killed princess Yu, your daughter, it was Rey Nefasi." "So it was Rey Nefasi who killed her¡­ You don''t know where he went?" King Sig''car heaved his chest upward. Riza had already collapsed onto the creature''s back, however. "You should hurry and save that fairy of yours before it''s too late." Sonalius mocked him, making king Sig''car seeth and glare at Sonalius before turning around. Sonalius watched as the blue man sprinted off and looked at the upcoming shore. Orange sand reflected the sun''s light as the sea creature Sonalius and Riza rode upon reached Mist Valley. With a loud howl, the snake-like creature threw the of them off its back. Sonalius quickly maneuvered in mid-air and caught Riza, who was nearly passed out. After softly setting Riza down on the sand, Sonalius turned around and saw that the creature was waiting there with its teeth showing and killing intent starting to form. "Right, I almost forgot!" Sonalius tried to laugh it off and change the mood. "This might hurt a bit." With one hand, Sonalius peeled back the scale and touched the exposed skin. With beads of sweat forming on Sonalius'' face, the creature felt joy as its eyelids slid back. After a few more minutes, Sonalius stopped and bent the scale back into place. With a happy, yet creepy smile, the creature took off and left the two alone. "You awake Riza?" Sonalius half-asked as he walked over to Riza. Collapsed onto the ground, Riza laid with her chest heaving up in down. With a pale face, blue veins fully visible, covered in sweat and blood, and riddled with small cuts, Riza was unresponsive with a pitiful appearance. "Overexertion again. You really pushed yourself to the max and beyond... good job Riza. Only by walking the line between life and death can you push your body and potential to the limit and grow. It would seem that the Lychnus ambush and Sig''car was a gift in disguise after all." Sonalius spoke freely as he hoisted her up. Noticing that he was also extremely tired and exhausted, Sonalius carried them further into the valley and found a small cave. After forcefully evicting its furry occupants, Sonalius collapsed to the ground with Riza, plunging into a deep sleep. A Souls Heart "Again!" A naked boy with black hair sat in a lotus position. With strange symbols seeping and crawling into his skin, peculiar sounds and rhythms were heard from within the boy''s body. With sharp noises ringing painfully in his ears, his expression paled. No matter how he gritted his teeth and cursed at fate, the ringing and grating in his ears continued unabated. Abruptly the symbols were flung out of his skin and blood seeped out momentarily. Red blood ran rivers over his hand and pooled at the tips. Three drops of blood fell into the void world and disappeared. "Another failure..." Casting his gaze down into the deep dark, he heaved a heavy sigh. "Why can I got get past this stage? Hibari passed this when he was merely 5 years old, and here I am, over 3 times his age!" With a fierce look, the boy rose and commanded the symbols to merge into him again. "Merge, merge, merge! Become a part of me; I am you, and you are me... merge!" He shouted, which prompted the symbols to pierce into him. "In this life, we are together. Tethered from birth, everything I am is because of you... everything you are is because of me. You are my thoughts, my thoughts are you. My actions created you, and my actions created who I am." Chanting this, the symbols dug deeper into his body. Tearing through tendons and bones, the symbols nearly reached his heart. Sharp noises grated against his bones and ears. A woozy feeling surged from within himself, seeking to overtake control. With hatred and desire in his eyes, he tensed his body and shouted one final time. "MERGE!" With a loud sound, the symbols touched and pierced his heart. Darkness overtook his mind. All anger, joy, hope, everything was gone in that instant. The fire in his eyes was but a mere ember as the darkness sought to extinguish even that. Yet the darkness couldn''t invade anymore. The last ember struggled to hold on as the symbols in the boy''s heart merged into his flesh. "I am not you. Your worth is enough¡­ for now." A single voice drifted from the void, yet Rey was unable to hear it. When his mind was about to give up on his last wishes, his final commands, the symbols in his heart melted and surged within him, reinvigorating himself. The last ember was stoked, and the fire was set ablaze once more. The boy''s black eyes reflected a deeper look, creating connectivity between his mind, body, and soul. Thud. He collapsed onto the ground, struggling to support himself. Blood seeped from his heart and fell into the black abyss underneath him. But as his blood flowed into the abyss near his legs, a pure white fluid flowed opposite and drew to Rey. As his blood oozed through the abyss, the white fluid seeped into his heart and replaced his blood. Slowly his heart and skin stitched itself back together and he stood up. The fire turned blue and grew even brighter than before. His heart thumped and thumped, pushing the white fluid throughout his body. "Success? I succeeded?" The boy opened his eyes and said with a tone of relief in his voice. "I broke through... but why? I felt that I was close to reaching the bottleneck but I hadn''t even approached it... how did I succeed?" Feeling perturbed, the boy thought for a moment longer but only came up with theories. "That white substance... I felt the soul law in it, pouring into my heart and coursing through my veins. It feels so foreign, however." Combing his hand through his black hair, the boy relented, "I need to research this more at Sanctuary... who knows if this is a good thing or bad thing..." Clearing his mind, he walked out away from a complex portal and into the void. A soft humming approached his ears as he found it harder to walk with each step. As he walked, metal bars appeared in front of him. With all his strength, he sought to grab ahold of them. As his fingers got closer though, pressure formed around him and pushed him back. With all of his force, he tried to grab ahold of the bars, just to touch it at least. His power surged, and he touched the metal bar. As soon as his fingers fell on the metal bar, he felt a cold surge through his body and grating noises suffocated his will. His grasp immediately softened as he was thrown backward onto the ground. "So powerful still..." He laid there motionlessly, his body aching and bruised. "What a comical thing," The boy laughed hysterically, "I have no physical body anymore yet I can still bleed in this soul of mine... and even when I succeeded it''s still not enough!" He got up and slammed his fist into the ground, "Until we meet again Soma..." With fiercer gaze than before, he rose to his feet; the embers were stoked once more. Walking up to the portal leading to Sanctuary and thinking about his duties, the boy relented and calmed down.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He walked through the portal, his vision distorting with each step until he saw the familiar luxurious rooms. Warmth and comfort eased his heart as he ran out of the room and through the bustling halls. Within a few not steps, however, he came to a halt. There was a group of people dressed in fine red robes as everyone made way for them. He committed their faces to memory as he also stopped. Rey was careful not to disturb the powerful ones. With his face down looking at the ground, he allowed the group to go ahead of him. Without sparing a glance, most of them walked past gracefully past everyone else. Glancing up Rey caught the attention of one of them. "Interesting..." A middle-aged man with the group stopped and muttered as his gaze fell on Rey. Showing a slight smile, he continued walking again and said nothing more. Beads of sweat formed as Rey stood there motionlessly. Struck by fear, he dared not to even fart. It wasn''t until they left and other people started moving that he even breathed. "Sun Empire... What was that all about? Do they know I''m not human? Or maybe that my body is possessed?" Rey tried to rationalize that man''s piercing gaze towards him but failed to understand why he looked that him. Rey steadied his mind and pushed yet another question to the side. Without sufficient information, it was impossible to understand that man''s gaze. "One day I''ll join and get strong enough. Only then can I go get help and return to my parents and Lorea." Tightening his fist, Rey continued on his way to work. Within a few moments, he arrived outside his work without any more unexpected appearances. "Rey, come on, your shift is starting soon." Standing outside the building, a burly and tall green woman called to Rey through the window. Her eyes, just like with her giant muscles and sharp nails, were haunting to Rey. "Yes, ma''am!" Rey creased his forehead and quickly replied. ''I can''t cut it so close next time or else manager Tyra will kill me!'' Rey gulped at the possibility. Normally one can''t be killed in a world of consciousness, but there are special methods. Not that Tyra would actually resort to that, however. The building was in the shape of an ''L'', made out of dark brown wood with grey symbols etched into it. Transparent windows lined the building, creating an open and comfortable atmosphere. Looking at the place he''s spent so much time at, he gradually calmed down. ''At least my job is easy¡­'' Walking into the building, a big grey ''W'' sign came into Rey''s sight. copper-colored carpet and red paint covered the interior. With tables and a large counter, the place was complete. "Greetings, Rey!" A young girl with a chipper voice greeted him as he approached, giving him a slight bow with one arm over her heart. "Hello, Fiore." Rey mimicked her and also bowed, placing his right arm over his heart for a moment. "Ready for another day?" He said with a smile. "Of course, I have to give it my all. Our clients can tell when you''re faking your smile you know? Like right now with you." Fiore grinned and patted Rey''s back. "Now get in there champ! You have important duties to do! You are the part of the face of this branch after all. Get in uniform already, our clients will be here soon!" Giving her a thumbs up, Rey walked past the counter and into another smaller room. The walls were lined with lockers, the floor with two tables, and just past that room was more equipment; there was little space for Rey to move around in the cramped room. Not wasting a second, Rey walked over to a locker with his name on it and slid it open from the top. Within the locker were five shelves that contained a folded up uniform, a badge with Rey''s face and a logo on it, A small broom and cleaning materials, and a blue pen. After looking around and ensuring no one was around, Rey quickly tapped on his solar plexus three times and his clothes vanished. Then, tapping three times on his uniform, it moved and covered his body tightly. Stretching slightly, Rey adjusted to the form-fitting clothing and material so he was not as uncomfortable. "These materials and designs, if it wasn''t all simulated in Sanctuary, it would probably cost the world''s wealth just to make Sanctuary in the physical world..." pulling on the uniform around his neck, he let out a heavy sigh and slid his locker downward. "I forgot to ask... Where do you live, Rey?" A soft voice called for Rey, causing him to instinctively jump back. "I didn''t see you there, Fiore." Inhaling deeply, Rey wore a look of embarrassment. "I... actually don''t know where I live to be honest... I-I mean in reference to Sanctuary. Well, not in reference to Sanctuary because it''s not physical but-" "I understand what you mean." Fiore stopped Rey and let out a giggle. "You can use my map later if you want. Your shift just started though..." She tilted her head and looked at Rey. "..." Rey stood there blank for a moment blinking his eyes. "Not again!!" He quickly ran out of the room and into the main area where he saw Tyra waiting and looking at him. "You''re late, Rey." She said with a sigh. "I''m only hard on you because I don''t want to see you go... Be ready for your clients next time or I will be forced to take actions." Patting his head, she continued. "Our community and staff here are niched, you are a part of us. Each client you work with reflects back on us. We are just separate parts of the same body, Rey. We need each other to be working properly to effectively help others. The work and goal we are given helps the entire Sanctuary to be prosperous. Your clients make up the backbone of every business around, and working under such a complex corporation is very important." "I know you say that manager Tyra but... is our work here even important?" "Of course! Without our industry, Sanctuary would be a very boring place! Most of its revenue comes from the multitude of our buildings and branches. Just do your best, and know that your work is very important here." Tyra grinned, "Your clients are important people and need 100% of your effort, Rey." "Okay, I''m ready for them!" Rey, feeling pumped up with enthusiasm, said with a bright smile on his face. Walking towards the main counter, he touched his ID to the slot as his first client of the day approached. "Hello, valued client. Welcome to WcDonnalds!" __________________________________________ Hello Everyone! Sorry for the break once again @ - @. I plan to write about 300 words or so per day now (so expect, or if you''ve been following for a while maybe don''t expect, a chapter in a week or so). Also, I found that there were numerous bot sites that copy-pasted my novel, so here are the actual links that are on Webnovel and Royal road only. https://www.webnovel.com/book/11329115905340105/The-Last-Space-King https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26717/the-last-space-king Investigating the White Blood "That was too many clients for one shift." Rey complained, "Break time for everyone else is truly my hell." Rey let out a slight sigh. "And ours, Rey." Fiore smiled as she crossed her arm over her heart. "A job well done, however. Many clients were happy and left satisfactory reviews!" "But... my work is so mundane and boring. I''m meant for more than this, Fiore. I should be doing more important things." "Like what? You have to work here to earn money and improve yourself. How else are we supposed to obtain materials and cultivate to get strong?" "Ever think about leaving Sanctuary to hunt creatures? It''s the quickest and cheapest way to cultivate well." Rey asked. "You think it''s that easy to kill those creatures?" Fiore sighed, "Training in life and death battles are too risky, one wrong move and you are dead. There''s nothing left after that. I''d rather work at WcDonnalds and be safe like most people than take the dangerous route of cultivating. Besides, this way I can meet people that might be helpful to me in the future." As Fiore was talking, Rey''s facial expression changed as he fell deep into thought. Noticing it, she smiled and stopped talking. "Okay, time for my shift again. See you tomorrow, Rey!" Fiore bowed and went back to the clients as Rey changed and walked out of WcDonnalds. Heading back to the central plaza within Sanctuary, Rey found an informant to help confirm his payments. "And you''re sure about contacting Grey Kioko? You do realize that this is a large sum of money for someone of your status, correct?" a woman informant, who was in her late thirties with long brown hair and a warm face looked at Rey in shock. "Yes, I am certain about the purchase. Can you contact him for me? I need to meet with him as soon as I can." Rey said with haste and determination. "He can meet with you in two days, during the 3rd hour of his work." The informant checked Rey''s balance as she gave him Grey''s contact number. "Good luck, valued client! May Sol Invictus bless you." Thanking the woman, Rey felt uneasy with himself as he exited Sanctuary. Stepping back into the emptiness, he suddenly felt so alone in the void. With only his body and the portal in view, he sat crossed-legged and began to cultivate again. Humming a silent tune, symbols flickered and gleamed around him as they coalesced out from the void. With a soft humming, the symbols were pierced into Rey''s body with ease. Diving them deeper and deeper into his muscles, they touched his heart and pierced into it. White fluid came out of Rey''s heart as the symbols crumbled to pieces. The wounds healed up before they even had a chance to bleed. Rey''s eyes were opened wide with his mouth ajar. "Weird... those symbols actually got destroyed? Hibari told me that was only to occur after reaching the 4th threshold. . . Yet I only just reached the 3rd threshold and still broke them." After pondering for a moment, Rey decided to continue and move onto breaking through to the 4th threshold. Humming a different, stronger and deeper tune, more symbols sheened and vibrated into existence. Continuing to sit in a lotus position, he urged then towards his head as they melded into his skin. Soothing warmth passed from his head to his toes, tingling and pulsating his whole body. "Switching from pain to pleasure, the mind to the heart. Only through cultivating these different aspects can one train their mind and heart against all things. All of my desires: My want to be known, my greed to have everything, my love for my friends and family, let go of all pleasures and embrace mindlessness. Become one with nature, Rey." He strengthened himself "The wooden man does not contemplate the birds, flowers, nor the stars. He just exists. I am the wooden man, I exist and am mindless towards all. Nothing affects me, and I have no effect on it." Chanting this, Rey pushed the symbols deeper into his head as they began to ring and he heard his voice once again call out to him. Each desire called him by name, offering everything he wanted, showing him visions and lies to tempt Rey. Seeing everything he ever wanted, Rey was indeed tempted by the thoughts, enough to not know they were simply illusions. After a few moments, Rey''s mind began to waver. When he sought to give in to the illusions, his heart thumped hard as his thoughts became clearer and more apparent. Taking the moment to clear his mind, he immediately retracted the symbols from his mind. The symbols were flung far away from him and disappeared into the void again. Cold opaque sweat formed on his forehead. Wiping it away, he noticed it was the same substance from his heart. "Whatever that white fluid did, it helped me push through a whole level and even saved me from falling into my own illusions. I can''t quit now, though. I need to push on for everyone." The white fluid in his sweat was absorbed through his skin and pulled back into his heart as he felt it even deeper than before, coursing through his body.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Fascinated by the white fluid coursing around his heart, Rey decided to focus on that instead. Creating a symbol, he grabbed it and drew a small wound. The white fluid drew to the cut and healed it within a few seconds. taking a deeper cut into himself, the white fluid flew out of the cut in his chest and blocked any blood from seeping out. Making a small cut on his hand, he drew blood to the wound in anticipation. But when his blood came close to the white fluid, it retracted back into his body and also healed the cut, albeit slower than the white fluid could. "Strange. The white fluid has a repulsive effect on my blood it would seem. Then does that mean my heart is void of any blood?" Rey continued to test his blood and the white fluid. Within the void where he sat, he madly cut and observed his body''s reaction repeatedly. With each time his body was healed, the effectiveness dropped until it took a few minutes to heal the wounds on his heart and hand. "It would seem that this is the limit of what the white fluid can do." Rey said as he used his fingernail to cut his hand once more. Red blood seeped out from the small cut and continue to move away from Rey''s body. More blood continued to pour out as Rey panicked. "What''s happening with my blood? "Rey felt a rush of adrenaline run and cursed as he got up to his feet. As soon as he got on his knees he collapsed though and felt his strength leave him. The last of his blood pooled out of him a few feet away around him, forming a sphere around his body. With ragged breathing, his mind unable to think as he lay face-first on the ground, he felt as if he was truly going to die. It was only after what seemed to be an eternity to Rey that his heart also stopped moving. Within a split second, the white fluid gushed from his heart and expanded throughout his body. His heart continued to beat and thump even faster and more aggressively than before. The blood sphere around him backed away even further as his mind and thoughts became clearer. Rey''s strength returned back to him tenfold as his veins and pupils turned clear white. "Foolish..." Rey found himself speaking without thinking. Putting his hand over one eye and grabbing his head, he immediately felt pain like an ear-splitting headache throbbing in his brain. The white fluid thumped within his heart once more before retracting back as his strength left him again. As soon as his veins and pupils returned to normal, his blood orb around him condensed and forced its way back into his body. A small portion of his strength returned back to him, but he felt drained and tired. "Just what is this liquid... white blood instead of red blood?" Rey questioned himself as he laid in the void with nothing else to distract him. "If I can tap into that power again... I can finally get out of here I think!" Rey felt happy at what had occurred, despite how dangerous it was for him. "It''s just as Fiore said. A cultivator''s best chance to improve is to straddle the line between life and death, releasing all of my potential and breaking through beyond all of my limits. I have to try for my parents, for Riza, for Aizen, for Hibari, and for myself!" Finding a new path to get his body back, Rey became excited. But before he could even fully enjoy that moment, he needed to get his body back to its best condition; he couldn''t even move his body as he sat there helplessly. "This has never happened before... I''ve never been this drained of energy ever. I haven''t even felt tired once without my body. Now that I''ve used the white blood, however, it used up too much energy. The side effects of using that white blood are too strong it would seem." Rey''s eyes lit up at the thought. "The white liquid that replaced my blood is too strong, so my own blood gets forced backward. Just like the symbols too as I have to drive them deeper into my heart and mind. It''s as if they''re competing for dominance within my body and being slowly trained from within." Rey''s mind continued theorizing as he recovered. "Does that mean that I can train my red blood using this stronger white blood too?" Rey felt like he struck gold as he realized it might actually be a possibility. Wanting to try it again, Rey felt depressed as he felt the state of his body. He felt void of any energy, even his life felt weak. With nothing to do, his consciousness fell dormant for a period of time until he woke up again. His eyelids closed as he succumbed to tiredness. Opening his eyes some hours later, he realized he was standing right before the bars that kept him a prisoner inside his own body. Confused at the sight, Rey noticed his hands were slightly blackened. Looking beyond the bars, he saw a tall man with long black hair and purple eyes looking back at him. The man stood there staring at Rey aloofly. "Soma?" Rey took a step backward in panic. "Already reacting, Ouranos? Exciting indeed..." Soma said as his hand glowed with a purple substance. Sending it forward through the bars, it arrived near Rey. "Eat." He commanded. Rey, in a cold sweat of fear and anger, took another step back as Soma looked at him unnervingly. "Eat!" He shouted in a deep voice, prompting Rey to bite his tongue and swallow the congealed purple light. Swallowing it in one big gulp, Rey felt prickles on his tongue. Traveling down his throat, it ran rampage through his body until it reached his heart and bound to it. The purple light stitched itself to the inside of Rey''s chest, making him feel uneasy and tight. "Safe... safe now." Soma smiled at Rey, making his body shudder and hands shake. With a single glace into Soma''s purple eyes, he vanished and left Rey alone. Feeling helpless and pained, with so much anger, fear, and hatred, he screamed out in hopes someone would hear his cries. Pain that felt thousands of times worse than anything he had experienced came surfacing out of him. In desperation he collapsed onto the ground, shivering and shaking as he kept replaying it inside his mind. Rey suddenly felt electricity and tingling dance around his brain as if it was shutting down. His vision distorted and blurred as he felt woozy. "Come, Hibari! Show me what you''ve learned! Suppress me if you can!" A loud, but warm voice, echoed as Rey looked up to see a tall man in front of him. With a red-tinted armor woven around him, the man with blonde hair and purple eyes looked at Rey with expectation. "Don''t be too confident, master!" Rey''s lips moved into a smirk as his body reacted uncontrollably. With a shot of adrenaline coursing through Rey''s veins, he sprinted forward in front of the man. Rey felt the soul energy from his heart deplete as it ran down his arms and into his hands. Purple light shined as it fused with a foreign energy Rey couldn''t recognize. The purple light congealed in Rey''s hand as the man created a thin membrane around himself. "Still very young Hibari-" The man began to say but was dumbfounded the next moment. Rey''s hand slammed into the barrier, but the purple light actually broke through the barrier and was headed directly for the man''s heart. With no time to react, the purple light went inside his heart and stitched itself to the man. Coughing up blood, the man fell on one knee. "Good!" He laughed, "Very good. You truly are a genius, Hibari. You might just be the next to lead us into a new age of space and soul suppression techniques." The man stood up as he placed his hand on his chest. "Stop calling me master though, I told you not to call me that, especially when you might surpass me one day." "Very well then, king Nefasi." Rey coughed once, "That purple substance... I need it back though." He said while avoiding eye contact. "Wait, what is this substance?" King Nefasi stared back at Rey as his face contorted. Once he felt his body enough, he understood and kicked Rey backward a few hundred meters. "Bastard! How shameless can you be, injecting parts of your soul and blood into me? What kind of disgusting technique is that?" After Rey heard that, his vision faded and he was back in the void, laying on the ground. Placing his hand over his heart, he understood what had occurred. Parasites "Father! Hibari!" Rey reached his hand out as tears rolled down his face. Pacing back and forth, Rey ran his hand through his short black hair, creating slight twirls. "Hibari personally trained with my real father and even developed this technique using his own blood and soul." Recalling the warm smile his father wore, looking directly at Rey in expectation, his hands shook. Closing his eyes and wiping the tears away, his desire for wanting Soma dead and to find answers only increased. Rey could still feel the purple substance like a web inside his heart, constricting and blocking the white blood from performing. "Instead of soul and blood, what did Soma put inside me? Understanding that technique might be the key to removing it!" Rey recalled the energy that flowed through Hibari when he trained. From pouring every ounce of energy out of his heart, Hibari was able to draw it to his hands and solidify it somehow. Now, Rey needed to replicate that. As he tried to feel the energy in his body, however, he realized how far off on his precise control of energy direction and movement was. "Forget about trying to move the energy, I can''t even properly feel it now," Rey grumbled as he created a symbol, "maybe I can forcefully extract it from my body instead?" Rey took the fluttering symbol into his palm and pressed it to his heart. Within a moment of contact, the meshed substance in his heart throbbed and the symbol crumbled. The purple mesh grew slightly as Rey almost lost his balance and fell on one knee. "It consumed the symbol," Rey said, paled-faced as he used his fingertips to feel his heart beneath the skin. "That symbol was a part of me, my desires and emotions; a portion of my soul. Just what kind of parasite did Soma create? A literal soul-eating technique?" Rey sat for several minutes before finally sitting down. "No more short-cuts now. I can''t cultivate until I have this thing out of me. I felt the energy inside Hibari, his control over energy was perfect, with barely any waste and perfectly drained his heart of space energy. Can I even do the same with my soul energy?" Casting aside the questions on his mind, Rey continued to sit and close his eyes. Removing all sense of touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell, he began to fully concentrate on the energy swirling inside of him. Like a chaotic warzone, Rey couldn''t predict any move or outcome of his energy, much less move it. Rey sat motionlessly for hours until he finally felt a small streak of energy run down his neck. Concentrating further, he tried to feel and become even more aware of his body''s energy, but failed to make any more progress. "I''m not getting anywhere," Rey stood up, "I might as well go to Sanctuary and try to find someone with knowledge on sensing the energy within my body. Then I can go talk to Mr. Kioko about destroying Soma and liberating my body after." Walking into the portal, Rey dawned a set of simple clothes as soon as he entered to cover his nakedness. Bustling halls of people and even a few animalistic creatures walked past Rey as he headed for the information center. "The Sun Empire. They are the hosts of this realm. They will have the best methods and experience in sensing energy for sure!" After looking at several maps, Rey realized that the Sun Empire''s shop was the largest building in Sanctuary as he got closer. Needing to walk up several hundred meters worth of stairs, he looked up in amazement at the building there. "This isn''t even a building at this point; it''s a mini-town full of shops specifically designed for the Sun Empire!" Rey gasped aloud with wonder, his eyes bulging and mouth agape. With white block pillars that were carved perfectly, a blue metallic gate, and at the very center, the emblem of the Sun Empire. The emblem depicted a man facing Rey, with his arm reaching out to the starry sky above and holding it in the palm of his hand. As Rey continued to be captivated by it, he felt that the hand seemed to tighten its grasp on the stars and locked eyes with him. A feeling of veneration and avoidance crept into Rey''s thoughts as he stared at the emblem. "Hypnosis? I won''t submit to something so simple after going through soul temperament!" Rey smiled as he stood there for a moment, "Why would the Sun Empire use this to suggest for others to leave?" Rey walked towards the gates curiously. "Welcome to the Sun Empire, Sir." With a simple bow to the guards from Rey, they reciprocated their welcome. Rey bowed as well and entered through the gates. Pulling out a map, Rey followed it to where the technique and manual shop was located. "The builders really are prestigious," Walking along the road with noticeably fewer people around, Rey commented. "The yellow bricks, pure white grout, with blue metallic buildings that are extensively decored, this place puts a lot into its appearance."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Remembering back to his father''s teachings, he remembered Liam saying, "Never trust what others want you to see, look beyond the facade others put up to fool you." Walking past the various shops, people calling Rey out to look at their wares, and other distractions, he approached a wide building with the words, "Sun Empire Cultivation Arts." Walking through the large open door-way, Rey stood in line with several other people. Most also held the Sun Empire crest on their right arm, but there were other civilians there as well. Despite several clerks helping with finding techniques and purchases, the number of people in front of Rey was still over 300. There were also shorter lines available for those of the Sun Empire with prestige, but Rey dared not to be overbearing. "Have you heard about the creature wreaking havoc on the south parts of our Sun Empire?" a feminine voice whispered in front of Rey. "Of course. What do I look like to you, a Ghora?" A deep and soothing voice caught Rey''s attention. The two of them laughed. Looking at the two of them, Rey noticed that they were Lychni from their skin and small stature. "Sorry," she gave a light chuckle, "I didn''t realize it was already so wide-spread. A powerful, intelligent beast that has been killing and devouring people within our Sun Empire? It''s a good thing that it has been staying in the southern part of our domain." "Still, it''s hard to catch that beast. Not only is it swift and powerful, but I have heard from investigation teams that it set traps for mercenaries and our own men!" The man fumed. "This is a scary foe to deal with." "Excuse me," Rey interjected, "Where did you say this creature is?" The two stared at Rey for a moment before acknowledging him with a frown. "It''s said to have been located at our southern border, towards the east near the Degasi River that runs through there." The man responded to Rey and looked him up and down. "Don''t try anything kid, that creature has the powers of space on its side. It''s already growing so fast, the council should deal with it soon enough." "The council?" Rey pondered. The man looked at Rey lazily. Coughing once, the woman picked up where the man left off. "The Supreme Council of the Sun Empire. They make every important decision there is to make. I''m sure this issue will have been brought up to the council already; they will likely take action if the beast becomes too much of a threat." Seeing Rey look so serious, her interest was peaked. "What''s your name?" She smiled. "Rey Nefasi," he replied meekly as he bowed and glanced at the ground. "Such an odd name, I''ve never heard the last name Nefasi before." She pondered, making Rey feel uncomfortable. "I am Evelyn Sieghart." She glanced over at the man. When he showed no response, she elbowed him. "Qwan." He muttered, looking at Rey for a brief second. Evelyn laughed out loud, alerting the crowd of people around them. "Don''t mind my brother, he takes a while to warm up to commoners." She scratched the back of her head and smiled. "Commoner?" Rey pondered as he looked back at their red uniform and realized the social gap between himself and the Sun Empire''s soldiers. Chatting with Evelyn and Qwan, Rey felt his mood and outlook improve; his sense of adventure and desire to see the world flamed once again. After conversing for over 3 hours, Rey got to know them well and exchanged contact information in Sanctuary. Rey found out that the two siblings were from the central capital of the Sun Empire, whereas Lorea was just outside of the Sun Empire''s control past the Degasi river and Vibrant forest. They told him that many of the soldiers had a lofty attitude, and were unsympathetic to commoners like him who had no identity. Their training and advice from teachers instructed them to be dismissive. For what purpose that rule served, Rey had no clue about. As he saw them headed out of the building, Rey gave a bow as he smiled. ''Thank you for the info,'' he reminded himself, ''I''ll make sure I make it up to the two of you.'' Clearing his thoughts, he heard the clerk shout for the next person. Rey walked forward and saw the clerk standing behind a white marble counter. On the counter was a small bronze figure with an open palm extended outward. It was painted red and orange with a long rod on its index finger, holding two sets of chains running down to a small basin. Etched on the side of the rod was a code of honor. ''Out of justice, fairness reigns.'' "What can I help you with?" An impatient, but gentle voice questioned Rey. He looked up at the man behind the counter. His ashy red skin and tall stature would have appeared domineering if he wasn''t skinny too. With a book in his hand, the man took a glance at Rey. ''There seems to be a lot of the excardi inber within the Sun Empire.'' Rey thought as he stared at the man''s face. With a diagonal scar on his left eye and a face riddled with wrinkles, Rey believed the man was a former adventurer. The man coughed once and alerted Rey to stop his gaze. "Does the Sun Empire have anything regarding energy sensing and manipulating?" Rey said with a tinge of awkwardness. The man dismissed it, however. "Let me check," He grabbed a book and flipped through the pages as he muttered the word ''energy.'' "First time here, kid?" "Yes, sir." Rey nodded. The man sighed and shook his head. "Aha, here we go. We have grade A through F techniques and tips for sensing the energy within your body. Of course, the quality of advice means it''ll cost you more." He said while rubbing his fingers together. "How much for the cheapest technique?" Rey asked while looking at the meager 45 grams of Flame dust he had in his pouch. "There''s an F-grade energy-sensing technique that costs 30 grams of Flame dust. It was developed completely, but apparently not many succeeded in practicing it. Otherwise, this looks to be a C-grade technique." The man exclaimed as he flipped through the page and notes. "You look like a beginner, you should try something easier than this. It would be easier to practice a B-grade technique than this F-grade one¡ª" "I''ll take it!" Rey cut him off and gave him the necessary money. "Really? This technique is very difficult to learn. Honestly," he leaned in close, "if I were you, I''d just get an E-grade technique for 150 grams of Flame dust instead. Anyone who has the talent to learn Redwater Form would already have the power and money to purchase a regular C-grade or B-grade technique." He insisted. "As an ''elder,''" He emphasized, "don''t let your foolishness be your downfall. If this technique is too hard to learn, just move on." The man placed a small weight that said ''30'' on the scale. The left side of the scale sunk as the right rose. He signaled Rey to go ahead. Rey clicked open the leather pouch and slowly poured the red flame dust out onto the basin. The scales slowly tipped until they became equal and Rey stopped pouring. With the price being paid, the man smiled. He walked away and gave Rey a small book on energy sensing titled "Redwater Form." "May the Sol bless you on your journey." The man said and shouted for the next customer. Rey took the thin book with him and decided to read it a bit while he waited to meet with Grey Kioko. Flipping it open, Rey found that the notes and texts were in disorder. From scribbles to diagrams that had no correlation, Rey dove into comprehending it with confusion. Meeting Kioko Grey Kioko Junior Soul Specialist Rey approached a wooden door and saw the metal plaque hanging above it. ''Junior? Hopefully, he''s good enough.'' Rey heaved a sigh as he opened the wooden door and walked inside. The room was small, with just a few cushioned chairs and a metal end table on each side. Opposite the entrance was another door with a note saying to wait. Rey took this opportunity to sit and read Redwater Form until Grey returned. After studying it for a few minutes, Rey gave a strange look. After another hour Rey was completely lost. ''Fascinating. This book, it''s a total rip off!'' Rey cursed inwardly. ''I guess this is what I should expect for such a cheap price. The creator didn''t even label or give any introduction. A C-grade technique that I can''t make sense of. I wonder if I should have saved up and bought the E-grade technique instead.'' Rey doubted his decision. Occasionally looking upward from the book in his hand, he admired the decorative red and yellow gems embedded into the walls and simplistic, clean-cut marble. It contrasted well with the wooden furniture in the room. With a few paintings of a man with his back turned and gazing into the distance, Rey thought the room was neat and calming despite how small it was. ''I''ll give it another look afterward I suppose.'' Rey closed up the book and waited another ten minutes until he saw a tall, yet skinny man open the door near him. "Rey Nefasi?" The man said in a tired voice. The man looked over at Rey and wore a shocked face. "It''s you?!" Rey began to sweat as he feared something was wrong but realized the man looked familiar. With his Sun Empire crest and woven red robes, Rey realized he had seen Grey before. "You''re Grey Kioko?! The elite from the Sun Empire that passed through and looked directly at me?" Rey looked at his silver-colored hair and tired eyes. Despite this, Grey looked rather young, only 5 or so years older than him. Adorned with fine red and yellow robes, Rey thought he looked like a noble as he looked at Rey with a complex gaze. "The boy with the exceptional soul? I noticed that your soul was abnormal. You have nothing tying down you down, no physical body or matter. Yet you appear human, and have a very strong soul for your age." He pondered and studied Rey, making him feel uncomfortable. "Come with me," Grey said hurriedly as waved Rey to come into his room. They walked into an even smaller room, with only a small wooden desk and two chairs facing opposite to each other. A large window looked out towards Sanctuary with the suns shining down upon them. "What do you need?" Grey said as they both sat down and he poured tea for both of them, taking a sip of tea. "Someone is controlling my body, sir Kioko-" Grey spat out his tea. "Don''t use ''sir,'' to address me. It''s ''priest'' to you, Rey." Rey coughed once, feeling embarrassed. "Priest Kioko, can you destroy the person with soul attacks?" Rey looked at the man in front of him. Grey''s tense face relaxed slightly as Rey called him a priest. "I''ll need full disclosure on who this is, are you still up for this?" Priest Grey looked at him sternly, which didn''t match his age at all. Rey rather thought it was amusing and smiled. "Yes. I can tell you everything I know." Rey got excited. "Great! What''s his cultivation level?" Rey paused. "I don''t know how to quantify it..." Priest Kioko laughed. "Do you really not know your levels? There''s the Novice rank, Adept rank, Evolved rank, Scholar rank, Awakened rank, Saint rank-" "I know all of the ranks, it''s just that I don''t understand what realm he was in..." Rey gave a bitter smile. "Oh, I see. You''re still too young to properly identify those magical realms, especially as a mere soul." Priest Kioko laughed, "Are you sure he''s still alive? Where did you last see him?" "He''s alive." Rey looked haunting as his mind flashed back to Soma''s shouting. "He allows me to watch and hear everything he''s doing with my body; I know he''s in Mist Valley." Priest Kioko tensed his eyes and touched his chin. "Your soul is still dwelling inside your body? He hasn''t destroyed you and knows of your existence?" He inquired as he sat up and faced the window, waiting for Rey''s response. "Call him an unwanted, crazy friend." Rey squeezed his own arm and glanced up at Priest Kioko. "If you hadn''t already paid," He turned and his eyes locked with Rey, "I''d think you were lying." Tension filled the room as Rey kept his eyes focused at priest Kioko.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "But I can tell you aren''t lying. I sense no malice in you, at least, not towards me. Are you ready to kill this ''friend'' of yours?" Rey was taken aback and wanted to say he was sure, but no words came out. "You have doubts then." He sighed and walked over, placing his slender fingers on Rey''s shoulder. "If I am to do this, you need to be ready and willing to force him out of you." "I''m ready¡­ I''ll be ready to face Soma." Rey affirmed. "Very well." Priest Kioko nodded and spoke with hesitance. "Just how strong is this ''Soma'' you speak of?" "The strongest I know. But his soul is fractured and only partial for some reason," Rey casually remarked, "so it should be easier to destroy his soul regardless." "He''s still capable of thought even with a damaged soul?" He gave Rey a weird look. "That shouldn''t be possible. His willpower would have to be incredibly strong to keep his sense of self." "Can you do it?" Rey asked. "I can try. I already took your money, it''s against the Sun codex to refuse requests based on difficulty." He shook his head, "Why am I even telling you this?" Priest Kioko sighed. "We have a deal, but I can''t travel to Mist Valley. There''s a creature there that is disrupting our Empire." "The space beast?" Rey inquired. "Who told you that? That''s not public knowledge." Priest Kioko looked at Rey strangely but shook his head. "Yes, because there is a creature there. There is already a team currently on their way-" Priest started to say before cutting himself off. "I should not have said that. Don''t spread that around. I definitely shouldn''t have told you that." Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he breathed deeply. "I see," Rey said curiously, "and the space beast is sending in weaker men to fight it?" "Scouts aren''t necessarily-" He paused and looked at Rey. "Stop this. Enough talking. I''ll contact you through your soul link here next time. You''re not getting any more information out of me." Priest Kioko glared at Rey. "I just wanted to know because my body is in the area." Rey sighed. "Can you tell the scouts to watch out for Soma?" Priest Kioko thought more about it and agreed, thinking he was being too cautious towards Rey. After all, what would Rey have to gain? "Very well, I''ll pass it along. Thank you for the warning. Go hone your willpower. If you want to destroy this man, then you''ll need much stronger willpower to keep your control and force him out of you." Priest Kioko noted and sent Rey on his way. Walking out, Rey felt burden lessen as he now knew he had help, but he still felt uneasy. ''Just how helpful can he be in such a hopeless state?'' Rey thought momentarily before casting aside that mentality. ''It won''t help to doubt my decisions now. All I can do is figure out this technique.'' Rey walked back from the Sun Empire''s market place and sent his consciousness back with the book in hand. Rey realized that the Redwater Form technique he bought was still with him in his soul realm. Abandoning his clothes, Rey made them disappear until he was left only with the book in hand. His hands caressed the leather binding as he thought momentarily. ''I need to study this, but first I have to observe Soma again.'' Rey realized he needed to, but was still struck with fear. Despite his terrified expression, Rey continued walking forward until he approached the bars that kept him captive. Peering through them, he felt everything his body on the outside felt. Large rocky mountains with shrubs and few trees lined his vision. Ravenous roars reverberated in his ears. A sweet taste filled his mouth as the chilling wind prickled his skin. And the smell of iron and sugar-filled up his nostrils. Rey felt the breath in his lungs and the energy coiling within his body; unspeakable happiness and joy gave Rey hope and determination. But he knew that, deep down, he was still trapped and couldn''t move his own body. "Rey," Soma softly muttered, but to Rey, it felt as callous and cold as the frigid winters. "Ouranos is ready to learn? Come, Ozzy. He''s improving fast!" He closed his eyes, prompting Rey to also see nothing anymore. A loud squeal startled Rey as he heard clunky steps and the wrestling of metal clinks approaching him. Soma''s thoughts and mindset bore through Rey''s will and drained any strength he had. Rey withdrew himself and came back to the void. Cold sweat formed on his back as he fell back. "I can''t do this!" Rey shouted into the void, only to return to absolute silence. His thoughts felt abstract and so far away. He felt the despair Soma exuded from his thoughts. Coupled with his own hatred for Soma, Rey felt angry and insignificant. Each time he fought for a foothold, Soma showed up and took it back from him. ''Why am I even fighting?'' This thought stuck to Rey as he sat in the void, eventually returning to the Redwater Form technique. Rey depressingly flipped open the pages and looked at the contents again. But after a glance, this time, he furrowed his brows. He read it and became amazed; everything was exactly the same, but also not. The words, layout, scribbles, and images were exactly the same, but the feeling behind it differed. But as Rey read it again he felt his understanding grow more. Each flick of ink and drawing seemed to possess weight to the words that fascinated Rey. Absorbed in understanding, Rey''s mind was like an old and creaky machine that had just been oiled. Slowly, his mind and understanding grew to the point that he was understanding the technique. When he got stuck in thought, it merely took a few hours to resolve the errors; his mind became clear. "I understand why I can''t give up. To fight for mother and father, my race, Riza, myself," Rey took a breathe, "I won''t let Soma do as he wishes any longer. I need to fight and destroy this shadow over my heart." Rey instinctively touched his chest and felt the tightness around his heart. Rey''s heart and mind worked in unison as he became one with his body and mind. He sensed the energy swirling inside him like a river; like a current, energy pooled out from his heart and ran down his limbs. Rey became aware of the suppression in his heart and felt the energy being barred from circulating. Rey continued to sit in a lotus position. Previously, Rey attempted to cut off all his feelings of sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch to focus on feeling the energy within him; but this technique showed him the opposite works even better if done correctly. By fully focusing on all of his senses at once, and noticing each small change that compounded on each other, Rey''s sensitivity to all of his senses, including energy, magnified. With this new technique, Rey concentrated on his awareness and energy sensing, as well as tempering his willpower further. Having clarity of mind and pulling himself out of his darkness, he felt refreshed. ''Tomorrow, after my training,'' Rey hummed, ''I will talk with that madman. Until then... train!'' Battle Lust Sitting in the empty, dark expanse, Rey trained without ceasing for the entire day. He continued reviewing Redwater Form and practicing sensing energy like a starved wolf eyeing a piece of juicy meat. Rey was fully captivated in understanding, and time passed without him realizing it. What felt like a few moments to Rey, was, in fact, days of intensive strain on his soul and willpower. Rey''s hard work, however, wasn''t without reward. After being enlightened by Redwater Form, he gained the ability to sense his bodily energy. Originally, Rey thought that Redwater Form would only increase his ability to sense energy. After practicing, Rey realized that the book was more than that; it improved all of his senses, not just energy. With each emotion, he could distinctly feel the muscles on his face, neck, and shoulders contract. Even the vibrations in his voice from nervousness became apparent. ''Was this technique created for a spy, perhaps?'' Rey sat still, showing little changes in body movements despite his pondering. ''A foundational technique like this that strengthens awareness, and this was B-rank in difficulty? Perhaps the merchant had it all wrong?'' Rey breathed a heavy sigh as he realized he still needed to move his energy and not just sense it. ''Soma...'' Rey held his arm and slightly squeezed it. Clenching his jaw, Rey frowned. ''What are you up to?'' Within the southeastern land of the Sun Empire, Mist valley. A lean young man ran across the plains in front of him, seeking cover. His disheveled long black hair and tattered clothing fell to the ground as he arched his spine backward. A gleam of light flashed right above the young man''s forehead as a lock of hair was sliced off. Sweat formed on his forehead as he teleported away. Soma breathed in deeply, his body exhausted. Leaning against a tree, he saw the giant beast searching for him. Soma took one more deep breath and pushed off, teleporting numerous times. Each time Soma teleported, the gap between them widened slightly; but the creature was fast and warped space slightly, making Soma slower and itself faster. With a loud howl, it sent beams of light after Soma. He noticed them and changed direction, retreating further into the valley and scaring off many creatures. Soma took advantage of the terrain to lead the beast into more creatures that were dumb enough not to run away, making it enraged. It clawed and bit at Soma, but all it caught was air. Even it was getting exhausted and had to give up the chase. With a loud growl, it turned around and saw Soma right before it. Swinging its claws and firing more light beams, they nearly struck him. Soma expertly controlled and contorted his body so it could not harm him. As its energy was nearly depleted, it howled and tried to run away, only to find Soma using his hand as a sharp knife hacking at its feet. The beast became even more furious and thrashed around, hoping to kill the slippery fellow. Soma switched back to defense and wasted its energy until it was rendered helpless. When the beast realized it was being toyed with in such a way, it roared. Wuu! Its bellowing cries could be heard tens of kilometers away. Its scales fell away and crumbled like old pottery. The creature became faster, and with renewed vigor, rushed to slash at the kid. Soma teleported a distance away from it and made a long sword appear out of thin air. He imbued it with space energy as it distorted the air around it. The beast hesitated and glared at the sword in fear. The battle took its toll on Soma. With the newfound speed and power of the beast, he was put to a disadvantage. With a growl, the beast ran towards Soma in a blur. With its front claws out, it swiped at his head and swung its bony tail. Soma dodged the large, sharp claws that it wielded, but the tail came around and sliced his right cheek open, making a shallow cut. Blood dripped from the wound as Soma teleported away from it again. With his body aching and ragged breathing, Soma smiled fiendishly. Time seemed to stop as the beast instinctively took a step backward. Blood streamed down Soma''s cheek, he stretched out his tongue and licked the wound. A tinge of pain radiated and excited him. The familiar taste of iron made Soma grin with wide eyes as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Like a wild hyena, he laughed without restraint, sending shivers down the creature''s spine. "Interesting. So very, very wondrous!" He cried out in delight.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Like a blaring alarm, the sense of danger was the only thing it thought as its body shook uncontrollably. Its sixth sense peaked as killing intent built and fear overwhelmed the creature. Feeling as if something was wrong, it ran faster than before; its life was at risk. But as to why the man would laugh with such insanity, and for itself to feel such a deep-rooted sense of fear, the creature could not comprehend; all it knew was to run as fast as it could, to escape! Frantically turning its head backward, the creature saw the man continue to stand where he was with a smile that rivaled the devil. As soon as it looked forward, however, the man appeared ahead. Slamming its feet into the ground, the creature swung its tail around and sought to run away. Running forward, Soma brandished his sword and sliced its hindlegs open. Deep gashes formed with every slash. Even though the pain it felt with each step it took made the creature cry aloud, it still ran without inhibition; it would rather feel excruciating pain than bear the consequences of what this madman would do to it if it stopped running. Just the mere thought made electricity ripple up its spine. The creature gnashed its teeth and ran with full speed. Heading west, the shrubs grew thicker and grass grew more abundant the further Soma chased. After a full 15 minutes of Soma slicing its legs while running, the originally tough and proud beast was completely disgraced. Its pink, now scaleless skin was lacerated, the two hind legs buckled under pressure, and it was sent crashing down to the ground. Swinging its tail, the creature looked pitiful as it tried to fight back. "What a fascinating sight!" Soma howled and grinned. "Young. Proud. Arrogance from family... Your death." Soma licked his lips as he swung his sword at the flailing tail in front of him. A sharp grating noise rang out as Soma felt his arm go numb and the tail was delivered a deep gash. "Wuuuu!" The beast cried and let out a shrilling call. Soma ran forward with beads of sweat rolling down his raised cheeks. A slight stinging reminded him of his mortality as he smiled. Leveraging on its hind leg, Soma kicked off from it and caused the beast to thrash once more. It used its teeth and forelegs in a bid to hit Soma, but he nimbly moved and evaded as if it was a rehearsed dance. Within a moment, he stood before its large head and gave it one last haunting smile. Soma stabbed through the creature''s bright, yellow eye, piercing its fearful gaze. The shrill screams echoed through his head and made his ears bleed, but it seemed to only make Soma more determined. Soma dove his entire body into its eye and squeezed through the bone around him. Brandishing his sword once more, he destroyed its brain until it no longer had any breath of life. Instead of climbing out of the ruined animal, Soma cut through and squeezed his body further down into the creature''s chest. As if he was clearing away a thick set of vines, Soma hacked away until its heart was in view. The heart was still beating and pumping warm blood throughout its vessels, covering Soma in deep red as he licked his lips in excitement. Drinking the blood around its heart, power flowed into him as he drank and drank, until his stomach ballooned and he was unable to consume anymore. Climbing out of its eye, Soma looked like he fought an army. His tattered clothes seeped in the scarlet red blood, and his hair stuck to his skin. With each step, a bloody trail formed behind him. Scavenger animals who burrowed underground and in the trees peeked their heads out and drooled. Looking at the free game left behind by the boy, eagerness and growls were revealed as swaths of beasts revealed sharp claws and teeth. Within a moment of Soma leaving the proximity, a battle for its meat outbroke. Soma grinned with delight after having his fill. He resumed a playful look as he stumbled away in thought. His ears were still ringing, energy nearly depleted, and covered in blood, yet he didn''t show any displeasure. As Soma continued walking, the ground turned to mud and plants grew wildly. Large, tall trees intertwined with each other, forming a complex network of paths high up in the skies. Green and luscious trees blotted out most of the sunlight, forming an eerie atmosphere as birds dove and shadows skittered about, lurking in the darkness. The blood in Soma''s belly continued to shrink and be refined. He sat against a damp tree and began using the energy to empower and change his genes. As he did, he felt his affinity and harmony to space and time strengthen further. "It''s close, Ouranos. Be reborn through me! 70% of our bloodline. Refining will make it 75%." Soma laughed cheerfully while his cold eyes looked ahead. "Ozzy," his voice boomed, "come." Sprinting out of a hollowed-out tree, a slim pig with loosely fitted metal scraps wrapped over its pink skin appeared. With each step of its hooves, the metal jaunted and clanked incessantly. With tears welling up, Ozzy ran forward without restrain, creating a ruckus. Mud splashed and twigs broke under the weight of the pig''s stomping, alerting nearby creatures of its presence. Soma glared dangerously at him and surrounded the stout, funny looking piglet with chaotic pressure. Nervously, Ozzy ran slower and made subtle movements as it cautiously approached Soma. "That was better," sitting with one knee propped up, he patted it''s soft, pink skin, "I''ll make a ninja-pig of you yet" Soma smiled warmly. His gentle demeanor highlighted the boy''s high cheekbones and warm smile. Ozzy squealed in delight with a smug look and a half-smile. Ozzy stared greedily and licked the blood off Soma''s face, grooming him. Waiting to be reprimanded, Ozzy''s body shook and shied away. But Soma showed no aggression, and Ozzy continued to lap it up until he had no more blood visible. The little piglet gleamed happily as its body expanded slightly. With a heavy sigh, Soma got back to his feet and touched his cut cheek. When his hand away, the slash was gone as if it never existed. The power Soma used stimulated a change in his body as energy gushed into his body. His skin gradually smoothened, and the scar on his solar plexus faded slightly. Soma took a single step forward and felt jarring pain. His limbs felt locked down and he could barely move them. Losing control over his body, he fell face forward into the mud. Slowly, he supported his weight with his hands and kneeled. He stretched out his hand couldn''t stop it from shaking. "No!" Soma howled in indignance, "I need to hurry, faster!" Regaining control over himself, he stood up and ran further north with Ozzy. Worry and cold plastered itself over Soma''s face as a man silently watched his actions faraway from the trees. "Such an exceptional, powerful man. This is a very peculiar relationship you have with him, Rey." The man softly whispered as his long robe flourished in the wind. The Sun Empire crest shooked as he vanished from the scene. No trace was left as the marsh resumed its stillness. The Sun Empires Arrogance "Is anyone alive over there?" A feminine voice jolted Riza awake as her eyelids sprung open. She sat up and immediately felt pain. Within the dark and stalagmite-filled cave, Riza saw Sonalius silently sleeping behind her and two people in front of her. They instinctively stepped back when Riza woke up. Straining her eyes, Riza''s vision fell on them. They had blue skin, a short stature, and were decorated in fair clothes. One was a man with short hair, and the other a woman with blonde hair in a bun. The man gave a warm smile with his entire face and plump body. The woman, however, gave a cold glance as she was poised to draw her sword within a moment''s notice. Woven from fiery red silk, their robes gave off an oppressive presence. On their chests was a depiction of a man grabbing the stars in the palm of his hand. As Riza was captivated by it, she heard noises coming from the crest while the hand seemed to tighten its grasp on the stars. After she understood the two''s appearances, Riza shivered and her breathing became heavy. Her heart skipped a beat as she winced. Soreness radiated from her body and made her feel woozy. She saw the intruder''s eyes soften, and could feel their gaze tracing her wounds. Seeing their pity, adrenaline pumped through Riza''s veins as her muscles tightened, ready to spring into action. The moment had come; her chance. Clearing all distractions and pain, she leaped forward and tucked her blade neatly around the man''s throat. "Another ambush from the lychnus race, have you no shame?" Riza shouted, her head throbbing as she struggled to keep upright. Gritting her teeth, Riza steadied herself. "Hold up! We mean you no harm!" The man spoke with genuine fear, sweat forming on his face. "We were just checking if you''re okay!" "Enough games! Does king Sig''car think I''m a fool? Has the Lychni forgotten their code of honor too?" Riza tightened her grip and shouted. As soon as Riza mentioned his name, killing intent formed around her. With a cruel face, the woman stepped forward and gripped her sword to the point where her veins were popping. "Let him go, you are breaking the Sun Empire law. You dare speak such disgrace to us, you delusional girl!" She spoke with a deep retaliation that was difficult to mimic. Riza stared at the woman for what seemed to be an eternity for the man. ''Do they really not know anything?'' Riza debated as she cautiously looked at the woman and back at her sword for a while. "Sonalius!" Riza suddenly called out in a loud voice. She waited for a few more seconds but it still didn''t wake Sonalius up. Feeling dizzy, she finally relented. "Fine, I trust you two," Riza sighed as she put her knife back. "Trust your mom! You were practically gonna faint just by standing!" The man cursed as he distanced himself while rubbing his neck. Riza waved dismissively as she started to fall backward. Her vision blurred as she saw a shadow move to stop her fall. "What did I tell you last time, Riza? Stay put and sleep." Sonalius'' voice drifted into her ears as she felt a light tap on her head, making her fall unconscious once more. "Overexerting your body while it''s still recovering from the last time, tsk!" He spoke with annoyance while setting Riza down slowly. "Who are you?" The woman asked while adjusting her sword. "My name is Sonalius." He spoke from the shadows. "Scouts¡­ Which branch are you from?" He looked directly at the man, causing him to shiver. "T-the 12th branch, sir!" He hurriedly responded. "So you''re under Tyrien''s law. Fine, send a message to Tyrien that I''ll be in Yytar within 3 days. I need to have a word with her regarding a fellow lychnus named Sig''car." Sonalius stated, which scared the two lychni. "Tyrien¡­ Matriarch Tyrien? What''s your relationship with matriarch Tyrien?" The man gulped. "Tell her that the Jade Lion is back and requests for her help." "Jade Lion..." The woman said aloud while trying to remember where she had heard that name before. While she was thinking, Sonalius reached into a pocket and threw each of them a coin. The coin was a red-bronze color and had the same image of a man holding the stars. Both of them instinctively grabbed the coins. As soon as they did, they exclaimed.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "This... this is a whole month''s salary for us!" "That''s how much importance I put on your message. Now go, tell Tyrien already." "Yes!" The two of them said. The woman picked up her sword and they headed out, leaving Sonalius and Riza inside the cave. After a few more hours of rest, Riza woke up feeling slightly better. Her body ached and flared with pain, but she could stay conscious now. Sonalius kept on watch and protected Riza as she slept. No other mishaps occurred with Sonalius masking their lifeforce and keeping them hidden. "Come on. We got three days to travel a couple of hundred kilometers." Sonalius told Riza everything that he told the two lychni. "I still don''t understand, there are other settlements of lychni?" Riza asked. "Of course, did you think that we were the only human town out there too?" Sonalius laughed. "The place we''re going to, Yytar, is part of the Sun empire. It''s filled with lychni, humans, shades, and many other races. Lorea is just on the outskirts of the Sun empire so they don''t pay regard to it often. I may be strong in Lorea, but the Sun empire? I''m only comparable to an elite soldier." Sonalius shook his head. "Matriarch Tyrien is a representative of the humans in the Sun empire. I served under her command before I met your father and came to Lorea." As Riza stared at sonalius, taking in all the information, she saw him experience a variety of emotions. "You lived here?" Riza inquired. Sonalius nodded, "I was born in the Sun Empire. All citizens over 20 years old are required to serve 5 years within the army. I left shortly after my 3rd year was up." "Left after your third year... what about the other two years required?" Riza was confused. After a long pause, Sonalius muttered, "Too many bad memories¡­" He lifted his head and held out his hand towards Riza. "Come. There should be another city up ahead that have better doctors and medicine for your injuries." Riza winced as she got to her feet and pulled closer to Sonalius. Sunlight shone on her skin and revealed red burns across half of her body. Sonalius bitterly smiled as he carried Riza out of the cave and walked barefoot on the hot, rocky ground; he showed little discomfort as he turned to look at Riza who rested on his back. After an hour of walking through rocky terrain, Sonalius espied a dirt road nearby. Vegetation flourished the longer they walked until they saw the outline of a city on a hill. With trees to cover the hot sun beating down on them, they felt a cool breeze run through their clothes and onto their skin. Riza softly sighed and her face relaxed. Soon after, the two of them heard rumbling behind them. A bronze carriage with a man and a woman approached them in the distance. It seemed to be moving on its own, however, as there was no beast or creature pulling on it. When Sonalius saw who the two were, he cursed out with rage. "You bastards! You two had a carriage and didn''t even offer to take us along at the cave?" Sonalius set Riza down up against the roadside and stood in the way of the wheels barreling toward him. The two looked pale and stopped the cart before him. "W-what do you want now? We''re urgently delivering the message you gave us!" The man shook as he fumbled to explain. "How can an injured man holding a half-dead girl be faster than you too if you were so ''urgent?''" Sonalius repressed the urge to kick the man in the face. That was a month''s salary he forked up! Just thinking of it made him lose his cool. The man had no words to say, and so the woman spoke instead. "We still have duties to do. We cannot abandon the rest of our scouting points for a suspicious old man!" Sonalius'' eyebrows twitched as he looked ready to pounce. ''Suspicious old man your mother!'' Sonalius shouted in his heart, but as he glanced over at Riza, he dropped his anger. The fat man looked frightened, and the woman glared at Sonalius for stopping them. "Let us ride with you to the next city, she is not fairing as well as I thought. Her injuries are beyond my healing." Sonalius sighed and looked at the two. "We cannot," the woman replied before the man could, which made his palms sweaty, "it is against the rules under-" The woman was explaining as Sonalius rushed to her. Shocked, she sat motionless as he kicked her off of the carriage. "You-!" She shouted in disbelief, and before she was able to say another word, a punch was thrown toward her blue face. She blinked and got to her feet once more. "You can ride with us to the next city." Pressing onto her cheek, the woman meekly replied. The man on the carriage was so scared that he heaved his chest up and down, not daring to look at Sonalius. "Good, then it''s settled. We humbly ask for your help." Sonalius bowed, making the man feel miserable. ''The hell? You can be that shameless to beat up my partner and then say you are being humble and asking?'' The man didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. At least Sonalius paid him. Sonalius, Riza, and the other two lychni departed again as they closed in on the city. Nobody talked as the two were tense, whereas Sonalius focused Riza. He healed what he could for her, but the rest of her injuries needed time and energy from her own body; it wasn''t something Sonalius could accomplish with natural healing. Gradually, the dirt road turned into brick and mortar. The wind kicked up as the man poured energy into the cart, making its wheels turn faster as they crept up the hill, stopping at the gates. Tall stone walls entrenched the city with soldiers lined at the top. They glanced at Sonalius and the unconscious girl, then back at the fat man and the bruised woman. The fat man nodded and the guards made way for the carriage to enter. "Since we brought you in," the man spoke but didn''t dare look at Sonalius, "please be courteous and respectful of our Sun Empire, sir!" "Sure," Sonalius stated casually, making the man sweat and become more fearful. Sonalius held Riza as he climbed off and onto the brick streets. People cast various glances of fear as they backed away from the man. He looked around and realized the city had become more developed than he last remembered, and the majority of them were Lychni, Humans, and Shades. After asking around a few times, he found a healer for Riza. Sonalius walked into a stone building and a man greeted him. He looked middle-aged, with dark skin and long orange hair with a goatee. His presence was unique, however. The man''s shadow was pure black and seemed to run along his veins. In the middle of his palms was a faint circle as well. ''A shade? Most are blood-borne warriors, but this one is a doctor it seems.'' The man seemed intrigued by Riza''s wounds and Sonalius'' obvious exhaustion. "Help in get her onto the table in the back." The man sighed as he softly grabbed Riza''s hands and helped shoulder the weight. Sonalius snapped out of his daze and followed along through a curtain and into a wide room. In the center of the room were 5 separate beds with various bottles, and instruments around the sides of the room. Together they slowly lowered Riza onto the bed as the man examined her. Misunderstanding! The doctor looked at Riza as she was laid out on the table. "She''s been grievously injured, then with a sudden breakthrough, push past all limits and even continued fighting after the powerup was over. She should''ve died from the physical toll this took alone, and then she fought once more and was sustained even worse damage? Just what the hell did this girl go through?" Both Sonalius and the man was shocked. He didn''t think that the lychni took that much of a toll on her at first. Seeing Sonalius was silent, the man continued on. "She''s strong-willed, that''s for certain. Otherwise, she couldn''t have pushed past so many of her bodily limits. What''s her name? Your name as well." The man inquired, "I''m Kouta, but I suppose we can skip the formal introductions. She needs medical attention now. I expect 250 grams of flame dust to heal her." The man glanced at Sonalius. "Take this instead," Sonalius flipped the man a coin, "and make sure to do your finest work. My name is Sonalius, she''s Astral." Sonalius lied and gave a bitter smile to the man. Kouta nodded and caught the coin. "1000 grams worth of flame dust... one flame coin, very well." Kouta repeatedly felt the coin''s smooth surface. He took pocketed it and got to work. Sonalius watched as he reached into a glass jar with his long, slender fingers. Inside of the container were giant red worms with a mouth at its bottom. Kouta carefully took them out and placed them onto Riza''s burns. They immediately clamped down and started consuming the dead flesh and rampant energy on her skin. "I''ll need to undress her before we go further, using this medicine and assessing further damage is needed," Kouta suggested. Sonalius agreed as he undressed her. The candlelit room softly shone on Riza''s skin, contrasting her natural beauty with the red burns and cuts. "Should I tend to your injuries after I finish with her?" He looked at Sonalius as he dipped his hand in a red liquid and coated Riza''s skin in it. Kouta''s shadow went into the red liquid and turned it black wherever his hand touched. Soon after, her entire body was coated in a black liquid. Energy surged through her body and made the liquid bubble and steam on her body. "This will allow me to sense her body''s condition as well as get rid of any poisons and help her detoxify, clean her body of harmful forces left behind by whoever did this to her." Kouta glanced at Sonalius and sighed. "You should rest as well. Your body has taken its own abuse." "I''m fine. I''ll live." Sonalius bowed and thanked the man. "You''re no use to her in the state you are in. Your eyes are tired, covered in dust, pale-faced, how can you help her if you cannot help yourself?" Kouta shook his head. "Rest assured, I will take her health seriously." Sonalius bit his fingernail and thought before relenting. He pushed himself beyond the limits as well. He needed to rest if he wanted to protect Riza from future dangers, so why not here? "Alright." He sighed and got onto the table beside Riza. "Your clothes as well, Sonalius." He coughed awkwardly. "I have a pair of socks onhand if you need it." "Great physique, strong muscles, this is developed quality body you have." Kouta was intrigued as he squeezed Sonalius'' muscles. "¡­Can you give me something to help me recover faster?" Sonalius coughed and quickly spoke. "Of course." Kouta gave an awkward chuckle as he slathered the red liquid over Sonalius'' body. "This might be somewhat uncomfortable, sir. You might feel a burning sensation." He explained, and Sonalius nodded. Kouta dipped his thin fingers back into the bucket of red liquid and placed his hand on Sonalius'' chest. Kouta used his shadow once again and expected the strong, burly man to show a sense of pain. "Haah!" Sonalius moaned aloud as Kouta shook. His hands fumbled as he looked at Sonalius, who had closed his eyes and fully relaxed, in disbelief. Shaking his head, he hoped he was just imagining things. He ran his hands over Sonalius again as the red liquid stuck to Sonalius'' skin and became black. Yet another moan escaped his mouth and Kouta felt uncomfortable.Stolen novel; please report. "Sir, please allow me to go get the socks for you. I''m not the kind of ''doctor''" Kouta spoke in a calm voice, but inside blaring alarms rung out. "Socks?" Sonalius blinked confusedly. "I don''t need socks, they''d simply get in the way. You can continue, I need to be at my peak to protect her." He smiled brightly at Kouta, causing the man to tremble. He gulped aloud and continued his work painfully. ''Why did I suggest that he gets healing too! Curse my good nature! If I knew he had such preferences¡­'' Kouta wore a wronged expression as he glanced at Riza. ''save me, please!'' He pleaded in his heart. "Eye''s on me, doctor." Sonalius opened his eyes and found the doctor looking intently at Riza. Was the doctor a pervert? Sonalius decided to watch him more closely as Kouta worked on his body. Kouta wished to scream aloud. ''This pervert wants me to focus on him? How obscene can a man get!'' With Sonalius locking eyes with him, Kouta quickly finished the diagnosis and gave him a medicine to help his body recover and for him to rest. With a heavy sigh, the doctor ran out of the room and finally got a breath of fresh air. ''What did I do to deserve being targeted like this? Should I laugh at my luck? Cry?'' At least he was paid handsomely... At the thought of this, he became even more concerned! ''Was it his goal all along for me to ''service'' him?'' Kouta gulped at the possibility and decided not to return until the girl woke up. ''This pervy uncle!'' Five hours later, Kouta decided to head back in to check on Riza. He''s still a doctor after all. Both of them slept calmly and he sighed at the sight. He used his techniques to heal their wounds and let them recover faster. He reapplied Riza''s coating and monitored her again as well. As he thought about reapplying Sonalius'' coating, his hands trembled again. Kouta instantly rejected that thought as he decided to make a new role. Men stay clothed, unless for a life-threatening injury. He won''t let his hands, the life-blood of his work, be violated like that any longer! At this point, it was nighttime. Kouta went to bed and woke up in the morning to check on them. Walking into the back room, Kouta saw Sonalius sitting at the edge of the table smiling back at him with his tattered clothes barely covering him. "Wait a moment, I got something for you." Kouta immediately walked back and returned with a slightly worn pair of clothes for Sonalius and Riza, including new socks. "Take these, they''re on me." He coughed once. "Thank you, Kouta," Sonalius grabbed the man''s shoulder, "I''ll be sure to tell my friends to come here if they need a doctor of your specialties!" When Kouta heard those words, he choked on his own saliva. "Oh, sir, there really is no need for that!" He insisted and let out a pained laugh. "You''re far too kind." The doctor really had been treating them well, almost to the point of being suspicious. ''I''m not that attractive, am I?'' Sonalius thought as he went to a separate room and changed his clothes. When we walked back into the room, he saw Riza had woken up and was talking to Kouta. "There''s something peculiar with your body, and I don''t know whether it is beneficial or not. Foreign energy is residing within your body. It seems to be eating away at your energy, but at the same time, helping it improve in quality. I wouldn''t consider it a parasite, but it is very odd." He looked perplexed as he gradually formed a smile. "It shouldn''t be a problem, come back in a few weeks so I can study and help diagnose you, Astral. Your body has recovered quite well and responded to the healing treatments aptly. Just don''t push yourself so hard." Riza simply sat as the man told her all of this with only a blanket covering her body. The black reddish oil slowly ran down her arms and neck as she nodded. She looked over and saw Sonalius standing behind Kouta. Her face relaxed and a comforting smile gradually formed. After all, waking up in a strange room with bottles around, creepy worms latched onto her skin and burns, completely naked, and covered in oil with a strange man near her calling her "Astral," Riza was instantly put on alert. That is until Sonalius appeared. "How are you feeling?" Sonalius spooked the doctor as his loud voice suddenly erupted. "Like I can fight an army," She nodded and turned to Kouta, "thank you, doctor Kouta." After expressing her thanks, she went to change and wipe off the sludge on her body. As she poured water over her skin, she noticed the burns were practically non-existent, and the cuts she had now merely scraps on her skin. Riza marveled at the doctor''s work in awe as she walked out in simple cloth clothes. When she returned, Riza was taken aback. Kouta had his elbow digging into Sonalius'' shoulder as he was stretched over his leg. With a pained expression, the doctor closed his eyes as he groaned. Opposite to Kouta, however, Sonalius'' sighed in relief. "That feels heavenly!" "Sir! Please, no more! This is not the type of doctor I am!" Staring at the two, Riza was dumbfounded. Kouta opened his eyes and saw Riza''s face. "This isn''t what it looks like! I-I''m¡ª" Kouta was cut off by Sonalius. "An amazing doctor! Riza, this man is a miracle worker. You know I have a bad back, and he fixed it!" Standing up and moving his torso in circles, Sonalius was delighted. "My whole body feels like butter!" Riza stood with a blank expression on her face and blinked a few times. "Sonalius¡­ You have those preferences?" Riza felt as if she became enlightened once more. Sonalius was confused as he looked at the doctor strangely, and the latter turned away with a coughed. ''Those preferences¡­ socks¡­ that type of doctor¡­ Working on my body¡­'' As Sonalius realized the weird looks he got from Kouta, he became extremely embarrassed. "Why didn''t you say anything before!" Sonalius tried to kick the man away, but he merely backed away. "You paid me well, I thought you were looking for one of ''those'' doctors!" He shuddered at the thought. Riza''s laughter interrupted the two as they both sighed in relief. After clearing their misunderstandings, Sonalius and Riza said their goodbyes and left feeling rejuvenated. "Sonalius," Riza bit her lip as she thought more about king Sig''car, "will Rey be alright?" Her breathing became ragged and tears filled her eyes. "Was it wrong that I sold Rey out to him? What if he finds Rey¡­" As Riza was speaking, Sonalius interrupted and buried her in his chest. Warm tears ran down her face and onto his clothes. "Rey Nefasi will be alright. Remember his seventh birthday?" Sonalius patted her head as she nodded. "He snuck outside Lorea''s walls and tried to fight a giant fire ant. Such a small fry yet under the fire law, became too much for him to bear. He wandered home with endless hope on his face. Even after getting beaten, he still smiled at such a young age. When you, his parents, Aizen, and I found out, we were furious, but he still smiled." The story kick-started Riza''s mind as she remembered those peaceful days. She sobbed and looked at Sonalius. He smiled, the daylight highlighting her puffy eyes and tiny nose. "Rey had told us before, ''Once I cultivate, nobody will need to worry about me anymore.'' I''m choosing to believe in him, that now he''s cultivated, we don''t need to worry any longer, Riza. He''ll be alright." Sonalius wiped her tears away, "Now let''s go see what we can do about king Sig''car." The two of them left for the city of Yytar shortly after. Rush to Breakthrough [1] Within the bleak and empty void, Rey continued practicing Redwater Form until his body suddenly coughed up blood. The purple mesh around his heart writhed in pain. Gasping for breath, He turned to watch the iron bars as they shook. Jumping to his feet, Rey ran with haste to observe Soma. His eyes adjusted as he found himself kneeling in a small puddle of blood that dripped from his mouth. He glanced up and saw a city in the distance. ''There you are, Riza.'' Soma''s thoughts were in chaos as they yelled at Rey. After practicing for so long, he was finally able to resist a portion of Soma''s willpower now. Soma slowly walked closer to the city like an angel of death. With each step he took, Rey''s heart roared with anger and pain. ''Breakthrough. I have to break through now and save her!!'' Rey retracted his thoughts as he sat near the bars moving his energy. At most he could move a small portion of it before losing control, but it wasn''t enough. He sweated profusely as he worked on moving the energy away from his heart and to his hands. "Halt! Show us your identification, kid!" One of the guards saw Soma approaching the city gate and shouted. "Looks like we have a stray, commander!" He chuckled for a moment. Soma continued to walk, step by step, inch by inch closer to the door, making the guards sigh. "Just let the boy in already. Don''t you see he''s naked and injured? Go get him some clothes and medical attention." The commander''s voice echoed as he sat back down. The scouts nodded and lifted the gate. Two men jumped down to greet him. They approached his sides and smiled. "No need to be afraid kid, you''re safe now," the man on Soma''s left touched his shoulder for a split second before crying out. He had barely touched Soma''s shoulder when suddenly the boy turned ferocious and jabbed him in the neck. The guard collapsed with wide eyes as he gripped his own throat, gasping for air. He coughed up blood as the other guard caught him and looked at Soma in fear and anger.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Commander, I need help over here!" The guard looked up and shouted. Soma took a few more steps into the city, his eyes focused ahead as if nothing happened. "Stop where you are, you twat! Do you think you can just harm him and walk away!" He laid his friend down to rest and charged at the boy. Soma didn''t even bother to look at the man, but simply tried to kick the burly man in the chest. The commander noticed their shouting and creased his eyebrows. Citizens watched in horror from the streets and looked at the guard peculiarly. They saw a strong and towering man swinging his fist at a defenseless and naked boy trying to protect himself. The expected scene where the kid was pummeled by the man didn''t happen, however. The boy''s gentle kick seemed to contain boundless energy as the man was launched backward. "Men, apprehend that child! Don''t let him escape." Flabbergasted, the commander frantically got to his feet and surrounded him. Determined, Soma walked forward despite twenty-something soldiers forming a circle around him. Like a king looking down on the peasants, Soma spat on the floor and stared coldly at the commander. "Whatever the cost, make sure this kid is stopped; use whatever force is necessary!" The commander stilled his voice and sweat formed on his brows. The soldiers heard his order and pulled out their swords, daggers, and bows. Some immediately tried to suppress the boy and bind him, but there seemed to be no change to the kid. Thick vines grew from the cracks in the stone ground and sought to tangle Soma. The green vines intertwined and constricted his legs as another man swung a club at Soma''s head. Soma swung his head downward and kicked off with his feet. The vines ripped apart from his strength as he flipped over the club and, using his momentum, kicked another man in the throat. With each attack, he managed to stay in the air using his kicks. His speed shocked the rest of the guards as one by one, they collapsed. In moments, over half of the soldiers were gasping for air as blood filled their lungs. "You!" The commander pointed at a female scout and shouted, "Go request backup, fast!" The woman stumbled back and ran off as the rest fought the boy in panic. Even with all of the incoming attacks, Soma never once changed his focus. His gaze was still looking deep into the city. The commander saw that Soma kept redirecting their attacks at each other and became even more furious. "Everyone, back away. I''ll handle this!" His voice quivered as he yelled and unsheathed two swords. "Your opponent is me, kid!" Lightning crackled to the tip of the metal blades and shot towards the boy. The commander''s lightning struck Soma head-on. He was relieved that he hit Soma, but it was at this moment Soma turned his head to the commander. Fear crawled underneath his skin as he stared into Soma''s eyes, his will obviously shaken. No damage seemed to have been done to the boy, which made the commander even more unsettled. "I refuse to believe I cannot handle a single kid in battle!" He shouted aloud as if to reassure himself. With his swords in hand, waves of electricity crashing into Soma. The kid''s fingers twitched as he continued walking toward the commander. Gritting his teeth, he ran to Soma and aimed to kill. Like a phantom, however, Soma evaded each attack as his image blurred to the point the commander couldn''t distinguish his movement. With each slash, he caught air. He swung his swords repeatedly hundreds of times but could not cut a single hair off the boy''s head. When Soma was close enough, he punched the commander in the chest. Coughing up blood, the commander stumbled backward with a pale face. With the defeat of their commander, the rest of the guards hesitated to fight. Left with a bitter feeling, the soldiers chose not to fight and helped their commander stay alive as Soma strode further into the city. Rush to Breakthrough [2] "Magistrate Jenkins!" A woman slammed open his door to the point it fell off the hinges. "The south gate commander sent me to tell you we have a breach and need help!" "A breach?!" A lychnus man jolted out of bed with only underwear on and stood before the scout. Not caring about the girl''s shyness, he continued. "Is it the space creature we have been hearing about?" "No, sir. It''s a kid at the gates." "You''re waking me up so early in the morning just to tell me that you cannot handle a mere kid at the gates?" He blurted out his displeasure. "Sir, he has already killed our men at the south gate and is currently fighting the commander. It''s dangerous to the point our commander could not control him even with several men besieging him!" "Even with several men working together they couldn''t even injure him?" Magistrate Jenkins nodded and quickly sobered up, "I''ll handle this. Rest assured, I am confident there''s no one stronger in my city. Relay the message to central that we had a breach and need more men sent to defend our borders!" He gave his order and ran to the south gate. Magistrate Jenkins quickly found the team beaten black and blue. With just a few moments of observing their bodies, he was shocked. ''This amount of precision¡­ it shouldn''t even be possible for experts, much less for a teenage kid.'' Feeling restless, he followed a set of bloodied footprints until he saw the black-haired kid walking up the street. "You! Stop where you are!" He shouted with a firm and authoritative voice that caused the adults and soldiers around him to flinch and jump, yet the boy continued walking. Strangely, he felt anxious when he saw the boy. "Are you deaf? I told you to stop moving!" Magistrate Jenkins'' chest heaved up in down from anger and disrespect he felt. The kid looked him in the eyes with cold hatred and broke into a sprint. The man sighed, ''This kid fought and killed our men? He even looks down on me but is now running away? Did I overthink this?'' Whatever the reason, Magistrate Jenkens felt off about the kid, but he still needed to take action. He caught up to the kid, and with one swift action, he swung his heel at the boy''s feet.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As if Soma had eyes on the back on his head, he jumped and sped up, causing Magistrate Jenkins'' foot to plow into the ground. ''He actually saw my attack and dodged it despite how fast I was?'' His movements should have been nothing but a blur to the Soma, yet he still managed to evade without even turning around. Sweat covered his back and his hairs stood on end as he realized how powerful Soma would be in the future. Gritting his teeth, Magistrate Jenkins was even more resolved to stop Soma, whatever the cost. Under the support of the light law, he flashed toward Soma and set his body ablaze. As a pillar of fire swirled endlessly around him, he used his fingernails as ten sharp daggers to mercilessly slash Soma. "Enough!" Soma''s body was no longer able to keep up with a man of his level. When the nails were about to pierce into his skin, he violently shook and shouted. Rampant energy swept across Magistrate Jenkins, causing his face to go pale. With the aid of space energy, Soma swiped his hand through the man, and he cried aloud. "My hands!!" Magistrate Jenkins fell to the ground and stared at them. "You brat," he spat out in fear and anger, "what did you do?" He tried to move his fingers and wrists, but they would not respond; he couldn''t feel his hands! Even when he tried to force energy into his fingertips, he only felt more pain. When he looked up at Soma again, he only felt intense fear. All anger washed away and was replaced with the desire to hide and run away. Soma gazed into his eyes like he was deciding the man''s fate. With one hand brimming full of energy, his life was literally in Soma''s hand. He wanted to run, but he couldn''t even move his body as if he shackled, waiting to be judged by the messenger of death. Blood dripped down the side of Soma''s lip as he coughed up blood. The man looked down and pretended not to have seen anything. Every second of silence killed him as he painfully waited. What was only a moment, seemed to last Magistrate Jenkins'' whole life. Soma wiped away the blood from his mouth and ran away. Only after the kid was out of sight and hearing did he dare to breathe and flee. Within the soul realm... Rey moved the energy away from his heart, causing it to slow and spasm. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack; he needed the energy to nourish is soul, but he also needed the parasitic mesh around his heart to wither away. It was a test to what would give out first, his soul or the parasite. As his heart thumped less and less, the mesh retracted and lost its luster. Just when he felt too weary to continue, the mesh stopped contracting. He quickly pierced his hands into his chest and pulled it out. The energy withdrew back into his heart and helped him recover. ''Done¡­ Am I so used to risking my life just to stop Soma?'' He felt wrong and empty, always fixing another person''s problems with little disregard for his own life. Soma was taking away even his life. ''Now''s my chance for revenge.'' Rey seethed and called upon the symbols. Hearing their faint, melodic tune, the symbols melded into his heart once more. Perhaps it was the pressure of saving Riza, or maybe the boons from learning redwater form, or even Rey''s hatred of Soma becoming clear to him, but his willpower easily broke through the barrier and changed again. He reached out toward the bars that imprisoned him and the force was still too strong for him to bear. ''It''s still not enough¡­'' Rey sat back down with hopelessness and called for the next wave of symbols to meld with. Thousands of symbols appeared all at once this time. Rey''s desperate and final attempt to regain control came to fruition as they circled and filled his mind, making him howl aloud. He knew he couldn''t control that many symbols on his own; he might truly lose his mind¡­ but as long as Riza was safe, that was enough. The Third Soul "Merge!" Rey screamed. The symbols made his ears ring and pierced his mind one by one. His willpower was consecutively upgraded again and again as his pain surged at once. ''Riza will die if I fail¡­'' With bloodshot eyes and pale skin, Rey tried to stay focused as his willpower was constantly shredded and reformed. The only thing on his mind was to protect her, to take vengeance. Within moments, Rey couldn''t handle the pressure any longer. He lost himself and fell to the ground. The symbols shot out of his head like a wave. Before his vision faded and he lost consciousness, white blood faintly pulsed and coated him. His black eyes and hair turned white as his body violently shook. Taking a deep breath of cold air, Rey''s hands move slowly as he got back up. His fingernails and teeth suddenly grew sharp like fangs and claws. He glared back at the bars and struck them ferociously. Pang! Under an overwhelming strength, Rey bent the bars apart, and he walked through them. Soma appeared right before him and was pleasantly surprised. "Rey... so you escaped¡ª" Soma laughed and was admiring him when Rey suddenly growled at him and clawed his face. Soma grasped his face and shouted. "Good! You''ve improved, but I cannot let you go just ye¡ª" Rey headbutted him, bringing Soma to the ground. Blood blossomed as Soma was dealt blow after blow. Struggle as he may, he couldn''t stop Rey. "How are you this¡ª" Soma tried to speak again but was hit with an uppercut to his jaw. Beaten black and blue, Rey vented out his rage and anger. Soma formed an orb of energy and it collided with Rey''s hands, sending them both backward. Soma fell and landed beyond the bars, constricting him as he failed to get up, while Rey walked further away. He took control and his senses flourished again. Stone paths and wooden houses lined his view. All of the citizens were already indoors except for a middle-aged man and a teenage girl.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Rey?" Riza''s voice was filled with hope when she saw him, despite her blushing. Rey stood still with unfocused eyes. "Get behind me, Riza. That''s not Soma, but it isn''t Rey either..." Sonalius was shocked at what he himself was even implying, but their lifeforce was different; though it felt like Rey¡­ it wasn''t Rey. It wasn''t Soma, and even though it felt like Rey, he also felt a difference. Flabbergasted, Sonalius trembled. "This... there''s a third soul within him! How has his body not collapsed yet?" They stood only a mere four meters away as Rey''s body began to change. His veins, hair, and eyes turned a milky-white color as teeth grew and claws formed. A pair of clothes appeared out of nowhere and covered him. "That brat really bit off more than he could chew. If I didn''t step in to save him once again, he would''ve gone mad!" Rey laughed hysterically for a moment before looking at Riza. "You have something he wants... Something I''d love too." Rey gazed upon Riza like she was an oddity, "but he caged me, I returned the favor for now!" He laughed with a sick rage that consumed him. Sonalius and Riza stood there, holding their breaths. This new being seemed weaker than Soma, but his presence was even scarier to them. Rey got on all fours and prepared to leave. "He''ll be back, you know. It''ll be up to you whether or not he wins. Help keep that brat of ours alive, won''t you?" "Wait!" Riza spoke up and, after a moment of pausing, uttered. "Who are you?" "Who am I?" he grinned and locked eyes with Riza, "I am Rey." He quickly turned back and dashed, disappearing before their eyes. "He got control back! Sonalius, he is back!" Riza exclaimed, but Sonalius was silent. "What''s wrong? This is good news!" "We have to move." Sonalius smiled bitterly. "That ''Rey'' said Soma will be back later and it''s up to us whether he lives. We have to get stronger and get away from him or else¡­ What if Rey didn''t gain control? What do you have that he wants?" "A Legacy," Riza paused, "I think. Just before Soma took full control, there was a fruit Rey gave me that contained a legacy, one that helped me grow far quicker than I should have been able to." "Then the reason you were able to comprehend the light law through your own insights without being of the scholar rank, it''s because you obtained a legacy?" Sonalius found it made sense. "Then your genes are changing as we speak. That must be why he is seeking you." Riza nodded, "And Rey said, before Soma took control, he likely wanted to restore the bloodline. If he gets ahold of me, he will restore his bloodline and win? What does that mean?" "Let''s not find out. Come, we have to leave and get somewhere safe. Yytar is the capital of the Sun Empire. We should be safe there if we hurry. And we still have king Sig''car to think about." "King Sig''car¡­" Riza felt like she would go crazy if she didn''t do anything to stop him, but there was little she could do. ''Cultivate! Get strong and make him pay tenfold!'' Riza wanted to get stronger, and so Sonalius and her went to a book store and quickly purchased a few techniques she could study while they moved closer to the capital before swiftly leaving. Now he knew she had a Legacy, even he was jealous. One needs to know natural Legacies are very rare! And from the looks of it, Riza had been given a priceless one specifically suited for the light law! Now was the right time for her to grow strong and cultivate into being. Riza and Sonalius stocked up on food and water and headed to the city of Yytar while the guards were looking for a naked kid. A Parting Gift "All aboard!" A conductor shouted, alerting everyone to get on board. Just behind the gates lay a forty-foot train that opened its doors to various men, women, and children boarding it. "Riza, you can read more on the train ride there, we gotta get on." Sonalius hurried her along. She flipped the book closed, her golden eyes laced with determination. They approached the doors as many soldiers stood near it. "Are you foreigners?" A guard inquired and looked at Sonalius. "I''m a citizen," Sonalius replied casually, "here''s my pass." He gave the guard a blue slip, and the guard ran his energy into it. "Sonalius Isiria, elite guard as of twenty-five years ago... this is outdated sir." "Is there a problem with it being a bit old?" Sonalius glared at the man, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. "N-no, sir. It''s just that there was a naked young man who is extremely powerful that assailed our city, killing several men and women. He has long black hair, a disturbing smile, black eyes, and used the space law. Have you seen someone matching that description?" "That''s tragic!" Sonalius blurted out in a loud voice, frightening the people around him. "But we haven''t seen anyone like that. I do hope our Sun Empire can find out what happened, though. Our condolences, may Sol protect us all." After lying to the guards, the two entered in and sat down. Lychni and shades crowded every visible space of the train. There were over a hundred people all stuffed together in an enclosed space. "Way too suspicious, Sonalius!" Riza nagged him, "who shouts like tha-" "A kid? You pansies can''t even fight off a single kid? No, you idiot! Do I look like I''ve seen him? He''d be dead or worse if he came across me!" A man shouted and stormed onto the train. Riza blushed and looked down, feeling awkward. He came on board and stood near them. "Alright, listen up!" He shouted. "Your commander is speaking now." The lychni halted their conversations and straightened up. "We found the space creature dead just west of this city." "Dead? We killed it?" the crowd was elated and whispered endlessly.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "We did not kill it!" The commander sighed, "It wasn''t us, and the space creature we were looking for... this seems to be its child that we found dead! There were deep cut marks that covered its body, so we believe this was done by a swordsman! We didn''t find the adult creature that wreaked havoc yet, however. Be vigilant and recover your strength, it''ll likely be coming after whoever killed its son. Once we get back to the city of Halgore, I''ll talk to you all again. Rest up!" He laid against the metal side of the train as it slowly took off. The wheels continued to spin on the track as Riza looked back, wondering where Rey was. In the far south, beyond the city of Lorea, "You were a bookworm for the first fifteen years of your life, yet you don''t even remember the applications of what you read, do you, Rey? The Aggra flower isn''t effective in creating sedatives by itself¡­ but if mixed with Honeyflower and Daydream tree sap... its effect is enhanced 900 times over. But you don''t remember this, do you? How gracious I am to remind you then." He spoke curiously as he gulped down a green concoction. His long white hair fluttered in the wind. "This should buy both of us some time," He laughed and, using vines, tied himself to the base of a tree. "Where is your instinct, fallen one? Have you come for revenge so soon? Abide in me, and your instinct will flourish. Give yourself to me, Rey. I''ll protect what you cannot hope to keep." As Rey spoke, his blood pulsed red, and he grabbed at his own heart. "So soon? Do you really think you can stop him better than I can? You can''t do anything apart from me!" Rey screamed and howled aloud as his white hair, eyes, veins, claws, and teeth reverted to normal within that moment as Rey''s head sunk and his eyes closed. Within a split second, Rey''s eyes were fully open as he struggled to get loose. "Ouranos! I sought to help you, and yet you surround me with thorns and blood! Very well, then I will use even the plants and blood you provided to help you-" Soma''s shouting got quieter and quieter until his eyelids twitched and he fell asleep. Rey''s consciousness was pushed further back into the cage when he woke up. His head buzzed as he remembered what he had just done. ''I''m still coherent?'' Rey flashed his eyes wide and saw he was still in the void. Thinking he failed, he trembled and looked around before his eyes fell on the white blood covered all over him. He could feel its unyielding desire to escape and shed the prison around it. Suddenly, the white blood crawled underneath his skin and into his heart. He felt what it felt, and remembered what it remembered. ''She''s alright?'' Rey sighed, ''it worked, and I wasn''t lost in emotion either.'' He got up and saw the iron bars were repaired completely. ''I won''t be defeated so easily. I''ll use my own strength to fight back. I''m not giving myself up to you, whatever you are.'' Rey sighed and went into Sanctuary. He was supposed to meet up with Grey Kioko about destroying Soma beforehand, but he got sidetracked with needing to breakthrough and Soma pursuing Riza. Rey ran through the gates and adorned simple clothing again. He called Grey, and after several moments, he finally picked up. Teacher Kioko Lights shone and Rey appeared within Grey''s office. The familiar red and yellow gems embedded into his marble walls seemed to have a calming effect on Rey. "Rey, what the hell did you get me into?" Priest Kioko slammed the door open and shouted, "twenty-six men dead, ten are in critical condition and need months to recover! Don''t tell me that ''kid'' wasn''t Soma, I saw him with my own two eyes!" "It was him. A friend of mine has something he needs." Rey said awfully. "I did all that I could, I did my best!" Priest Kioko sighed and paused for a moment. "This is a grave injury to our Sun Empire. The higher-ups are taking initiative and are pursuing you. Fortunately for you, most of our resources are tangled up in fighting the Ghora to the north. That leads little of our true elites to deal with you and Soma. However, now Soma killed its child, it''s on a rampage trying to find you. As to whether it can find Soma or who will win¡­ I do not know. This has gone too far, and I won''t let our Sun Empire be casualties in this war between you and this creature. Since Soma is after someone you know, where is your friend headed, Rey? We can''t protect them." "I don''t know, and even if I did, I wouldn''t tell you!" Rey glared at him angrily. "If you want to help protect your Sun Empire, then teach me! Help me fight off Soma. When I break free from his hold¡­ I''ll lead it away from the Sun Empire. Then nobody else will be hurt, and we can forget about everything else that happened here." "That''s why you came here? To force my hand into teaching you to improve your willpower?" Priest Kioko was upset, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to rethink it. "Manipulating me into teaching you¡­ fine." He relented. "I''m not powerful enough to destroy his soul by myself anyway, and it''s easier for you to kick him out if you''ve already done it once before. I''ll teach you, only long enough for you to regain control and get that creature out of our Sun Empire." "Thank you, Grey." Rey bowed and praised him, "I''ll forever remember this." Twitching his eyebrow, Priest Kioko glared daggers at him. "If you didn''t force me to, I''d rather leave you be. This is too annoying," He slapped the back of Rey''s head, "and it''s master to you from now on!" Looking at Rey, he suddenly felt pity and sadness. "Come inside already, I''ll show you the basics and we''ll go from there."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Walking into Grey''s office, his master pulled out a whiteboard. "The soul is split into two parts, your consciousness, and your willpower. You cannot hope to increase your consciousness until you reach the scholar ranks, but your willpower, we can continue to refine and strengthen that. You''ll be able to resist all urges and illusions if you can use your willpower to break them. Your willpower, once it gets strong enough, can even influence or pressure people of lower power!" Grey began to shout as he got excited momentarily, coughing after realizing he was a bit too excited. "The experience we have in life will passively shape and form our willpower, but it''s up to us to strengthen it actively if we want to breakthrough. From here, your willpower will either harden or crumble under the intense pressure." Grey looked Rey in the eyes, "Do you even want to fight? Where is your instinct to battle? Are you even ready to kill Soma, or is something holding you back?" Rey wanted to respond, but before he even got the chance, he felt himself sinking into an illusion. "This is the most I can apply on you within Sanctuary, whether you will break or be sharpened by it entirely depends on you, Rey." Grey''s voice halted to a stop and silence enveloped Rey. Abruptly, Rey woke up lying on the grass and felt pain radiating towards his left ribs. The noise of many legs drawing entered his ears and adrenaline pumped through his veins. Disregarding the pain, he got up and saw a giant ant pinching its mandibles. Rey quickly jumped out of the way of the charging fire ant and got back to his feet. He looked at the tiny hands and feet in his vision and realized he was only seven years old! ''This¡­'' Rey tried to think as familiarity overtook him, ''this is my memory?'' He recalled the pain, how he lost, his despair, everything that seemed to overwhelm him. He found solace in his ability to use the space law after so much time, but as he felt his body, he realized there wasn''t a trace of the space law in his body; he was a powerless mortal boy. Rey already knew he couldn''t win, that it was impossible! He knew himself well enough¡­ He can''t win without the laws. ''Why would he make me relive such despair?'' Rey panicked as the giant fire ant came close and felt his small body drain of color. Despite his fear, there was something within Rey that told him to fight against all odds, even when there was no hope. ''If there''s no light at the end of my tunnel, if there''s no hope to go on, I will create it!'' Looking at the charging two meters long fire ant, Rey gritted his teeth and kicked its red carapace upward. His leg felt numb as it collided with the ant, making it shake unevenly. ''If I remember correctly, the antennae are the weak points?'' Rey took the initiative and jumped on its back while it was still jarred. His whole body shook violently as the ant thrashed, but Rey held on by its antennae and pulled backward on them. Despite them being thin, he could not rip them off no matter how he tried. He looked at its body and found its stinger was nearly snapped off. ''Here''s my chance!'' Rey twisted backward and grabbed the stinger. With both hands, he plunged it down into its eyes instead. Clicking its mandibles again, he rolled around in pain. Rey took the opportunity to kick the stinger further in and pierced its brain. It stopped moving shortly after. "I succeeded?" Rey was elated; he created hope despite others telling him it was impossible. Break the Past Wisps of light flew before Rey''s eyes as his vision changed. Vibrant trees and flowers lined his view. In front of him was Aizen, Riza, and princess Yu. Rey wished to call out to Riza and Aizen when Soma suddenly broke free. "Aizen!" Rey cried out, but Soma took over his body in that instant. He teleported to Aizen and manipulated gravity just as Rey remembered. ''This isn''t real, this isn''t real!'' Rey felt chills run down his spine as he watched in horror. He wanted to puke, but he couldn''t even do that. ''I can''t let Aizen die!'' Rey''s instinct to fight kicked in as he used his willpower and took his control back from Soma. After taking control and sending Soma back to his prison, Rey kicked the princess backward and fled with Aizen and Riza. ''I could have saved them and stopped all of this if I had more power back then.'' Rey felt even worse. ''If only I was stronger¡­ if only I could have protected them. It was possible.'' Biting his lip until it bled, Rey thought he cleared the trial until time rewound and he was standing before Aizen and Riza again. ''I don''t understand, I saved them! What else can I do?'' Rey''s back was drenched in a cold sweat. Looking at Aizen being pulled apart, his face paled and panic overwhelmed him. He pushed out of the prison and kicked Soma back into it, taking control. He killed princess Yu and kept everyone safe, but moments later, he found himself back at the beginning. Each change he made seemed to be pointless. He killed Soma in one of them, yet that didn''t stop the nightmare he faced. He suppressed princess Yu instead of killing her and stayed, but time kept rewinding. Rey knew within his heart that even if he tried to change what occurred that day tens of thousands of times, the result would still be the same. Aizen''s death, king Sig''car''s rage, the blood he had on his hands, he couldn''t accept that reality. After trying to change his nightmare several hundred times, Rey accepted it and stopped trying to change what couldn''t be changed; he decided to focus and let it shape him. Rey gave way for Soma to do as he did in the past, and Aizen was killed before his eyes for the second time. Rey watched and wept, vowing to get his revenge tenfold. The memory collapsed and Rey appeared back into priest Kioko''s office. Tears continued to roll down his eyes. "Did you find your instinct to fight ye-" Rey didn''t give him time to finish that sentence and punched him in the stomach. Priest Kioko felt the air leave his body as he hunched over.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "What the hell was that for?" Priest Kioko shouted, "I''m helping you, brat!" "You asked for my instinct to fight?" Rey glanced up at him, "there it is." Puzzled, priest Kioko stood blinking at Rey. "I see, very well then." he felt wronged, ''what kind of disciple punches their master after asking a question? Though he did ask and Rey gave him an answer¡­'' "What''s next in mental training?" Coughing once, priest Kioko continued. "How have you been cultivating so far?" Rey felt uneasy, Hibari had told him not to tell anyone of that method otherwise it might bring harm to him. "I can''t tell you¡­ It''s a secret." "Then I''ll find out for myself." "What are you doing?" Rey instinctively backed away as priest Kioko moved closer. "Relax, this won''t hurt." priest Kioko shoved his hand onto Rey''s forehead and tried to force his way into his mind. "Weird, your willpower is far stronger than I had imagined. You want me to help? Stop resisting and let me see your consciousness." "A-alright. Just be gentle." Discomfort could be seen all over Rey''s face. ''Why does this situation feel so wrong?'' Priest Kioko felt reminded of something but disregarded it as he searched through Rey''s thoughts. "I see¡­ This is intricate, I suppose that Soma or someone like him designed this? Yes? Using your mind like that, converging your inhibited thoughts, establishing a mental connection to your soul, and forcefully uprooting your desires, this is an extremely complex technique. I''m surprised you can even use it right now." "Are you able to execute this technique too?" Priest Kioko looked at Rey strangely, "I need preparation to use such a technique." "I see¡­" Rey thought more about it, "So I have greater willpower than you?" "Listen, brat," He pointed his finger at Rey, "there is more to it than just willpower. The things of this world are complex, and it depends on your talent whether you can learn something like that. You must be very talented." He nervously laughed, beads of sweat slid off his forehead. "I can''t have my own disciple knowing he can do something his master can''t do." After thinking about how he phrased it, priest Kioko felt proud of himself. He really was a good, inspiring person! "You really can''t do it. Does that mean you''re talentless?" Those words drilled into priest Kioko''s mind as he almost coughed up blood. "You¡­" He wanted to say no, but the more he compared Rey''s growth compared to his own, he couldn''t even refute it! Compared to Rey, who else could learn such a complex technique while only being an adept? He got up and looked out the window. "Just keep doing what you''re doing! And come back tomorrow for more training." When he turned around, Rey had already vanished and left him twitching his eyebrow. ''Damn that kid.'' Priest Kioko thought. After his experience today with disciplining Rey, Priest Kioko felt scammed. ''Who told me having a disciple was easy and a good way to learn more. Who''s the disciple here?'' That day, unannounced to everyone else, priest Kioko had a mid-life crisis and decided to quit his job soon and join the frontlines of war. Help, Im Being Assaulted By The Police! "We''re here," Sonalius whispered to Riza and tapped her on the forehead. "Let''s be quick and inform Tyrien about this." He audibly gulped as Riza opened her eyes and nodded. After five days of traveling, they had reached the city of Yytar. Riza looked around at the towering buildings and elaborate stone sculptures that formed a "V" shape. she stopped walking and gazed up in the sky in awe. thirteen life-like sculptures stood before her, each one conveying a different set of elegance. At the center of the point, with six statues on either side of him, was a green-haired statue that was twice as tall as the other twelve. Riza couldn''t fathom how much time it took to carve a statue over 50 meters tall, or where someone would even find a single stone that large. Sonalius, seeing Riza''s mouth wide open in wonder, felt nostalgic at the sight. "That was the same reaction I had for the first year I became an elite guard here in Yytar. The statue on the left, in the middle, that is Matriach Tyrien." Riza saw the statue of a lychnus woman standing on one knee. The sunlight beamed down on her blonde hair and fair skin. Her kind smile smirked upward made Riza feel light. Sonalius coughed and got Riza''s attention, "Er, don''t expect her to laugh or smile. In my years with Tyrien, I had only ever seen her smile from looking at her statue¡­" Sonalius urged Riza to hurry as they walked past the statues and came upon a wide building that was surrounded by guards. "This is where the Thirteen stay and raise their own disciples. Naturally, it is well protected with many elites. We can ask to see Tyrien from here." Sonalius looked worried, constantly looking forward at the guards. "If she is so important, why would she agree to meet with us?" Riza felt puzzled, "We are only from a small city beyond the Sun Empire''s control; aren''t we insignificant to her?" "She''ll see us, there''s no doubt." Sonalius gulped and moved further. "Let''s go, I''ll introduce you to my former master soon enough." Before Riza could ask him more questions, Sonalius already picked up his speed and swiftly came to a checkpoint. "Your identification and purpose for being here?" The guard gave him a side glance and paid no attention to Sonalius. He handed him the familiar blue card and the guard ran his energy through it. "This identity is old. What is your purpose here, Sonalius Isiria?" "Keep reading it." "Alright," the guard gave him a peculiar look, "Born in Yytar, an elite soldier, nicknamed Jade Lion¡­" He scratched his head before realizing why it sounded so familiar. "You''re the Jade Lion?" The guard''s face went blank as his eyes lost focus for a split second. Sonalius noticed the change and gave a faint laugh. "There''s no point in calling the guards, I''m not going to fight you." Sonalius sighed and looked at Riza, who shied away and hid in his shadow. "It''s alright, you''ll be fine, Riza."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Patting her soft head, Sonalius'' beaming smile was all Riza felt. "I trust you." "Good. We''ll get our revenge on that bastard soon..." Sonalius paid no attention to the tense and sweating guard as six more came from within the palace. They formed a ring and surrounded him with spears. "Sonalius Isiria, we have been ordered to capture you for your crimes of aiding the Ghora in battle and disobeying matriarch Tyrien''s commands. Don''t resist, Jade Lion!" Sonalius stood there willingly, but the commander continued. "There is no point in trying to resist. Our peak Scholars are stationed nearby. Even if you could defeat them, the Awakened matriarchs here will destroy you. But you still want to fight, don''t you?" He drew his sword and pointed it at Sonalius. "No, I give-" "Enough chatter! Your reputation precedes you, Jade Lion! If you want to fight so badly, then come at me!" The commander poised himself for battle as Sonalius looked worried. Seriously, he only wanted to go quietly! Had he been too ruthless in the past? If he is to go all out... Sonalius looked at Riza who was behind him. "I won''t. Take me to matriarch Tyrien already, I''m certain she''ll want to see me unharmed." "...You don''t want to fight? Not even a single duel?" Sonalius stood there speechless, who''s the criminal here?! He almost wanted to shout "Help, police!" Oh, right. He''s about to be assaulted by the police... The commander felt disgruntled as he thought about it more. He sheathed his sword and looked downcast. "Even criminals can''t be beaten right now," he sighed, "where are the bloodthirsty people who love to battle nowadays?" "Sir..." One of the guards meekly responded. "Hey... Qwan, do you think others would mind if we accidentally let a prisoner escape?" "Sir! We still have to maintain our image, even if you want to fight that badly!" Qwan panicked. What if the prisoner got beat to death by this commander of his, what would happen if the higher-ups found out? Just the thought of it was enough to send shivers down his back. "Since they''re so willing, I''ll take the Jade Lion to the jail room for now. The girl seems to be with him too. Maybe she''s willing to resist..." Another shiver crawled down Qwan''s back. "I can take them if you want to go to the sparing grounds, I can handle them with the suppressors, sir." He pleaded as beads of sweat ran down his face. The commander''s eyes lit up. "Very well," He threw four bands next to Sonalius and Riza, "put these on so I can leave. Unless..." He looked at them with a fiendish gaze. "Do as he says," Sonalius and Riza put the band over their wrists and ankles. Their strength quickly dwindled, leaving them powerless. "Come with me," Qwan said in a stern voice and pushed them along. "To think I''d be escorting the famous Jade Lion to prison. Why did you turn yourself in?" Sonalius kept moving but stayed silent. "Very well, keep to yourself. At the very least, who''s the girl?" "A good friend''s daughter. Don''t worry, she''s innocent." "It''s not for you, nor me, to decide. What''s her name? "Riza Arriero." How can I contact her parents? Assuming she''s innocent, she''ll be leaving shortly after we investigate." "They''re dead. Killed by Lychni" "I see..." Qwan said grimly. "Her hometown?" "Invaded by the same Lychni." Sonalius glanced at Qwan''s purple skin and short figure. "What''s the name?" "Lorea." "Is that so?" He kept walking along the road, pushing them forward from time to time. "I met an annoying brat through our soul realm that said he lived in Lorea. My sister took great interest in him." Riza, who stayed completely silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "What''s his name? Is his name Rey?" Shocked, Qwan stopped where he was and blinked. "You know Rey?" "He''s the main reason we''re here." Qwan looked at the two and started walking again. "Come, you can tell me more when we reach the jail." The Tower To the Sun "King Sig''car? He overtook Lorea, and your reason for coming back is to seek help?" Qwan looked to be in deep thought as he sat across from Riza and Sonalius. The cold, metallic room with only a few chairs and a table made Riza feel like it was hard to breathe. "It''s as you have said. We only came to seek help from matriarch Tyrien." "And Rey killed his daughter, so now he''s trying to enact revenge? That doesn''t sound like king Sig''car..." "You''re familiar with king Sig''car?" "Who wouldn''t be-" He stopped and coughed. "It''s classified information, don''t try to pry at me." Sonalius sat in silence, speechless. Were all the guards today so peculiar? A tsundere or something? "We came to seek counsel with matriarch Tyrien, not for past grievances. If you already know of him, then there''s little more to explain." "Agreed. Come with me. Matriarch Tyrien just sent a request to transfer you over to her care a few moments ago." Lifting their arms and legs sluggishly, the two got up and Qwan led them through the stone paths to the larger, rectangular building they got arrested at. Riza looked at the building inquisitively. "This is the Heaven building where all disciples and the thirteen masters gather. Their talent is unparalleled, capable of becoming Sol''s angels one day!" Qwan exclaimed passionately. "If you think about it¡­ this might be our most important building. Our power will rest in the talented youth of tomorrow. Protecting and nurturing them is our highest value until they become our guardians." Sonalius rolled his eyes and looked at Riza. Her facial expression was one of awe. ''Damn it, she actually thinks these pompous brats will become angels one day?'' He disregarded it, though. What she saw in them, did it really matter? With a knock of the door, Qwan shouted. "Orders from matriarch Tyrien to bring Sonalius Isiria and his companion to her chambers for Sol''s righteous judgment!" After a few moments, the door swung open and the three walked in. Gold, silver, and many gems decorated the halls. They could immediately tell how expensive it was to construct the room within a single glance. "This way. Don''t keep her waiting. You should know that she''s not a patient woman, Sonalius." They quickened their pace and walked down a long hallway. As they came closer to her chambers, Riza saw different accomplishes of matriarch Tyriens hung to the walls or set on pedestals. Killing an evolved when she was only an adept¡­ The youngest to become evolved in over one hundred years¡­ Riza felt fear overcome her, this person is equivalent to a god!If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Don''t mess around with her," Qwan whispered before knocking on the giant double door that had matriarch Tyrien''s face on it. Her long golden-blonde hair flowed. Two broad swords sat on her tiny back as she stood with an aloof glint in her green eyes. The little fairy-like wings and purple skin made her look cute, but her facial expression was serious; it looked as if a childish woman was pouting in her picture. The door split open, and Qwan motioned them to enter; he merely stood outside in fear. After they got into the room, the bands around their arms and feet loosened and fell off. Their powers returned as Sonalius looked ahead. A black onyx floor was filled with training dummies, weapons, mats, and books. Every resource for training one could need was here. There were even green fluorescent gems that helped recover their energy. Suddenly, a needle shot out towards the two at an alarming speed. "Sonalius Isiria." Matriarch pronounced his name ever so slowly, syllable by syllable. She sat at the side of her room, eyes locked dead onto Sonalius. He quickly pushed Riza down and tried to deflect the needle, but it was too fast. Sonalis pushed his energy out to form a barrier, but the needle pierced through many of the layers in a single second; his shield would soon crumble. Riza saw what was happening and reacted instantly. Even though she couldn''t win, she didn''t want to give up. A clone formed and charged toward matriarch Tyrien. Silently, she threw a dagger as her clone swung an illusionary dagger. "Do you think simple tricks will work on me, girl?" Matriarch Tyrien sat still and continued to direct the needle into Sonalius'' shield. Her eyes were as still as water, not paying attention to the clone or dagger. When the clone attacked, it went right through her and disappeared. Then she saw a dagger appear in the blink of an eye. She quickly drew her sword and slashed it, but then she realized even the dagger was an illusion. She looked up and found a real dagger had silently made its way to her without her noticing. By the time she realized it was there, it was too late; matriarch Tyrien couldn''t raise her blade again to repel the real dagger. "Very nice, kid. That was quite the trick." She grinned and opened her eyes. A shockwave blasted Sonalius'' shield apart and plastered them to the wall. The dagger that was right before her chest was thrown backward and also embedded into the wall. Sonalius and Riza coughed up blood from the impact. When Sonalius feebly got to his feet and looked up, the needle was only millimeters from his right eye. "I could have killed you, Sonalius, and nobody would have cared enough to try and stop me." Matriarch Tyrien looked at him coldly. "Why didn''t you? Perhaps killing another one of your disciples would leave a bad taste in your mouth?" "Orders are ord-" "Bullshit! You didn''t extend any help to your ''precious disciple,'' and when you wanted to please the upper echelons, you killed him! His blood is stained on your hands for eternity, and you welcomed it!" Sonalius shouted with indignance. "Enough! Things weren''t so black and white back then. If you were in my position, you wouldn''t have the privilege to hate me for making the necessary choice. I won''t be slandered in my own home. If not for your vital information to Sig''car, I''d have you thrown in jail for the blood on your hands too." Her cold eyes reflected deep-seated conflict. Matriarch Tyrien called the needle back to herself and looked at Riza who struggled to get to her feet. "An impressive girl. It would seem she has a wealth of battle experience and ingenuity at such a young age. She reminds me of when I was young. Her movements and form need work, but she is incredibly perceptive and smart¡­ They said your name is Riza? How about it, wanna become my disciple?" Old Bonds "Damn you, Tyrien! You can''t be serious; you have your eyes set on Riza?" "She is quite intriguing. I''ll need to know her abilities better, but she''s no less than these other geniuses here. Her potential will be wasted without me, that''s for certain." Matriarch Tyrien saw Sonalius'' distraught and ignored it. "Regardless, you''re a prisoner, and your fate is in my hands now. She''ll learn to appreciate me over time. As for you," She bit her lip, "I don''t think I can bear with killing yet another former disciple of mine, even he deserves it." "You killed your disciple, yet you think you don''t deserve death for such betrayal?" "You wish to talk to me about betrayal, Sonalius? How about betraying our empire during its critical time? How about when you left your post and helped those filthy Ghoras escape us?!" Matriarch Tyrien''s shouts were so loud that even Qwan, who was already down the hallway, heard it and almost lost his bowels. "Enough!" Riza kept looking back at the two in a stupor. She had no idea what past crimes they were arguing about, but isn''t it ultimately her decision if she wants to be matriarch Tyrien''s disciple? "I''ll freely become your disciple and work hard for you," Riza emphasized, "if you help kill king Sig''car." "And what if I refuse?" "If you refuse... I''ll do everything in my power to resist then. How good of a disciple will I become?" Riza''s golden-eyes coldly looked at matriarch Tyrien with unwavering determination. The atmosphere was intense as time felt as if it slowed down. Suddenly, matriarch smiled and grinned at Riza. "Such will, to see how powerful I am, and still defy me. Very few would ever try such a thing. You remind me of my younger days so much, Riza. Yes." "Y-yes?" "Yes, I''ll help you enact revenge. So come and greet your master." Sonalius stood in disbelief and anger. Matriarch Tyrien glanced at Sonalius and reformed her cold facial expression. "I won''t allow-" "Sonalius, this is our best bet for freeing Lorea¡­ don''t take this away from me!" She gnashed her teeth and looked at Tyrien''s petite body before bowing. "Disciple Riza Arriero greets master Tyrien!" "So, former master, what happens to me?" "I haven''t decided. Either way, I cannot kill you now that I have this new disciple... But you''re still guilty of treason. I''ll petition the emperor to allow you to fight for your freedom, otherwise... It''s life in jail for you. But, if you aid in taking out someone even worse than you, king Sig''car, then you''ll surely get your freedom and redeem yourself."This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Then... Please ask the king on my behalf. I''ll continue to train to breakthrough once I''m sent back to jail." "Wait," matriarch Tyrien sighed, "train here with me. You''ll need it if you want to breakthrough faster. Besides, it''ll help to have a former student of mine train my new disciple." "...if it can''t be helped. I''ll be training, then." As matriarch Tyrien wrote the petition on parchment, Riza familiarized herself with the techniques available to her and the training space. She looked and saw one technique stand out to her: Silent Snake. This technique was about sticking to the target so they could never hit you directly. By moving around to the target, skin to skin, one could be flexible enough to stick to their body and attack when ready. It also helped one to be silent. Silent Snake was both stealthy, evasive, and had the potential to be used offensively as well. When Riza read this one, she realized that it''d take a lot of proficiency. After all... What if she didn''t move around their body well? She''d immediately be struck fatally if she messed up! One needed incredible foresight to use this technique. Close combat assassination... Riza thought about it and picked up another technique as well from master Tyrien''s wall of books: Seventh Mind Riza looked at the old, tattered book and realized this one was more ancient, and it had to be translated. Riza read the basics of the book and saw that this technique was much more complex, but it''d ensure Riza''s survival. Using her body as the base, Riza could infuse all of her energy into 7 different clones. And when they tried to tell them apart, nobody could! They''d have the same appearance, energy level, etc. And while they killed her clones, the real her, who would become camouflaged when she activated the ability, could silently slip away. Matriarch Tyrien finished writing the petition and saw the techniques she chose. ''It would seem Riza knows her strengths well...'' As matriarch Tyrien thought, Sonalius glanced up at her and knew her thoughts well. "You had better take great care of Riza." He stared at her with eyes full of hatred. "I promise you, if she gets harmed because of you... not even death will keep me from destroying you." Matriarch Tyrien gritted her teeth. "I''ll protect her, so don''t. Neither of us can afford to repeat what happened last time." "It seems that my former master understands then." Sonalius smiled, but to Tyrien it was a frightening grin that made her nervous even to this day. Riza was unaware of their conversation as she engrossed herself in reading. Sonalius continued to train as he sat still and radiated life. Occasionally he splurted blood and his skin changed textures as he explored life. Matriarch Tyrien also practiced. Her golden needles danced in mid-air with several afterimages forming. While she executed her long-distance techniques, she also pulled out two swords and practiced separate sword techniques simultaneously; very few people could split their attention to three separate skills and still be functional. Her practice was mind-boggling when Riza looked up at her. Three days passed by quickly for them. Riza managed to understand the Seventh Mind. "Master, I am ready." "Very well, try it out." Riza nodded and performed Seventh Mind. Seven images appeared from within her body as her energy depleted into all seven of them. They went from illusionary to solid as they ran in separate directions. Tyrien looked at the seven and tried to tell them apart, but they were all similar. As for locating Riza¡­ she couldn''t sense her through light energy or by vision. But she could distinctly hear Riza''s breathing, the vibrations in the air, etc. She locked onto Riza''s position within a few moments and leg swept her to the ground. "Not bad. Don''t use it too often or your enemies will know that the clones are simply a distraction. Once they do and your energy is depleted, then it''s game over. Practice a bit more. The petition has just arrived and it''s confirmed, Sonalius is cleared by the king to go with us. The emperor wants to get this over with quickly. Thanks to you, we have his location. We''ll leave tomorrow for our battle with Sig''car." The Mantis, Cicada, and Oriole "Wuu!" In the valley, a long black creature howled as it sensed a familiar presence. It had been searching for the person who killed her son for so long. Each night it would shriek and destroy everything it saw. When it returned to Mist valley, it felt a familiar aura... That aura was the same it felt on her son''s dead body! It swiftly ran towards the Degasi river where it felt the aura originating. Similarly, in the town of Lorea, king Sig''car laid on the ground of a long throne room. Blood pooled beneath him as he sat in the middle of over a hundred dead lychni. A dark aura surrounded his body, and strangely, his power seemed to increase every second he seeped in their blood. "My king!" Kiev slammed the door open and humbly prostrated on the ground. "What the hell do you want?" King Sig''car sat up, glaring at Kiev angrily. "We found Rey!" King Sig''car''s eyes widened as he grinned maniacally. "This is such a waste of their blood. Damn it! Let''s go, show me where he is!" As Soma walked through the vibrant forest, he suddenly closed his eyes and smiled. "I can feel it, Ozzy... Riza is coming to us. Come, let''s keep moving!" Soma ran through the forest with excitement, not caring to hide anymore. Rey observed everything Soma did and immediately went into Sanctuary. "Master Kioko! Soma is moving toward my friends!" "This... so suddenly?" "I don''t understand why they would leave the comfort of the capital, but that''s not important! We have to intercept him, please!" Master Kioko gritted his teeth and looked at Rey. "How strong is your will now, after all the dreams we''ve fought through?" "Much stronger, comparable to a Saint." Master Kioko looked at Rey in horror. Wasn''t this a little too fast? What cheat code did he have to have such a strong will? "Good, very good. With my help, we might be able to suppress him. I''ll head over at once!" In the capital of the Sun Empire, Riza, Sonalius, and matriarch Tyrien along with three other leaders met outside the Tower To the Sun building. Two carriages were readied for their departure. Besides the better quality of its materials, it was exactly the same as the one Sonalius had procured.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Patriarch Johannes of the Humans, patriarch Keanu of the Excardi Inber, and matriarch Sana of the Shades, please welcome my new disciple, Riza." "The time has come for another disciple?" Johannes said with shock. "She''s human too, just like your last disciple, I see." Johannes looked at Riza with a cheery smile. His orange curly-hair was unmistakable with his tall build. "If you ever need a home or a new mast-" A blade came close to his neck. "Don''t recruit my disciple." Tyrien looked at him coldly. "Relax, you''re also so uptight, Tyrien. What do you think, Sana?" Sana''s white, clear skin looked really beautiful. Her long hair fell past her shoulders, and her blue eyes looked at Riza inquisitively. "She is very cute, those eyes are so precious! Like real gold... I understand why Tyrien picked her. Indeed, if you ever need a hom-" Tyrien looked at the two coldly and repressed the urge to fight them. She turned to Keanu, half expecting him to speak. Keanu stood there with an intense expression. His tall, three-meter body stood as sturdy as Mount Tai. He looked overbearing as he glanced at Riza, sending shivers down her spine. "Body is frail... good look in her eyes. Determined." Keanu grunted. "Go already." His guttural, rough voice was like stone striking metal; it was very raw and unpleasant. Riza rose to her feet, uncaring for their words. The only thing on her mind now was Sig''car. "If you''ve made your introductions... then let''s move on." Tyrien glanced at Johannes and Sana before getting on the carriage. Sonalius, Riza, and Tyrien sat on the first carriage, while the other three sat on the second one. Within a moment''s notice, they sped up and the building got further away. ''Mother, father. May you rest soon enough... If this torch need be passed to yet another, then let it be. But let justice be met, and Sig''car be pierced with our judgment.'' Riza silently spoke a prayer aimlessly and looked ahead. When she looked up, Sonalius'' bright smile is all she saw. "We will defeat him now. Don''t worry, Riza. We''ll avenge each and every person he''s killed." Sonalius'' smile turned bitter. Riza covered her eyes, hiding the tears that flowed without ceasing. They passed the city wall and headed south for Lorea. As the two carriages traveled to Lorea, Soma''s feet touched the Degasi river as he ran on water. Within a moment, however, Soma''s eyes widened. A huge, 15-meter tall beast with black scales and a long, slender body perched itself on top of a hill across the river. Behind Soma was a furious purple-skinned Lychni that looked murderous and a lanky man that tried to hide behind king Sig''car. "Rey!" King Sig''car shouted at him, but then saw the huge beast looking at Soma too. Sweat lined his back just from looking at it. But he finally found Rey; he wasn''t going to let him slip away. He motioned for Kiev to leave and threw down a blue powder, freezing the water and running to Soma. "Humans..." The black beast strained its voice to speak the Human tongue. Its voice bellowed with anger as it charged into the river. "I have no time to play with you two!" Soma coughed up blood and teleported across the river. Not sparing a second to think, he ran with all his might. Both beast and man had their child killed in horrific ways by Soma; they glanced at each other and instantly understood their bond. Rey watched the events unfold in between his training, and kept Kioko updated so he could intercept. His whole body shook with despair as he saw both the space beast and king Sig''car chasing after Soma. Rey could only keep practicing and increase his willpower, hoping to break free from Soma. If he can''t break Soma''s control then it seems that... Something big is about to happen! Ophanim Wheels rolled across the wet ground, splashing mud to and fro as the rain poured down. "There! Who is that?" Johannes exclaimed. A young man with black hair sped towards them with shocking speed. His clothes were tattered and stained. If not for the rain, even his face would be unrecognizable. "Rey! No, Soma!" Riza felt a chill run down her spine as she saw king Sig''car and a giant black dragon-like creature chasing right behind him. "This... Why is the space beast here?! Who''s that boy?" Matriarch Tyrien suddenly turned serious. "Stop Sig''car. That is our goal!" Sonalius, Riza, and the rest nodded in unison as they hopped off the carriage and drew their weapons. "Riza!" Soma bellowed as he came near. But before he could grab her, Tyrien stood in his way with two swords and crossed them. When Soma''s hand reached through the swords, she pulled them apart, hoping to sever the boy''s hand. But Soma vanished into thin air and appeared behind her. He kicked her towards Sig''car and the dragon, who had just caught up to Soma. The dragon, seeing Soma''s fixation on Riza, grew wary. It stood in Soma''s way and also disappeared. When Soma blinked, he suddenly saw dragon''s claw swinging down at him. He gritted his teeth and fell back. Soma and the dragon locked eyes before they both vanished out of sight. "Sig''car!" Riza shouted. Matriarch Tyrien had gotten back to her feet and Keanu, Sana, Johannes, and Sonalius surrounded him. "There''s six of you and only one of me; is this really fair?" Sig''car stood eyeing each one of them. "It''s been a long time, Johannes, Tyrien. You two haven''t changed one bit. As for me..." Sig''car laughed, "I might have been weaker than you before, but those days are long over!" As Sig''car talked, he finally let out his aura: a rank 1 Saint! The matriarchs and patriarchs were only of being Awakened; a whole tier below Sig''car! This... would not be an easy battle for them. "Come, let''s finish this!" Sig''car donned two red gauntlets as hands and feet basked in sunlight. When Sig''car had taken his first step, they had only seen a blur as he appeared in front of Johannes. He barely had any time to react as Sig''car threw a swift upper-cut to his jaw. Just when he was about to get hit, Johannes reinforced his body and a strong gust of wind helped push himself back. When the fist made contact, it barely left any damage. Before Sig''car could follow up, Tyrien''s needles shot toward him and Sana''s shadow grabbed his feet, attempting to constrict his movements. Sig''car felt sluggish like a mountain was being carried on his back. "This won''t be enough to stop me!" King Sig''car laughed and increased his speed even further. "Do you think we''re done as well? We''re only getting started!" Sonalius shouted and sent his energy to the 5 others, empowering them. Now when Sig''car moved... they could actually see clearly! Not only that, but even Sana''s shadow constriction was empowered and further decreased Sig''car''s speed; the playing grounds were leveled further. Keanu took out a sledgehammer and wreathed himself in sundering flames. Sig''car looked around and saw them all attacking in unison. Needles, daggers, hammers, shadows, swords, fists... every direction he looked, there was an attack he could not evade. Time seemed to slow down as they watched with expectant eyes. Their attacks had touched his skin when Sig''car suddenly revealed a deranged smile. In an instant, his body shone with blood-red light. His shirt tore apart, and the drawing of a creature was imprinted onto his body. A bloody ring with many eyes and three pairs of wings stretched out covered Sig''car''s entire chest. The weapons that touched his skin bounced off and fell to the ground.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "This is... the image of ophanim!" Tyrien stumbled back in a stupor. Even the other officials of the Sun Empire and Sonalius looked shocked. "Ophanim!" Sig''car guffawed carelessly. "The almighty Thrones that carries His natural laws and degrees; the very resting place of the almighty is imprinted on my body!" "The Ophanim is a mere legend, they have been extinct since the age of time itself! How do you have the mark of Ophanim blood?" Tyrien stuttered in disbelief, staring at the blood image on Sig''car''s chest. "Racial sacrifice..." Sonalius muttered grimly. "Then..." Tyrien looked at him coldly, "how many of our brothers and sisters have you killed, just to strengthen your own Ophanim heritage?" "Fifteen thousand? Twenty thousand? I''ve already lost count. Thankfully when I left, there were so many fanatics to join me. They gladly sacrificed their lives so that they might live in my glory!" As Sig''car spoke, he saw Soma fighting the dragon directly above them in mid-air. The shockwaves sent gusts of wind, splitting trees and rocks. His blood boiled watching man and beast fight. "Let''s hurry, this is the first time I''ve fought with my Ophanim bloodline... I''m excited!" Sig''car ran forward in an instant. He shook off the shadow constriction and sprouted three sets of white, majestic wings. His speed increased even further as they saw him vanish before their eyes. It''s not like he was teleporting, but rather, he was simply too fast for their eyes to register his movement at all! Tyrien saw Sig''car for only a moment before she was given a kick to the gut and sent flying. She slammed into a faraway tree and fell to the ground, coughing up blood. "Tyri-" Johannes shouted but before he could finish his words, Sig''car flashed to him and with shining fists. He punched him several times before he finally went down in a bloody mess. One by one, Sig''car took out the main four powerhouses. There was no chance to fight back with how fast he was, and within a few short moments, they remained teetering between life and death. All that remained was Sonalius and Riza. Sig''car looked at the two with an insane grin. "Finally, I''ll kill you both here! This power is amazing!" He laughed hysterically, fully consumed in sick delight. Sonalius stood defensively with Riza behind him. He looked at Tyrien''s body and felt weak. He used his strongest defensive and strengthened his body to the max as Sig''car ran to him. "Come, fight back! Spill your blood for me!" Sig''car lavished. Riza barely saw Sig''car. She was only an Adept in the light law; she felt sick and powerless as Sonalius was bruised black and blue defending her. He tried to fight back, but all he caught was air when he swung his fists. "Is this the might of the Sun Empire? Have you all become so weak in my eyes? Pathetic!" Sig''car grinned. Even with Sonalius'' countless defenses and techniques, the gap in power was too big, and he finally collapsed to the ground. Sig''car walked over to Riza with Sonalius'' blood stained onto his clothes. With one eye open, Sonalius felt saddened. Not because of the chaos around him, not because of Tyrien or anyone getting hurt, but because of what he needed to do to protect Riza. The conflicting promises he made finally surfaced to his heart as he made his choice. "I''m sorry..." He weakly muttered to himself. "What was that?" Sig''car turned around and felt something amiss. He felt Sonalius'' life-force getting rapidly stronger as his injuries recovered swiftly. The bruises and torn skin immediately healed as he got to his feet. "Sig''car... you forced me!" Sonalius'' aura rapidly increased. The wind swirled beneath his feet as his life-force deepened. "You... what are you trying to pull? Do you think you can beat the power of an Ophanim?" Sig''car shouted in disbelief as he felt Sonalius'' aura once more. It was comparable to an Ascended, meaning... he shot up from being Awakened to becoming Ascended! A full tier above him! "This is fake! An illusion! Nobody should be able to skip two levels!" Sig''car ran to him and tried to jab his throat. His hand came down onto Sonalius, and that made him rejoice. ''I can still hit him!'' Sig''car thought, but his expression quickly turned to disbelief as pain radiated throughout his body. "Agh!" He screamed out. It felt like he had struck his hand on a steel bar! When he looked where he hit Sonalius, he realized there wasn''t even a mark left! "That''s all?" Sonalius stared at him with red eyes. He grabbed Sig''car by the arm and beat him repeatedly. "Impossible! This isn''t real, it has to be fake! You cannot kill me! I have the power of Ophanim!" Sig''car screamed. Sonalius ignored his cries and looked him in the eye. "This is for Johnathan and Theresa Arriero, and the rest of your victims!" Sig''car plunged his hand into the man''s heart and brain, ensuring his immediate death. He looked into Sig''car''s shocked, lifeless eyes and fell to the ground. "I''m sorry, mother. I had to burn yet another year of this precious life you gave me... but I kept her safe, Theresa." Sonalius wept as his life-force returned to normal. His body ached as he started to fall to the ground. Riza quickly grabbed Sonalius and let him down gently. She looked at him and realized he was already unconscious. "Burning away your own life, just to keep another promise you made¡­ Thank you." Riza understood how grave that decision was for him. Suddenly, she felt even more powerful shockwaves from the sky and realized how weak she was. Looking at Sig''car''s head with, she came to a decision. ''His power¡­ it should go to waste.'' Riza quickly absorbed his blood and looked up at the sky with worry. ''Please don''t die, Rey!'' The Death of a King "Die!!" the dragon moved with an unyielding will. Every part of its body acted as a weapon as it clawed, bit, and swung its tail at Soma. "Weak!" Soma grinned. "I''ve killed hundreds of thousands of you beasts; what makes you think I won''t kill you?" "Bastard!" She raged. "You left my son for the vultures to feed on; I won''t rest until you''re dead!" The dragon went crazy. Its attacks became sporadic and faster as Soma went head-on with it. Soma threw another punch as the dragon slashed at him with sharp claws. They both hit each other and sent shockwaves forth. Soma backed up and spewed blood. "Damn it! You''ll stand in Ouranos'' way too?! Enough! Every damnable person tries to stop what I need to do to ensure life! It''s only through death that I can change this world into life!" Soma got increasingly serious as he spoke each word. Soma''s eyes darted with insanity, smiling as wide as his mouth would open as he teleported around the dragon. He appeared near its underbelly and punched it repeatedly, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. She roared angrily as her belly bled. Golden light coalesced around her and turned into beams headed to perforate Soma''s body. The light was so fast, and Soma already felt sluggish; he wasn''t sure if he could dodge them in time! Soma quickly teleported, but by the time he vanished, one of the beams of light pierced the middle his hand. He seethed and cried out in pain. "You dare to hurt this body?!" He stared in horror at the gaping hole on his palm and coughed up more blood. Soma''s body was in horrible shape, and even his soul was slowly crumbling. His chest heaved up and down in hot, bubbling fury. "Enough... Enough!" His anger exploded as he warped time and space. "I''ll show you... I''ll show them all the true power of Ouranos!" Strange, purple light formed at Soma''s fingertips. His nose and mouth ran with blood as he turned pale. He walked toward the creature, seemingly slow, but in reality, Soma was already near the creature''s heart. Time... it''s a very scary thing to lose! When the dragon saw Soma, it was already too late. He shoved the purple light into its chest and weaved it inside in the fraction of a second. "What did you do?!" She howled as he couldn''t feel her connection to any of the laws. Even the flapping of her wings could not stop her descent. With a loud boom, she fell to the ground kicking up plumes of dirt and debris. Soma also descended haphazardly as he held his heart, shaking every so often. His skin was cold and white as porcelain as blood leaked out his mouth. He looked at the dragon in front of him who struggled endlessly and then turned to Riza. "Finally. It''s time to take back what is truly belonging to Ouranos." Sig''car muttered weakly. "That won''t be necessary." A tall man suddenly hopped off a lush tree. "Another one to stop Ouranos?" Soma''s voice quivered as the man approached. His condition looked even worse than the leaders of the Sun Empire. "Rey, it''s your time!" The man shouted and sent a green thread of power fourth. Soma reached out his hand to block it, but the thread passed through his hand and penetrated his soul. "You... Dare to harm me?" Soma fell onto one knee. The rain-drenched his face and obscured his vision until it went black. ''It''s now or never!'' Rey gritted his teeth and ran to the bars in his soul. When he neared them, he realized the repulsive force lessened greatly after Kioko''s soul attack. Still, it took him great effort to even bend those bars. "I''m free...!" Rey excited declared and walked past the iron bars that once bound him. Just ahead he saw Soma struggling to get to his feet. "Soma!" Rey yelled at Soma, prompting him to look up at Rey. His crazed smile and wide eyes were fixed on Rey. "You escaped and honed your will... Amazing, what a defier of fate! Even those you confided in have been strengthened by you. Well done-" Rey launched a kick at him to shut him up. "Enough! For every one you''ve harmed, I will give back to you tenfold!" Rey screamed and attacked again and again. Soma''s soul seemed to be unyielding as Rey struck him continuously. With each hit, his soul chipped away more, causing Soma to cry out in waves of excruciating pain. "No more! Please, stop!" Soma pleaded. "Did you stop when you killed Aizen? What about the others you massacred?" Soma opened his bloodshot eyes even wider as another punch fell on his body. "Do you know what I regret the most? I don''t only have to kill you, but my former master as well. The Hibari that gave me my past, my roots... you''re forcing me to kill him too! Damn you, Soma! After everything you''ve done, all that remains is broken families and dead children!"The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. His anger had burst forth in a fury of rage. Even with all the pain inflicted on Soma, he kept his horrifying grin. "The only regret I have is needing to killing Hibari along with you, Soma! May you never rest!" Rey rapidly punched him until Soma''s soul dissipated and his body faded. The empty void seemed to reflect changes as he felt less pressure, and the bars that separated his consciousness faded away. ''It is finally over with." Rey sighed and immediately left the void. He gently felt the cool wind and rain on his skin. Even the mud and nipping cold, Rey welcomed it like a breath of fresh air as he opened his eyes and sat up. "Rey!" A worried voice called to him. He turned around just in time to see Riza throw him to the ground with a hug. "Ow ow," Rey winced as he felt pain in his ribs and shoulders, "Riza, you''re safe." "Don''t worry about me, you fool! You''re the one who needed saving." Riza giggled slightly as she hugged him even harder. "It''s been a while, Rey..." "Ahem!" Kioko coughed loudly. Rey was fully intoxicated into the moment that he hadn''t seen him standing there with a grin on his face. "Master Kioko!" Rey got up and bowed. "Thank you!" "The rest was all you, Rey. I merely weakened him enough for you to finish the job. Well done." "How did you know I won before I said anything?" "Your aura, Rey. The energy you unintentionally release; think of it as your fingerprint. We sensed your unique aura and knew you had woken up." Rey blinked and understood after he thought about it. "I see," Rey looked around and saw people on the ground wearing robes engraved with the Sun Empire''s blazing sun and the dragon struggling helplessly. "Sonalius!" Rey ran over to the passed out man. Priest Kioko also walked over and touched his forehead. "Overexertion, he... damn, using a forbidden technique like this!" Kiko sighed as he shook his head. "Forbidden techniques empower the body to a high degree. Tell me, how much is your life worth?" Rey and Riza stood unable to answer that question. "Exactly. Who can put a price on your life? It''s priceless... and so if you burned your life, what would you gain from that? The energy you''d receive is astronomical just like the cost! That''s what this man has done, though. For temporary power, he even burned away his life to swiftly increase his strength." Priest Kioko sighed. "Still, I haven''t seen such a technique used before; I''ve only heard of it in writings. After all... how does one convert their life into energy?" "But he''ll be okay?" "Yes, his wounds have already been healed. He''ll need some time to recover from this weakened state though. For now... we need to deal with that beast and bring aid to these matriarchs and patriarchs!" Rey, Riza, and Kioko turned to look at the struggling dragon-like creature. "Let me." Riza turned and faced them with a smirk. The familiar red Ophanim engraving appeared on her chest. ''Wait... This placement... seems off?'' Sig''car''s shirt was also torn like this the last time he used it. But for a girl... Before she had a chance to think anymore, her shirt was torn and fell to the ground as she sprouted three pairs of wings that covered her body. Riza''s face turned red from embarrassment as she realized that her chest was exposed. She quickly turned around and a set of wings stuck to her body, hiding her breasts from being seen. Riza glanced at Rey and saw he was blushing. "I saw nothing! J-just go!" Rey stuttered awkwardly. "F-fine!" She stammered off trying to calm down. As Riza walked, she felt the seemingly boundless strength she had when using the powers of Ophanim. She walked up to the struggling dragon and used her dagger to slash its underbelly. It was extremely tough to cut through, however. Even with her newfound strength, she struggled to make noticeable progress. The dragon thrashed as well, making it difficult to kill. "You dare harm me?" The dragon roared and tried to move her body, but no matter how hard she urged herself to get up, there was little response. Riza walked up to its big, beautiful green eyes. Her knife plunged in and blood leaked out. With a shrill scream, it swung its tail and stomped its legs as much as it could, but Riza paid no heed and continued to carve away at its eye. After a few minutes of cutting away inside the creature''s head, she saw the creature''s pink, fleshly brain. Power surged to her dagger as Riza thrust it into the dragon''s brain. It gave out a final cry before submitting to death. "Rey," Riza climbed out of its eye as it twitched, "come cultivate! This will surely help you out greatly." Rey ran over, not wanting to waste one bit of that creature. When he past Riza, he blushed slightly and shook his head. Riza, as perceptive as she was, noticed Rey and felt another wave of embarrassment overtake her. Blood leaked out of the giant dragon-like creature''s eye as Rey stepped in. The squelching of flesh, the smell of coppery blood, and the sight of a blood river made Rey hold his breath for a moment. The path of cultivators... is filled with gruesome death! Rey chose this path, and this is what he''d relinquish all to chase. He took a deep breath in, his lungs filled with moist air. Rey sat down and soaked up the creature''s blood. Whenever Rey connected to the creature''s blood, his understanding and perception surged. He could interpret the space law with clarity. And, the greater the quality blood he used as a medium, the greater the effect was. It was as if all of Rey''s life, whenever he cultivated, it was in his sleep. But at this moment, he felt truly awake! He noticed how complex the space law was as his perception of the world increased without end. Without restraint, Rey greedily took all the knowledge he could comprehend and kept growing. He could feel his power growing with each moment. Adept level 5... Adept level 10... Adept level 15... Finally, his energy and understanding reached the peak of the Adept stage. He became an Adept level 20! Rey was in awe as he kept refining his energy. Finally, he seemed to have felt the law become vague and more complex. ''This is the level of an Evolved? I don''t know how much I can understand so quickly...'' Rey thought as he seemed close to touching the Evolved rank. He tried to decipher the complexity he felt, but before he could, the blood lost its effect and became useless. Rey sighed and felt greedy. When Rey walked out, he realized it was already dark out. He saw Riza laying down near the creature and was bewildered. He realized she had weaved together leaves into a make-shift shirt to cover herself with. "It''s already night?" Rey blinked and felt bizarre. Wasn''t it just mid-day? "Rey! Finally, you''re out of there. I almost thought something went wrong." "What do you mean? I was only in there for a few moments." Rey furrowed his brows. "A few minutes? It''s already been over six hours!" Riza stood speechless. Rey''s face was of utter shock. It really did feel like a few moments! He was fully engaged with comprehending that he completely lost track of time. "That man, Kioko. He rushed the officials and Sonalius to the nearest town already. He told me to watch over you while you cultivated so you were safe." Riza sat up and looked at Rey with a grin. "That aura, you''re a peak Adept too?" Rey nodded seriously, "Even an Adept is still too weak..." "Then let''s keep getting stronger!" Riza stepped forward with a glint in her eyes. "Let''s go, we have to get back to Sonalius." "Yes!" Rey smiled and they left for their next journey. Hibaris Legacy of Memories "Say, Riza..." Rey turned his head and gazed at her pretty gold-like eyes. He blushed and smiled. "What rank are you now?" "At this point... I''m an evolved level 3!" "So fast?! That''s amazing!" "Well, in terms of speed... it seems that you''re the more amazing one. Going up one whole level in a single day... that''s amazing, Rey!" Riza smiled. The two of them walked and chatted until they reached the gate of one of the towns in the Sun Empire. "Halt!" Two guards at the top of the gate walls said simultaneously. "What''s your business here?" "Matriarch Tyrien and the Grey Kioko have sent us!" Riza shouted back. "They said to tell you a secret code word... Invictus?" "Very well." The guards sighed. "Wait, you..." The guard looked at Rey from afar. "Don''t I know you from somewhere?!" "No, sir. This is my first time coming here." Rey said nervously. It wasn''t his first time here at all. In fact, Soma had used his body to massacre this town of its guards just a couple weeks ago! Rey was at least thankful that Soma hadn''t taken good care of his body. Tattered clothes, long hair, covered in blood; how could they recognize his face so easily? If they did realize who he was... He''d likely be recognized and hung on a pike! The guard thought it was odd, but he shrugged off the feeling. At the very least, they are with the matriarch and patriarchs; they weren''t someone he could afford to offend! He raised the gate for them, and they walked into the town. "Follow me!" Riza said, obviously excited to get to Sonalius. She was familiar with the area; this is where Kouta helped the two of them. Within a couple of moments, they walked over to Kouta''s shop. There were a few guards outside making sure nobody unwanted entered as the people inside recovered. Riza said the codeword again, and they entered in with no trouble. "Riza!" Kouta saw the familiar girl and smiled. "Only a few weeks and you''re already back?" He laughed dryly. "It seems that I have to give that man a rough time again..." He coughed. "Good to see you too, Kouta! This is Rey." "It''s nice to meet you," Rey bowed. "Thank you for saving them!" "Please, the pleasure is mine. Plus, if I hadn''t... I think the guards would have killed me either way." He said nervously. "I see..." Rey also coughed and changed the subject. "Where are Sonalius and the rest?" "They are inside resting. Make sure to be quiet when you enter." Rey, Riza, and Kouta walked inside and saw the five men and women laid on a table. Matriarch Tyrien had a bruised face and deep gashes where Sig''car tore through her skin. The rest of the officials didn''t look much better. They had lost a fair amount of blood and had internal bleeding as well as superficial injuries. But when Rey and Riza looked at Sonalius, they felt their hearts drop. His wounds still bled, and he held Sig''car off for the longest amount of time. Riza tightened her fists and gritted her teeth, muttering something Rey didn''t hear. He looked at his indistinguishable face that was swollen to the point that Rey feared he couldn''t recognize Sonalius. His stomach, arms, and even his legs had deep wounds where Sig''car repeatedly hit him. "Sonalius should have healed by now, but it seems he burnt his life away and is dealing with the weakness that comes along with that. Temporarily, his natural healing is reduced and is taking significantly longer to heal his internal damage as well as the broken ribs and jaw." Kouta whispered. "But rest assured, I will do all that I can to make sure he recovers as fast as possible." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation."But he''ll survive?" Rey asked hesitantly. "Yes, he should make a full recovery despite all he''s been through." Rey and Riza heaved a heavy sigh of relief as they looked at each other with regret. ''If only I had been a bit stronger, a bit faster...'' They both thought. "Give them a week or more and they should heal up swiftly. They are cultivators who''ve trained in life and death, of course." "What should we do until then?" Rey asked helplessly. "Whatever you want to do, but not here. Go elsewhere." Kouta didn''t want others to disrupt his work so he sent them both out of the room. Rey and Riza looked at each other again and decided to go explore the town. Rey hadn''t had much to practice and could not comprehend through sight yet, so he wanted to learn any technique to widen his horizons. Riza had been stuck learning Seventh Mind and also needed a new perspective as she waited for her teacher to wake up. As they walked through the town, they came across a shop and looked inside. "Hello, what can I do for you?" A gentle woman''s voice called them in when she saw them. "Just browsing for techniques. Is there any techniques regarding the space or time law?" Rey inquired. "Space law? Time law? Does anyone even practice those?" The woman gave a chuckle but then realized the boy was serious. "We don''t have any of those, sir! Perhaps some light or dark techniques would be better for you?" Rey could only sigh as they both left. Riza didn''t need more techniques, and Rey can''t practice other laws since his affinities are too low in them. "It''s tough cultivating with only two laws..." Ray lamented as he could only try to self-develop techniques and study the Redwater technique he already had. Still, it was better than nothing. Rey put his focus into his soul and read the contents even closer. At least this time, he could use his body as the medium instead of his soul. Its effectiveness was much greater as Rey properly could feel auras and increased his perceptions. "Rey, your aura became less noticeable!" Riza instantly noticed it when she was practicing. "Still, it''s noticeable and still there, even to someone on the same level... this is troublesome." Rey thought about and decided to try to create his own techniques now. After all, since there was no technique here for him... he''d pioneer his own path. He thought about how he might create a technique to mask his aura and suddenly, his head pounded as he slumped to the ground. "Rey!" He heard Riza call his name and catch him. His vision blurred and changed. He felt weightless as he uncontrollably looked at his hands and stepped forward. Staring at his long, slender fingers, Rey realized he appeared to be older. He was further off the ground, and there were strange black symbols adorning the walls. They shone with purple light and made him feel relaxed. "Hibari!" A man called to him. Rey turned his head and saw the familiar blonde hair and purple eyes stare back at him confidently. "Master, my god!" "What is the use of sealing?" He quizzed Rey. "To seal the enemies, to destroy them from within, and render them powerless!" Rey felt his lips turn into a smile. "Wrong! It''s to seal heaven and earth! It''s to seal evil! And to seal even ourselves!" His voice echoed in Rey''s head as the scene collapsed. Rey blinked and found that Riza held him and a few people gathered around him. After all, it''s not normal for a cultivator to suddenly faint. "Rey, are you okay?!" Riza looked scared. Rey stood up but didn''t hear what she said; he was too enthralled with the memory Hibari had planted in him. Suppress, the Technique of a King! ''Father? Hibari?'' Rey stood fazed by the sudden sight. A wave of energy noiselessly dispersed as Rey performed a new technique. He was unaware of even using it, but that didn''t stop him from being able to use it without conscious thought. Rey blinked after a few moments and realized a crowd of people surrounded him in shock and wonder. He got up, obviously shaken with embarrassment. "I''m fine. Just overexerted!" "Take it easy on yourself." An old man replied and shook his head. "Kids these days..." Riza patted the dust off of Rey''s clothes and was shocked. "Rey... I can''t feel your aura." Riza was shocked. Her perception was beyond good. But somehow, Rey barely let any of his aura seep out. If she could understand this technique... "I don''t understand how I made this ability... but it involves the space law and using it to suppress my aura. I think this was a technique that the Space Kings made!" "Oh... Congratulations!" Riza looked downcast. She almost thought that she could use that ability too. After all, an assassin that didn''t leak one bit of their presence... That would be amazing for stealth! But before she could be hopeful, Rey''s response was like a bucket of ice water that extinguished her hope. "So then, is this comprehending by sight?!" Rey immediately wondered. "No, unless you have gained new knowledge; most likely, you just understood how to use your knowledge in a new way." Riza sighed. "I wonder if I should dual cultivate..." "Dual cultivation... You can handle it." Rey grinned. "How are you so sure, when even I am not that certain?" "Easy. How old are you? Only sixteen? And you''re already an evolved?! Most people only reach that stage when they are over twenty years old, and that''s if they seriously train for it! You''ve already reached such a stage so soon!" "Okay, okay!" Riza blushed. "I''ll talk to master Tyrien after this then!" "Good. As for me... I think the time law is even rarer." Rey put his hand on his forehead, obviously pained by this conundrum. ''Why did my race have to be the only one to cultivate the hardest two laws and forsake the rest?'' Rey could only smile bitterly. This... is truly difficult! He can''t even find a technique for space here or anything with a good time bloodline to fight! He''d have to go elsewhere if he wanted to try to find one. Maybe at the capital... They''d surely have one there? Rey took away the suppression of his aura and realized when he suppressed his own aura, he couldn''t sense other''s as well. For cultivators... sneak attacks were obviously scary! One cannot defend! One cannot see it coming before they bite the dust! Rey mentally made a note of that as he wondered how he might improve it in the future.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Riza felt she wasn''t getting anywhere, and Rey needed to practice and explore his abilities more, so the two sat down watching the sunset as they practiced. When the sun went down and it turned to night, they''d go back to Kouta''s shop to sleep and repeat their training. After four days of constant practice and training, Rey felt he understood what the suppression was doing. In a sense, he created an energy barrier around his body no energy went in, no energy went out. It was like there was a thin separation of space that stopped aura from spreading. That''s why nobody could detect him and he couldn''t detect others. Still, he found the Space Kings ingenuity impressive. Rey knew this was a basic ability they had, and that made him even more excited for the future when he''d be able to learn the other suppression and advanced techniques. After all, to Rey, this was akin to his legacy! This was the thing that his race built up, and it was all in the memories Hibari left him to decipher. Perhaps... even the key to suppressing gods was laid hidden in his mind, just waiting to be excavated! Rey couldn''t help but feel his blood boil at the thought of it. When Rey and Riza returned on the fourth day, when the sun had already set, they found Patriarch Keanu had already risen from his bed. His hulking, three-meter long body was impressive, to say the least. He hadn''t sustained as many internal injuries because of his hardy skin and brute strength. "Sig''car... he died?" Keanu''s deep voice bellowed out as he looked at the rest of the people on the beds. "Not so loud!" Kouta snapped and lead Riza and Keanu out of the room to explain. Within the next few hours, Matriarch Sana, Patriarch Johannes, and Matriarch Tyrien all woke up in a stupor as they heard what had happened from Riza. "Damn that idiot!" Matriarch Tyrien cursed when Riza told her about what Sonalius did. "Who the hell told him to be so reckless?!" "I''m sorry. If I was stronger-" "Shut up! This has nothing to do with you. You''re my disciple now; it''s not your job to protect your master." She sighed and looked annoyed. "A master shouldn''t be relying on her disciples to do their work for them." The rest of them waited for Sonalius to wake up and took interest in Rey when they heard that he suppressed the dragon. Rey looked nervous, however. He didn''t want to share so much. And if others knew that he wasn''t human, there would be a lot of distrust for him, and many questions. All he could say that he became possessed by a man when he was in Lorea, causing the leaders of the Sun Empire to want to investigate even further. Two more days past, and Sonalius'' complexion seemed to be fairing better. His skin looked healthy with a rosy glow, and most of the bruises were healed, but he still hadn''t woke up. "He''s extremely exhausted," Kouta explained. "He took a year of his life and burned it away... that much energy forced into somebody''s body... can you imagine the repercussions that would have? Even if you can''t, then look at him and you can understand!" "I understand!" Tyrien gritted her teeth and walked away fuming. She went with Riza to a dojo to let off steam. Drawing her sword, she slashed the training dummies thousands of times and it turned into small cubes. Within a moment, the training dummy reformed and she slashed at it again and again. "M-master Tyrien?" Riza hesitantly called her name. "What is it?" She sheathed her sword and looked at Riza. "I... I want to cultivate another law! But I don''t know what law would suit me well. I know I have speed with the light law, but what other law would work with this well?" "Another law? Indeed... your speed is shocking to most people, close to my speed of growth, that''s for sure." She said seriously. "Practice the metal law like me. What you lack is strength and defense now. I''ll prepare some resources and teach you all about it. You''ll be a fine soldier one day, Riza." Tyrien went back to practicing and letting out her anger on the poor dummy. It wasn''t until the moon was high in the starry sky that they left, sweat perspiring off their heads and arms. By the seventh day, Sonalius finally woke up in shock. He saw Kouta''s familiar face and rose from the bed naked and stood nose-to-nose beside Kouta. "You pervy doctor! Don''t tell me you did something naughty while I was sleeping again?!" You Violated Me Again? "Sir! This is just another misunderstanding!!" "Damn you! Like I''d be foolish enough to believe you! Then why the hell am I naked for you to see?!" "Sir, I really needed to do this! Your injuries were too much, I needed to cover your entire body to let the medicine penetrate deeper into you!" "You... you violated me again?!" Sonalius shouted. The passersby and guards couldn''t help but blush when they heard the shouts. ''What the hell is going on in there?!'' They thought. A few of them stopped what they were doing and turned around. "A doctor violating a patient? Again?! Is this BL?" A woman muttered excitedly. Tyrien''s face darkened as she looked at those people. "What the hell are you thinking?! Get lost!" She yelled. The woman coughed and reluctantly walked away bitterly. Seriously... this was the most interesting thing she had seen the entire month. Can''t she savor it a bit more? The rest of them wondered just what was going on, but they didn''t dare to walk in on such a "private" moment. After a few minutes, they both came out of the shop with red faces. "Sonalius! How are you feeling?!" Riza already knew of Sonalius''... quirky behavior with Kouta and disregarded it. She ran over to him and gave him a hug. But he seemed very distant and didn''t react. With a gloomy face, he looked bitter. "I''m alive... but at what cost?" Kouta rolled his eyes. "If it wasn''t because you''re a patient... I''d seriously give you a round of beatings!" Kouta hissed. His reputation here might as well be ruined because of Sonalius! Maybe... maybe it really was time to become one of ''those'' doctors? Ooo, it definitely pays well... Kouta was deep in thought when Sonalius finally looked up and saw everyone around him. "Rey!" He cried out in a loud voice! "You have control?" Before Rey could properly respond to him, Tyrien''s fuming annoyance reached its zenith. She heaved her shoulders up and down trying to be calm, but the last question broke her composure. She moved with one swift action, turning into a blur to the rest of them. Her palm struck Sonalius'' chest and sent him back a few steps. "Enough! You two can talk after we start moving." Tyrien commanded them. "Riza, you can lead us to Lorea, right? We need to kill the rest of the lychni who betrayed our Sun Empire at once!" "Y-yes, master!" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Kouta!" Tyrien yelled. "Your highness?" Kouta quickly ran out and bowed his head. "I have an offer for you. Your techniques would be better used in the capital. You''d be able to save more people, as well as have access to more resources and top-notch technology. The offer stands if you want it." "This... I need time to think, matriarch!" Kouta hesitated. "Very well, you have three days. When we return, we''ll pick you up from outside the gate if you want to access." Tyrien thanked the doctor for his work, which was shocking to the rest. After all, this is the cold, brutal warlord Tyrien! She''s not some saint. Maybe she''s even more ruthless than the devil! However, they didn''t bring it up. Nobody wanted to spark her ere. They quickly traveled in the carriages and departed for Lorea, heading south. "Rey, what happened to mister Kioko? I was wondering that this whole time, thinking he''d show back up, but he still hasn''t." Riza asked. Rey realized that Riza didn''t know about Sanctuary, the Sun Empire''s network based on the soul law, and told her about it. He had been talking with Kioko after they reached Kouta''s medical center. Kioko told Rey that he had become too complacent, and so he went off to train immediately after bringing the leaders to the nearest doctor and alerting the guards to protect Kouta. Rey finally got to talk to Sonalius when they traveled, and he learned that Lorea was on the brink of destruction last they left. The lychni destroyed much of their town and held curfews. The tension continuously built. They feared that with Sig''car now dead... things might become chaotic there! What if the remaining lychni become too much for the humans to bear? What if they found out that Sig''car is dead?! They wanted to rush over there, but they needed Sonalius as well. His skills would only benefit them greatly in the battle that is to come. They continuously traveled day and night with minor breaks. After a day, they reached the Degasi river at night time. From there they had Sonalius lead them ahead and call a creature to carry them forth. Tyrien and Rey could get there using their skills, but it was more costly. Before the second day''s sunrise, they had crossed the river and made it to the vibrant forest. "We''re already almost there!" Riza was shocked at how quickly they made it there. But the faster they did the better. They ran forward and saw the town. There were still lychni soldiers there that patrolled the town. "They haven''t gone rampant... that''s great news." Sonalius sighed in relief. "Are you all ready? This is going to be the final battle... the battle to take back Lorea!" Sonalius felt his blood boil. How long had they been waiting for this? Months? He couldn''t even remember! The time he sat, bidding his time, he wondered, what if he used his life-burning technique back then? He surely could''ve killed Sig''car back then. But now that he waited and wanted to keep that promise, Riza''s parents died, and they were forced to leave Lorea. If he used it back then... Sonalius could only sigh. If he had known what he knew now... Riza saw his internal strife and comforted him. "This is Sig''car''s fault, Sonalius. Not yours. So let''s finish what we came here to do!" "Riza... alright!" Sonalius smiled. This girl... "If we are done with the chat," Tyrien grunted, "Let''s start planning. Sonalius, you''ll be supplying us with energy and rooting them in place, taking out as many weaker lychni you can." "Understood, I''ll support you all." Sonalius nodded. "Sana, make sure they can''t escape. We need to kill them all before moving into Sig''car''s territory." "Not one will leave my sight." "Keanu... try not to destroy too much. This is a town after all." "...Fine!" Keanu said with displeasure. "Johannes, you''ll be in charge of the short-range. I''ll get the long-range fighters." "Just how we always do?" Johannes grinned, his fists turned metallic. "What about us?" Rey and Riza looked at Tyrien. "Rey, Riza. This is your town... Protect the children and humans of Lorea. Keep them away from the lychni! You two are fast and hard to hit. Riza has her illusions and speed. Rey can phase through space already. Meaning, you two are utmost necessary to ensure it is safe for us to attack!" Tyrien looked at them all seriously. "Now... the battle for Lorea commences!" The Battle For Lorea! "After them!" Tyrien shouted. Sana''s power exploded abruptly, and formless pressure brought many to the ground. It was like a house sat on their back. Many of the lychni felt crushed by the weight of their own body. Before they could even run, a fist pummeled them into a building. "Kouta! Stop destroying the buildings damn it!" Tyrien sighed helplessly. When would this guy ever follow directions?! Rey quickly ran over to the building. It looked like it could fall at any time. He reached his hand out and touched the rubble. A wave of space energy gushed out. Suddenly, the stone in his hands moved and reformed into a pillar. He quickly repaired the damage and kept moving. "I can''t do that endlessly!" Rey wasn''t sure what Kouta was thinking. He didn''t have a lot of energy, and manipulating space like that drained a lot out of him! Before he could think more, he heard a faint plea. Rey focused on it and realized there was a little girl trapped under some rubble. "Mama." Rey heard a girlish voice crying clearly and turned around. Unexpectedly, he saw a lychni charging at him with a knife. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, shaking off his fear. "Don''t get careless!" The lychni thought Rey was stupid enough to let down his guard and laughed. But before he could enjoy that moment, Rey infused his hands with energy just like Johannes did and swung his fist at the man. The cocky lychni used his dagger and tried to stab Rey''s hand, but he cried aloud. Rey''s fist had torn through the blade in the lychni''s hands. His fist came down onto the man''s hands and ripped ligament from bone. Only when Rey''s hand was knuckle-deep into the lychni''s ribcage did it stop. The lychni collapsed with wide-eyes in disbelief. Even Rey was shocked. Even his space energy became more destructive! "Mama!" The voice cried even louder. Rey focused on his hearing and saw a little hand sticking out of a huge collapsed building. He quickly ran over to the girl and tried to lift up the concrete chunks and rebar. But he wasn''t strong enough to even make it budge. And when Rey felt his energy reserves, he could only bitterly smile. The hand he saw was over a foot and a half deep into rubble; he wouldn''t have enough energy to get the girl out. And even if he manipulated gravity to make the concrete lighter, he''d still have to move it all out. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Rey tried to think of any alternative but nothing came to him. He tightened his fist in anger, but then realized there was still a ring on his finger. This wasn''t for decoration, but rather, this was the storage ring that Hibari had given him so that he could store things that had no life. In this separate dimension, Rey could transmit the things he touched to the ring for safekeeping! He immediately placed his palm on the huge chunks of concrete and watched them disappear. Soon, he could see the girl''s dusty shirt and bleeding head. Another shot of adrenaline shot through his veins as he quickly thought of what to do. He grabbed the girl and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already a few feet away from Sana. "You can heal her, right?" Rey said, out of breath and a bit shaky. "Who will stop them from getting away then?" Sana looked at him seriously. "I will, so please make sure she''s safe!" Rey pleaded seriously, which moved Sana a bit. She looked over at Tyrien and nodded. Rey sighed and immediately disappeared again as he went to the town''s walls. ''Just hold them off. One at a time... You got this, Rey.'' He steadied himself as he teleported again. His vision warped as he appeared just a few centimeters behind a woman running away. He infused his hands with energy once more and struck her neck. Her head was hewn off as Rey saw another lychni running for the gates. He continued his performance until Sana finished healing the little girl and a phantom-like weight was pressed down on those who tried to leave again. Rey felt exhausted. His body barely had any space energy left; he had enough energy left for one final teleportation or a few attacks. He hadn''t felt that exhausted in his life-time. Pushed to his limit, he could only watch as Riza and the rest finished up. Keanu continuously smashed the lychni into any structure he could find, which gave Rey endless grief. Tyrien was cold and calculated. Each swing of her swords proved to be fatal and swift like a killing machine. He could only wonder how many lives she had taken to perform so well. Riza also looked sluggish, Rey noticed. As Rey looked at the battlefield, however, he only saw a few lychni left. The rest of the citizens who cultivated start to join the fight as well and Rey even saw a few familiar faces. Sonalius besieged a few adept lychni at once, and Johannes fought an evolved lychni. None proved to be anything they couldn''t handle. By the time Rey caught his breath, the rest of the lychni were dead. Their bodies laid in the grass and dirt, seeping into the plant life and nurturing the soil. Rey wanted to search for his parents, but before he could, Tyrien called everyone to her. "Well done. Next time, Rey, don''t issue orders without alerting us all. One misstep and one of them could have escaped. Lorea and its citizens here might have died if so." Tyrien said sternly. "My apologies!" "Don''t. It worked out this time; why apologize for something that went well?" Tyrien reprimanded him. "We''ll leave for Sig''car''s base tomorrow. Riza can guide the way again." "Um..." Riza hid her head, "I don''t know where Sig''car made his home." "...you don''t?" Tyrien had assumed Riza would know, but now was having a headache. If they left a lychni alive then they would interrogate one but... they were all killed! "But I think I know who does!" Riza thought about it and looked determined. "Who?" "A traitor named Kiev." A Collapse of the Heart "Unhand me! Get off of me, you fiends!" Kiev shouted and tried to run away. He was dragged on the ground and led to Tyrien to the town square. "Sonalious! Friend! H-help me, please! The locals have gone crazy! I-I am the leader of Lorea, am I not?" Sonalius stood where he was in contempt. He looked at the statue of Kiev beside the real man. "You''re nothing like the person this town thought you were. If you weren''t useful to us... I''d have killed you myself for freely giving into Sig''car''s control." "You... Fine! I''m useful to you right? So you can''t kill me!" Kiev showed his teeth and smiled devilishly. "Just because we can''t kill you doesn''t mean I can''t harm you." Sonalius glared at the man, and he shivered in his skin. Tyrien stepped forward, annoyed at the groveling. "Keanu is proficient in torture techniques. If he doesn''t corporate we can simply let Keanu have at him for a few hours." "Excellent..." Keanu stepped forward and showed a brutish smile, looking down Kiev. His three-meter, hulking body destroyed any confidence Kiev might have had. "O-okay! Wait! I''ll talk!" Kiev''s eyes darted between Tyrien and Keanu haphazardously. "Tell us where the rest of the lychnus are!" Tyrien pulled out her sword and brought it to the man''s neck. "East! His castle is east of Lorea, about two kilometers away!" "Good... You''ll take us there tomorrow morning if you value your life." Tyrien patted his head. He had never felt so humiliated in his life. The whole town watched as his image was destroyed by Tyrien and Sonalius. Keanu took his hammer and swung it into the proud statue of Kiev. "You need a new leader." Keanu spat. The town leader''s statue was destroyed, and Kiev felt horrible. There was nothing for him in Lorea now, and everyone was furious at him. His fate would be left in their hands. Tyrien dismissed everyone and put bands on Kiev''s arms and legs; he was kept with them, unable to escape or use energy. The town worked on repairs quickly. It was a joyous moment for many of the inhabitants. Now that they were free, things could go back to normal! Rey and Riza, however, didn''t have such thoughts. Whenever Riza thought of Lorea, her heart ached from the pain. All she could think of was that her parents were gone. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Kiev... Where are my parents?" Rey demanded hesitantly. He couldn''t help but fear the answer. "The family of Arriero, The family of Crasto, and the family of Reymond... sentenced to death by hanging when Sig''car came here." "What?" Rey fumbled backward onto the ground in disbelief. "I''m sorry... they were great-" "You''re joking, right?! Y-You''re joking! I didn''t come all this way for your bullshit! Where are they?!" Rey shouted. He felt delirious as his heart dropped to his stomach. Kiev stood there, not saying another word. "Answer me, damn you!" Seeing Kiev''s silent, almost smug look, something broke in Rey as he felt endless rage brewing within himself. He charged at Kiev with red eyes, his energy ready to explode. "Rey!" Riza stood in his way, "Get ahold of yourself!" Rey acted as if he didn''t hear them, however. He shoved her away and condensed his energy... He was going to kill Kiev! "Enough." Tyrien stepped in and pinned him to the ground before he could attack. "Get off of me! Get off of me!!" Rey struggled with all his might. "Damn it, Sonalius! Help me with him!" She yelled. "Damn it! Damn you!!" Rey banged his head against the ground. Tears ran down the side of his face as he seethed in rage. "This wasn''t how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to live!!" Rey struggled, screaming as loud as he could. He felt insane ¡ª like he was going to lose his mind! His body glowed purple and felt hot to the touch. Tyrien looked at him seriously and had to step backward. An overwhelming sense of danger overcame her. "What the hell is he doing?!" Tyrien exclaimed and froze when she glanced at Riza. Her face was of utter shock and anguish too, however. It seemed that Rey had opened up wounds in her as well. Rey got to his feet, his veins thickened under immense pressure as if they were about to burst. It was as if purple wisps burned off of his body as he phased through the air. His breathing turned rapid as he looked at Kiev. "H-hey! Get him away from me! Get him away!!" Kiev stammered and stumbled backward. Shivers crawled down his spine. He felt frozen as he stared into Rey''s piercing eyes. Rey heaved his chest up and down, each step seemed to slow time and break the stone under his feet. His eyes turned purple, and his short hair turned a silky blonde color. He felt tremendous power flow into him as his body bulged. Wisps of purple energy thickened over his shoulders like a chain. His tears fell into the air and vaporized before their eyes. "Enough... Enough!" Rey''s voice shook the air as he let his aura spread without control. When it hit Kiev, he couldn''t help but cry out. "You...! What are you doing?!" Kiev felt his organs rupturing under the pressure caused by Rey. He felt the aura and realized Rey was still an Evolved... but the thick pressure it exuded! It caused Kiev to drop to the ground and cough up blood. "Rey! Damn it. We need him!" Tyrien was shocked. How could an Evolved be so strong?! This was sick! All of Rey''s aura turned violent and engulfed Kiev in a single moment without him needing to move a finger. Even Rey hadn''t known how he activated that state, nor did he care at that moment; all he cared about was vengeance. Death to the lychni; death to those responsible. If not... he might go insane; he might break! "You can''t kill me! Y-you need me!" Kiev cried out. Rey was unmoved, however, and glared at Kiev before ending his life. He collapsed on the ground convulsing. Tyrien could only grit her teeth as he died. She wasn''t willing to fight with Rey like this. "Kill... Kill..." He muttered and tugged on his blonde hair. His purple eyes darted to Riza and gazed at her face. Pain, sorrow, sadness, longing, regret... There were too many emotions for Rey to process. Her sadness weighed on his heart and woke him up from his rage. It took all his willpower just to refrain from destroying everything around him. Feeling the immense energy he had, and the sea of hatred he had for the lychni, his eyes shone with a strange glint. "I... I''ll be back." Power Overwhelming "Someone, help!" A petite lychni man cried out. He ran through the forest, splashing mud and breaking branches. He frantically tried to get away, fearing for his life. Beads of sweat mixed in with blood that trailed down his blonde locks of hair. "Trying to escape?!" Rey shouted as he appeared next to the man. The lychni was so scared, he lost his balance and collapsed to the floor. "P-please, sir! I have a family, two daughters!" He stuttered uncontrollably as he stared at the ground, fearing to even look Rey in the eyes. Both of them were Evolved... so how could the disparity be so huge?! "You have a family... and yet you sent them along this path of your own will?! Were you so selfish as to cause harm for your personal gain?! As of today, you have no family; you chose your path!" Rey stared at him in hatred and suffocated the man with his aura. He collapsed and died within a moment. Still, Rey''s bubbling anger seemed to only rise with each killing he did. With each movement, Rey would kill a lychni, and with another, he''d disappear. Like a ghost or messenger of death, he traveled over two kilometers and killed any patrolling groups of lychni. He found them all guilty in his eyes, and not one was spared. Finally, he rose to the sky, past the lush trees, and saw a tightly enclosed castle made of bricks and mortar. Rey couldn''t help but wonder at its grandiose size. Rey thought that there must be a few hundred lychni stationed in there. "A human? It''s despicable he found this place!" One of the guards muttered. But when they felt the violent aura crashing down on them, their faces paled. A gong resounded throughout the tall castle walls and alerted everyone. Its loud, high-pitched tune was heard by everyone around. "Get everyone over here; we have an intruder!" The guards shouted. When they turned around, however, Rey stood eye-to-eye with them. He punched the man''s head, and it burst apart like a watermelon. Part of him got vaporized as the other guard trembled. He threw up and looked at Rey as if he was the devil incarnate. His reaction surprised Rey, however. It didn''t seem like he was trained to be a guard. After all, how many guards would puke at the sight of a dead comrade? "Weak!" Rey shouted and slap the man. His head turned and crashed into the wall. Blood was flung so fast that it aerosolized around the man. Rey''s blonde hair tinged with a red hue as he looked forward. A huge group of lychni ran to kill Rey. Young men and women, elders, even some children looked at him vengefully. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He found it ironic, the thing that they feel for him, that''s exactly what Rey felt for his family; he desired vengeance. Blood needed to be spilled, and it was high time that the lychni under Sig''car had their culling. Whenever he saw them, he could only feel pain and cold wrath. He felt no sympathy or regret when he killed them. All sorts of attacks were hurled towards Rey: balls of searing light, daggers, arrows, swords, fists, stones, and even illusions. Yet when they came close to Rey, their weapons and bodies vaporized. The energy around Rey was like a hungry beast. It consumed all things. The chain of energy around Rey''s back dimmed as the attacks continued. Rey looked around and realized most of them were adepts. There were a few Evolved and Scholars as well, but the majority of them were weaker than Rey. Before, when Rey was attacking, he never consciously guided his energy; he relied on the gush of energy surging around him. But now, he made his mind up. "Enough... Die for your crimes, for following Sig''car!" Power surged into Rey''s hands. The chain of energy broke apart and gather into his finger times. He grabbed out and grabbed one of his enemy''s swords. The blade gleamed brightly, almost blinding them as energy transferred from Rey''s fingertips into the sword. "This... this is your punishment!" Rey shouted and swung the sword in an arc at once. A wave of space energy concentrated into a thin arc and sliced through half of the castle. The walls, people, attacks... everything stopped and was silent. When Rey blinked, all of the lychni collapsed and split in two. Even the castle walls crumbled in on itself and killed the ones who were still clinging on. The blade in his hands disintegrated into dust and carried by the wind. Before Rey could think, he suddenly felt horrible, blood-curdling pain coming from his entire body. He threw up blood as it felt like thousands of daggers plunged into his body. He had a strong will! And yet he couldn''t help but scream out. The pain was too ferocious. Waves of anguish gushed and only seemed to increase as Rey''s face turned whitish. His hair and pupils turned black again as the chain of energy broke behind him. Finally, the horrific suffering ceased. But when Rey tried to move his body, he felt powerless and drained. Rey gritted his teeth and struggled to get to his feet. He laid there for hours, still as pale as a dead man, and could not get up. He didn''t want to think... he couldn''t think at that moment. Whenever his mind drifted, the shock of his parents dying would flare-up. Rey laid in thought, his face flat on the grass. ''Don''t think. Don''t think,'' he told himself. But he couldn''t stop himself. When he had nothing, Liam and Serai gave him a family. When he felt like an outcast, they gave him hope. When he was hungry, they gave him food. Whenever he cried, they were there... When the anger and pain of separation are gone... what will remain? Warm tears ran down his face. He wished that he never knew the answer. All he felt was an ocean of grief and sadness, one that wouldn''t go when he woke up. Now that he lost his anchor, Rey felt empty, thrashing around in the endless ocean waves. He thought of Riza and realized internally... this is likely the way she''s been feeling ever since having seen her parents. Abruptly, a tree branch snapped, and the sound of many light steps circling him kept him alert. Howls and snarls echoed.