《Twist of fate》


 Prelude - The stone of light

    Taotrom is a continent where humans are segregated in knowledge and levels. The most influential and powerful are descendants of lineages, where their ancestors had powerful skills or vast knowledge. They have the genetic memory ability, only the firstborn of the clan inherit the memory of their ancestors, and through their lives, they slowly wake them through training.


    And with the ability of genetic memory, even if the family has more than one child, the second child would still have a chance to acquire the knowledge orally or through other means from his parents, thus creating the secondary lineages, where the genetic memory began to form anew.


    And so the clans were formed where the chief lineage reigns and the secondary lineages help them and thrive together.


    Because of this ability to pass knowledge across their genes, clans overprotect their legacy. All information about their craft is kept in their libraries. Or in extreme cases, they die with the firstborn of a family.


    The Ciadhan, or second-born children, even if they are from the main lineage, are generally less valued than the firstborn of the secondary families. Without this knowledge that awakens with the maturation and practice of the craft, they have to learn everything from the beginning and have a considerable investment of time and effort if they want to develop in any activity.


    Ullach is Tiomnach''s twin brother, in these rare cases, the one born first awakens the power, and because of this special birthright blessing, all the knowledge that would be of his brother is plunged into himself ¡ª making them geniuses that rival kingdoms.


    Unfortunately, Ullach did not have the pleasure of being the firstborn, and in a family of wizards, this is all the more critical because, beyond your knowledge get sucked, all magical talent is taken from twins.


    ***


    A regular night in my life.


    I am fourteen years old and went through a lot of things during my growth. I am Ullach.


    Going to the top floor of my house, I gazed at the dark sky through the window. I looked at the sky and saw a brilliant light. This light was so beautiful that all the stars and the moon were overshadowed by it. This light had such a mesmerizing beauty that I felt my soul was being healed by it. My whole body felt good. And all my strong muscles were enjoying the feeling.


    Being a Ciadham ¡°second born,¡± I didn¡¯t receive much attention from my parents, Lina and Arthur. Almost all the family attention went to my genius brother, Tiomnach, that seemed like a great sage since he was born.


    Bearing the gift of magic, my brother, Tiomnach, has control over the magical energy almost since he was a baby. Showing such a prodigy that everyone from one thousand kilometers came to congratulate my family. Luckily, Tiomnach was born in the Solas family. It was a family famous for its powerful magic of the primary and secondary branches. My family was known for knowing to wield nature magic with easy. Its inheritors were always powerful and full of wisdom.


    Unfortunately, I was the other side of the coin, being the second born of twins. I had all my genetic inheritance ripped out from me by my brother. Not that I blamed him¡­. Tiomnach was a loving brother; he took care of me since we were little.


    But my parents were not so forgiving. Being born in a family of mages, I was expected to have some magic, at least. Although I didn¡¯t have the genetic memories, I could at least learn orally and with hard studies how to wield magic. But it seemed that the old histories of the second born of twins being real. I have no talent for magic, while my brother was a monstrous genius, showing his might since he was little.


    I strived for magic, studying the rules and magic itself like there was no tomorrow. My knowledge was unparalleled at my age. No one in the kingdom was better than me in magic theory. But unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t put all that knowledge into practice. In the end, it was only theory.


    Seeing that all my efforts were fruitless, I didn¡¯t abandon the magic studies but began to tread the way of the body.


    Training the body to the utmost limits, and training the brain with the most sublime knowledge, I became a great warrior for my age, at least between mortals... But in a family of magicians, physical strength means nothing.


    And everything comes to now. Fourteen years old, living in the shadow of my brother and powerless in the eyes of the family.


    Looking at the night sky from the rooftop, I saw a brilliant light falling in the distant horizon and knew that it was a treasure that could change my life.


    ¡°What was that light? My soul feels lighter, and my body stronger. According to the old writings, some treasures can give a man¡¯s body power to overcome fate. That light could be what I am seeking to be able to yield magic¡­ finally¡±


    Felling an active call from the light, I immediately geared up and ran in the light¡¯s direction.


    Although I am fourteen years old, my body stands at 1,85 meters tall. I have a strong and lean built. When I move my body, it is like a cheetah moving. The eyes are black, just like my hair.


    After getting up, I immediately went to my room and wore my battle clothes. I strapped my greatsword into my back, got some money, and fetched my horse in the stables, galloping after the light.


    I am sure I was not the only one that saw and felt that magical light; I can be assured of it¡­. Lots of people could feel a phenomenon like that. I am sure I¡¯ll have a lot of competition, but I have to outsmart them. I need to get there as soon as possible... Luckily, my family¡¯s compound is outside the city. If anybody that can fight for the item wants to go after, they¡¯ll have to wait until morning for the gates to open. But I know there¡¯s a lot of powerful people that live outside the city as well¡­


    Lost in thoughts, I rode my horse to the horizon amidst the forest. I was only feeling the humidity of the night in my skin. My spirit was brave, and my mind infallible.


    After a long ride through the night, I was anxious about the destination because I could feel I was getting much closer to the place where the light fell.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I feel that this item is essential, but how could such a marvel exist, how is it made? According to the principles of magic, there must be a source to an end, and a source can affect a soul would be the most powerful of all. The soul is the most sacred thing about life, and few things could change how it behaves because only a soul could affect another one. If it¡¯s not a powerful mage, it must be a source of magic, a source so powerful that it began to form sentience.


    During my years of studying, I realized something. According to the laws of magic, the ability to control mana comes from the body''s innate mana interacting with the natural mana in the air, processing it, and using it to reinforce one''s mana. And in the end, I was born without innate mana.


    I am blessed with a sensitivity towards mana, I can feel it everywhere, I can see it flowing through my body, and through everything that surrounded me. But I couldn¡¯t grasp it.


    Usually, a person could only feel the mana around him, but couldn¡¯t see it.


    It was a talent that only me and my brother awakened in the last thousand years. Unfortunately, I could only look at magic and do nothing.


    After around 10 hours of traveling, I arrived at my destiny by morning. The flora in Taotrom was terrific in its way. The flowers could spin gracefully and leave the ground, traveling through the sky, and the trees were full of different colors and elements, some trees had leaves of green fire, and other trees that were made entirely of stone, but these kind of three''s were much rarer. It was indeed a fantastic view.


    The brilliant light was shining in the distance. I could feel an energy from where I was. And I was still a bit far from it.


    Looking around, I could feel other presences in the woods. Most likely, they were adventurers or magical creatures that were attracted to the light.


    Taking a deep breath and gathering my courage, I proceeded.


    I trained for all these years¡­ although I do not have magic to fight with, my body is my ultimate weapon¡­ I can go against anyone that wants to stop me!


    I trained for many years, and there was a delusion on myself that I was almost invincible, but in the end, I knew that it was not true. I was very reckless, and some times, recklessness could lead to death.


    Arriving closer to the light, I could see some adventurers in the woods. They were feeling the light as well, but it seemed that something was holding them back.


    ¡°I must do this. If I want to be truly powerful, I can¡¯t fear anything that stands in my path.¡±


    I took a deep breath and proceeded. Getting through the trees, I finally saw it. A vast crater spanning 300 meters, and in the middle of it a rock the size of a fist, emanating a soothing light.


    Getting down from my horse, I sharpened my senses and looked around to find what was stopping the others, and I finally saw him.


    Standing 30 meters above the rock, a man was floating. He was garmented in black robes trimmed in blue. The man stood at 1,85 meters tall and had black eyes and hair. The man, floating like a god, was almost the split image of myself. It was my brother, Tiomnach.


    Seeing my brother standing there, I even forgot to breathe for a moment. After all, he was everything I could not be, and at the same time, my dear brother.


    Taking a step out of the forest, I looked at my brother and began to walk in the rock¡¯s direction.


    I could only hear the sound of my footsteps hitting the ground. The world stopped around me. My brother looked in my direction.


    ¡°Ullach, what are you doing here?¡± asked Tiomnach while frowning, he never expected to see me there, so far from home.


    ¡°Well, I saw something special falling on the horizon, and I came to fetch it. I feel that it can make me wield magic, or at least help me become powerful.¡± I said sincerely. My eyes were shining, imagining the power that I could reach after getting the stone.


    ¡°Sorry, brother, but you can¡¯t have it.¡± Said Tiomnach with sadness in his voice while shaking his head. ¡°This stone must go to the clan; the elders also felt it, and send me to take it back. This stone can help our clan grow to new heights and step into a new age. The elders will decide what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°But it can heal me. It can make me whole again. I NEED IT!¡± I felt my soul cry. Everything that I wanted could belong to me if I absorbed the stone.


    My brother and I could tell that whoever absorbed the stone could achieve higher power and that it would benefit the person immensely. But Tiomnach was following the orders of the clan, and could not allow anyone else to have it. The clan would decide what to do with it.


    ¡°Brother, you know that I always fought for power, the power that I never had. When my path to magic was closed, I struggled for physical power. Now there¡¯s something in front of me that can help me became powerful. I must have it.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s already set in stone Ullach. The clan will decide what to do with it. and no one else, not even you, can stop that.¡± Said Tiomnach


    I stomped my feet on the ground in frustration. ¡°Brother, I will get it, and if you stand on my way, I will have to defeat you,¡± I said while getting the greatsword from my back, and began to walk toward the stone.


    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯ll have to stop you.¡± Said Tiomnach while his body was glowing with a green light.


    Roots of energy began to form beneath Tiomnach, and above him, a high crown of a tree appeared. The roots extended like snakes and went into my direction.


    Seeing them coming, I held my sword diagonally and slashed against the roots using all of my strength, my eyes quickly found the weak point of the magic and cut in its direction, or at least I thought so.


    ¡°PENG¡±


    Instead of cutting the energy roots, the sword bounced back strongly, and I was repelled for a few meters, skidding on the ground.


    ¡°How is it possible? How could it not be cut? HOW?¡± I asked with desperation in his voice, all these years tempering my body, and I couldn¡¯t even some roots, done casually by my brother.


    ¡°Brother, you have trained your body for many years, but you still are a mortal. You are no Ki user or mage.¡± Said Tiomnach with sorrow in his voice. ¡°I wished with all my heart you could be powerful, and if someday I can do something for you, I¡¯ll. Let¡¯s go back to the clan.¡±


    The roots quickly unleashed in the stone and my direction. It constrained both me and the stone in a green cocoon and made us float in the air. The rock went directly into Tiomnach¡¯s hand. And I was restrained, floating beside him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home brother.¡±


    ___________________________


    With a heavy feeling in my chest, we arrived near the clan`s compound a few hours later. Tiomnach had a stern look on his face. I knew it was not his fault for taking the stone and not giving it to me. He is loyal and faithful to the clan and is considered the next lord of the clan. He has a heavyweight upon his shoulders.


    He was treated like the hope of the clan and was brainwashed into serving it. He still had his free will, or I believed so, but he would not put my interests before the clan''s. To him, the clan was the provider of everything he had, and in a sense, it was true.


    Looking at the brown buildings that were me using nature magic, my heart felt the height of the clan. Twin towers reached the sky, they were like two enormous trees, almost as if nature itself had placed them there.


    "Brother, don''t take me back to the clan, my place is not here." At this moment, I decided that if I wanted to be truly powerful, I had to leave this place.


    "What are you talking about, brother? Here is where your family lies," Tiomnach realized the seriousness in my voice and was startled.


    "I am constrained here, I can''t use magic, so I have to seek other ways to power. For now, I am only a normal human being, and I will die in fifth years or so. But you and our parents, for being powerful magicians, could extend your lifespan for much, much longer. I can''t stay here knowing that I am mediocre, that I can¡¯t become more. So, I must leave and seek the power that I so much desire." The conviction in my voice was thick. I never felt so assured in my life. My destiny was waiting for me, and I would not stand here doing nothing.


    "I respect your decision, brother¡­ And if you truly wish to do so, I will not stop you. But you must know that there will always be a place for you to return¡­ we are family! I love you" Tiomnach came to me and gave a tight hug. His feelings were overflowing trough this gesture. I knew I was lucky to have such a brother, and want to one day catch up to him¡­


    Waiting for a moment, I let go of my brother and took a step back. Difficult decisions should be made some times.


    "Say farewell to our parents for me. Goodbye, bro." I turned away and left. Sometimes we should fight for the power we seek. Not everything comes easily.


    Walking through the forest, my mind flew through the sky, the future was limitless, and only I could decide my fate.

 Chapter 1 - The destiny that awaits me

    The wind blew through the forest, bringing with it the sweet smell of flowers.


    "groowww"


    I looked at my belly, the monstrous thing that was making this noise because of hunger. It has been two weeks since I have left my clan, and the struggles have only begun. There was a clue that I wanted to follow for a long time now.


    There were numerous other races in the continent of Taotrom, and among them, only a few used magic. Other races used other arts to perform miracles and change their surrounds, and among them, there was one race that was known as Dionach. They were beings that are half fauna, half flora, and lived in the forests of the continent.


    Although they were a pacific people, if someone began to raise their forests, they retaliated with much anger and power as they could.


    The ancient humans had quite a history with the Dionach''s. When they arrived in the continent and wanted to claim some land to them, instead of making alliances with the Dionach''s, they began to destroy the forests and burn them down to the ground.


    The Dionachs retaliated with fury and quickly, almost extinguishing the humans from the continent. If it was not for the Adhar, another race that lived in the skies that interfered with the humans and got some territories, the humans would be no more in this continent.


    The humans and the Dionach''s had a long history, that dated since the humans arrived on this continent. Humans saw Dionach''s with evil eyes for oppressing humans in some situations, but in my visions, humans were too greed and got what they deserved some times.


    It was in human nature to wish for more¡­ more land¡­ more money¡­ more power¡­


    Ullach had a crazy idea this time, to seek the Dionach''s that was known for wielding the power of nature without using magic, to gain more power.


    Although my intentions are not the purest ones, if they take me in, I will repay my debt in full and with interest.


    He walked through an unknown forest looking for the mystic race. Although there was an easy way to find them, putting a forest on fire, he wanted to achieve peace and not to be destroyed.


    He walked for days, seeing the marvels that surrounded him. Looking at the skies and imagining if there was Adhar''s living in those clouds, looking at the earth, and imagining the creatures that feed on ground to live.


    I walked and walked, seeking something almost impossible to find, if not with bad intentions. It has already been three months since I have left my clan compounds. I began to eat roots, leaves, and fruits that were known to be eatable. At least the forest could sustain me for a long time, and the tree''s were ripe with fruits and life.


    Walking and living with the quietness of the forest for so long, my soul and body began to calm down. Power was significant, but at least I am alive, just like this forest. Life is a circle that should be followed sometimes and defied at other times. Peace with myself was something that I needed to nurture a determination that would lead me to great heights and not an angry fueled resolution that would only seek power for power.


    With my mind at peace, I could finally see things from another perspective. There wasn''t only forest around me, but also the magic fluctuations, some beings were moving together with the wood and looking at me. They were one with nature, the trees and the grass resonated with their people. They were observing me, and looking at my actions and seeing me stoping, they stopped as well and began to talk between themselves.


    Now I realized the reason why I couldn''t perceive them before. As they were in syntony with nature, they had no emotions, only calmness in them. I didn''t recognize the innate life that kind had, until my previous realization, I only saw the trees and flora in my surrounds as objects, and the Dionach''s that were watching me, for being in sinch with nature, also passed as mere objects in my perception.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    I stopped and looked around. "Hey guys, I can now see you, there''s no need to hide anymore."


    The Dionach''s didn''t react to my comment. It seemed that I was not the first one to say something like this.


    Seeing that only actions would prove useful, I shook my head and advanced upon one of the closer Dionach''s.


    I grabbed his shoulders and said. "Now, do you believe me when I say that I can see you?"


    The Dionach was shocked. It had been a truly long time since a human could perceive them.


    Seeing that there was no escape, the Dionach stepped out of the tree where it was hiding and looked at me.


    It had a humanoid body, it was two meters in height, had a brown colored body with a texture that looked like bark, but instead of its skin texture is rough, it was smooth. There were many green roots that looked like veins that went all over its body, and instead of having hair on its head, some moss and grass were growing on its shoulders and back.


    Although it had a humanoid look in general, its features were very different from a human, but even so, it had its beauty.


    I let go of the Dionach shoulders and said. "My name is Ullach. I only seek guidance from your race. I don''t wish for any conflict."


    The Dionach looked into my eyes with its green eye and replied.


    "Do not worry, young one. It''s told that those who can perceive our presence had made peace with nature itself, and by consequence, with us."


    Although he spoke with me, I heard his voice in my head. There was no sound coming from him.


    "Are you a man or a female?" I asked puzzled. I didn''t want to disrespect the being in front of me.


    There was a sound of rustling leaves in the forest, and the Dionach replied.


    "Amusing young one, amusing. We, the Dionach''s, do not have genders. We are just like the trees, and we have no sex. The way you refer to us doesn''t matter."


    "Understood," I replied.


    "Now, tell me. What kind of guidance do you require?" Asked the Dionach.


    "I can''t use magic. I am powerless amidst the human race and have come here to seek power, the power to change my status, the power to discover who I truly am." I answered with the utmost sincerity; after all, there was nothing to lose.


    "Hmmm, I understand, let me take you to the elder, and he shall guide you." "Follow us."


    Without waiting for my answer, the Dionach began to dash, looking around, I now realized their numbers were far more significant than I imagined, everywhere I looked there was a Dionach, even on top of the trees. Although without looking carefully, they looked the same, there were some differences between them.


    I began to run together with them. They maneuvered through the crown of the trees as if it was bare ground. It amazed me to see such graciousness from beings that looked like trees.


    After an exhausting run of almost two hours, we finally arrived at the destination.


    I could see how different this place was from the rest of the forest. The natural energy in here was vibrant, and life was flourishing everywhere. The trees were gigantic and majestic. They built their houses around the trees or in holes on the ground. Some little animals were walking around the place as if there was no danger to them in here.


    Little Dionachs began to flock around me, almost as if looking at a strange beast. The innocence in their actions made me realize that sometimes, humanity was behind in some aspects.


    The Dionachs lead me to the center of their tribe. Arriving near the place, I could already see a brown and beautiful tree. It had a smooth brown bark, with green patterns glowing on it, the leaves were green with small golden veins.


    The tree was emanating a massive and powerful aura, as if it had existed since the beginning of times.


    After arriving before the tree, there was only silence. The Dionach that had guided me to here was looking at the tree. I instantly realized that it was talking to it. The tree in front of me was their elder.


    Realizing this, I bowed and said. "Sorry for intruding in your territory sir, I only seek guidance."


    After a few moments, I heard a voice in my head. "Look up child. There''s no shame in seeking power. Power is what moves the world. The important thing is the way you use it." The voice in my head sounded ancient and full of wisdom. It comforted me in a way that anyone had ever done.


    "Thank you." These were the only words that could leave my lips.


    "Unfortunately, I can not pass my powers to you now. Your state of soul is to low to learn the arts of the forest." After hearing the elder saying this, my world almost crumbled, but his next word gave me hope. "However, I know someone who can guide you much better than I ever could. But before I tell you where he is, I want a promise from you."


    Ullach pondered for a while, and didn''t care to promise something now, he didn''t have any capital to negotiate, he only had his own life and pride.


    "You can say it."


    "In the future, when the Dionach''s need your help, I want you to extend your hand to save us." Said the elder.


    "I promise that I will do my utmost if such a situation arrives." Promised Ullach. He knew in his heart that he wouldn''t go back on his words, this was the lowest phase of his life, and if someone extended a hand to him now, he would retribute it thousand times more in the future.


    Feeling the sincerity coming from Ullach, the elder said. "Very well, I will now give you the coordinates of a sage, someone who dominates the soul arts, and can guide you to where you desire, but beware, to convince that person is your trial."

 Chapter 2 - Destination

    ¡°The dominion of that who you seek is to the northwest of the continent, the master of soul arts live in a mountain where the spring never cease.¡±


    ¡°How will I find this place? The northwest direction is too broad.¡± Replied Ullach.


    ¡°That is your trial. We pointed out the direction and told you how to find the master. Now, it¡¯s up to you to complete the journey.¡± The Elder trembled a bit, and he said. ¡°Now, I give you my final parting gift, when the time of need arrives, it will be useful. Look up, child.¡±


    I looked up and saw a leaf slowly falling from the crown of the Elder, it had a sturdy feel to it. I extended my hand to wait for it to fall, and before it touched me, the leaf turned into a necklace with a small green rock with golden markings on it.


    I bowed to the elder one more time and said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You are free to visit us anytime, young traveler.¡± Said the elder.


    I left Dionach¡¯s living place and went to the forest to find a place to stay for today. Thankfully, the woods around the Dionach¡¯s dwelling place was full of life, and I found many things to eat.


    Looking at the new necklace around my neck, I could feel an ancient power in it. It revitalized me and made my mind clearer.


    After eating, I slept the whole night like a baby, knowing that this night, there was no danger to me in this forest.


    ***


    There was sunlight coming through the canopies, and morning dew making was my skin moist.


    I got up and packed my things, paying more attention to collect more things to eat before I left this place full of food.


    After preparing my bag, I looked at the sky, and finding the directions, proceeded northwest.


    ***


    I walked and walked, the forest seemed endless, although being there was peaceful sometimes, being left alone for long periods was never right.


    My clothes were already in rags, although they were pretty resistant, by walking in a forest full of twigs and branches they couldn''t last long.


    There were some bruises on my skin, and my mouth was already dry for walking all morning.


    It has already been 18 days since I met the Dionach elder and received instruction on how to find the hidden master.


    I think that the worst part is not finding the master, but not finding anything!


    There were some powerful monsters on the forests that I went through, but I could almost always evade them. There was only one time when I couldn''t escape, and I had to engage a spike tiger in combat.


    The result of such an encounter was an even more significant delay in my mission. The creature launched spikes like missiles in my direction and began to attack me. There were still some pretty nasty wounds on my ribs.


    After walking for a few more minutes, I began to see something ahead. "Oh my god, is that what I think it is?" I thought to myself and began to run toward it.


    Feeling the pebbles beneath my feet and seeing a beautiful road in front of me, I almost cried.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It has been a long time since I last saw something that was built by humans. Looking at the sky, and seeing that the road also followed the northwest direction, I silently prayed in thanks and proceeded through the way.


    Now that I was walking on a road, it was only a matter of time before finding a city or a human settlement.


    I looked at my bag and saw the dry meat I prepared from the hunts, and the fruits were almost ending.


    "I need to hunt." I thought to myself.


    Near the road there probably wouldn''t be a lot of animals, so I had to take some distance from it. After entering the forest again, and making sure that I knew exactly where the road was, I began to track some clues from my surrounds. Some broken twigs in here... Some marks on the ground in there¡­ After following the clues, I finally found my prey.


    Looking through the foliage, I saw a family of wild boars. The family had two adults and six cubs. It pained me to hunt them down, but I had to put food in my belly.


    Slowly taking my greatsword out, I picked the male boar as my target. I crouched and put some power in my legs. The blade of my sword was enchanted and always sharp.


    I waited for a bit and finally found the perfect opportunity. The male was at the back of the group while the cubs were in front of the mother.


    I didn''t wait and jumped from the foliage. There was no mystery or surprise; one strike of my sword at the boar''s neck was enough to kill the creature immediately; it was a painless death at least. Seeing its partner is killed, instead of advancing upon me, the other boar ran away with the cubs.


    I sat down and began to skin the boar and prepare its meat.


    ____________________________________________


    After I prepared and cured the meat last night, my bag was full again. I even made another bag with the boar skin to carry my supplies.


    I returned to the road and continued to walk. After three more hours, I could finally see something in the distance. There was a stone-colored wall, that was at least 6 meters tall. It had some guards on top of it, and the gate was open.


    Relief washed over me, finally civilization!! Those weeks of walking alone were making me mad.


    Getting closer to the gate, one of the guards stopped me and said.


    "Welcome to the city of Coille. What is your business here?" Asked the soldier. The soldiers were wearing a brown colored uniform, grey boots, and most of them had a magic spear.


    "I am here to look for someone that is supposed to live in the mountains. Do you know such a person?" I asked.


    "Well, I don''t know, but maybe there are some other people in town that may." The soldier turned to the town direction and began to point in a direction while saying. "In that street, you will find the "Rock mole" inn, and there you can have food and a place to sleep with enough money. The barman, old Tom, may know of the information you are after."


    "Ok. Do you know a place where I can sell meat in here?" I asked.


    Well, you can go to the butchery that is on that street." Said the soldier while pointing toward it.


    "Thanks."


    I walked to the butchery and quickly found it. There was a glass panel where the meats were, and because it was still morning, some people were entering the place to buy meat.


    I entered the place and went to the balcony. There was a muscular man that was cutting the meat and a young man that was serving the customers.


    After waiting for my turn, I asked the young man.


    "Good morning. I have some boar meat in here and want to sell it." I said while opening the bag to show the smoked meat.


    "Hmm¡­ Let''s see what you have in there." The young man picked the bag and began to browse through the meat, looking at the quality and how old it was.


    "It''s recently hunted, from yesterday, I presume?" Said the young man while looking at me.


    "You''re right. I hunted and smoked it yesterday."


    "Okay, the quality of the meat is good. I can give you four silver and 35 copper coins for it."


    I thought that it was a just price and agreed. "Okay, I will sell it."


    "Great, let me get you the money. The name is Junior, by the way, the big man over there cutting the meats is my father, Simon." Junior said while getting the money from behind the balcony.


    "Sorry for not introducing myself before, my name is Ullach," I answered.


    "Bah, that''s fine." He gave me the money. "It was good to do business with you."


    I waved goodbye and went toward the inn. I wanted to eat a proper meal and sleep in a bed instead of the floor for once, at least.


    Arriving at the inn, I saw a symbol of a mole coming out of a rock above the door. It was a building of wood and stones. I entered the place and saw that some people were eating on the tables, and two girls serving them.


    There was an older man in the balcony. I went in his direction and said.


    "Are you perhaps, old Tom?" I asked the older man.


    "Precisely, and who would you be?"


    "My name in Ullach, I am here to get some rest and some information." I grinned and said. "But first, give me something to drink, please, something light."


    "Just a second." Old Tom grabbed some fruits and mixed them with a beverage and made a drink. "Here it is."


    I picked the cup and tasted the drink.


    "Wow, it''s delicious!" The taste of the drink was excellent. The alcohol was very low, as well.


    Although I was young, I still had already drunk alcohol before. Most of my clansmen never touched anything like that, because magicians saw anything that numbs the mind like a curse. But I trained with many warriors to forge my body and had tasted a lot of different beverages in their company.


    "These old hands still have some tricks." Old Tom smiled while saying this. "So, what information are you after?"


    "I am looking for someone that lives in the mountain. It has something to do with a place where the spring never ceases." I asked while looking at the beverage.


    "Hmm¡­ The mountains are a dangerous place to live. Only one person that I know of lives in there. But finding her will be harder than learning to fly." Old Tom had a nostalgic look in his eyes while speaking. "And the place where the spring never ceases is where she lives in the mountains, the lost garden."


    "Could you please tell me how can I find this lost garden?" I asked with an eager face.


    "I can tell you, but first, hear this out." Old Tom had a stern look on his face.

 Chapter 3 - Struggle

    "Many years ago, there was no civilization near these mountains, only the animals and beasts lived in here." Old Tom looked inside a cup while cleaning it, as if the memories of the past would appear on its reflection. "An adventure group received a mission to slay a rare magical beast that lived on the foot of the mountain to retrieve a special material in it."


    "They came and began to search the place for clues, to kill the beast, and in the process, they found this." Old Tom reached beneath the balcony and grabbed a rounded piece of mineral. "This is Lachne, a rare mineral that can enhance fire magic. They found a source of lachne in the foot of the mountain. With the information in hand, the adventurers struck a deal with the government and won a share of the money that came from here. After that, expeditions began to come one after the other to build the town and make sure that the extraction occurred perfectly."


    "And what all of this has to do with the lost garden?" I asked him.


    "Wait and you will have your answers." Old Tom snorted. "In the process of establishing the town, they explored the surrounds and part of the mountains to make sure that there was no immediate danger to the place. In one of these explorations, they discovered that amidst the mountains, there is a huge valley. The valley is surrounded by some magical mist, it only allows the people that are outside to see a little bit of it. But from what could be observed, there are a lot of different plants there. However, once someone went inside the place, they didn''t come back out."


    "This is how the name of the place appeared, Lost garden. A garden where many people are lost inside." Old Tom looked into my eyes and continued to speak


    "There is only one person that has ever come out from that place. However, she came out from there, and nobody knows where she came from. Many years ago, she visited the town, but after an incident, she never came out from the lost garden." Old tom sighed and completed. "She is known as F¨¬or around these parts, the winged beauty from the lost garden."


    "The place is perilous. You may find her inside, or may not. But there is a huge chance that you''ll never came back out."


    This history shook me. A winged human? There was no such race. The only intelligent beings that had wings were the Adhar, but they were too different from humans by what the histories tell. The only part that worried me was that nobody ever came out of the lost garden except for F¨¬or.


    "Where is the lost garden?" I asked. Even tough old Tom tried to warn me about the dangers of the place, I had already made a decision.


    "Well young man, I wish you luck, because you''ll need it." After saying this, he went inside a door, and returned after a few moments with a piece of paper in his hands. "This is the copy of a map that shows the way to the lost garden. If you follow this, you will find the place."


    After giving me the map, he turned around and began to serve other clients.


    I asked one of the maids and got room to rest for the night. I paid for everything and slept like a baby.


    ***


    I woke up early and organized the things in my bag. Although I sold most of the boar meat that I had, there was still some left. I got out of the building and gave the key to the room back to the maid.


    The first thing I did after leaving the building was to go to the market to buy some seasonings. I had eaten meat and fruits for the last few weeks, and I wanted to at least get some different flavors on my food from now on.


    After buying the seasonings, I went to a square and opened the map. The map was not the prettiest one in the world. The paper was crumbling on the sides, and it was stinking as well, but it fulfilled its purpose.


    I could see clear markings on the map that indicated the town, the mountains, and a place in the middle of the mountains circled. Looking at it, I saw that there was a route that could be followed to reach the place. Although I would have to take a detour, at least I knew for sure a way to reach there.


    With everything ready, I left the town and followed the map directions.


    ***


    The sun was in the middle of the sky. It looked like the heavens were burning and making fire rain. There was no cloud in sight, and the rocks made it seem like I was in a huge pot.


    The heat was so intense that I could no see any animal or bird in the surrounds. It was as if the temperature was sent to stop people from trying to scale the mountain.


    Even with shoes on, I felt as if the sole of my feet were burning. Despite the difficulties, I continued to scale the mountain. I was sweating in bucks by now, and the water that I bought had already ended.


    After walking with only my destination in sight, I finally could see my target at a distance.


    Seeing a valley covered in fog, I renewed my strengths and fastened my pace.


    After walking for thirty more minutes, I could see the mist before me, and the trees in its midst.


    There was a refreshing wind blowing from there. Although I could feel it, the mist didn''t move. It was as if it was there only to get in the way of my vision. I took a deep breath and shouted, "F¨¬OOOR!"Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    I waited for some time and saw that there was no response. I called some more, but it didn''t work. It seemed that I had to enter the valley.


    I grabbed a branch that was lying in the surrounds of the mist and began to walk while marking the ground. I instantly felt my mind grow hazy and felt the world around me spinning. I tried to focus, but there was a pressure in my head that impeded me from doing it.


    I insisted on continuing on the path and kept walking ahead while marking the ground with the stick.


    I staggered forward and almost fell sometimes. I insisted on continuing and didn''t stop.


    "F¨¬OOOOOOR"


    From time to time, I called her, in hopes that she would appear. There was nothing in the forest, no animals and no insects. The silence was so deafening that my mind was beginning to lose its bearings.


    I looked back to see the markings that I was leaving on the ground. But I didn''t find anything. There was no mark, nor there was a stick in my hand anymore. It seemed that I had dropped it some time ago.


    I tried walking back, but I couldn''t find my way. With the pressure in my head, I couldn''t even find out where I was nor distinguish north from south.


    I tried some more, but in the end, I couldn''t find my way back. It seemed like all hope was lost, my mind was hazy, I didn''t know where I was, and over time, I was beginning to have a splitting headache.


    After panicking a bit, instead of insisting on finding a way out, I sat down and began to feel my surrounds instead of only walking in circles.


    I sat down and closed my eyes, the mana in my surrounds were very dense, and it was permeating every inch and corner of my surrounds. The plants were emanating a robust vitality, and the ground was so fertile, that I could feel the power in it.


    I got up and tried to find my way around the forest while sensing the mana.


    "AHHHHH."


    I screamed in pain. The headache had gotten worse, and concentrating on it was impossible.


    Seeing that there was no other solution, I sat down again and tried to feel what was happening to me.


    Where was this pain coming from? I sensed my body and saw that there was nothing wrong with it. The mana in the air was pure and was not tainting my body with anything.


    The only explanation that I had was that my soul was suffering from constant pressure.


    According to the law of magic, the soul was how magic is used. But it was strange to feel this way, the only known way to affect the soul was another soul attacking it.


    By what I could feel from my surrounds, there was no other person in here.


    The only solution I had was to acclimate to the pressure affecting me and temper my soul.


    Although it was possible to temper the soul by resisting pressure to it, the process took some time in general, and when it was finally over, I would probably have starved to death.


    I opened my eyes and looked around¡­ My vision was blurry, and I couldn''t possibly get out of here by relying on my sight.


    Gathering all my courage, I sat down and began to resist the pressure¡­.


    The first day exhausted me¡­ The more I resisted, the more painful it became¡­. I knew that I was expending a lot of energy in resisting the pressure, but it was the only way that I could get out of here alive.


    The second day was even worse¡­ I couldn''t sleep to rest, and the pressure was hammering my mind. There was no way that I could resist much longer¡­. Even the thought of taking my own life came to me.


    The third day¡­. My mind was beginning to fall apart. There was no energy left in me. I was laying on the ground like a dead body. The only thing that was keeping me alive was my will to live.


    ***


    I¡­. I don''t know how long it has been... I was resisting the pressure¡­ I was not even sure I was alive anymore¡­ I couldn''t feel my legs nor my body. There was no response coming from it.


    ***


    How long could I still go on? Is there a meaning to this? My brother is blessed with everything that I was not. I have nothing¡­ I am nothing¡­ but even so, I WANT TO LIVE!!


    I don''t want to give up here¡­ not while there was a chance to live¡­


    After some more time, instead of the crushing pressure, I felt a refreshing feeling, as if my body was into a pool of cold water. I could faintly feel my body, although it was feeble, it meant that I was still alive.


    The pressure began to get weaker and weaker. I could my soul getting stronger over time. Although my soul was now stronger, did I have the strength to leave this place?


    I could feel the world around me much brighter than before. The feeling was different from only feeling the mana¡­ There was something else in there that I couldn''t put my finger on. It was as if the world itself was opening to me.


    ***


    The pressure had disappeared by now. I tried my utmost to get up. My body was not responding to me; the most I could do was open my eyes and look at the sky.


    Although the fog was still there, I could faintly see the sky now. That endless blue sea surrounded the world. How beautiful it was to see it for the last time¡­.


    My eyes began to close slowly, and I could see a blurry figure descending from the sky¡­


    The creature looked holy and perfect in my impaired vision. My surroundings were becoming darker and darker until there was nothing left.


    ***


    My body felt lighter. There was a calmness surrounding me, soothing me. I felt a safety that I had never felt before.


    I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. The first thing that I saw was a wooden ceiling. Looking to the side, I saw that I was laid in a bed, and was covered by some liquid that was nourishing me, giving my strength back.


    Sitting beside my bed on a wooden chair, was a woman. She was wearing a plain green robe. She had glowing yellow eyes and dark hair. Behind her back was a white wing, so pure that it looked made from the whitest of the snows. She was so beautiful that princesses would be ashamed near her.


    she looked into my eyes and said. "You are lucky to be alive. If you hadn''t reached soul enlightenment, you''d die."


    Her voice was soothing and majestical. Only hearing it gave me comfort and a feeling of being safe¡­.


    I quickly shook my head and straightened my thoughts. I had only met this woman. I couldn''t possibly trust her this much, there is something wrong!


    "What is happening to me? What are you doing to me?" I asked with a weak voice.


    A sudden realization appeared in the woman''s face. "Ah, it should be my soul charm that is leaking." After saying this, the feeling of trust disappeared. Even though she was not affecting me anymore, I knew that she meant no harm, after all, if she wanted me dead, she would have left me in the woods.


    "Thank you for saving me," I said with sincere gratitude in my voice.


    "There is no need to thank me; after all, you deserved salvation." She said as if this was a matter of fact.


    "What? Why?" My mind was blank for a moment. Why would I deserve to be saved?


    "You reached soul enlightenment, and you have a token of friendship with the Dionach''s. If it were not for these, I would have left you to die." She said.


    "Well, even so, I must thank you. After all, I am still alive because of your actions, deserving it or not." I felt relieved now. I finally found the person I was looking for.


    "As you wish, then." She got up to leave the room.


    "Wait."


    "What is it?" She said with a cold tone.


    I used all my strength to get up from the bed. My knees were trembling, and my muscles were sending pain signals all over my body. Even with all this pain, I got up and bowed to her.


    "Please, accept me as your disciple."


    The woman was stunned by seeing me doing this. I had a near-death experience and was still recovering. She knew how much Ullach was impaired to get up from his bed and do this.


    She couldn''t answer for a few seconds. But after pondering for a bit, she said.


    "Let''s see if you have the talent or not first. After that, we can talk about you learning anything."


    "Than.." just as I was going to thank her, she interrupted me and said.


    "Before we talk about anything, lay down and rest first." She said, and left the room.

 Chapter 4 - Training

    I rested on the bed and let the water around me nourish my body. Now that I passed through this trial, my mind felt even brighter, and even the tiniest of the details could be seen by me now.


    Something inside me had changed in that valley, something in my soul. Although I still couldn''t use magic, the clarity of my mana sight was as even better than before. I laid in the bed for two days before I was health. The woman came to my room sometimes to re-cast the magic that was treating my body but didn''t say anything more.


    Seeing that my strength had come back, I got up from the bed and left the room. After getting out, I saw that I was in the middle of the valley. Surrounding the hut I was in and another bigger wooden house close by, there was no mist. It was as if some force was keeping it out.


    I went to the front of the bigger house and called. "F¨¬or, I am healed." I waited for an answer, and only after 10 minutes, she left the house. She was still using the same robe from the first time that I met her. She looked into my eyes and said. "Wait by the side, I will leave in a few minutes to test you." she entered the house again.


    I sat on a trunk that was on the ground and waited. After 30 minutes, she left the house with a white orb in her hands.


    she came close and said. "Now, we will test your soul aptitude. If you have the talent, I will train you in consideration of that Dionach''s elder." She made the orb float mid-air and said. "Now, put your hand on the orb."


    I got up from the trunk, rubbed my hands against each other, and reached out to the orb.


    "AHHHH." A burning sensation came through my hands, entering my body and spreading over every inch of it.


    I felt as if I was being cooked alive, but soon after, the sensation stopped, and a refreshing feeling took over.


    The orb glowed in a beautiful azure color and emitted a soothing light. My body felt light and free, as if my shackles were released.


    "Hm¡­ It seems that you have what it takes to learn from me." She waved her hand, and a stone chair came out of the ground as if nature itself had changed to comfort her. I didn''t sense the use of mana, and my eyes opened wide.


    "Ho¡­ how did you do that without using mana?" I was after this power my whole life. Everything resumed to this.


    "Do not worry, in time you''ll learn. Now, site down again and hear what I have to say." She waved her hand, and I was pushed down by a mysterious force.


    "Do you know how the mages and warriors are classified?" She asked me.


    "Yes. There are nine circles in which a mages are classified. The higher the circle, the more powerful the mage, even though there are nine known circles, it has been centuries since the last nine circle mage has appeared. Warriors are also classified in the same nine levels, but not in circles, but in Ki, they use the mana inside of themselves to temper their bodies initially to generate life force from where the mutations are born and also create Ki."


    "What are the circles and mutations?"


    "The circles are the concentrated mana inside a mage, in which they concentrate and gather in a system that allows them to use it more proficiently. The mutations are innate powers that are slumbering inside the bodies of all humans, and through tempering and stimulations, it manifests once the mana reinforces the body. The stronger the life force, the stronger the mutation becomes."


    "Yes, that is all correct. It seems that at least you have the basic knowledge about how the classification is done." She said. "Now, let''s begin with something that is not known to all humans. Other powers can be used or accessed instead of only mana and Ki. The other ones are soul power and Nature force. their classifications are different from what warriors and mages use; after all, they are completely different." She waved her hand, and four projections of humans appeared. "First, mana." the projection at the right side began to emit the mana inside of itself and suck the energy surrounding itself and gather it inside of his body. "Mages use the natural mana in the atmosphere reinforce their natural mana and develop the mana circuits inside themselves, and it is almost as if they are plundering the mana for themselves. In this way, the mana became an integral part of their bodies, and they have complete freedom with what they do with it."


    The second human projection began to circulate the mana in its body to strengthen it, after some time, another energy began to appear from all over the projection, after that, the mana and the other energy fused. A powerful energy was born. "The warriors use the innate mana inside themselves to strengthen the body so that the lifeforce can be cultivated. After the life force is born, they fuse it with their mana to create ki, and with luck, the ki can awaken a mutation. Ki is an energy that is, in essence, very different and much stronger them mana or life force alone, but limited in its uses."


    The third projection began to use the internal mana inside of itself to "resonate" with the natural mana surrounding it, after some time, the mana inside its body began to fuse with the natural mana and even its color changed, the body started to blend with the mana of its surrounds. "Nature force is born of the fusion of inside and outside. The internal mana resonates with natural energy and is naturally reinforced by it. This leads to the fusion of mana and natural energy, leading to the birth of Nature force. The more in sync you are with the concepts of nature, the more you can access it and become more powerful. For example, a Nature force user can begin to resonate with a forest first, after reaching a certain level of fusion with the natural energy in it, they can go to a desert and temper their Nature force with the natural energy from a desert, and so on. The more places you temper your Nature force from, the more powerful a nature force user becomes. In theory, a Nature force user can temper his Nature force endlessly in multiple places or focus on only one location. There are also nine phases from which they are classified; they are known as the nine concepts." She had gone more in detail with the Nature force users; after all, I didn''t know anything about it.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "There are other variations to these three basic ways to power. Sects or factions hold most of them, but some are quite limited in what they can achieve. One thing that these three ways have in common is that once you embark on one of them, the others become impossible to be cultivated. If you plunder the mana from nature to reinforce your innate mana, nature rejects the fusion with it making it impossible to generate nature force. When you fuse your mana with the natural energy and give birth to Nature force, if you try to plunder the natural energy to reinforce your mana, the rejection will be so strong that the person will die without knowing how they died. And if you fuse the internal mana with life force, ki is born, and it became impossible to use the other ones."


    "So, these forces restrict the other ones¡­ And how about Soul power?" I asked.


    "That is where things get interesting." The fourth figure began to emit a power that enveloped all its body. The power affected the surrounds and began to change the natural energy around it. The projection controlled the natural energy around it and began to make "magic" with it. The projection split into three different ones and began to simultaneously use soul power and another one of the three ways. "Soul power can be used together with the other three ways. Usually, it is used to reinforce how they are used. With magicians, the soul power is used to accelerate the rate in which they plunder the energy from their surrounds, making the advancement of circles much quicker. With nature force users, it can make the fusion much faster. And finally, with Ki users, how they control their ki becomes much more refined, making the process of tempering their bodies and mutations easier."


    My eyes were shining after knowing the uses of soul power. It was a fantastic thing. It''s uses were many, but most important, it could be used on its own!


    "How does one train soul power?" I eagerly asked. I couldn''t use the other ways; after all, I didn''t have internal mana. But soul power was different, by what she said, its cultivation didn''t make use of inner mana at all!


    "Do not hurry, boy. Cultivating soul power does not require any other thing besides aptitude. You will have a hard time to do it, but it will be rewarding." She said.


    My eyes were shining with enthusiasm, and I felt renewed by this fact. I could finally aim for more. I had trained my whole life to achieve some power, but due to my circumstances, it was almost for nothing. Now, I will train and achieve something.


    "Now, let''s begin with the basics." She took a deep breath and looked at my eyes. "The first thing you have to do is wake up your soul aptitude. But you have already done so in the valley. Now, the hard part comes, you will have to use a technique to temper your soul. You will have to stretch it out of your body."


    "What? But isn''t the soul bonded on the body?" I had a disbelieving look on my face.


    "It is born that way. But you have to force it out. The pain will be huge in the beginning, after all, you will be doing something that is not entirely natural, but you have to free your soul from its bindings so that it can grow. There are other ways to enhance your soul power, but this is the quickest and better way."


    "How do I do it?" I asked.


    "The first thing you have to do is realized its existence. Your soul awakening must have enhanced your perception. Use this perception to look inside of yourself, then, try to move your soul inside of your body."


    "Ok, I will begin." I sat on the ground to begin the process.


    "No, not here. I will take you to a place where the effects of your training will be better." She got up from her stone chair and begin to walk to the forest direction. After she left, the chair entered the ground and disappeared.


    I got up and followed her. Entering the forest and being enveloped by the mist again, I felt a pressure in my soul. But this time, it was almost nothing, this little pressure could not affect me anymore.


    After walking for a bit, I saw a stone bridge at a distance. The bridge went over a lake. The waters on it were transparent and clear. The pressure on my soul began to get stronger, the closer I got to the lake. I insisted on getting closer to the place, but after some time, I could not take one more step. I looked at F¨¬or and saw that the pressure was not affecting her. My mind was throbbing, and the pressure was constant.


    "That is enough, sit down and begin the process that I described to you."


    I sat on the ground and began to look inward. My soul was in there, and I could feel and see it. It was like a second body that was over my own, my split image that was inside of me.


    I moved my hand and felt the soul moving together with it. Thinking better, it was not moving along with it, they were moving at the same time. My soul was just like my body, an integral part of me. Just like my body moved with my will, my soul also did.


    This mysterious will was the integration of my soul and body, when they were together, will be born, and both the soul and the body could not exist without the other.


    The process of reaching moving the soul without moving the body was hard. Humans were used to moving the body and the soul at the same time, after all, they were part of a whole. The pressure was making it harder to control the soul, I could feel it, and even see how it moved with me, but making it moving on its own was hard. The day quickly passed, and I was exhausted. There were no results from today''s training. I couldn''t even touch it one bit.


    "Hey, let''s go," F¨¬or said. "What is your name, by the way? If I am going to train you, I need at least to know that. Mine is not F¨¬or; it''s Althaea. The name F¨¬or was just a nickname given to me by the people from the town a long time ago."


    I was startled. How have I forgotten to introduce myself to my master properly? I quickly bowed and said. "I am sorry, master. I was so eager for power that my mind was clouded. My name is Ullach."


    She turned away and went toward the forest direction.


    "From today on, getting the food will be your task." She waved her hand, and a little plant came out of the ground. It had a silver color and blue specks over its stalk. After taking it out, the roots came out as well. They were pretty big and juicy. "This plant is named anam, from today on; this is what you are going to eat. This kind of plant only grows in special places like this valley, and it has enhancing properties on the soul."


    She gave it for me to hold, and we continued to walk toward the house. Althaea instructed me to boil the roots together with the leaves. She showed me a well behind her home and all the places where I could use it. Of course, some areas in the house were off-limits, and my place to sleep was the wooden hut.


    After finishing the anam, we seated by a table to eat it.


    I got some pieces and put them on my plate. I looked ahead and saw that Althaea was eating her anam slowly.


    I picked the root and ate it. My eyes were wide open, and my body was trembling.


    What a heavenly taste! Even though we only boiled it without anything else, it''s taste was terrific. It was a bit sweet and soft.


    I began to eat quickly, and after some time, there was a soothing feeling coming from my stomach and spreading all over my body. The headache that I was feeling from the pressure instantly vanished.


    It looked like this training wouldn''t be so bad!

 Chapter 5 - Determination

    The second day of training began, I waked up at the first sign of light and headed toward the island with Althaea. She didn''t stay by my side today and headed to the center of the island, it seemed that she had some training to do as well.


    I sit down and began to concentrate to move my soul. My control compared to yesterday was much better, even the pressure was affecting me less and less, however, something unexpected happened.


    "AHHHHHHH"


    An immense pain assaulted me. I felt as if my flesh was being ripped apart, every cell in my body was screaming in pain. The pain was not physical, it was something that transcended the body and even the soul felt.


    After some moments, the pain receded. My body relaxed more and I was breathing hard.


    Althaea came walking from the island and stood beside me.


    "Oh, that was quick, it seemed that you had your first success."


    "This was a success?" I asked with a puzzled face.


    "Yes, it was. The pain came from the fact that you could move your soul separately from your body. You are still not used to the feeling, the pain will vanish quickly."


    "Everybody that cultivates soul power feels this pain?"


    "No. Some other methods to cultivate the soul are not painful, but this one is the most effective and quick. Do not worry about the pain, just keep going with the training."


    After saying this, she left the place and returned to the island.


    I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and continued with the training. The pain was so great that sometimes I couldn''t even concentrate. The day passed slowly, and time seemed like an eternity. The pain together with the pressure from the place made me stumble in the training. It seemed that things were not so easy as I thought they would be.


    ***


    I looked at Ullach that was seated on the ground and training. from time to time he suppressed the screams that were about to be made due to the pain and continued the training.


    I have never seen someone so talented¡­. He could move his soul just on the second day of training when most others would take months to accomplish this. And I was not even taking into consideration that most humans didn''t have the aptitude to soul power.


    His talents were great, but the thing that left me impressed was his willpower¡­ The pain that a person felt from the training method that I gave him was monumental, something that almost no one could take.


    The Race that had the most aptitude for soul power was the Adhar''s, they were the race that lived in the clouds. They had discovered many methods to train soul power, and although this was the most effective one, most people didn''t use it because of the pain.


    I gathered my thoughts and began kept training.


    ***


    The night was slowly approaching, the sun was setting in the horizon and the fog was making it seen as night had already arrived.


    Hearing footsteps coming from the island unsteadily got up and went toward the forest to gather some Anam to cook.


    The task that seemed so easy yesterday now looked almost impossible. My thoughts were easily dispersing and I couldn''t concentrate on anything. After almost half an hour, I gathered enough and went toward Althaea to cook.


    After getting our food ready, I ate like a ravenous wolf. This was the only meal that we were having daily, but somehow, the Anam was no nutritious that another meal was not needed.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    After dinner, my soul felt refreshed again. the phantom pain disappeared and I could finally concentrate again.


    While I was eating, Althaea got up and fetched something from another room. She came back holding a book in her hand.


    "You have to read at least a chapter of this book before sleeping. When you finish this one, tell me and I will give you another." She finished her Anam and went away.


    I picked the book, the title was Herbs and where they grow. It seemed that my days would be longer than thought. I got up, cleaned everything and went to my room to read the book.


    ***


    The days quickly passed, It had already been two months since my training began. After the first week, the pain stopped and I could finally concentrate better in my training. The process of expanding the soul was slow and boring. It required a lot of concentration, and the soul expanded at a snail pace.


    The more I practiced, the quicker and further I could expand the soul from my body. The perception that came from expanding my soul was much more clearer them my mana perception. it was as if I had magnified my vision a hundredfold and was able to see everything as if it was in front of me. My soul could only expand to 10 meters around me.


    I could maintain my soul expanded for 5 minutes now. The burden from keeping it expanded was too great, but at least I had achieved something. I still had not learned any methods of how to apply soul force or how to use it with Althaea, but I knew that with time I would learn everything.


    After another day of exhausting training, I prepared ou dinner and sitter by the table to eat. "You are advancing pretty quickly. Soon you''ll be able to learn some tricks." Althaea said to me.


    "Great! I am finally taking some big steps!" I answered excited. The thought of finally being able to achieve some power was amazing to me.


    "Don''t be so excited, on the level you are in, almost nothing can be done." She shook her head.


    "Even if it''s a little bit, advancement is still advancement!" My happiness was overflowing. It has been only a few months, but I could almost achieve something by now.


    Through these last months, our relationship had improved, Althaea was not so closed anymore, she had even explained to me that the reason that she had shown up in the village but after some time disappeared was that people were trying to capture her because she was different.


    Although the slave market was not so big in the continent, it still existed and was something that you had to look out for.


    I realized that Althaea was so cold to other people because she was a lonely person, and the company was slowly releasing her shackles, at least with me.


    I had learned many things from the books that she gave me these last months. the improvement of soul power also made my mind sharper and my memory stronger. According to Althaea the mages also saw the improvement of their mental faculties because they were slowly tempering their soul power while practicing their cultivation, but the improvement was something much slower them me, that was directly training the soul.


    I learned about Botanics and the uses of the herbs, the different races of magical beasts that roamed the continent and their weaknesses, the minerals and the potential uses in alchemy and finally, the details of different kinds of cultivations. The details of the mages were most skipped by me. In my pursuit of magic, I had learned almost everything that was to learn about the mages. How, they improved their circles, how to form a magic formation, the bases of how the different kinds of magic were formed and the comprehensions needed to learn them, and many more things.


    It was an enjoyment to see that my mind was becoming stronger and stronger. But what really surprised me was the details about the other kinds of powers. They were so different, but all of them lead to power, something that everyone wanted.


    I began to form a theory of how I could achieve some power of my own, but that was something that I didn''t have the power to do right now, it would have to wait.


    ***


    I slept the whole night like a baby and woke up early in the morning to train with Althaea. In these last months, I changed the location of my training and now I was sitting at the beginning of the bridge.


    I seated and saw that Althaea seated beside me.


    "Today, you will learn another exercise of how to use natural energy around you." She said.


    My eyes shined with a surprising luster. It was finally time to advance!


    "As you already know, soul power is part of you and every living being. The soul is used as a medium to wield mana. This ability comes from the fact that the soul is naturally permeated by the innate mana in our bodies, and this mana can resonate and influence the natural energy or natural mana."


    I was finally enlightened by why I couldn''t use mana because my lack of innate mana made it simply impossible! I looked at her and she continued.


    "Although you don''t have the natural ability to influence the natural mana, you still can do it with your soul power. That''s why the users of soul power can enhance their other cultivations by using it. For the people that can resonate and influence the natural mana using their own, it''s a simple thing to learn how to do it with their souls. But, because you don''t have that ability, things will be much harder for you."


    "But harder is not impossible, right?"


    "That''s correct. Harder doesn''t make it impossible, but it will be challenging."


    "If there is a will, there''s a way," I said to her, showing my determination.


    "That''s right. Now, let''s cut the chase. You can already feel the natural energy, you could probably feel it during your whole life because as you said, your sensitivity towards mana is great. The process of how to do it is simple. initially, you will simply have to use your soul power to "grab" at the natural energy, using it like a hand. That''s the first step. After you achieve that, tell me so we can go to the next phase."


    "Understood."


    After getting my consent, she got up and went toward the island.


    sitting there, I looked at my hands and clenched my fists. I closed my eyes and began to expand my soul. The surrounds were clearly shown to me. seeing the natural energy, I began to try and grab it using my soul power. I slowly permeated it, but it was as if the natural energy was water, and I was trying to grab it using my hands, it just slipped through my fingers.


    Not losing my patience I continued to train and kept trying to grab at the natural energy.


    The process was exhausting just like any other kind of training that I did. I could only keep my soul expanded by 5 minutes for now, and while I was stretching it, I still had to manipulate it to grab the energy. I trained for 5 minutes and rested for 10 to do it again.


    The day passed in the blink of an eye, and there were still no results. A drop of frustration was beginning to form inside of me, but I quickly suppressed it. Training was never about achieving instant results. It was like a construction where brick after brick would have to be laid.

 Chapter 6 - Mutation

    Time passed quickly. Day after day, Ullach trained madly, as if this was my last opportunity to get stronger. Power was something we had to fight for, and not sit and wait for it to fall in our laps.


    Two years had passed since I began my training with Althaea. I now could do a few things with soul power, and could even manipulate the natural mana around myself to some extent. The training was hard, but the more I practised, the more powerful I became.


    I was standing on a field on the lost garden. Across me, Althaea stood. She was waiting for my attack so that we could spar.


    I gathered my soul power and ordered the nature around me to form a rock lance and threw it at her. She didn''t even lift a finger, and a transparent shield protected her from the lance.


    It was as if the lance encountered an invisible wall, stopping completely on its tracks. After throwing the lance, I advanced and condensed the soul power in my hand, making it glow in azure colour.


    I approached her and punched her belly, or at least tried to. Just before my hand connected, her wing moved from her back and blocked the punch, pushing me away from her.


    Stumbling a few steps back, I looked at her and saw that she pointed her hand at me, making the clouds above condense a lightning bolt and attacking me with it.


    Seeing the lightning descend, I condensed all my soul power in my legs and jumped back, evading the attack.


    The lightning hit the ground with such strength that the rocks on it were blown away and burned my skin.


    I fortified my skin with soul power and resisted the attack while controlling the natural mana to form a wind slash and threw it at Althaea.


    The shield appeared again in front of her and blocked the wind slash. Roots burst from the ground and constricted me. I reinforced my body and tried to struggle, but it was to no avail.


    "I guess I still have a long way to go," I said to her.


    "You are advancing pretty quickly, but you are still limited to the use of soul power, we have to find another way so you can achieve more than this."


    The roots around me returned to the ground and freed me. I stretched my arms and began to prepare dinner.


    Soul power had some special techniques to strengthen the body. The body was the vessel of the soul, and if my soul grew stronger, the body would follow it. During these last two years, my bodily strength grew enough so that I can rival a tier 2 ki user. Of course, we are only talking about body strength without the use of special techniques or mutations.


    Althaea had passed a technique that would quicken the process of body strengthening. I felt that I was on the verge of birthing life force as well.


    I had a crazy idea in my mind since more than a year ago and was working on it with Althaea, and if it worked, a new path would appear in front of me.


    We were researching the many aspects of natural mana and the affinities that each individual had for them.


    Natural mana was all around us, and it gave the world the source it needed to sustain itself. But the natural energy had many variations. It could be divided into elements, laws, and aspects.


    The main ones were four elements, four laws, and two aspects. The four elements are water, air, fire, and earth. They had many variations and combinations, but all the others came from the main four. The four laws are space, time, light and darkness. The four primary laws existed everywhere, unlike the four main elements, the only exceptions were light and dark, because where one lived, the other vanished. The two aspects were the hardest ones to grasp, and they were life and death.


    Between these ten main variations of natural mana, the affinity for the four main elements was the most common. Ullach''s clan had an affinity for the element of wood, that was a variation between earth, water, and life. It was a powerful variation that made the clan have a high stand among humans.


    I was training with Althaea for long now, but even so, I haven''t discovered my affinity. It looked like something was blocking it away from me. I have an average talent in controlling the elements, and can somewhat control them through soul power.


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    Every time I tried testing for my affinity, the instrument used to verify it was destroyed. My only hope now was to have an ancient creature testing it for me. By what master told me, she knew an old dragon that could help her, by paying a specific price, of course. By the end of this month, we will depart from the lost garden and search for it.


    Eating the food with Master, I looked at her and said. "My body is on the brink of producing life force. I think I can have this breakthrough tonight."


    She looked at me with a surprised face. "Good! We can finally begin seriously training now. Producing life force is but a step on your journey."


    There were some herbs that Althaea prepared for this moment since I began to discuss my idea with her. In the beginning, she couldn''t consider it properly. But after pondering for a bit, she saw the potential in it.


    After finishing dinner, we went outside, and I seated on the grass while meditating. I looked at the dark sky and saw that the stars were so bright today that even the mist couldn''t contain the light that they were emitting.


    After a bit, I saw master leaving her house with a pill in her hand. "I used the herbs that we collected to concoct this pill. It should have enough potential to make your breakthrough."


    "Thank you for your support," I said.


    "Everything in this world happens in a circle Ullach. What I am doing today is not only for myself."


    "What are you talking about?" I asked her with a puzzled face.


    "Nothing to worry about. Now, let''s proceed with your breakthrough." She handed me the pill and seated across me.


    I looked at the pill in my hand and thought about the difficulties I have passed until now. Even birthing life force that was something natural for those with innate mana in their bodies was difficult for me. Using soul power instead of mana to strengthen the body was much harder, even though my body was as strong as a tier two warrior, I still haven''t given birth to life force. When an average person uses mana to temper their bodies, the moment they break through to tier 1, life force is born. It was the first time in history that someone had used soul power to forge the body to give birth to life force; after all, everyone else could use mana to do it.


    I breathed deeply and adjusted my mindset and my body. I could feel my body wanting to form life force, but each time, the power was not strong enough to complete the process.


    I looked at the pill in my hand and put it in my mouth. I swallowed it and began to use my soul force to circulate the energy released by it through my body. The energy released was gentle and powerful at the same time. It didn''t harm my body, only tempered it.


    I could feel my cells saturated in energy. Each and every part of my body was trembling, it was as if the process in which life force was born was forbidden to happen if there was no mana in the body, but even so, I was destroying this shackle.


    "AHHHHH"


    The energy in my body began to get heavier and heavier. My body was being destroyed and reforged by so much energy. The process was excruciating, but nothing that I couldn''t handle.


    Althaea looked at Ullach and saw that there was a green aura surrounding his body, the green aura of life force. Even though it was not complete, it was beginning to surge.


    I concentrated my soul force in my body and began to guide the energy and distribute it evenly. It was a hard thing to do, but not impossible.


    Minutes passed, then hours. My body was slowly absorbing the pill, and by now, it looked as if it''s going to burst any time.


    I concentrated, and just before my body crumbled, a different sensation assaulted me. It was as if my cells began to emit a different kind of energy. Instead of only reinforcing themselves using the energy, they were now processing it and producing life force. It was a magical sensation, very different from the feeling of soul force.


    Soul force was something that every living being had but didn''t cultivate. But life force was something that only began to exist after training hard. The life force began to strengthen my body, riding me of all impurities that were left in it and making it perfect.


    After bathing in this sensation for a long time, I opened my eyes. I saw that Althaea was looking at me with shock in her eyes.


    "Your life force¡­ it is in another different tier¡­ " She said.


    "What are you talking about? Lifeforce does not have tiers." I answered.


    It was a common knowledge that life force could be accumulated and didn''t have different tiers. The reason why Ki users fused life force with mana to have Ki was this.


    "Yes, it didn''t have. But it seemed that we were wrong, life force can have tiers. Look at your life force and see the difference from the ones described in the books."


    I sensed it with my soul and body. The life force in me had a deep green colour. The life force commonly described in books usually had a light green colour, very different from mine.


    Even the density and quality were different from the ones described in the books. I could feel that my life force could regenerate my body much quicker than the one described in the books as well.


    "It looks like today we have broken many concepts that were solid." I laughed.


    "Nothing in this world has a limit. It''s the beings that live in this world that form boundaries to control everything around them." Althaea said. "Now that you have life force, your body will be strengthened much faster than before, making your soul force grow faster as well."


    "Yes, and we can try to implement the plan that we formed as well."


    "No. Now is not the time. First, we will awaken your mutation with the life force. After that, we will continue to train your life force and soul force. We have to see the limits that your life force can achieve. After that, we can consider it." Althaea said with a serious face. It looked like there were many more things to be done. "Use the method to awaken the mutation first."


    I nodded to her and controlled my life force. Usually, when someone births a new force or energy in them, it takes a long time to control it properly. However, I was an exception to this. My soul power was strong enough that compared to controlling natural mana, controlling something that was part of me was a piece of cake.


    I controlled my life force and began to concentrate on specific parts of my body. The method to awaken the mutation was smooth and hard at the same time. Easy because the process itself was not so complicated once you knew how to properly control life force, and challenging because if you didn''t get the hang of it, you wouldn''t awaken anything.


    I gathered the life force from all my body in my heart. After doing it, I resonated with my heartbeats. It was as if the energy was resonating in the same frequency as my heart, making it pulsate and emitting a pulse all over my body.


    I felt as if something was awakening within me. My body felt stronger, my blood was flowing faster within me, and my senses were hightened.


    The life force was used to awaken this strength and change my body. After the transformation was complete, I got up and looked at my body. My muscles were much better defined then before as if each muscle worked out individually, but it was not big or monstrous, it had only an athletic look. My skin was much whiter than before, almost pale. I felt something else, and invoked a wind slash with my soul power and scratched my arm. The slash barely scratched the skin. I raised the force and slashed again. A more significant wound was made in my arm, but it quickly closed, and any sign of it existing vanished. Even the blood that escaped returned to the injury.


    I went to the well and looked at the water. Seeing my reflection, I saw that my iris were now red, like a ruby.

 Chapter 7 - Power!

    I felt a fantastic power overflowing within me, there was even more that wanted to come out, but it looked like there was no energy to fuel this power.


    I sighed and shook my head. I attained a power that I never imagined in my whole life, something that I thought would be going against the world itself. But here I am, looking at the stars in the sky, admiring the nature and the world that surrounded me.


    Althaea was looking at me with an amazing face. It seemed that she had never expected my mutation to be so powerful.


    Just like the mana had cycles and Nature force its nine concepts, mutations had stages as well. The stronger the body, the stronger the mutation. The Ki users nurture their bodies, and in consequence their mutations, making them evolve together with the body tiers.


    Classifying a Ki user is a hard thing; after all, there is no bottleneck during the ki cultivation. The tiers were classifications that appeared after an in-depth study of how the body reacted, accumulated and could use ki. After this study, the rankings would be simple if you didn''t consider mutations. Mutations could appear in many forms and manners.


    Someone could awaken a mutation that transformed his body in fire at will; another one could only awaken an enhanced regeneration. They usually varied in strength as well. Two different people could awaken enhanced regeneration while in the first body tier, but one could have the capability to regenerate a lost finger and such injuries, and another one only superficial scratches. Until today, nobody could understand why the strength of the same mutation could variate so much.


    Ullach mutation was undoubtedly one of a kind! He had enhanced regeneration, enhanced senses. And it seemed that there was still more to discover. These were only the things that he found until now.


    "Ullach, Let''s spar!" Commanded Althaea.


    "Yes, master!" I sensed my surrounds and entered a fight position. I released my soul power and sensed everything around me. My soul power, together with my enhanced senses and high mana sight, would give me an edge in battles from now on.


    Althaea opened her wings, and numerous wind feathers began to appear around her. They looked as beautiful as they looked dangerous. I concentrated my soul power and created aa rock cover and backed away. The feathers went through the wall as if it was nothing and continued to head in my direction.


    I concentrated my soul force in my legs and backed away quickly. It was almost as if I had transformed into a gust of wind. I jumped sideways and swiftly evaded the feathers in a smooth movement. It was almost as if my body could do anything right now. Although I knew that my power was not endless, I could now evade master''s attacks.


    I formed a rock spear and threw it in her direction. The spear looked more like lightning bolt them a spear. Master swiftly formed a barrier around her and stopped the spear.


    My concentration was at its peak. It looked like I could observe anything that happened around me. The battle continued for some time. Although I have received a massive power-up from the mutation, I still couldn''t compare it to master''s power. She was indeed a force of nature!


    While I was frantically moving around the battlefield, she never took a step from her place, only threw attacks at me like they were nothing to her. She didn''t even look like she had spent any energy.


    I was surprised as well. While my soul force was beginning to get weaker, my body was still in top condition.


    I wasn''t even sweating, and my stamina must have improved a great deal for me to continue the battle like this.


    "Let''s end this," Althaea said while looking in my direction.


    The air around me began to get colder and denser. A longsword formed of ice appeared in front of me. The spear only hovered there for a second and slashed at me. Even with my improved body and senses, I could not evade this attack.


    "Slaaaash"


    A huge gash appeared on my chest. I realised that master was holding back on me, because the wound was only superficial and could be healed using soul force in mostly two days, and if master helped me, the injury could heal in a moment.


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    I concentrated my soul force in my wound with the intent of stopping the bleeding and accelerate the healing. But it looked like my efforts were for nothing.


    The wound closed by itself, almost as if a magical hand was making it happen. The blood that was on me began to enter the injury. I saw that the blood that fell on the ground tried to move in my direction, but it didn''t have enough strength to reach me. After only 1 minute, I looked as new as possible. Even the blood on my clothes disappeared.


    My healing factor was genuinely staggering! With the help of my soul force, the wounds could heal much quicker!


    Master stood on her position, scrutinising my chest and looking for signs of anything. The only evidence left of the wound was the blood on the ground, and that stopped trying to move by now.


    "Amazing! I had never seen a recently awakened mutation with so many powers as yours have." She said. "In the future, when you evolve it, I don''t dare even to imagine what it can achieve."


    "Master, my mutation still have some other ability. But it looks like I can''t use it due to a lack of appropriate energy source, my life force, and soul force don''t have the qualities that it needs to be used." I said with a pang of regret in my chest. Even to this day, my inability to use mana still haunted me!


    "Don''t worry about it. We still have plenty of time to implement and test your idea. While it can take a while, it will all be worth it!." She said to me.


    I took a deep breath and calmed my anxiety. There was still plenty of time to find a solution. While I could not use any external energy by now, it was only a temporary thing.


    "Sleep well tonight! Tomorrow we depart to find the dragon." She said with a calm face and went into her house.


    I looked down at my shirt and saw that it was in shambles, it seemed that I would have to use the spare one for now.


    I entered my hut and slept like a baby that night.


    ***


    Waking up in the morning, I looked at the sun rays that were entering through the window. The valley looked as beautiful as always. In the sunrises, there was still a rainbow hue that appeared in the valley.


    I packed my bags and looked the last time in my room. These last two years were the best years of my life. I had attained something that I have always wished for, albeit only slightly. There was still a long way to go.


    I grabbed my greatsword and left my hut.


    I looked at the sword in my hand and shook my head. In the distant past, I choose to train with a greatsword to challenge my limits when I was a little boy. I even invented the mana cutter technique to use with it. There were many good memories that I had with this weapon.


    Looking at it now gave my heart a pang. I trained with the greatsword for the last two years as well, but it was dull and deformed by now. This happened in my first spar with Master when I tried to defend from rock spear. The weapon almost snapped in half. Lucky, it had a strong core that held it together.


    I looked around, and many memories of the place began to come to me. It had been a long time since I had loved a place so much as this one. The clan compound was a place of suffering and struggles for me, but this one was a place of transformations and new paths.


    I looked up and saw that Master was already waiting for me.


    "What is that sad face for? It''s not like we will never return." She shook her head while saying. "When you live as long as me, you will realise that places are not that important, there are more valuable things."


    I looked at Althaea with a puzzled face like always. I had known her for only two years, and she always acted like an older person. She seemed to be in her early twenties. I knew that powerful people could age slowly or even stopping getting old at all for peak experts. But how old was she? It was a question that I would never dare to make.


    I was pushed out of my thoughts by another surprise. Althaea began to form some circles in the air, using mana! It was the first time in years that I had seen her using it. She had always used soul force to fight against me. I had studied magic formations for many years before I met her, and she even helped me in my studies during these last two years. I could recognise a summoning formation when I saw one.


    The formation that she was making was majestic. It was something that only high circle mages could use. She swiftly wrote the runes and completed the summoning circle.


    I could feel a massive quantity of mana coming out of her and powering the formation. I had never seen someone use so much mana in my whole life. Although my clan was pretty powerful itself, I had never seen an elder taking action. The last time I saw someone using mana with such finesse, was when I last saw my brother, but the quantity and quality could not even compare with Althaea, even though he was already a sixth circle mage when I last saw him!


    Tiomnach was a monstrous genius. He was already a sixth circle mage by the tender age of fourteen. Two years had passed now, and I felt that he may even have achieved the seventh circle by now.


    The higher the circle, the harder it was to progress, and the seventh circle was especially tricky. From the sixth to the seventh circle, a mage needed to have a high stage of enlightenment in the element that he was proficient in so that he could form a specialised mana core for that element.


    Many mages stopped their progress on purpose so that they could form a dual concept or multiple concepts core.


    The stronger the concept that the mage had, the harder the breakthrough. Their clan mainly used wood, a concept formed by the combination of the aspect of life and the elements of earth and water.


    The wood was a pretty high tiered concept, but I doubted my brother would form a core of wood. His vision was aiming much higher for only creating a wood core. Even before I left the clan, he was secretly meditating on the laws of space and time.


    Some legendary clans only used these two laws, that had an inheritance rich enough so that their descendants could grasp the law of space or time through their inherited memories.


    Even with their genetic memories, those descendants had to study hard and dedicate a long time to grasp it. Outside of these clans, only geniuses could understand these legendary concepts.


    Tiomnach was probably still on the sixth circle, but Ullach wouldn''t bet his chips on it, after all, his brother could achieve the impossible.


    After the magic circle was adequately fed, a blinding light emanated from it, and Ullach protected his eyes with his forearm.


    After the light vanished, a loud cry resonated through the valley.


    "KYAAAAAAAA"


    It lowered my arm and was stunned by what I was seeing.


    In front of me, a huge bird appeared in front of Althaea. The bird was ten meters tall and had two pairs of wings, its feathers were cyan coloured, and it had a flaming crown on its head. The creature bowed in front of Althaea and rubbed its head against her hand.


    I didn''t even have words to describe how magnificent the creature was. I could also feel a high quantity of mana emanating from it.


    "Flamy will be our ride for these next months." She looked at me and laughed at my flabbergasted face.

 Chapter 8 - Rixni

    "What?! We are going to fly in it?" I staggered out of my stupor. I have never flown. Where was the place that I was supposed to hold in the bird? The feathers? They looked to be slippery¡­. Would this be my last day of life?


    "No, we are not. I was lying to you. We are going to walk the whole way, and Flamy will keep us company." She said with a mocking tone. It was evident that we would fly the bird. "Stop saying foolish things and hop on." After saying this, she jumped and landed at the back of the bird.


    I looked up and jumped as well. The back of the bird felt like a carpet to me; it felt amazing.


    "Hold on my shoulder."


    I looked at Althaea and put my hand on her shoulder. The bird unfolded its four wings and took flight. The moment it left the ground, I was almost hurled out of it. I grabbed Althaea by her neck and held her as if my life was on the line.


    "AAHHHHHH" A scream unconsciously left my mouth.


    My legs were dangling in the air like a leaf. Althaea was almost a rock embedded in the soil. She didn''t even shake with all the wind. After a bit, we reached a high altitude, and I could see the valley in the distance. The mountains began to look smaller and smaller. Even the town was tiny. Althaea released her mana, and a field formed around us. The wind stopped buffeting against us, and my feet reached the bird back.


    There was an awkward silence for a moment. My front and her back were stuck together. She looked at me with a dark glint in her eyes.


    "Sorry¡­." I said.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH"


    I was thrown from the back of the bird. The world began to spin around me, and everything was blank in my mind. "This is the end..." I thought.


    While Ullach was lost in his thoughts, he couldn''t see the flushed face of Althaea. She never had any intimate contact with any man, and feeling her disciple was strange and different, and enraging.


    The bird dived and grabbed Ullach while he was midair. The world stopped around him, but his head was still spinning.


    After some time, he felt a force grabbing him and lifting him to the back of the bird again. Althaea was quiet and looking ahead. He decided that this was not the moment for a conversation and began to meditate.


    ***


    They travelled for two weeks while avoiding big cities not to cause a ruckus. They only stopped to sleep and grab something to eat during the night. Luckily, he had a perfect constitution, and his body absorbed all the nutrients that he ate, making the necessity to do some things disappear.


    They left the continent, and after travelling on the sea for 10 hours, they arrived at an island. The island was huge, big enough to span a whole county.


    They slowly descended near the middle of the island. Nature here was vibrant. The trees were at least a hundred meters tall and had an old feel to it. There were several strange animals around the place, and some species he had never seen.


    After walking for 2 hours, Althaea turned to me and said. "We are going to meet the dragon in a bit. His name is Rix''ni, show him respect if you don''t want to be my food." She gave me a stern look and continued to walk.


    After leaving the forest, I could see a vast lake. Many waterfalls were surrounding the place, the water splashed in the rivers and formed the lake.


    Many rainbows were formed all over the lake. It was indeed a divine sight! Small animals and herbivores were drinking water calmly around the lake.


    Althaea gestured with her hand, and a big rune left formed in the air and penetrated the depths of the lake. For a moment, everything was silent. The animals that were drinking water from the lake looked up, and even the birds stopped chirping. After a moment, the animals began to run from the lake, and an ancient presence was felt. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    A huge head slowly appeared on the surface of the lake, and after a moment, part of its body appeared as well. Only the head of the dragon was already the size of Althaea''s house. Its body had white and smooth skin that looked invincible and soft at the same time. Its eyes were blue like the ocean, with huge slits in the middle. There were a pair of claws in the upper part of its body. A big pair of whiskers was on its face, together with a couple of horns that appeared on top of its head and spiralled backwards.


    It was a truly majestic creature! in front of it; even Althaea flamy looked like a little bird. The dragon Rix''ni looked toward us and said. "It has been a long time Althaea, daughter of the skies. what is the purpose of your visit?" The dragon looked at her and glanced at me. Its eyes closed a bit investigated me. I could feel it''s gaze looking at everything that made me. It was like I was naked and couldn''t hide anything from it.


    "This is my disciple, Ullach. We are having a problem in discovering his affinity, so we are here to seek guidance and ask your help in looking into it."


    The dragon scrutinised me. I could feel it investigating every inch of me.


    "Althaea, I have something to tell you first." After saying this, the dragon looked into my direction, and a sphere of energy appeared around me. I couldn''t hear or see anything that was happening outside of it.


    ***


    "Your disciple must never achieve any power¡­ Even his existence is a sin." The dragon said while looking into Althaea''s eyes.


    "Wh...What are you talking about Rix''ni? He has a pure heart, and do not have any evil in him." Althaea was truly surprised. She had known her disciple for two years by now and never seen any malice or anything like that in him. They have lived alone in a valley for two years by now, and other men would have tried something with her; after all, she was quite a beauty. In her opinion, he was only someone that was seeking power to struggle against who he was born, against his fate.


    "There are somethings that can''t be avoided in this world... Unfortunately, he is bound to destruction." After saying this, the dragon waved his paw, and an old tablet appeared from the bottom of the lake and floated to Althaea hands. "Keep it and read when you are alone, then destroy it! Somethings are better left alone. Never tell him the prophecy in that tablet, we must not interfere in fate."


    "A word of advice before I release him. Try not to involve yourself with his destiny; all of those who appear on his path are going to die in one way or another."


    After saying this, the energy around Ullach disappeared, and he could see and hear what was happening around him again. Althaea had already put away the tablet.


    "You want me to identify his affinities, right?" Asked Rix''ni.


    "That''s right. Could you please do it, old friend?" Answered Althaea.


    "Just a moment." Rix''ni eyes shined with powerful mana and concentrated on me. I could feel an even great power than before investigating me.


    After a few minutes, the glow in his eyes receded, and he said. "He has a very powerful affinity¡­. destruction!"


    "What kind of affinity is that?" I asked with doubt in my eyes. I had studied the concepts for a long time now. Among them, very few were still unknown. Most combinations were well studied or had a definition at least.


    "Destruction can be said to be the antithesis of creation. It can be manifested in many ways. In your case, destruction is manifested mainly by the union of the element of fire, aspect of death and law of darkness. But the laws of space and time still play a minor part in it. The concept of destruction is absolute. Only high tiered concepts can counter it, or if the difference in tiers or understand is too big." Rix''ni looked up and said. "You have a power that can destroy everything child. Your destiny will not be good." After saying this, the dragon dived into the pool and disappeared.


    I was left frozen in place¡­ A high tiered concept¡­. My affinity was pretty powerful by the sound of it. It also meant that I had to train even harder to use it. Having a high tiered affinity didn''t mean that I couldn''t use other concepts, but that I would have an easier time learning how to use it. It was like the difference between swimming upstream or downstream, swimming against the current was always much, much harder.


    An example of that would be, the destruction concept was formed mainly by fire, darkness and death, and a minor part of it by space and time. If I concentrated on learning the concepts that were part of it, I would have an easy time. But if I tried to learn the aspect of life or the element of water, I would have to dedicate ten times more effort into it.


    Knowing your affinity was only a step to learning how to use it.


    ***


    Althaea was looking at the lake with an empty gaze. She didn''t know what to do right now. Rix''ni had warned her about being part of his destiny, and now that she knew the affinity that he had, she was even more worried.


    Affinities often dictated the path that the person would have to take to learn them. If he wanted to learn the concept of destruction, he would have to see death first hand, involve himself in darkness and realise the devastation that fire could make. A person changed after seeing these things. Death could only be seen on a battlefield or in places that were not so good, and darkness was always a problematic law to grasp.


    He would have to see the worst of this world firsthand to understand the concept of destruction.


    She looked at the tablet that was inside her pocket space and sighed. She wanted to read it as soon as possible, but first, she would have to be alone to do that.


    Back to the present. Althaea left Bryan in a clearing somewhere in the forest and flew away from him. Arriving at a secluded place, she took the tablet away from the pocket space.


    The tablet was made using mana steel, a durable metal that could resist the passage of time and was very valuable.


    The inscriptions on the tablet were made using ancient language, something that almost no one knew how to read nowadays.


    After taking a look at it, she began to translate its contents.


    The opposites will be born from the same mother. One will be gifted, and the other will be cursed. One will be the bringer of life, and the other of destruction. The destroyer will struggle for power and do anything to destroy those who defy his will. Anything that stands in his path will cease to exist. The bringer of life will restore the order and fight against the tides of destruction, uniting the world to fight against the destroyer.


    "The destroyer?" Her eyes were wide open in shock. She began to remember these last two years when she lived together with him. Ullach was always a determined and gentle person. Even when he was dead tired, he still made their food with care and never complained. All the smiles, full of gratitude that he gave her were always so sincere¡­


    There was no way that he could become this destroyer in her mind. She was determined to protect him in any way she could.


    "You now know his destiny. I will not kill him now out of respect for you, but beware, keep your eyes open and watch him closely. Do not let him transform into an emissary of destruction." Rix''ni voice sounded in her mind, alerting her of the future.


    She didn''t answer him, as she didn''t know what to do in this kind of situation. Althaea sighed and left the place toward Ullach.

 Chapter 9 - The abyss

    After waiting for a while, Althaea finally arrived. She had a severe look on her face as if something dire happened. "Is there something bothering you, Master?"


    "Nothing that you have to worry about now." She said, trying to get rid of the tension in her eyes. "Let''s leave this island. Our next destination is going to be much more interesting." After saying this, she turned in a random direction and walked away.


    Even though she was trying to hide it, I could see the tension in her shoulders. Something did happen, and she wouldn''t tell me. Getting rid of these thoughts, I walked after her.


    We arrived in a grass field, and Althaea whistled. Flamy descended from the sky in all its glory, but after seeing the dragon, its majestic aura lost some of its shine in my eye.


    Althaea hurriedly got on Flamy back, and I did the same, after a moment, we were flying away from the island.


    "Where are we going now, master?" I asked her with eagerness.


    "You need some practical experience, and no place is better to get it then..."


    "The abyss."I completed.


    She looked at me with a puzzled face and asked. "How did you know?"


    "Well, there are no wars currently happening on the continent. The monsters were subdued or created their domains where no man dares to enter. The only current threat to the continent is the abyss. although it is sealed, the weaker abyssal''s can still go through the fissure." Ullach said with scholarly disposition, keeping a straight back and his nose up.


    Seeing her disciple acting smug, Althaea slapped his neck and said. "Hum. Act more humble in front of me."


    I bowed my head to her and said. "Yes, supreme and most powerful master." with a grin on my face.


    "You little piece of¡­."


    "AHHHHHHH"


    She sent me flying from Flamy again¡­


    ***


    After getting up in flame again, I was finally relieved. It seemed that my little stunt had relaxed her a little.


    I didn''t know what was burdening her, but I would do my best to see her happy. In my entire life, the only person that cared for me and taught me with sincerity was her. Even those teachers at the clan that taught me theory always acted as if I was beneath them, and they were teaching trash.


    For me, the only family that I had was Tiomnach and her.


    We flew for only three days this time. I could see dark clouds on the horizon, and a giant fortress surrounding a deep and dark abyss.


    Even looking at the abyss gave me chills. I knew that this place almost destroyed the continent in the distant past. The history of how the abyss appeared was well known all over the continent, and is used as an example of why some experiments could not happen.


    Many years ago, an experiment on how to contact other dimensions was being conducted here. The mage responsible for it was a legendary existence that dominated the laws of space and time. He was well known all over the place and was considered a mage who had no equal. What everyone didn''t know was that besides the laws of space and time, he also was a specialist in using the aspects of life and death. His objective was to connect to the plane of death, and get the soul of his loved one back to resurrect her.


    After years of researching planes, he finally discovered a coordinate where death energy was strong, very strong. After getting the coordinates of that plane, he continued with the experiment and used a core created from a dragon heart as a source of mana.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The first phase of the experiment was a success. The portal to the other dimension was open and stable. The group began to explore it slowly, extracting the unique mana that emanated from it, but unfortunately, not everything went so well. The abyssals, the race that lived in the Abyss, discovered the portal and plotted to expand it to dominate our dimension.


    The lord of the Abyss connected the two dimensions and began the invasion. The continent was devoured by war. It was the last stand made by all of the races that expelled the abyssals and sealed the portal.


    The portal could not be completely closed, and some weaker abyssal''s could still come over, because of that, the fortress was built around it, and many youngsters came to here to train against the abyssals.


    The fortress was organized in levels. The levels were according to tiers of power. The closer to the surface, the weaker the demons were.


    Special seals were put in place to stop the stronger demons from coming to the surface. During the years, the levels expanded many times, and they were genuinely gigantic constructions now.


    The place was known as the nine circles of hell or underworld. Although it is organized in levels, many believed that there was no abyssal above the sixth tier in there, after all, an abyssal of the seventh tier was a powerful creature in the abyss, and he didn''t need to eat any puny human souls to gain more power, a few humans would make no difference to them.


    Seeing the fortress in the distance, he could feel the darkness of the place.


    This time, Althaea didn''t stop and flew directly to the fortress. The closer they got, the more he was amazed by it.


    The fortress stood at 200 meters tall. It''s walls were full of runes and formations to reinforce the structure. Even the natural mana in the area was affected by the formations.


    Flamy flew to the top of the fortress and landed. Many soldiers were already around them, and a mage came out of a gate leading into the fort. When he saw Althaea, his face froze.


    The mage quickly came toward us and said. "My lady Althaea, it''s been many years since you were here. I humbly welcome you into this fortress." The man bowed to her.


    After seeing the mage acting like this, the soldiers realized that the woman must be someone important and instantly lowered their weapons and bowed as well.


    Althaea waved her hand and said. "There is no need to act like this. I am here to train my pupil. lead us to the fortress."


    The mage gave me a good look and said. "As you wish, my lady." The mage said to the soldiers. "Go back to your posts." The soldiers quickly dispersed.


    The mage guided us into the fortress and said. "It''s good to see you again after so many years my lady, the records that you made in here are still unbroken."


    "Oh, no one in these new generations was capable of breaking them? A pity." She said while shaking her head.


    Althaea maintained a straight face all the time since we arrived here. She was a bit cold to me when I first met her, but she quickly showed affection and care for me. Althaea was more of a mother for me than my biological mother, and seeing her with a cold face like this again was strange.


    I dismissed this from my mind and listened to what the man was saying. "In these past years, some capable youths have appeared, but nothing compared to you."


    After taking the magic elevator, we finally arrived at the entrance to the first level. When the doors of the elevator opened, the sight amazed me.


    Many strange people were coming out of multiple elevators and walking toward a line beside a massive gate. The gate was golden colored and full of formations inscribed in it. There was a small gate beside the big one where the people were entering after registering with some soldiers. From time to time, some exhausted people came out of it as well.


    What truly amazed me was that there were not only humans here!! Many people had never seen the other races, and I was one of them as well. Humans governed the city that I had come from, and no other races went there.


    I could see the Adhar''s, Troich''s and even Dionach''s in here.


    The Adhar''s were a race humanoid beings that were known for their beauty and grace. They lived amidst the clouds and could fly since the day they were born. They looked mostly like humans but had elemental wings and some lines that glowed in their bodies.


    The Troich''s were a legendary race that lived underground and rarely came to the surface. They were 3 meters tall and had different kinds of skins. Some had stone skin, and others had metal skin. They looked like golems that were built by some mages, but had a much more complicated body structure and could move freely despite the stone or metal skin. They varied in types, just like the books said.


    Even the Dionach''s looked different to me. The ones that I had met some years ago had brown bark skin with green lines in it, but some of them in here had red-colored bark-like skin and flaming leaves as hair.


    The sight intrigued me, I turned to Althaea and asked. "Why are people from so many races reunited here?"


    Althaea looked at me as if I was a fool and asked. "Who sealed the entrance to the abyss?"


    After her question, it finally dawned upon me. The races that lived in the continent sealed the Abyss together, so now they shared it to train their youth. I nodded my head to her and said. "I understand."


    "Ok. Now it''s on you. I have to take care of some business; you stay here and train." After saying this, she turned away and left. The mage bowed to me and followed after Althaea.


    I looked at the hall full of people. I only had my clothes, a backpack with some things, and my sword.


    I walked toward the line to enter the first level and saw that some people were looking at me. I could feel their probes. They probably had felt that I had no cultivation and threw glances at me.


    "Even weakling come to the underworld nowadays, what a waste of time."


    I looked at the source of this voice and saw a fierce man, surrounded by what looked like his team. He was emanating a third-tier Ki and had an ax strapped to his back.


    I took a deep breath and decided to ignore him. I walked to the line and waited until it was my turn.


    ***


    There were now only two teams in front of me. It felt a little strange to be the only person in here that was alone. Everyone else was in groups of 3 or more people. They had varied professions and weapons.


    One of the teams in front of me finished the procedures, and the other one began to register.


    I felt someone looking at me and saw that the fierce man was coming in my direction. He arrived before me and said. "Hey, weakling, thank you for keeping our place in the line. Now, get out of my sight." After saying this, he bumped at me, intending to throw me on the floor.


    I sidestepped and avoided him.

 Chapter 10 - Abyssals

    I stepped sideways and let the man bump on empty air. He stumbled and almost fell on the ground. It seemed that he had put quite a bit of force in this bump¡­.


    I looked at him and said. "This is my place on the line, and if you want a place, you can go find your own at the end of it."


    The fierce man looked at me with rage in his eyes. I sighed and shook my head. Trouble was coming my way.


    "You piece of shit! YOU DARE TO DEFY ME! I will show you how it''s like to suffer." After saying this, Ki began to surround his body. He stepped forward while throwing a punch.


    I looked at him with attention. This was the first time that I was fighting against a Ki cultivator. But¡­ The punch seemed so slow¡­ I evaded the blow and gave one of my own.


    "Pah."


    The fierce man was thrown a few meters and skidded on the ground. He was holding his belly and making a face as if his world fell apart. The aura around him began to change in color and gain a copper coloration.


    "STOP."


    A few guards approached and pointed their sword at us. The fierce man and his companions looked at me with hate and stopped in place.


    "What the hell is happening here? It''s forbidden to fight in this hall!" The guard looked fiercely at us and said. "The next time I see something like this happening, both of you will be banished from here!"


    The fierce man gave me a hateful looked and went away with his companions. I dismissed the man and focused on the previous words of the guard. He made his point that, while it was forbidden to fight in this hall, you could fight inside the underworld. I absorbed this information and prepared my mind for another encounter with the man and his group.


    The group in front of me finished the process and entered the gate.


    "Next!" Said the clerk.


    I stepped forward and said. "I want to enter the underworld."


    "If not, you wouldn''t be here." He gave me a disdainful look. He grabbed a few papers and said. "This is the contract of responsibility. You have to sign it for the case of your death, the power behind you knows that you were aware of the danger involved in entering the underworld."


    I grabbed the paper and saw that the contract was in short, saying that if I died, they wouldn''t be responsible for it. There was nothing strange about the contract, so I signed it and gave it back.


    "Good. Now that you have signed it, there is some information that you need to know." He grabbed some papers and gave them to me. "There is some information here that could interest you, in case you want to break a record or earn some money. This paper here is where the prizes are stated for each abyssal." He said while pointing to one of the papers in my hand. "The other one shows the raking and is magically updated in case someone beats one of the records."


    "This last one, there is the list of things you can exchange for the abyssal''s that you hunt in there." He looked at my backpack and said. "It looks like you don''t have a space bag¡­. After you kill some abyssal''s, you can exchange for one. Now, NEXT." He said while waving his hand.


    "Thanks for the information." After saying this, I stepped toward the gate, and the guards let me pass.


    After entering going through it, I could already feel the abyssal energy everywhere. It was corrosive and evil energy. The books described that the abyss was uninhabitable for humans because of the properties of the abyssal energy, and that only some powerhouses could survive in there for long.


    The group that entered before couldn''t be seen. I looked at the various ways that I could choose from and entered a random one.


    The cavern was pretty big, in my opinion. The shortest way I saw was at least 10 meters tall and 20 meters wide. The rocks on both the floor and walls were so strong that I couldn''t even manipulate it with my soul force. After getting ahold of my surrounds, I entered deeper.


    I admit that I am a little bit nervous¡­ this was the first time that I am going to fight an abyssal. During my years of training with Althaea, I had only trained long or medium range combat. Althaea was not a big fan of close-quarters fighting.


    I looked ahead and saw that there was a creature lurking in the darkness. It was 2,5 meters tall, had a dark and though hide, and spikes were coming out of some places in its body. The creature looked menacing, and this was the first level! Supposedly, the monsters in here would only be comparable to a first-tier fighter or mage.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Looking at it, I felt oppression that was much higher than a first-tier could handle alone.


    So, that is why they always entered in teams.


    The creature realized that someone was looking at it and turned its head in my direction. Its eyes were completely black. The abyssal grinned and ran in my direction as if I would die in the first hit.


    I took a stand and grabbed my greatsword from my back. I made a stance and waited for it to come closer.


    The sword was not in top condition after being used once to defend against Althaea in training, but at least I could use some soul force to strengthen it.


    The tension in the air was thick. The adrenaline flowing in my veins made me concentrate even more. I used soul power to reinforce the sword and created an air blade around its edge.


    When the abyssal was seven meters away from me, it lunged. I flexed my knees and jumped. Letting it pass under me and slashing at its back with all I had.


    "Splaash."


    The sound of the blood hitting the floor was a beautiful sound to my ears. I smiled after seeing the massive gash in the creature''s back. The smile quickly disappeared from my face.


    The abyssal was slowly getting up, and the wound on its back was quickly closing, while the purple blood stopped gushing from it.


    It turned in my direction and was even more enraged. Instead of lunging at me, this time, it began to circle me.


    I readied my sword again and calmed my state of mind. Seeing the abyssal getting back on its feet after having such a great wound was shocking. Getting my thoughts in line, I didn''t wait for it to recover entirely and attacked it instead.


    I put strength on my legs and stepped forward. The abyssal slashed at me with its long claws as if waiting for this moment. I ducked and slashed, severing the right arm. Instead of screaming or show pain, it merely attacked me with its other arm. I saw the attack coming, but my feet were not touching the ground, as I had put too much strength to cut its arm.


    "Pah"


    "Bang"


    The only thing that I could do was form protection from soul force, but because the time was not enough to create a more powerful shield.


    I was brutally hurled at the wall. My mind felt a little bit dizzy because of the impact, but my body was not hurt. It seemed that my defenses were enough, at least.


    After throwing me at the wall, the abyssal didn''t waste time and lunged at me again. I focused my soul force in my body. I felt a rage coming from inside of me, but instead of a burning anger that made me lose control of my mind, it was a cold rage that made me focus and become a cold-blooded killer.


    I dropped my greatsword and focused the soul force in my hand. I looked at the creature and dashed to its encounter. The abyssal attacked me with its left arm, and I stepped to the side and thrust my hand toward its chest.


    The abyssal looked down at me with fear in its eyes. I grinned and pulled the heart out, making the hole in the chest gush blood. The blood-covered me from head to toe and the abyssal fell back, dead.


    The rage receded from my mind. I looked at my hand, that was holding a beating heart, and at my body, that was washed by purple blood. At the moment I killed the abyssal, It felt amazing. It was as if the power that I seek during my whole life appeared in front of me. I was in total control of my body and what I did. I only followed my instincts in the most efficient way to kill the creature.


    I dropped the heart on the ground and used soul force to clean my body and belongs from the blood. I picked the piece of paper from the bag and looked at what was the most pricy part of the creature''s body.


    ***


    Althaea felt a chill running through her back. She was watching everything that was happening on the first floor of the underworld, and she saw the fight between Ullach and the abyssal.


    At the moment that he ripped the heart out of the abyssal chest, she saw a cold fury in his eyes. She knew that he was in control of his own body by reading his soul, but even then, it was worrying.


    "Let''s not rush to conclusions. Let me observe him." She thought to herself.


    ***


    Bryan looked at the magic paper in his hand and saw that the most valuable part of the abyssal was indeed its heart, the nucleus of its abyss energy.


    He separated a compartment in his backpack and placed the heart there.


    Looking at the exchange list, he saw that he would need at least 5 of these hearts to buy a space bag of a decent size.


    "Let''s keep going."


    He picked the greatsword from the ground and continued down the cave.


    After walking for a while, he encountered another abyssal. This one was a bit different from the first one that he met. Instead of being big and bulky, this one was lean and looked to be fast.


    He placed his sword in a horizontal position in front of him and enhanced his body using soul power and his sword as well. It required more concentration to enhance both of them, but he could finish the battle faster.


    The abyssal slowly approached me. Making eye contact and trying to find a weakness. Instead of waiting for an attack, I lunged forward and attacked it. The creature tried to evade my attack, but this time I was going 100% from the beginning. The beast was helpless in avoiding the attack, and I quickly beheaded it.


    I breathed deeply and put my hand on my knees to rest a bit. I exerted too much force in trying to kill this creature quickly and overdid it. Although I earned a little bit of experience in fighting against Althaea, I needed to learn how to control my strength to conserve my power for longer.


    The abyssal''s were undoubtedly powerful, but I was stronger than the ones on the first floor. I could not kill them quickly because I couldn''t control my strength correctly. Right now, my bodily strength was estimated to be in the third tier, and my soul power in the fourth tier. I was fighting against a first-tier abyssal and having trouble because I couldn''t control my power correctly. Sparing with Althaea couldn''t even compare to struggling with an abyssal. The gap between my strength and hers was too big, I couldn''t exert 100% of power properly, and couldn''t use less than it as well.


    Fighting here would teach me how to be a proper fighter.


    ***


    The days quickly passed. It has already been two days since I arrived in the first layer. I learned to fight against first-tier abyssal''s properly, and could now quickly kill them. I had collected quite a few materials, and my bag was full. It was time to return to the surface to exchange for a few things.


    I went back after struggling a bit to remember the way. Fortunately, I had a good memory and could recognize the caves.


    After running for three hours, I returned to the underworld hall. There were numerous adventurers in there, seeking riches in these caves. But I knew that going down there was not so glamorous.


    In these last two days, I saw many people being devoured and killed by abyssal''s. Just like the races fought in the underworld to earn riches and experience, the abyssal''s still came through the gate to kill and devour souls.


    Just like humans and the other races, abyssal''s could cultivate using the energy from the abyss. But the souls of the races that cultivated using pure energy from this dimension could accelerate their cultivation by hundreds of times if they had enough souls to eat that is.


    Just like the races wanted to kill the abyssal''s, they tried to kill us. That is why they kept coming to the underworld despite a lot of them dying in here. The ones that survived could quickly become much, much more powerful.


    Power is the only thing that moves everything in this world, and others¡­.

 Chapter 11 - Fate

    After arriving in the hall, I could see some people waiting to enter the underworld. I quickly went into one of the elevators and pressed the button of the floor where I could exchange the body pieces for rewards.


    When the door of the elevator opened, I saw various booths where things were available for exchange. You could find from armors to pills in here.


    Seeing a signal saying "Point exchange," I walked to it. There was a young woman clerk in there. She had blue eyes and dark hair. Her skin was white while her body was pretty good as well.


    Seeing me arrive, she straightened her back and said with a seducing smile on her face. "Welcome. My name is Hannah. How can I serve you?"


    I blushed a little after seeing her smile. I grabbed my backpack and said. "Hi. My name is Ullach. I am here to exchange some abyssal parts."


    "Oh, good, show it to me."


    I opened my backpack and showed the body part to her. Although it has already been two days since some pieces were collected, the abyss energy in them stopped the decay.


    She picked the materials with expertise and counted them. I had collected 18 abyssal hearts, and a few other valuable materials.


    After counting it, she said. "The hearts are in good condition; you and your teammates did quite a good jog."


    "You misunderstood, I have no teammates," I replied.


    There was a glint in the clerk''s eye, and she said with a smile on her face while coming closer to the counter. "Oh, impressive. You are quite powerful than."


    "Thanks..." I was pretty sure that my face was like a tomato by now.


    She leaned forward and said. "The items that you have bought are worth 21.400 points. Could you please give me your card so that I can credit it?"


    "I don''t have a card yet, the booklet with the instructions said that I could get one in here."


    "Oh, so you''re new here. Let me get you one then." She turned around and entered a door while swaying her butt. My eyes were fixed on it for a moment. I looked around and was relieved when I saw that no one realized where I was looking at.


    After a moment, she came back and showed me a black card. "You only have to drip some blood in it for it to recognize you as the owner. The points are already in it."


    "Thanks."


    She gave me the card and said. "Since you are new here, you don''t know the place yet, right?"


    "Yeah. I have only been to the Hall and this floor since I arrived."


    "Oh, I can show you around if you want..." She looked while blushing, waiting for an answer.


    "That would be perfect," I answered shyly.


    "My shift ends in 1 hour. You can come back then, and I will show you around."


    I smiled and said. "I will come back then. Bye, Hannah." I waved while turning around to leave.


    "Bye Ullach."


    ***


    Hannah looked around and was thankful that nobody saw what she did. She usually treated the clients that came here professionally, after all, she was quite beautiful, and many adventurers tried to woo her.


    But¡­ There was something magical in Ullach''s red eyes that attracted her. The way he spoke¡­. his soothing voice¡­.. And he hunted 18 abyssal''s alone. He was quite strong for his age, as well. Although he was a bit older than him, his qualities made up for it.Stolen novel; please report.


    "I hope everything goes well." She thought while blushing.


    ***


    After leaving the Points exchange, I went toward an armory, to get a new greatsword. I looked around and saw a board, and written on it was "ARMORY" in big letters. Arriving there, I saw many people entering and leaving the store. There were many weapons on display, some of them were cheap, and had low quality, just like my sword. Some of them were way above what I had in my card, and was not even close to affording one of them.


    Going to the balcony, I said. "Hello. I am here looking for a greatsword."


    The clerk turned to me and answered. "Welcome to our store! What kind of greatsword would you like?"


    "Well." I took my old greatsword and showed it to him."I have been using this one for a long time now. If you could get me one that had the same specs as this one, it would be great."


    "Hm¡­ This greatsword that you''re holding is tierless but is strong. I will look into it for you." He left the balcony and gestured me to follow him to another part of the store.


    "Wait." A voice coming from inside the store said. I turned around and saw a burly man coming to our direction. He looked to be in his forties. The mana around him was strong, and there was a warmth surrounding him.


    The clerk beside me bowed to the man and said. "Boss¡­. Is something the matter?"


    "No, there is nothing wrong." He answered the clerk. "You can go back. I will attend him personally."


    The clerk was stunned for a moment but quickly composed himself. "Ok, I will go back then." The clerk nodded to me and left me with his boss.


    "You must be Ullach. I am Ian. It''s a pleasure to meet you." The man extended his hand, and I shook it.


    "The pleasure is mine," I said while smiling. "Is there something you want to talk to me? To attend me personally¡­." I asked.


    "Yes, young man, there is." He turned around and said. "Follow me."


    I followed him into the store and entered the smith. Many weapons were being forged. When Ian passed, the other smiths nodded with their heads in his direction to acknowledge his presence. It seemed that he was well respected here.


    Walking to the end of the smith, we entered a door and arrived at his private smith, or so I thought. He walked to a table and said. "Your master requested me to forge this sword for you with some materials that she bought when she arrived here. It took me two days to forge it. You arrived just in time." There was cloth covering the table. He grabbed it and took it off the table.


    My eyes shone after seeing the greatsword that was on the table. The weapon was dark purple colored. Its blade shone with a black luster. The handle was forged together with the weapon, as well. Although it didn''t have the same size as the previous greatsword, it was still pretty big. It had a length of 1,2 meters and 30 cm of the handle.


    It was a magnificent weapon.


    "It was forged using the materials of high tiered abyssal''s, and using mithril and dragon scale as a base as well some other high tiered materials. I can say with surety that this is my masterpiece." Ian said with pride in his voice. "drip some blood on it, to create a connection. You will be the first one to touch it with hands. I only touched it using tools so that a connection would not form."


    Ullach bit his thumb and focused so that it didn''t regenerate immediately. He dripped some blood on the blade of the greatsword, and it shone with a purple luster. He grabbed the handle and felt a connection forming between him and the sword.


    It felt amazing! The weapon was now like an extension of my body. Swinging, it felt natural. He could reinforce the weapon with his soul force with just a thought. There was no need to focus on it.


    "It has recognized you as its owner." He looked at the sword and asked. "Now, you should name it."


    I thought for a while and had a name in mind. "It''s gonna be called Purb¨¢s. The purple death." He said while looking at his reflection on the blade.


    "A fitting name. make justice to it." Ian walked toward the door and said. "It''s time to leave."


    ***


    I left the armory and walked around the floor, buying many things. The first thing that I went after was a spacial bag. Carrying a backpack from one place to the other was tiring, and sometimes even got on the way the fights. After buying a spacial bag of 4x4 meters for 15.000 points, I bought some clothes and miscellaneous things that would be necessary for my trips to the underworld.


    After getting everything that I needed, I walked to the Point exchange to meet Hannah.


    Arriving there, I saw she was waiting for me in front of the store, and another person had taken her place.


    She had changed her attire and was wearing a dark green dress that accentuated her curves but still hid her essential places. She was wonderful.


    She saw that I was coming and waved to me. "Hey."


    "Hey, Hannah, how are you doing?"


    "Much better after getting out of this place. Working all day is exhausting, you know."


    "Well, at least we are going to get some fresh air now."


    "Yeah, I think it''s going to be great." She said while blushing.


    "Let''s get going then." I gestured for her to lead the way.


    She grabbed my arm to lead me around. She began by showing me the entertainment floor, the place where the adventurers that came to this place could rest and have some fun. There was everything in there, from restaurants to massage parlors. The place was truly amazing and huge. I wandered if the fortress was enchanted to expand its size. But I focused on the tour after it.


    By the end of the night, we were eating at the hotel restaurant where I was going to sleep.


    "You are truly a wonder, you know. Someone that came from the capital of the north to find a job in here." I said while looking at her.


    "Well, finding a job was not the only motive. I was part of a family of mages in there, but they restricted me too much and wanted to control everything that I did. You know what mage''s clans are like." She said after remembering that I was also part of a clan of mages.


    "Of course, I know how it''s like. They want to control even what you eat! It''s not like you are a member of the clan, it''s more like you are their possession." I answered honestly.


    "That''s what I mean. So..." Hannah took a sip of the beverage on the table and continued. "They expected too much of me. So I left the clan. It was not like I wanted to be a chess piece in their political games, living a life that was meant to be what they wanted to. Others were happy in obliging to their will, but I was not."


    "I know what it''s like. And worse, if you don''t attend to their expectations, they treat you like trash. The only person in my clan that truly cared about me was my brother. But even so, I choose to leave, and it was for the best." I said, and took a sip of my drink.


    "I know, I know. And you know what? Fate is truly a wonder. Here we are, talking and having fun, far away from the oppression of our clans. If we both didn''t decide to leave, we wouldn''t have met today." She said while looking into my eyes with passion.


    "Thankfully I left the clan. I didn''t want to lose the opportunity to meet you," I said while looking at her.


    Our faces blushed at the same time.

 Chapter 12 - 2nd floor

    I woke up in my hotel room. Although we were in a fortress, the services here were impeccable. Instead of a fortress, it was more like a training center to the youngsters of the continent. If you had enough points, you could even attend classes taught by powerful and respected people according to what Hannah told me. That was the reason, in the end, she chooses to come here.


    Now I knew the importance of the place, I was ready to search for some combat classes on how to use the greatsword as well. I trained for many years and knew a lot of different combat techniques, but I only knew tier 0 techniques, or in other words, mortal techniques.


    Now that I had superhuman strength and capabilities, using the sword properly was different; after all, my limits were much higher. Knowing your limits is also a virtue.


    I went to the bathroom and took a shower, did my necessities, and got ready to leave again to the Underworld. I remembered the promise of meeting Hannah again the next time I arrived from the underworld and smiled.


    Relationships were indeed a wonder. I had never interacted so much with a beautiful girl, but even so, it was a fantastic experience.


    After getting everything ready, I went to the elevator and chose to go to the underworld hall. The procedures were the same as last time. The clerk recognized me and didn''t give the papers again.


    I entered the underworld and felt the Abyss energy everywhere. Now, I knew that the way on the right lead directly to the second floor, so I went toward it.


    ***


    I only encountered one abyssal on the way to the second floor. By what Hannah told me, the abyssal rarely stayed near the stairs leading to other levels. Mainly because powerful people that wanted to go down would pass through it, and if they were on the way, only death awaited them.


    It was an unspoken rule that the divers, as they called the people that entered the underworld, wouldn''t kill abyssal''s on floors that were inferior to them. They only did it in particular circumstances when a truly powerful abyssal appeared.


    The stairs that lead to the second floor had numerous runes and formations. They were used to contain the powerful abyssal''s that wanted to ascend the levels.


    After getting to the second floor, I felt that the abyss energy was much denser in here. It couldn''t even compare to the first floor. I looked around and saw that some teams were resting near the stairs.


    After glancing at my surrounds, I picked a cave and ran.


    The caves on the second floor had illumination, differently from the first floor that was dark. There were some runes spread through the wall and ceiling that gave a weak light, but their numbers were big enough to illuminate the whole place.


    For me, it didn''t make a difference; after all, my mutation gave me dark sight. I could see in the dark as well as I could see during the day.


    I walked with Purb¨¢s, my new greatsword, in hand. Being prepared was never a bad thing. I attentively looked around, seeking abyssal and places where they could be hiding.


    Going from the first floor to the second was not a joke. From what Hannah told me, the abyssal''s on the first floor were the weakest of the bunch. They were too egotistical and ignorant to work together with other abyssal''s and preferred to work alone.


    From the second floor on, there was a group of abyssal''s that worked together, and they were stronger than the ones on the first floor individually. But finding a lone abyssal in the second floor was not good at all, because it meant they had enough strength to wander alone. In short, the challenge got even harder from the second floor onwards.


    I looked around and calmed my heart. Despite being hard, the second floor was not impossible for me. I had a body with the strength of a third-tier and soul force in the fourth tier. Even if it came to the worse, I could escape from here.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Walking quietly and furtively, I heard a commotion coming from the tunnel to my right. It was the sound of battle. It looked like a diver team meet abyssal. I sneaked through the tunnel to take a look at the battle.


    Getting closer to it, I could see a group of 9 abyssal''s fighting against 5 divers. The group was composed by one mage, one archer, and tree warriors.


    Two warriors were fighting using the classic combination of sword and shield, and the last one was using a great ax. My eyes widened as I recognized the man using the ax; it was the fierce man!


    I looked at the fight and realized that they genuinely had good teamwork, and despite being an asshole, the fierce man was mighty. There was a bronze-colored aura surrounding him, and his skin was transformed into a bronze color as well.


    From what I have studied, he probably had a bronze aura mutation. That could transform his skin into metal and form an energy shield around him, and also augment his attacks. It was a truly powerful mutation!


    Fortunately, it was only a bronze aura, if it had evolved to silver or golden aura, he would indeed be hard to deal with.


    The group quickly subdued the abyssal''s, as if they were nothing. Before the battle ended, I retreated through the tunnel to get far away from them as possible!


    I went in the opposite direction where they were. Treading through the tunnels, I felt some eyes observing me, and I reinforced my body and sword, entering a combat stance.


    Looking at the tunnels surrounding me, I realized that I had fallen on a trap. My eagerness to get away from the group lead me to make a mistake. Dark-colored abyssal''s quickly left the tunnels around me and encircled me. They looked pretty much the same as the ones from the first floor, the only difference between them was that some of them were fatter, and others bulkier.


    Seven abyssal''s were surrounding me. There were four that look the strength type, and three that focused on speed. Their combination gave me a headache. If it was only the strength type abyssal, I could easily deal with them using my speed. But this group was varied, and my strategy would have to adapt because of them.


    The first to make a move was two of the bulkier ones. One came from the back, and another from the front. I saw what they were planning, and instead of jumping off going to the sides, where the others were waiting for me, I went forward.


    The one in the front looked surprised, but quickly recomposed himself and attacked me with his right claw. Seeing his attack coming toward me, I rolled on the ground and slashed him from between the legs and even extended the attack range with a wind blade attached to my greatsword.


    The abyssal staggered a few steps, splitting from the crotch to the middle of his chest.


    I quickly got up and turned around in time to see the other ones adapting to the situation and flanking me from the front and the sides. Before they fell into formation, I released a wind blade from my blade to the one running toward my right side and ripped the abyssal half.


    Seeing that strategies were not working against me, they gave up surrounding me and began to run in my direction.


    Now that every one of them was coming from one side, I accumulated my soul force in my greatsword, lowering my instance and threw a big wind blade in the height of their legs. But didn''t use all of the accumulated strength. They saw my attack coming and jumped.


    "That was the worst decision that you made today," I said to them.


    I reversed my center of gravity and slashed again toward them while they were in the air. Instantly killing all of them.


    Their bodies fell on the ground, torn in half. I looked around and made sure that they were indeed dead. Those abyssal''s had a perverse regeneration ability. It was good to make sure they were killed.


    After making sure that all of them were dead, I was relieved. I put my sword on my back and seated on the ground breathing heavily. I spent all of my soul force during the fight with those abyssal''s. If they had somehow survived that last attack, things would get rough.


    With a little bit of my energy recovered, I got up and harvested the spoils. The only sad thing was that, to make sure they were truly dead, I released the air slash at the height of their chests, and their hearts were cut in half.


    ***


    Three days quickly passed in the infernal environment of the underworld. I had fought a lot during these past days and got even better at controlling my strength. One of the things that I realized was that, when you go against an enemy, you never, never underestimate it.


    I was battling one yesterday and exterminated the group quickly after taking them by surprise. There were only one of the monsters left, and the monster was missing both legs after being cut in half at the waist...


    The abyssal laid on the ground and faked that it was dead. I walked toward the group to harvest the materials, when I was passing beside it, he used one of his arms to impulse himself and the other one to slash at my back.


    The result? I almost died after having my spine cut and laid on the ground without feeling my legs. The wound began at my right shoulder and ended at the lower left side of my back, even the food that I ate that morning spilled from my stomach through my back. I only survived because the abyssal thought I was dead and didn''t attack a second time.


    I used my soul power to create a wind blade and finish him while he laid on the ground. Luckily, my ability to regenerate kicked in and the wound began to close slowly. But what truly saves me was the act of enduring the pain and using my soul force to stick the two sides of my back together while my body regenerated.


    If I had fainted at that time, I would be a cold corpse on the floor by now. The lesson? Never underestimate an enemy, even more, the cockroaches that were the abyssal''s.


    I passed the rest of the day lying in a corner and controlling my soul force and body to regenerate. It took the whole day to restore and get a little of my forces back.


    I, today, after getting a part of my strength back, was returning to the surface. I needed some time to absorb that experience and train some sword art after that.


    Exhausted and dead tired, I finally recognized a tunnel that was near the entrance. Finally! I would have some peace of mind.


    This last day was genuinely traumatizing for me. Being on the door of death was indeed a scary thing, an experience that I would never want to have again.


    Only a few tunnels away from the stairs, I heard a noise coming from the tunnel to my right. I was exhausted and in the middle of the tunnel. I wanted to hide, but after hearing the sound of people speaking, I unconsciously relaxed and chose not to hide. After all, We were near the stairs, and other divers would have no motive to pick a fight with me. Or so I thought.


    "Look who is wandering alone through the Second floor¡­ The weakling." The fierce man said with a wicked smiled on his face.

 Chapter 13 - Sweet scent of death

    "Look who is wandering alone through the second floor¡­ The weakling." The fierce man said with a wicked smiled on his face.


    My eyes opened wide and black lines formed in my face. This fucker! Why did he have to show up right now of all times?!


    I looked at him and said. "I don''t want to fight. I will not say it a second time." I assumed a fighting stance and hid my weakness. Even though I had healed, It took too much of my energy stores. I could barely move my body right now, and my soul force had regenerated only one quarter after over exhausting and resting for a day.


    I knew that I couldn''t show weakness in front of this kind of people. If he realised that I was weak and exhausted, he would attack me without a doubt.


    "Ohh, Look who has some courage. Are you trying to hide the fact that you are weak? HAHAHAHAHA. The tracker of my team realised that long ago." He said with a straight face.


    Shit! They knew my state! I looked at them and didn''t lower my weapon. "I may not be on my top form right now, but if you attack, I will retaliate with everything I have," I said while making my killing intent apparent.


    The fierce man flinched for a moment, but after a moment, a look of rage appeared on his face. "You piece of shit, Even though you are weak, you still dare to behave like this in front of me! If you don''t die today, I will not be satisfied." After saying this, the bronze aura surrounded him, he grabbed his axe from his back and lunged at me.


    I realized that my situation was getting worse and worse. I couldn''t even try to escape, because he had much more stamina than me right now.


    Seeing him coming in my direction, I made up my mind to fight to the death with him. He arrived closer and closer. I used the soul force that was still on my body and evaded his slash, reinforcing my sword, I aimed at his side and slashed.


    "FLLACK."


    Instead of my sword enbending at his side. I was now in the ground with a hole in my knee. I suppressed my scream and rolled to the side to avoid the falling axe.


    "Do you think you still have a chance to live? I will make you wish you were dead." I looked at his ribs and saw that there was a light wound on his skin. A little bit more and I would have cut him in half.


    I could see the madness in his eyes. But I was powerless to anything now. I used the rest of my soul force to make a wind blade and threw it at his direction.


    Just before the attack killed him, a light shield appeared in front of him and stopped the attack. I looked back and saw that this time, the mage had saved him.


    "FUCKER!" After realizing that he almost died a second time to me, he screamed and kicked me in the belly.


    "BAAAM."


    My body flew through the air and hit the wall. I fell to the ground spitting blood from my mouth. I looked at him, coming in my direction. This time I was truly powerless to do anything.


    The fierce man arrived at my size and used the back of his axe to break my arm.


    "Who is the weaker now?! In your next life, don''t try to act smug in front of other people." After saying this, he kicked my head, making everything around me became black.


    I could faintly see the silhouette of a man raising his axe, and preparing to behead me.


    Is everything going to end like this? I fought my whole life, against my limitations, against the abuse of my clan, against the crooked look that people gave me when they knew that I was a cripple, for everything to end like this? NOOOOOOOOO!


    The fierce man lifted his axe to the left side of his body and descended the axe intending to behead me. An intense cold fury came to me, and I used the last of my strengths to lift my right shoulder, making the axe cut through my shoulder and almost half of my neck in the process.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "HAHAHAHA, struggling even in the face of the inevitable." He laughed and spit at me. "You should die a slow death." the man removed the axe and turned around, leaving with his team, not even looking at my belongs.


    Thankfully, he knew that I was a noob, and thought that none of my items would be valuable.


    I was left laying on the ground like a dog, on the precipice of death a second time in two consecutive days. Unlike yesterday, I didn''t have enough soul force. Although my wounds were better than the ones from yesterday, I was much weaker. I was not sure I could survive this. I concentrated all of my strengths on my wounds and hoped that I survived to live one more day. Everything slowly went black in front of me.


    ***


    Althaea was watching everything happening from the top floor of the fortress. She had watched everything from the beginning, even the struggles that he had yesterday.


    Her heart was aching, and she gritted her teeth. If he were someone else, she would leave him to die. She understood the significance of a prophecy. She tasted a prophecy with her flesh and knew how serious it was. Unlike some people that didn''t believe in those things, she knew that they were real, and would inevitably happen.


    She couldn''t bear to see him dying in front of her, even though she knew that one day, he was destined to be the destroyer. "This is the last time I will help him." She thought to herself and directed her soul force to heal him after he fainted.


    A tear slowly rolled on her cheek.


    ***


    I could see the weak lights that were emanating from the cave with my closed eyes. I slowly opened them and looked around. I looked at my shoulder and saw that I was healed. I survived!


    I was relieved that death was not my patron today. I slowly got up and staggered toward the exist. Arriving next to the stairs, I saw that the divers in there just glanced at my direction and dismissed me. I also ignored them and went toward the exit.


    ***


    After arriving at the Underworld hall, the first thing I did was going to a hotel room to rest. I still had enough food in my spacial bag. What I needed to do now was rest.


    I paid at the reception and entered the room after struggling to get there. The first thing that I did was lie on the floor. I closed my eyes to let my body recover.


    I looked through the window and saw that the morning light was coming through it. There was a new beauty to it now that I could see the sun for one more time. I never thought that seeing the sun would satisfy me so much. I got up from the ground and went to the bathroom to take a shower.


    After getting naked getting under the flowing water, I began to think about everything that happened in those last two days. Every struggle that I went through, every moment that I almost died. And the final moment, where I was humiliated and left there to die like an animal.


    A lot of sentiments came from inside of me. I felt so humiliated, I felt a fury so big that I swore never to let anything like this happen again.


    Tears of rage began to rain down from my eyes, and disappear together with the water falling on my head. I have never hated someone so much in my whole life. "I swear I will kill him someday!"


    After getting calmer, I began to plan for the future. According to the booklet, I had enough points to live in here for a while now. The material from the second floor was worth ten times more than those of the first floor. And because they were bigger in number, I earned much more. I estimated that I could make about 230 thousand from the materials in my spacial bag.


    I had killed around 25 second-tier demons, but most of the materials were damaged, so the price could go down.


    I rested for the rest of the day. Early the next day, I walked toward the Point exchange. I needed points, and needed to relax as well, talking with Hannah would make me feel better now.


    Just before I left the hotel, a clerk came to me and gave me a letter. According to him, the sender was my master. I opened it and read the contents.


    Dear Ullach.


    I need to search for a solution to a serious problem, please, watch for what you do next time. I cannot always be here to protect you. You have a good heart, do not ever lose that; it''s what makes you who you are. Train and get stronger.


    Till we meet again. Althaea.


    The contents of the letter kept repeating in my head. I realized that I would have died yesterday if it was not for master, she had somehow saved me, but there would be no next time because she was leaving the fortress. Every word of the letter kept repeating in my head. "I will not let these scum corrupt my heart master. You don''t need to worry," I said in a low voice.


    What he didn''t know, was that these words said with sincerity in his voice, reached his teacher just before she left. Because she was watching him too look at which part of the letter he would genuinely pay attention to, if it were only about her helping him, or if he would realize that having a good heart was also crucial to his teacher.


    I kept the paper in my pockets and walked to my destination. Getting to the point exchange, I saw Hannah seriously attending to a customer, she quickly dismissed his attempts to woo her, and the man left after exchanging his materials for points.


    He arrived clear the booth and smiled at her. She saw me arriving and smiling, she smiled back, cutely blushing.


    "Hey Hannah, having a good day?"


    "Yes, I am. But there is always a way for it to get better. What about you, feeling well?" She said after looking at him. Hannah could feel that something about Ullach had changed in these last few days.


    "I am fine." He approached her and changed the topic. "I have brought my last harvest. Could you please exchange it for points?" He picked his spacial bag and began to put the materials at a part of the counter dedicated to it.


    "Let me count the points." She began to professionally go through the items and quickly said how much the things were worth. "You had quite a haul this time. The items are worth 235 thousand and five hundred points."


    "Oh, that is more than I thought it would be worth."


    "Although they are damaged, the cuts are clean, and they are still whole. you must see some materials that some divers bring me." She said, shaking her head.


    He picked his card and gave her so that she could deposit the points. After getting it back, he said. "So, do you want to hang out tonight? Of course, if you don''t want to I..."


    Before he finished speaking, Hannah said. "Of course, I want to. You can come to pick me up in the afternoon. Bye." She dismissed him with a smile on her face.


    After saying goodbye, he left.

 Chapter 14 - New goal

    I looked at the booklet and saw which floor offered training. I took the elevator and arrived there.


    The floor was huge, just like the other ones, and full of different dojos. I could see boards with things like "Spear training" or "Fire concept training" everywhere. I now understood the true reason why the youngster from all the races from the continent came here. Getting experience in the underworld was just a part of what composed the abyss fortress. Training in many arts in this floor, buying powerful weapons and accessories, and using them to fight was the real thing that motivated people to come here.


    The clans of the normal places would never think of sharing or teaching an outsider. They held their knowledge as if it was a precious treasure that could be stolen at any time.


    The opportunity offered here was bigger than anything that someone could learn out there. I began to search through the broad streets, looking for "Greatsword training" or "Sword training".


    I found three different places that taught how to use a greatsword and 5 places for swords. I went through each of them and talked with the clerks that were waiting at the entrance, asking about how the style was applied and its focus.


    Of all the dojos, only two of them interested me. One of them said that their focus was on the sword, plain an simple. without fancy techniques or such things. The other one focused on using your abilities together, learning how to use everything as a whole.


    Both of these dojos taught things that I was trying to achieve. In the end, I decided to train in both of them, two hours each. The price was quite a pain, 3 thousand points per hour, But with my finances, I could very well handle it. I did some mental calculations and realized that I could train 4 hours per day, spending 12 thousand points, for 18 days. I would train 2 hours in each dojo and spent the rest of the day digesting what I learned and training my soul power.


    I would use the rest of the money for my accommodations and food.


    The dojo that I first choose to train in was the one that focused on the sword. I paid the clerk and entered the place. I looked around and saw that many people were training and sparring everywhere. An old man walked from place to place, correcting the forms of some people, and often showing how the strike was properly made.


    I realized that most of these people were quite powerful, and a lot of them could defeat me when it came to the sword.


    I walked to the old man and said. "Hi, sir! My name is Ullach, I am here to learn from you!" I bowed to him to show my respect.


    "Hello Ullach, I can see you at least are respectful. Good, good. My name is Lamark." The old man turned around and said. "Follow me."


    I went after him and arrived at a less crowded place. Lamark turned to me and said. "Now, show me what you got." A sword appeared in his hand, and he waited for me to make a move.


    I picked Purb¨¢s and took a stance. I had my two hands in the handle of the sword and was pointing it vertically forward.


    Lamark looked at Purb¨¢s and said. "Ohh, that''s quite a good sword you got there young man. Let''s see if you know how to properly use it. COME!"


    After saying this, I stepped forward while attacking him with a thrust. It was almost as if he foresaw the attack coming. Without making a lot of movements, he waved his sword and deflected my attack. Almost making Purb¨¢s fly from my hand. After deflecting my attack, he hit me on the head with the flat side of his sword and said. "You just died."


    I stepped back and gathered my thoughts. My mind was chaotic right now, his action of hitting me with the sword made me remember almost dying by the hands of the fierce man. I shook my head and looked ahead.


    "It seems you have some mental barriers to get over uh. Let''s continue."


    ***


    I spent the rest of the two hours being beaten by Lamark, the old man was truly a monster in using the sword. He only made necessary movements, and could perfectly use his strength to complement his sword.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Only fighting with him gave me many insights on how I could improve.


    "Great, the evaluation is done! Tomorrow you can come back and we will begin the real training." He said, leaving the place.


    I laid on the ground for a bit and got up after catching my breath. I left Lamark''s dojo and went toward the second one. Arriving there, I was surprised. Unlike Lamark''s dojo that was full of people training, this one was almost empty.


    I paid the clerk at the entrance, but he robotically accepted the points and dismissed my existence. I thought that it was better not to ask him why it was so empty, I would see for myself.


    Entering the dojo, I looked around and saw only three people training. By what I could feel, they were mages that used the sword as a compliment. Two of them were humans and the last one was an Adhar.


    Another Adhar appeared coming from a building on the right. He had yellow wings on his back. The wings embraced his body, like an armor. The lines crisscrossing his body glowed in a yellow color, just like his wings. Obviously, this Adhar had an earth affinity.


    The Adhar''s were a race that could fly since they were born, that was why they built their cities in the clouds. Every Adhar was born already manifesting an affinity for a concept. Most of them manifested affinities related to the elements of air or fire, but variations always happened.


    While an Adhar''s having a variation toward laws or aspects happened, they almost always ignored it and trained normally. However, Adhar''s that were born with earth affinity were always excluded from their society for a simple reason, they couldn''t fly the moment they were born.


    The earth element made their wings heavy, making it very hard for them to fly. Those Adhar''s were almost always left on the ground to die because their culture judged them unworthy.


    Slavers seek this kind of adhar''s the most, because they were easily capturable, and could be sold without consequences if found. They almost always lived as slaves. To find an Adhar with earth affinity in here, proved that this man was truly powerful, and had even overcome his inability to fly.


    I walked toward him and said. "My name is Ullach. I''m here to learn, it''s a pleasure to meet you." I bowed to him.


    Tha Adhar looked into my eyes and said."I''m Haliel. First, show me your abilities." He was a direct person and didn''t beat around the bush, going directly to point.


    I nodded at him and grabbed my sword. I reinforced my body and sword with soul power and began to demonstrate to him. He looked with rapt attention at Ullach''s movements and the use he was making of soul force.


    After Ullach finished showing him everything, Haliel walked to him and said. "So, you are a rare user of soul force. By your soul force tier, it looks like you are quite talented in it, unfortunately, you still don''t know how to use it properly."


    I looked at him with a surprised face. I didn''t know how to use it? Althaea had thought me it uses personally. "My master taught me everything that I know! Are you saying that she doesn''t know what she is doing?" I had some black lines on my forehead.


    "A woman that dominates soul force¡­ What is her name?" He continued with a nonchalant face and asked me.


    I gritted my teeth and answered. "Her name is Althaea."


    immediately, he had a surprised expression on his face. "Oh, so you''re her apprentice¡­. That explains pretty much everything." He coughed and continued. "I am not saying that she is weak or anything like that. But the truth is simple. She never had any apprentice, and she learned everything she knows by herself. That is why your education is somewhat lacking because, for her, the way she learned is the only one that she knows how to teach."


    My eyes were wide open. How did Haliel knew so much about master? It knew that she was well known in the fortress. But I choose to ignore it because I didn''t want to live in her shadow. I have already lived in my brother''s shadow for too long. But now, my curiosity got the better of me. "What do you know about master? What did she do here?"


    "Have you ever looked at the point raking? you should have received it the first time you entered the underworld."


    I remembered that one of the papers that I received had some kind of raking, but I didn''t look at it because it was not important to me. I retrieved the paper from my spacial bag and looked at it.


    1? place: Althaea 4.234.214.213.987 points


    2? place: Lucian 9.536.613.633 points


    3? place: Richard 9.455.213.796 points


    ¡­¡­.


    The rankings continued for some time. But my eyes were glued in the first position. "FUCK!" I said unconsciously. She had earned too many points! I could barely read the numbers.


    "How is this possible?! The difference from the second place is too big!" I blurted out.


    "Everyone has that reaction the first time they look at the point raking. Her name is also first in the ranking of killing the most powerful abyssal and who killed the most abyssals." He looked to the window as if remembering the past. "She is a legend in the Abyss fortress."


    "Now, forget about it, and let''s begin to properly train you." He gestured for me to put away the paper.


    ***


    The rest of the morning was full of lessons. He showed me that soul force could be used in a myriad of ways. The first thing that Haliel showed me was that instead of only using the soul force to reinforce my body, why not use the elements around me in my movements as well? I could move two times faster than before now that I used a technique to impulse myself with the wind. And I could even jump in the air, using rock slabs or after condensing some ice to use as a foothold.


    The things that he taught me were worth every point that I spent.


    I ate at the restaurant and began to cultivate soul power in my room while waiting for the time to pick up Hannah. The hour quickly passed while I was meditating, I got ready and left the hotel.


    Arriving at the point exchange, I saw that Hannah was waiting for me while using a beautiful white dress. She looked like an angel! She saw me approaching and waved to me. I waved back and arrived near her. "Hey there. are you ready?" I asked while moving closer to kiss her on the cheek. I learned this move after talking a bit with Alan, a very friendly bartender. I had no experience with romantic things, but I sure knew that I had to take some attitude.


    I kissed her cheek, very close to her lips. I was excited because, instead of rejecting me, she also kissed my cheek!


    My face got red and I rubbed my nose to mask my shyness. I saw that she turned her head to the side while looking at the floor, with a face as red as a tomato.


    "Let''s go then?" I offered my arm, and she looped her own around it.


    "Yes!" She said while beautifully smiling.

 Chapter 15 - Preparation

    The night passed went on like a flash! After all the things that happened to me in these last few days, this time with Hannah was heaven sent.


    I looked at lips while she spoke, and those red lips enchanted me. Even the way she put the hair behind her ears is enchanting! Looking at those beautiful blue eyes, I said. "Thank you for hanging out with me tonight. These past few days were pretty hard on me."


    "Oh, I realized that you were strange because of something." She realized that I didn''t want to talk about it and changed the subject. "The important thing is that we are having a great time tonight!" a smile blossomed on her face while saying this.


    "You are amazing you know." I said while stroking her hair.


    ***


    After finish eating, I offered to accompany her to her apartment. We went to the elevator and she pressed a button to go to one of the higher floors.


    "Oh, where do you live?" I asked.


    "There is an area dedicated to the employees of the fortress. Everyone gets an apartment. The area is very organized."


    "I am dying to ask you something." I said.


    "Go ahead."


    "You said that you were already a fifth circle mage, and you are very young. Why aren''t you diving in the dungeon?" This was puzzling me all night.


    "Well, when I first arrived in the fortress, I began went to the abyss, I even had a team." She looked to the ground and said. "But there are some people that try to take advantage of you in there. The underworld is chaotic, there is no law down there."


    "I know what you''re talking about."


    "Yeah. So, after an awkward situation, I contacted a friend that I had in the fortress, and this friend arranged for me to work in the point exchange store." She looked at the big street that appeared after the doors of the elevator opened and continued while taking a step out of it. "But for me, there is no big difference between working on the store and diving." She began to walk toward a street. "I receive a lot of benefits for working in there, and the stage where I''m in does not require fighting. In the end, it turned out to the best."


    "Sometimes, bad things lead to good things." I said.


    We arrived in front of a big building. "This is where I live." She said. "Let me show you the appartment." She said while entering the building.


    We took the stair and arrived in front of her place. She opened the door and showed me around. The place was really simple, having only a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a living room that was connected to the kitchen.


    We chatted for a bit, and I saw that it was time to go. It was already late, and some desires began to surge from inside.


    We were seated on the couch, and she was leaning on my shoulder. There was a moment of silence, and I slowly turned my head while looking directly into her eyes. Those blue gems of her looked back and I slowly approached her face. Our foreheads touched, and our breathing was heavy. I looped my hand around her thin and delicate neck, and our lips connected.


    For a moment, there was only the feeling of her soft lips touching mine. I began to suck on them, and slowly bit on her lower lip. I leaned her on the couch and laid her back against it.


    I slowly opened my mouth, and our tongues began to fight against each other. After a moment, our faces moved away. Her face was all red, and I could feel her soft body beneath mine. Her soft and big breasts, her soft skin touching mine, and her swaying hip.


    A fire started to light inside of me. Our lips connected again and the kissing became more frantic. I took my hand from her back, and began to feel her body with it, while the other one supported the weight of my body. I slowly descended my hand from her white neck to her supple chest. I didn''t stop and began to lower my hand even more. Lifting her dress and feeling her smooth legs. Her hand began to wander around my body as well, she lifted my shirt and caressed my abs. she lowered her hand a bit and felt my buddy through my pants.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The fire inside of me was even fiercer now. I moved up my hands from her thighs to the middle of her legs and felt the wet paradise.


    Our movements became even more frantic. After a moment, I couldn''t hold it in anymore and opened my pants, taking my buddy out of it. she opened her legs and I took her panties.


    I slowly approached her pussy, and slowly inserted my buddy inside of her.


    "Hamm."


    She moaned in pleasure and said. "Please, go slow¡­ this is my first time."


    I looked into her blue eyes, and disheveled hair and nodded. My hips slowly moved and move instinctually.


    Our movements became more frantic, and she looped her legs around my waist. We kissed and enjoyed each other fully.


    "Yeah, like this." She moaned and cummed. Her pussy became even tighter and the feeling of pleasure became even more intense for me. The feeling of being electrified overcame me from head to toe, and I came inside of her.


    My hip stopped for a moment, and I looked into her eyes and began to kiss her. instead of taking it out, I began to move again, as I was still hard.


    ***


    After a night of pleasure, I was feeling relaxed. All the thoughts and concerns that were haunting me suddenly disappeared. I awoke at Hannah''s bed and looked at her. She felt my movement and woke up as well.


    She looked at my eyes and said. "Hey handsome, good morning." She got out of bed before I even answered her and went to the bathroom. I lost the words that were about to come out of my mouth after seeing her perfect curves and perky but running to the bathroom, with a red face.


    I rubbed my nose and looked up at the ceiling. "What a great night this was." I thought.


    ***


    After leaving her house, I went to the dojos to train. What happened last night was new to me, but was something that was not unusual amidst the mages and warriors. Almost everyone was introduced to sex early in life, mainly because you couldn''t get pregnant unless you wanted to because mana was the best contraceptive that existed, and everyone needed to get rid of the stress. To get powerful, training like a madman was necessary, but knowing when to stop and relax was also necessary.


    Many mages became crazy after diving into studies for years without contacting anyone, or warriors obsessed with training to get more powerful or to master a technique. In short, finding a way to relax was very important to all professions.


    Of course, in bigger clans, the ladies were kept virgin with the purpose of political marriages. That was probably the main reason why Hannah had her first time yesterday.


    I focused my thoughts and get rid of everything else, after having a relaxing night, it was time to train like mad!


    ***


    The days quickly passed. I mostly stayed at the hotel to cultivate and trained in the dojos during the mornings. I hanged out with Hannah only sometimes, after all, both of us had a lot of things to do.


    Although we were getting closer, I didn''t want to tie my self permanently with someone right now.


    The results of my training became more apparent. I had finally broken through to the fifth tier of soul force, and I could now perfectly control my body and soul force, making the best out of both.


    My sword was also used perfectly now, I could use the sword in a myriad of ways. Training with Lamark and Haliel was the best decision that I made. Each one had dominion over a specific area, and training with both of them complimented my training and multiplied the results.


    I felt now that if I encountered the fierce man and his group, I could probably kill him in an instant. Thinking back to that day, I realized that although he was powerful, he was still weak in his tier. After all, he was a tier 4 Ki user and was only on the second floor, and from what I saw, he was a veteran in the underworld.


    Even after considering everything else, there was another thing that was even more important than this, and because of my training, I was neglecting it. Forming a new source of power!


    The plan that I had been discussing with Althaea was to form a new source of energy, using life force and natural mana. The idea was to plunder the natural energy, and fuse it with my life force so that I could create a new kind of energy.


    We discussed and theorized the idea for the last year, researching how life force interacted with natural mana. We reached the conclusion that this fusion would be possible, but I would need to at least have fifth tier soul power to accomplish it, and just yesterday, I broke through!


    We decided to plunder the natural mana, refine it and fuse it with the life force, instead of only fusing it naturally like the nature force users did. The other option of fusing it in its raw form was too unpredictable for us because the body didn''t naturally contain natural mana, only the innate mana, that was, in essence, pure, and without any kind of element to it. The nature force users could sustain the fusion with natural mana because they still had their life force untouched by it.


    Fusing the refined natural mana with my life force would, in theory, surpass my natural limitation of not having innate mana because I wouldn''t be controlling mana, but a new force formed by life force and refined natural mana!


    The idea was crazy, even Althaea didn''t think that it would work in the beginning. Mainly because there was no way to refine natural mana without innate mana, however, Althaea created a technique that did exactly that using soul force in this last year and passed it to me. I couldn''t put the technique into practice before because my soul force was not strong enough, but now it was!


    I began to practice the technique without fusing the refined mana with me, only perfecting my mastery over the technique.


    The process of refining the natural mana was a hard one, even a lapse in my concentration would stop the process, and when I began the fusion, I would have to pay attention to refine the natural mana and fuse it with my life force.


    I talked with Hannah that I would have a closed-door seclusion and that I could not be disturbed in the next few days. I also warned the hotel employees and prepared everything necessary.


    I practiced the technique like a madman for 4 consecutive days. My mastery over it was getting better and better, and on the fourth day, I achieved the realm of perfection in using it.


    "it looks like this last year of mentally training the technique was worth it." I thought to myself.


    Seeing that everything was prepared, I took a shower to relax, change my clothes to a set of new ones, and meditated to cleanse my mind.


    I opened my eyes,everything was ready!

 Chapter 16 - A butterfly breaking out of its cocoon

    After making sure that nothing could stop me, I took a deep breath and began to concentrate.


    The technique that Althaea invented for me to refine the raw natural mana involved using the soul force to latch onto it and slowly drive away the concept that governed that mana. The process was almost the same as the one that mages use to refine the natural mana. However, refining natural mana with soul force was much, much slower. So slow that only the soul force expended would almost exhaust me in the process.


    Getting in the right mindset was crucial because I would stay here for very long, and more, because my life force was stronger than normal, deemed as tier 2 life force by Althaea, the quantity of mana that I would have to refine increased a lot.


    I released the soul force around me and gathered the natural mana. I involved it in my soul force and began to slowly refine it.


    In the beginning, everything went well, there was no difficulty in refining the first pack. I guided the refined mana and kept it separated behind me.


    slowly passed. After refining the first pack of mana, I did it with the second and third. Everything was still a breeze. A big ball of mana was now hovering on the soul field in my back.


    I felt a slight resistance in refining the fourth ball of mana. Keeping the refined one behind me, and doing the process of refining in front was beginning to get a little tiring. I dismissed the strain and continued.


    ***


    Time slowly passed, there was more than a hundred ball of refined mana on the soul field in my back. There was a clear line of sweet rolling through my forehead. Keeping the concentration was getting harder. However, the training that I did with Althaea these last years was paying off!


    The soul pressure in the valley was bigger than I imagined in the center of the lost garden. before coming to the fortress, I was already a fourth tier soul force user, but I could only go to the end of the bridge without fainting!


    It seemed that the soul pressure was constant in every other part of the garden, but in a radius of 15 meters around the lake, the pressure began to escalate exponentially. Even though I stayed there for two years, I couldn''t take a step into the island in the middle of the lake.


    Remembering how easily Althaea handed the soul pressure in the middle of the island, makes me imagined how powerful her soul must be to do something like this.


    I looked at the refining process happening in front of me with determination and kept going.


    ***


    There were almost a thousand packs of refined mana surrounding me now. All of the back part of my soul field and two-quarters of my front were filled with refined mana.


    I didn''t know how long it has been since I began the process. I only knew that it was at least three days.


    My body was full of sweat and trembling like leaf in the wind. My mind was almost being crushed by the pressure of having to project my soul field for so long around me, holding into the refined mana and refining it was becoming a challenge to me.


    I estimated that I would need to refine only a hundred or so more packs of natural mana to have a quantity big enough to fuse with my life force.


    I gritted my teeth to relieve the immense pain that was assaulting me and continued the process.


    The first ten packs were even more challenging than I thought. My soul force was being strained near the limits after holding so much refined mana. Some veins in my body popped as a result of the sheer pressure I was suffering because of holding so much refined mana at the same time. Thankfully, my natural regeneration was strong enough to heal me.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I continued the process. My body was now constantly being harmed and regenerating, If my mutation didn''t include an enhanced regeneration, I probably couldn''t complete the process,


    My body was being constantly injured and fixing itself. The pain of this process almost made me lose concentration for a second. I instantly reigned in my soul force and continued the process.


    In the fifty pack refined, the rate of injury began to get higher, but my regeneration could still contain the after-effects.


    In the seventh-fifty pack, the rate of being injured got higher than my regeneration could handle, and my body began to slowly crumble. Even after seeing this, I ignored it and kept going with the process.


    In the eighty-seven pack, my skin couldn''t hold the pressure and small parts of it burst. There was blood flowing from my body into the floor now, some of it tried to get back, but the flow was so constant, that most of it fell on the ground.


    in the ninety-four pack, some of my internal organs couldn''t hold the pressure and began to crumble as well. I knew that I had a decision in my hand, If I continued the process from here, there was no coming back.


    If the pressure that was strong enough to even harm my organs continued for longer, the only energy left in me to regenerate my wounds would appear after the fusion, and if it wasn''t successful, I would undoubtedly die!


    I looked back into all I suffered in my life. Living in the shadow of a perfect brother¡­. having to be stared by my clansmen like I was a piece of shit, their looks of disgust and scorn lingered in my mind even to this day, motivating me to keep going¡­. The contempt that my parents treated me with, totally ignoring me and offering love and care to my brother¡­.


    Everything that happened during all my life came to my mind, the suffering, the struggles, everything that motivated me to go on, to never give up.


    Continuing or stopping was not a decision that I made now, it was a decision that was taken on the day that I decided that I would do anything to be powerful!!


    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"


    I LEFT OUT A GUTTURAL ROAR IN DEFIANCE TO MY DESTINY!


    Soul power began to gush out of me in rivers. I decided to never give up, even if it meant that I would die!


    The process continued more painful than ever. however, my mind was so focused that I could barely feel it now. And finally, after not so long, the hundred pack was refined!


    I didn''t let my concentration slip away from me, but instead concentrated even further, because I knew that the hardest part would begin now!


    I used all of my strength to condense my mana! All of the mana in my soul field began to focus on a single point. Although I would have to focus on a simple point now, the pressure got even higher.


    My bones began to scream in pain. my body was protesting, and I knew that I was on the point of no return.


    I reigned in the mana, finishing the process of condensing it with my eyes red in fury. I slowly moved the sphere of mana through the air and brought it into my body.


    "AHHHHHHH"


    another roar left my mouth, and together with it, a bucket of blood. I continued the process without stopping, and the mana finally entered my body. Seeing that it was in the center of my body, I began to gather my life force around it, making my completion even worse.


    Now, it was not a question of surviving or not but living long enough to complete the process.


    My heartbeats were beginning to slowly die as my veins burst, but now, it barely moved. The fusion began, and the edge of the sphere began to transform. I could feel the tyrannical power from this new energy. however, I couldn''t use it until the process ended.


    Without the support of life force, My body became even weaker. half of the fusion was complete by now, and all my concentration was on it, however, my heart finally stopped¡­.


    Just after my heart ceased to work, my whole body quickly followed after. I could feel the life slipping away from me¡­.


    Everything became dark for a moment, All I could feel now was darkness surrounding me, and the sphere in the center of this darkness. I felt death approaching, but even so, my soul struggled against the waves and continued the fusion in a last struggle. However, the grasp of death was even stronger.


    My soul began to slowly wane, trying to leave my body to go to the underworld¡­.


    All the suffering¡­ all the struggle¡­. all the abuse¡­. was everything for nothing? everything for me to die in the moment of transformation?


    ¡­.


    ¡­.


    A seething rage began to rise from the depths of my soul, a rage so great, that could engulf the whole world in its hate.


    Darkness extended its hand in the moment where death would consume me.


    A dark aura, with tinges of red, began to surge around me, devouring everything in its path. All the furniture around me turned to pieces.


    My concentration began to return to me, I forcefully reigned in the energy that began to slip away from the center of my body. Continuing the process.


    After just a few moments, the fusion was complete!!!!


    The new energy began to surge in my body, healing every inch and corner, while further fueling the aura that was surrounding me. Dark flames appeared all over the surface of my body, burning all my clothes and scorching the ground.


    I felt the power surging around me, and it felt great! So much power! I felt that I could make the world bend their knees before me, crowning me king before those worthless scum.


    I slowly opened my eyes, looking around with my red pupils.


    Everything felt in place right now, as if I could finally fulfill my fate and complete what I was born to do.


    I concentrated a bit and erased the flames that were surrounding me. concentrating a ball of flames in my hand. I looked at that dark flame, burning in my palm, and my eyes began to burn in fury for those that humiliated me¡­.

 Chapter 17 - Result

    I felt the rage burning me for a moment, and a reminder came to my mind.


    I erased the flame in my hand and walked toward my spacial bag that was on the corner of the room. Thankfully, it was not destroyed like the rest of the room. It looked like I would have to pay for everything.


    I browsed through it and found the letter that master left to me, I read over its contents again.


    The phrase "You have a good heart, do not ever lose that, it''s what makes you who you are." began to repeat in my head. Until now, everything that master said and every action that she took had a meaning, and I knew that for she, to right this phrase in the letter, meant something important.


    I slowly calmed down my emotions and suppressed the hate inside of me. I knew that if this hate takes over my mind, I would become someone that was just like those that mistreated me. And that was something that I never wanted to happen.


    Breathing deeply, I began to focus on the good memories that I had. They were few, but at least they were sincere. All the times that my brother sneaked into my room to play with me when we were little. When he smuggled a pill and gave me some money to buy my old sword. All the smiles that Hannah gave to me, and the excitement of the first night I slept with her. All the training that I had with Althaea those last two years, and the way she cared for me in her way, trying not to show too many emotions. And finally, the letter that she wrote to me, and the sword that I got as a present.


    Remembering all these good moments, my mind calmed down and I looked into my hands. Hate and fury are feelings just like others, but I could not define who I was, or let them guide my actions. I was the one that was going to decide what to do with my life.


    After calming down, I went to the lobby of the hotel, I had to pay for the damage after all.


    I wore a new set of clothes and got out of the room.


    ***


    After paying for the furniture, I decided that it was time to test my new powers. I knew that the dark flame that appeared after the new energy formed was the result of the insights that I had on the concept of destruction. Although it was not so powerful for now, due to the lack of insight on my part, I would slowly fuse the insights of the elements, laws, and aspects that formed the concept of destruction to get a better hang of it.


    High tiered concepts were always harder to train due to the number of lower-tiered concepts you would have to master to fuse with it.


    There was a basic difference between the high and low tier of concepts. high tiered concepts were the fusion of many lower-tiered concepts, and low tiered concepts were the elements, laws, and aspects that ruled this world.


    The division was made like this, the low tiered concepts were the basic elements, laws, and aspects. the middle tiered concepts were the fusion of two low tiered concepts. An example would be the concept of sand, which was a fusion of the low tier elements of wind and earth. and high tiered concepts were the ones that were born of the fusion of three concepts or more. An example of a high tiered concept would be Wood. The concept of wood was formed by thee low tiered concepts, water, earth, and life.


    There was a misconception that low tiered concepts were weaker than mid or high tier concepts, but that was not true. That misconception came from the fact that a middle tiered concept would show more power in the beginning, after all, they were the fusion of two low tier concepts. However, they were harder to train. The more concepts you had to fuse, the harder it would be to train it. In the long run, low tiered concepts dominated the world, because they were much easier to train, and if someone was an expert at using the law of space, even ten users of the concept of wood couldn''t defeat him. Only clans that had a solid heritage could practice high tiered concepts and thrive with it.


    Those clans already had how an apprentice could learn and gain insights into the concept, and they had the genetic memory to help them as well.


    The level of insight in the concepts was classified like this. Mortal, Domain, Earth, Sky, Heaven and finally Universe. The name of the universe level of the concept of wood was Yggdrasil. At this level, the concept of wood was just like the legendary three, who could hold the entire world in it. By what he read from the records of the clan, the universe level of wood could shatter even space and time, killing even an expert at the universe level in the concept of space.


    However, to reach the universe level in the concept of wood, the low tier concepts of water, earth, and life would have to be at the universe level as well, and the user would have to find a way to fuse them to use it. Because of this, training high tiered concepts were much, much harder in the long run. the affinity with it would have to be very high.


    In the end, the user was the most important part in indicating what was more powerful, a low tiered concept, or a higher one.


    Getting my thoughts in line, I rented a private training ground to test my abilities. I knew that the concept of destruction that I had was in the mortal level, but even so, I wanted to know what it could achieve.


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    After paying for it, I entered a big hall. The place was 30 meters high, 60 meters wide and 120 meters long. The place didn''t seem so big from the outside. I looked at the walls and saw the there were runes all over it. Indicating that at least a user of the space concept at the Earth level enchanted the room.


    I took a deep breath and went to the end of the room, various training dummies could be seen there. By what the clerk told me, The ones on the left had a tier 1 defense, and from it, the next one had a higher defense, until the seventh one, that had a tier seven defense.


    I grabbed Purb¨¢s from its straps and revolved my energy around my body. I could feel a great enhancement with it, of course, it was still much weaker than what my soul force could do, but it was at least comparable with a tier 2 ki.


    I used the sword to attack the dummy with tier 4 defense, only using the energy to enhance my greatsword.


    "Swhooosh."


    There was only the sound of air while my sword penetrated the dummy. It almost cut half of the dummy.


    I was surprised by the power of this energy! It could break a tier 4 defense while being only tier 2!


    I stepped back and summoned the flames of destruction in my hand. I feed a quarter of my energy to it and threw it at the training dummy.


    A wave of heat assaulted me when the flame made contact with the dummy. The flame silently expanded, and devoured the tier, four dummy, turned the tier 3 dummy near it to ash and even melted a part of the defense of the tier 5 one.


    I opened my eyes wide in surprise. ¡°Such power!¡± I thought to myself. Of course, the effects in battle would not be so big, mainly because differently from training dummies, abyssals were constantly moving, and they could use the abyss energy inside of them to shield themselves from the flames. But at least I know that it could destroy a tier 4 abyssal, and heavily wound a tier 5 abyssal.


    Realizing the extent of my new powers, I began to apply it to my fighting style. Using the fire consumed much less energy them using soul force to fight. The nature of soul force was not violent, it had more uses in complementing then in an actual fight. What hammered the last nail was that soul force couldn''t support the use of concepts, it could only manipulate the elements on its domain.


    Now that I could use my new energy to fight, and soul force as a support, my powers soared to new heights.


    ***


    I spent the rest of the day training and getting used to the flame of destruction. with the support that my soul force offered, I quickly got the hang of how to use the concept in fights. I could now easily manipulate the concept to cover my sword and use it to attack in different ways.


    The effects of having soul force was truly godly!


    I even used the new energy, that I named origin force, to reinforce my body, just like I did using soul power. And using origin energy together with soul force on my body made the effects even stronger.


    I finally felt that I was ready to take the fierce man and his group head-on. I knew that fighting an entire group alone wouldn''t be easy, but now I could at least survive.


    I left the training room and used the soul power to clean my body. I would meet Hannah tonight and tell her tell everything was okay.


    ***


    Arriving in front of her apartment, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door.


    "knock-knock"


    I waited in place but realized that there was no one at home. I knocked the second time and waited. There was still no response. Maybe she was on the point exchange store? I left the building and went to the store to find her.


    On the way, I remembered something she told me and passed on a flower store to buy some flowers for her. I bought one gile. Gile was a flower named after the shine of the sun, it was completely white and a weak light glowed from it. I paid for it and went to find her.


    Arriving near the store, I frowned. It was already night, and Hannah had the habit of staying in her house to study at this time. We have only known each other for a short period, it has only been a little more than a month, but we had some sort of connection, that you only formed with a few people in your life.


    The other clerk was seating behind the balcony, waiting for clients to arrive. I walked to her. Seeing that someone was arriving, she looked up. She made a surprised face and a flash of pity appeared in her eyes. Seeing this, my expression became sober.


    "Goodnight. Do you perhaps know where Hannah is?" I tried to keep calm while asking this.


    She looked a bit confused and asked. "You didn''t know what happened to her?"


    I was shocked to hear that something happened to her, by looking at her face earlier, I had my suspicions. But receiving a confirmation was different. I took a deep breath and asked.


    "Please, tell me what happened to her."


    The woman nodded her head and began to narrate the events that happened two days ago.


    ***


    Hannah felt that this was the best phase of her life. She was away from her clan and had found someone special, that could truly move her heart. Before she met him, she lived in constant fear of being found by her clan, but now, she could properly concentrate on working and researching her things.


    Her clan was named Grian, thus, she was named Hannah Grian. Her clan was one of the powerhouses of the north. Her clan dominated the marked of magical weapons and had a tight grip over various business. She was the daughter of the leader of the clan and had been controlled since she was born.


    When she was 6 years old, things got even worse, this was the day when she matured enough to test her concept affinity. The results were shocking, she had a rare concept of the star, a high tiered concept that was formed by the lower concepts of earth, fire, light, space and time. It was an extremely powerful concept, that could, in high levels, dominate everything!


    After the elders discovered that she had this concept, they were static. She had received the inheritance of the sacred light through her genes, a concept that used fire, light, and space. Her inheritance complimented her concept, and she was "taken care" by the clan because of it.


    Some guardians surrounded her almost 24/7. She was never totally alone. She couldn''t leave the clan compounds or even socialize with who she wanted to. All she did was train and study under the best mages that could teach her, and that the influence of her clan could get.


    She was nurtured like a treasure or a weapon, not as a person. Everything that she did had a specific purpose, and there was even engaged to a young man from another influential clan. Everything was out of her control, there was nothing that she couldn''t do without being watched. Even going out for a walk was a burden for her. All the looks that she received, "That was how she should behave" "She is supposed to be like that", she could hear these phrases through the looks that people gave her.


    meeting Ullach was truly a wonder, and knowing him even more. His story was the total opposite of hers. He was the brother of a genius and didn''t have any magical power since he was born. He always received looks of scorn and disgust.


    Hearing him made her realize how important freedom is, and although her life was bad, at least there was some luxury to it.


    She got up from the chair and complimented her coworker that was going to take the next shift. She changed her clothes in the restroom and walked out of the store. She waved goodbye to her colleague took a step forward.


    Suddenly, there was a feeling of oppression that involved the whole floor. The ground trembled and the people were gasping for air. A middle-aged man, emanating an aura of royalty and power, slowly walked through the street toward Hannah. Everyone that was near the place stopped what they were doing and looked at the man.


    He was wearing a silver robe, with golden runes inscribed over it and the borders of the robe were black. He had a chiseled face and eyebrows that looked like swords. He arrived in front of Hannah under the eyes of the crowd and said.


    "Finally found you." With macabre grin on his face.

 Chapter 18 - 3rd floor

    Ullach heard in silence what the clerk said, word by word. He was simply speechless! Hannah escaped from her clan, but in the end, it was for nothing.


    She only wished to be free, nothing else, and even this wasn''t possible. He clenched his teeth in rage and squeezed the flower in his hand. Almost as if the flower was the neck of the elder that came to kidnap her.


    "They will pay!" I thought to myself.


    Ullach went through very few moments of happiness in his life, and there were very few people that he truly cared for, and in this last month, Hannah had become one of those people!


    Although there was not enough time to say their relationship had developed "love", Hannah was still a good friend of his, and they had shared many, many things. He couldn''t even properly describe what he felt for her, just like a bird that flew for the first time still needed to get used to the feeling of wind of its wings.


    He looked at the clerk and nodded his head in thanks. No word could come out of his mouth now. He silently left and went toward the elevator.


    Thankfully, there was no one in the elevator. He pressed the button to go to the underworld hall and closed his eyes.


    Breathing deeply, I calmed my emotions. There was no use in going to the underworld with a hot head, that would be no good.


    A million thoughts of going to her clan to rescue her passed through my head, but I knew that it was useless.


    She would probably be watched even closely be the clan, they wouldn''t give her another opportunity to escape. The only thing that would help was to get power! Only true power could solve something like this.


    I knew that even if I was beside her when she was captured, it would be useless. The only thing that I could do was watch while she was taken away, and if the elder realized our relationship, I could be killed as well.


    It was an inevitable situation, and Hannah knew that someday like this could arrive at any moment.


    Organizing my thoughts, I began to plan. There were other options as well, but I didn''t like them. One was to ask the help of Althaea in this situation.


    She was a well-known person, that held a lot of personal power, even dragons agreed to meet her and do some favors. I could probably ask her to talk to the clan, to at least arrange a marriage with her, I thought that she could at least do this much.


    The second option was to go to my clan...


    Just like the Grian''s had hegemony of the north, the Solas had hegemony of the southwest as well. However, I had no power in the clan, and I would have to ask for a favor from my brother.


    I knew that if I returned now, and showed them what I had achieved, I could probably be groomed by the clan as well.


    It was not every day that you see a new energy being created and a person with affinity to the concept of destruction. However, I left my clan, and wouldn''t go back on this decision!


    The problem was, Althaea had vanished, and I don''t know where to find her, or when she would return, so, the only solution left would be to train like a madman!


    In the present, the origin energy inside of me was only on the first stage, but I knew that that wouldn''t last for long.


    I could groom it much quicker than a normal person because of my soul force, an advantage that few had.


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    The door of the elevator opened, and I stepped out.


    ***


    after going through the procedures to enter the underworld, I quickly passed through the first floor. I didn''t even consider it.


    After getting to the 2nd floor, I also choose to ignore it. My powers had grown exponentially. My fighting power had gotten much more powerful after having trained with Lamark and Haliel. I could control my sword like my limbs know, with naturality and finesse, and could combine my powers perfectly with my fighting style.


    Sometimes, it was not a matter of being powerful or not, but how you used your powers. many people that were at the fifth or sixth time, could only show the fighting power of a fourth tier abyssal.


    That happened because they didn''t know how to properly use their powers. A good example for comparison would be, a sword would be more powerful in the hands of a child or a grown man?


    The motive because abyssal''s could exhibit almost 100% of their powers, was because they were a warring race. The abyss was a land of constant wars, the factions in there lived to fight, and the newborn abyssal''s fought since they first came into this world.


    Of course, most of them were not so intelligent, and mostly relied on instincts, but even so, their fighting prowess was great.


    I descended to the second floor but only briefly looked at it, I choose the route to the third floor and entered the tunnel.


    Getting in front of the stairs, I felt horrible energy coming from there. From the third floor onward, things would be very, very different.


    The abyssals got more intelligent on the third floor, and could even use some concepts to fight. Because of this, many divers choose to stay on the second floor, after all, going to the third was too dangerous.


    I gritted my teeth and let the flames of determination burn inside of me. I wouldn''t back down now!


    I stepped forward and descended the stairs. I could feel the space distorting around me while I descended the stairs.


    When I arrived at the bottom of it, I looked around and was surprised! There was no ceiling in here, just a red sky!


    Although there were no stars, sun or moon to illuminate it, the sky still glowed in an ominous red color.


    I looked back and saw that the stairs slowly distorted the more you looked up until they disappeared at some point. I deduced that the stairs were enchanted, just like the rest of this place, to create a portal the led from the second to the third floor and back.


    So¡­ The third floor was not a cave, but a pocket dimension. I supposed that the demons from the third floor onward could broke through the enchantments on a normal wall, and some precautions were taken because of it.


    With Purb¨¢s in hand, I choose a direction and choose to walk to it.


    ***


    The place was almost a desert, having barren earth and distorted trees. nothing could be done about it though, the plants from our dimension were not acclimated to the abyss energy.


    I walked cautiously through the place but felt that I was too exposed. there was no place to hide, and I could be spotted from far away.


    Being left in the open here was truly dangerous. I began to think of a way to move furtively and insight came to me.


    I had comprehended the mortal level of the concept of darkness!


    After arriving at this realization, everything became easier. I concentrated the origin energy on the surface of my body, and used the concept of Darkness on it, to create a cloak of shadows.


    Although there was an illumination on the third floor, because of the red sky, being covered in a cloak of shadows would lower the possibilities of being seen or spotted by an enemy.


    After making sure that I was better hid. I began to explore the place. From time to time, I could see signs of battles. The ground being destroyed, or even craters, bodies that were left to rot and broken weapons.


    From what I could see, dangers were lurking everywhere in here. You could walk a few meters and be ambushed by abyssals. You could be resting and be assassinated, and most importantly, I knew that the abyssals were not the only danger of this place. The people were very dangerous as well!


    The ones that could arrive at this floor were at least veterans, that fought countless hours on the first and second floor to temper themselves, no weakling could be found here.


    Being extremely careful was the least I could do in here.


    I looked ahead and saw that finding a path in here would be complicated, there was no indication of where to go. On the upper floors, I could at least know where to go, but here, only the bodies indicated the passage of people or abyssals.


    Not being tracked was an ability that was required of anyone that wanted to dive into the third floor.


    I heard a faint noise coming from my right. I laid close to the ground, almost crawling on it, and began to approach the place.


    What I saw shocked me. There was a group of abyssals surrounding a group of divers. The group was obviously on the weaker spectrum of the teams that dived into the third floor.


    Most of them couldn''t use their concepts properly and were sluggish in their action, however, their teamwork more than made up for it.


    They were like a well-oiled machine, covering for each other weakness and dancing around the battlefield in their positions.


    The team was composed of one archer and two warriors. One warrior used a big shield and a hammer, while the other one used a longsword.


    The archer stood in place, without taking a step from his position, which demonstrated that he was not a good archer, or that he trusted his companions a lot. The one that was using the shield was covering the archer, and sometimes helping the other warrior.


    The hammer in his hand didn''t look like a weapon, but a tool to defend his teammates. Every time an attack was headed toward one of his teammates, he would either use the shield to defend or use the hammer to deflect the blow, using the hammer as a second defense.


    The longsword user was the most powerful of the team, she had red hair and there was a faint scar that covered her face vertically over the nose. She danced around the battlefield, cutting and dealing with the abyssals with expertise, avoiding blows when she could, or letting the shield warrior defend her when necessary.


    Now I realize. They looked sluggish or weak in the beginning because those weakness existed individually, but as a team, there was no hole left open.


    My eyes shined in anticipation, I wanted a team like that for me as well!!

 Chapter 19 - Progression

    Seeing the team slowly wipe the abyssals, he realized how difficult it would be to hunt alone in here!


    I was still confident but thought that it was better to take more precautions and be even more alert.


    I slowly retreated as the battle was about to come to an end, and continued on my way.


    walking through the third floor, I began to look for abyssals. After 15 minutes of having gotten away from the battle, I sensed a faint danger around me.


    Looking around, I saw nothing. There were no abyssals until the horizon. "Where could this faint sense of danger be coming from?" I wondered. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, I ignored my feeling and continued to walk.


    After I took just one step. the earth in front of me opened, and a monstrous claws attacked my belly. I saw the attack coming at me and had no time to evade it. I hastily made a shield using both my origin energy and soul force to resist it.


    The attack hit me with such a force that I was thrown backward, flying through the air. I was caught unprepared. I saw that another abyssal had broker through the ground on the direction where I was flying to.


    The abyssal jumped and waved his claw to swat me down to the ground. The only thing I could do was put my sword in front of me.


    The attack heavily plumed me down toward the ground, leaving a wound on my chest. Sadly for me, it seemed that the second attack was not the last one, another abyssal burst from the ground beneath me, trying to impale me from the back.


    I was already wounded by the second attack, and there was an energy corroding. I concentrated a destruction flame in front of me, and used its energy to spin in the air, waving my sword to encounter the third attack.


    The sword clashed with the claw, and I borrowed the force from it to throw my body to the side.


    I rolled on the ground and quickly stood up. The Abyssals didn''t seen affected by the failure of their ambush and circled me in a triangular formation.


    My worry now was that maybe another abyssal could be hiding underground, waiting to give me a fatal blow.


    I prepared myself for another ambush from beneath and looked at the abyssals that were surrounding me.


    They were already preparing themselves to pounce at me but looked like they were waiting for something.


    I looked at each of them and saw that one had a strange glow on his eyes.


    "You are weak. "


    "You are nothing."


    "Cripple!"


    "You only suck the clan''s money for nothing!"


    Countless voices began to repeat in my head, almost driving me insane. I looked at the abyssals and it seemed that they were laughing.


    A dizziness tried to assault me, However, I straightened my mind and used my soul force to drive these voices out.


    Just when I was using soul force to stop the mind attack, one of the abyssals pounced at me.


    There was a red glow on his claws, making it evident that this attack could seriously hurt me if it connected. I used my origin energy to form a layer of destruction fire around my sword.


    The attacks connected with a thud. I drove the abyssal back. His claw was charred by the fire, but he could still use it. while I was clashing with it, another abyssal attacked me from the back.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Because I was deflecting the attack from the front, there was no time to defend from the one behind me. All I could do was to enhance my back and wait for impact.


    "Slaash."


    A huge wound was formed on my back. But thankfully, it was nothing serious. The abyssal claws slid through my back and hit the ground. I used this opportunity while the abyssal still had its claw on the ground, and turned around while waving my sword. quickly decapitating it.


    Having one of them killed was a good thing, but there was still another one. The abyssal that gave me used the opportunity of the attack that I was making at its fellow, and threw a bone spike, hitting my leg.


    "Arghhh" A short scream escaped my mouth, but I quickly gritted my teeth and suppressed it.


    The two abyssals that were left didn''t attack me, but instead, kept their distance and encircled me from two sides.


    They were taking the opportunity to let me bleed. With a bone spike going through my calf, my movements were compromised. And I couldn''t even take it out, because they would use the opportunity to attack me.


    Seeing that there was no other solution than attack from a distance, I made a soul field around me and released my origin energy. The abyssals, feeling the danger, jumped back, trying to escape my soul field. I knew that if I concentrated on attacking both of them, I would probably kill even one, and they would escape.


    Thinking this, I concentrated on the abyssal that attacked me with the mental attack and waved my hand toward him.


    five spheres of black fire appeared around me and were launched toward it. The abyssal saw that there was no escape from the attack and tried to block the one in front of him, thinking that the other would merely pass by his side.


    Seeing that it jumped forward to block one of the spheres, I controlled the others and the five spheres collided with him.


    "BAAAANG."


    A huge explosion happened. I looked at the other side and saw that the other abyssal had already ran, and was far away.


    I turned my attention back to the explosion, and after the dust came down, I saw what happened with it.


    Nothing! There was nothing left of the abyssal. I could only see a scorched ground with some ashes over it.


    The attack was truly powerful, however, I had used 17% of my total on each sphere, and had used 10% on the earlier attacks, leaving me with only 5% of my total reserves of origin energy.


    What a huge consumer of energy my concept was!


    The concept of destruction was truly powerful in a fight, but could not be used for a long time. The consumption made it impossible for me to use it in a battle of attrition, making it one of my weaknesses.


    However, I was only on the first tier of the origin energy, and on the later tiers, it could hopefully fulfill the big needs for energy that the concept of destruction had.


    I sighed in relief that the battle went well, and gritted my teeth to remove the bone spike from my calf.


    "Arghhh."


    ***


    After healing myself, I went to another place and stopped to replenish my energies.


    Thankfully, the origin energy recovered pretty quickly. It took only 30 minutes for him to get back to top form.


    After recovering completely, he got up and began to search for new targets.


    Searching for abyssals in this kind of wasteland was not difficult, you could only walk from side to side and you would eventually find them. The hard thing was to find an appropriate quantity of enemies for you.


    If Ullach found a group too big of abyssals, he would have to run like a dog.


    The ideal number for him to train and get more experienced would be 3-4, because this way he could be challenged to not make mistakes, and learn how to apply the things he was taught quicker.


    I gripped my sword and began to walk through the wasteland, hoping that I would survive.


    ***


    I jumped with all my strength to dodge a blast of fire that was thrown at me by an abyssal. The blast was so strong that rock shrapnel flew everywhere.


    I shielded myself and looked at the terrible creature. abyssal corpses could be seen in my surrounds.


    Upturned earth, pieces of organs and purple blood could be seen everywhere. This was one of the strongest groups on the third floor.


    This group was led by a peak third-tier abyssal, that had a deep insight into the concept of fire. He could wield and breath fire as if it was nothing to him. Seeing him using the element of fire gave me a lot of insights as well. After all, seeing was learning as well.


    Seeing that long-ranged attacks were not working against me, the abyssal dashed forward, using fire to impulse himself forward. The creature was upon me in an instant.


    The abyssal enveloped its claws in a deep red fire and attacked me.


    I manipulated my soul force to move the air around myself,  helping me quickly retreat sideways to avoid the attack.


    A grin appeared on my mouth, things were getting fun. The abyssal launched attack after attack, almost killing me in many circumstances, the more the battle progressed, the more excited I felt.


    The monster had his fire concept at the domain level, and could even make the air around him burn, fortunately, I had the fire at the mortal level, and could resist his attacks with the help of my soul force.


    The longer the battle took, the more frenzied the abyssal became. I, on another turn, was having the time of my life.


    Fighting was never so exciting for me before, but now, something was slowly changing within me. The adrenaline that coursed through my veins, accelerated the blood flow and made my body exert all its strength motivated me to fight even more.


    After seeing that I wouldn''t get any more insight from the abyssal, I sidestepped one of its attacks and slashed at him, involving my sword in black fire.


    ¡­


    There was no mystery, the abyssal was simply cut in help. The destruction fire quickly devoured his body, like a child eating candy.


    The fire didn''t stop there and continued to burn the ground and everything around the area, quickly spreading.


    This was one of the characteristics of the destructive fire that I learned about more recently.


    After upgrading my insights on the concepts of death and darkness to the domain level, the fire of destruction evolved a degree further, and would now burn everything in sight, until there was no life left, or until I stopped it.


    This property made the fights much easier, after all, a fire that could not be erased would cause a lot of problems to the enemy. however, other kinds of energies could be used to stop it. but without it, the fire would burn without stopping.


    A smile appeared on my mouth after seeing my work. However, I quickly stopped the fire from spreading further to get the material from the abyssals, after all, I needed points¡­.

 Chapter 20 - Concepts

    Hunting alone for a long time and immersing myself in slaughter has affected me, I could feel it, however, this was necessary.


    If I wanted to have enough strength to change my surrounds, I must get more powerful.


    In these last weeks, my origin cultivation had broken through to the second tier, and my soul force only advanced a bit.


    Looking at my bag, I knew that I had enough points to get a lot of resources. I would mainly focus on buying resources to temper my body right now, to improve my cultivation.


    Getting my thoughts in line, I decided that it was time to go back to the fortress, and exchange my points for some resources, and later go to the fourth floor.


    The third floor was not presenting any challenges for me right now. I could now use the concept of destruction with naturality, and the enemies were not strong enough to defend against it. Even applying soul force felt now easy and natural, I didn''t even need to concentrate anymore, reinforcing my body and weapon almost became a natural reflex.


    Collecting all of the material around me, I strapped the sword to my back and proceeded to the fortress.


    The way back was peaceful. After staying here for so long, I had mastered the way to hide with the concept of darkness.


    Many people thought that staying here three weeks was not long, but these fools were mainly people that had never dived into the underworld.


    Imagine staying in a hostile environment for three weeks, constantly battling and barely having time to rest. And even if you stopped to rest, you would still have to watch your surrounds.


    My clothes were now in drags, all stained with blood. This was the last set of cloth that I had, the other ones were all destroyed. If other people saw me right now, they would surely be puzzled. How were the cloths in rags, but the skin beneath it was spotless and without sign of battle?


    I stepped into the stairs to the second floor and felt the sensation of spacing bending around me. In this instant, realization dawned upon me.


    One of the concepts that were not advancing was space. although the concept of space was everywhere, it was mostly stable, and its variation couldn''t be grasped.


    Standing here on the stairs, I saw the opportunity to have some enlightenment and seated down to meditate and perceive the concept.


    The space was bending and stretching around me. I could feel that one side was connected with the 3rd floor, and the other with the 2nd floor.


    The intersection was where space was being modified and bent. It was almost like someone picked two separate lines and tied them together, however, these two lines were already connected to another thing, making the lines having a constant tension between them, being only held together by the knot.


    This phenomenon was incredible! How could someone tie something that was not physical? Realizing how incredible this passage was, I began to eagerly try to have some insights from it.


    ***


    Two days later, I was still seated at the stair. Some groups had passed by me and looked with strange faces. Some realized what I was doing, but others had no clue.


    In general, they chose to ignore me, after all, I was someone that was training in the concept of space, and they wouldn''t want to mess with someone like that.


    Feeling that my concept of space had advanced quite a bit, and was on the peak of the mortal level, I knew that it was useless to stay here anymore.


    I got up from the stair and went to the fortress.


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    ***


    Getting in the underworld hall, many people gave me strange looks, just like I imagined they would do. I ignored them and went to the point of exchange to get some points.


    Arriving there, I looked at the booth and my mind became blank for a moment. Arriving here and not seeing Hannah reminded me of why I was training so hard.


    I quickly exchanged the material for points and left the place.


    Looking at the card, I saw that my total of points had gone to a little bit more than 3 million.


    I finally had some money to play with right now.


    I browsed through the stores on the street and bought various things, and one of them was a resistant cloth enchanted with auto-repairing. It was a necessity for me, and just in case this one was destroyed, I bought three sets, having a total of 3 hundred thousand.


    I bought several pills and herbs to temper my body and went to Ian''s armory to buy armor for me.


    Arriving there, I looked around and saw that while the clerks were attending to some clients, Ian was sitting on a reclined chair while enjoying a smoking pipe, releasing smoke like chimney.


    I approached him and offered my hand while saying. "Hey there Ian."


    He looked up to me, strongly grabbing my hand and saying. "Oh, look who is back." A grin appeared on his mouth and he asked. "Making justice to Purb¨¢s?" while releasing my hand.


    I stroked the handle of my sword over my right shoulder and said. "Surely."


    He nodded and asked. "So, shoot away. What are you here for?" without beating around the bush.


    "I need new armor."


    "How is your budget?"


    "I have two million points to work with."


    Hearing my answer, he pondered for a bit and said. "Well, you''re poor as fuck!" His answer surprised me. "That little money can only buy you a subpar armor, to have the real deal, you would have to cash out at least 1 billion."


    Hearing what he said, I remembered the struggles that I went through the last weeks, almost dying several times, and fighting like a madman. Compared to Divers in the third level, I was well of.


    Most of them only did 7 hundred thousand per month, because they would have to share it with their teams and wouldn''t fight without stopping, they would have to at least rest, after all, not everyone had a mutation that would give them as much stamina as mine.


    I nodded to him in understanding and he continued. "Look, boy, when you have some real cash, come to me, and I will do a special armor for you, but for now, go talk to a clerk and they will give you something in that price range."


    "I will." I said while nodding. "Until next time then."


    I talked to one of the clerks, and after 20 minutes and some different armors to choose from, I left the store with a leather armor, covered in some special runes.


    The armor had an enchantment of cleaning, auto-repair, and physical defense. Although it was not powerful, it would serve me for now.


    I went to the hotel and booked a room. The clerk looked at me with strange eyes after remembering the destruction I caused the last time I came here. She was a blond woman, that was using a tight black skirt and a white blouse. She gave me a sweet smile and tried to talk a little bit. But I was not in the mood for a conversation.


    After finishing the procedures, I went to my room, took a shower, and rested.


    I finally got a deserved sleep¡­.


    ***


    Waking up the next morning, I decided to stay in the hotel for the day. I had some insights to consolidate and try to have some breakthroughs.


    Knowing that I could cause some damage to the hotel, this time I booked a room with a special place, meant to those things.


    By what the clerk told me yesterday, many people had their breakthroughs after coming back from the underworld. After all, it was on the battlefield where you could learn how to best apply your concepts. And knowing that, the hotel had special rooms with that in mind.


    Getting in the reinforced room, I looked around and saw that the place had many enchantments, to maintain the integrity of the place. I seated down and began to meditate.


    The first concept that I would try to level up to the domain level would be the concept of death. After all, it was the most recurrent concept in the place I was in.


    I was surrounded by constant death in these last few weeks, when not by the enemies I slain, by the bodies that were thrown everywhere.


    I began to remember the transformation that happened in the energy after they died, how the souls slowly left the body, and how my own near-death experience informing the origin energy happened.


    The aspect of death was mysterious, to say the least. Life was everywhere and slowly happened by the formation of a new life, but death could be either slow or quick.


    Quick death didn''t even need to be explained, a sword to the neck would be a simple answer, but a slow death was the scariest.


    People aged naturally, and they died with time. Because of that, all the races trained in some form of energy, to try to achieve immortality, dead was an inevitability to most.


    It was said that when one reached the ninth tier, the life force inside of a person would not deteriorate any more, giving the said person eternal life.


    There were many powerhouses in the eighth tier. However, breaking through to the ninth tier was easier said than done.


    One of the things required to advance to the ninth tier was to have advanced your concept to the Heaven level. And with each level, gaining insights would become harder and harder. It was easy for a mortal to move a rock, but was it easy for him to move a mountain? That was the same thing with concepts, the higher the level, the harder the challenge.


    There was only a handful of ninth tier being in the continent, with most of them being dragons, a heavenly race that was born already in the fifth tier.


    In history, there were only some heroes that were known for having achieved the ninth tier, with one of them being the legendary mage that opened the portal to the underworld.


    Back to the present, Ullach concentrated on feeling his concept, and his understanding of it slowly bloomed.


    Death was present in nature, and some people thought that when you are born, from that day onwards you are slowly dying as you grow old.


    Reflecting all these things in his mind, the concept of what death slowly became clear to him. A heart ceasing to beat, a cell that stopped working, the decay that happened to the bodies, and age.


    Everything was connected to the aspect of death, after all, everything that was alive could die, having infinity lifespan or not.


    A gray aura began to appear on his body, slowly expanding to his surroundings¡­.

 Chapter 21 - Team

    The gray aura began to appear around him, breaking out of his body and manifesting in the air around him.


    The runed on the wall and the floor shined, stopping the energy from spreading further.


    The aura began to circle Ullach, making a sphere around him, totally hiding his body inside of it.


    After 40 minutes, the cocoon of gray mist slowly vanished and Ullach appeared from inside. The air around him was heavier, even looking at him would cause the impression of awe. Of course, this aura could only affect mortals, someone who was already introduced into the world of magic could easily dismiss his aura.


    He began to investigate the uses of his domain, and a grin appeared on his face after some time.


    The domain allowed him to project it in a radius of 30 meters with him as the center, and all the attacks using the concept of death would be enhanced, and more, after entering the domain, a decaying effect would appear on the enemy forcing him to shield himself using some energy.


    The effects of the domain were pretty powerful, and better, it almost didn''t spend any energy, all that was required were sufficient insights on the concept.


    He went back to the bedroom and ordered a meal. Although he was eating rations these last few days, nothing could compare to a hot meal.


    I waited for a bit and heard a knock on the door. I got up from the bed and went toward. Opening the door, I saw the Clerk that attended me behind a cart.


    She smiled at me and said. "Food delivery."


    I opened the door further and allowed her to enter the room. She pushed the cart to the table while swaying her bountiful hip, showing all of her curves.


    She picked the plates from the cart and organized them on the table. While she was doing it, she bowed forward and showed her cleavage, making her boobs almost jump from it.


    After staying alone for three weeks, a man would naturally feel lonely. Although I still had Hannah in my mind, a fire of desire began to burn inside of me.


    I wanted to possess this woman, to make her feel pleasure under me. I began to get hard, and a noticeable bulge appeared on my pants.


    The woman prepared the table while giving furtive glances at me, and when she saw my look of desire, she gave me an even sweater smile, while softly biting her lower lips.


    After setting the table, she pushed the cart forward and slowly approached me. I stared at her with my fervent eyes, and couldn''t hold my desire.


    She stopped the cart beside me and slowly asked. "Are the things on the table enough for you to have a heart meal? Or do you want to eat something else?"


    I couldn''t hold myself after this stunt of hers. My instincts were telling me to push her on the bed and fuck her like there was no tomorrow.


    And I did exactly that.


    ***


    Morning arrived and was already awaken. A strange woman whose name I didn''t even know was laying on my bed, dead tired after "exercising" for the whole night.


    I looked at the enchanted window and looked at the horizon. A forest could be seen far away, thriving and creating new life. Seeing this pure and yet beautiful thing, my heart was filled with warmth and my mind calmed down.


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    I enjoyed the night with the woman, it was full of joy. However, morning came, and my instincts calmed down.


    I regret doing it with her. Although I and Hannah never talked about having a serious relationship, I knew that there was something deeper between us, even looked at her eyes calmed me down.


    Although I felt a little guilty about having slept with this woman, what bothered me was the way my instincts possessed me and made me do this without even thinking.


    It was the same kind of feeling I had on these last few weeks on the underworld, a feeling that drives me to do something, and when something like this appeared, it was very hard to control it.


    I knew that I still wasn''t controlled by these instincts, because I had a centered mind, even after experiencing all these struggles during my life.


    Holding on in a situation like this was not easy, mainly when you were left alone, without any family, without any friends¡­.


    I decided in my heart, I must stop these feelings, and take control of my life.


    Being free was a gift that few truly have, and I wanted to possess it.


    Hannah for example had struggled her whole life to get rid of the shackles that were her clan. She struggled and eventually escaped from them, however, they came after her and the end was like that.


    Her example made me value freedom even more.


    The woman woke up after some time, and said sorry for leaving so hurriedly, she said she was late for work.


    saw her quickly leaving the room and the feeling of loneliness assaulted me even harder. My heartfelt conflicted by this emotion. I wanted to be sufficient for myself, but being alone was not always good.


    My emotional state was very fragile right now, and I truly needed some help.


    After thinking for a while I decided finding a team for me. In this way, I would have someone to fight by myself, and could maybe find some friends.


    I looked at the booklet and saw there was a place where teams recruited new members. I was excited by this information and decided to head there immediately.


    Although I could try to break through to the Domain level with my other concepts, I knew that doing it would not be so hard. It was only possible to do it with death because it was present everywhere, you should only know where to look.


    Making this decision to solidify the concepts first, I left the room and went toward the recruitment area.


    ***


    Looking around, I could see many people coming and going to the various clerks that were attending inline on a balcony.


    There were five lines to be attended. I waited in one of them and soon my time arrived.


    "Hello there. What can I help you with?" Asked a young man.


    "I need a team to work with," I answered.


    "Ok, and on what floor do you intend to work?"


    "I wish to work on the fourth floor."


    "There are some teams that have some available spots. Here are the teams, the way to contact them is at the end of the pamphlet." He said while giving me some papers. "Have a good day."


    "Thanks." I said and turned around to leave.


    I seated on a bench and skimmed through the pamphlets, reading the requirements and how many members the team already had.


    Most of the papers were of teams that wanted to expand, to dive from the third to the fourth floor. Only some of them were already veterans on the fourth floor.


    I dismissed all the pamphlets of team that didn''t require a close distance fighter, and of teams that were already veterans on the fourth floor.


    The reason why I excluded them, was because those veterans were already seasoned in that floor, and wouldn''t have much challenge in it. I intended to create bonds, and what better way then to go through hard situations together.


    Many would consider my motive to pick a team foolish. "You are powerful enough to challenge the floor alone" many would say, or "Stop being a city and toughen up man!"


    But I knew my limitations and would work on them.


    There were two options left on the team, one of them was recruiting a mage and a close distance fighter, and the other only a fighter.


    I picked these two and read the locations where the teams could be found and when. I memorized the location and kept the pamphlets.


    I saw that one of the teams would be available by now, and went to find them.


    Their requirements were of an attacker, because according to the pamphlet, the team only had one main attacker, and was lacking a bit in this aspect.


    It was natural that some aspects began to lack in teams when they descended on some floors. Maybe, this team strength was enough for the third floor, but for the fourth, they needed extra hands to help with the job.


    ***


    Leaving the elevator, I arrived on a floor where many villas could seem. Most houses were big and had courtyards.


    I walked down the streets, using the signs that were everywhere, and finally arrived in front of the villa. The place had a 6 meters tall wall, completely white and with two lions beside the big wooden gate. one at each side.


    I followed the instructions and entered the villa. There was a big garden that could be seen, and a house far away. I realized that the villa was enchanted with space magic, to make the inside much bigger than the outside. "This team must have quite a background."


    I slowly walked through the garden, and after some minutes arrived at the house. the house had an old style. It was completely made of black diamond wood and looked quite robust. The laughs came from the back of the house.


    I circled the house and saw that the team was seated on the grass while eating meat and drinking. they were sitting on a circle and some of them had their backs to me.


    I was surprised and my spirit was lifted. If this team could seat behind the house and enjoy while they were waiting for recruits, maybe they were the team for me.


    When I saw them, the ones that were facing my direction were shocked. I wondered why their reactions were like this, weren''t they waiting for recruits?


    Then, one of the people that had their back to me said in a hateful voice.


    "Hey, guys, what is it with that face of yours? Did a recruit arrived?" I instantly recognized the voice.


    It was a voice that haunted me every day, making me remember the humiliation and near-death experience that I had.


    The man turned around and looked at me. It was the fierce man!

 Chapter 22 - Darkness of ones soul

    I was so surprised at finding them in here, that a macabre smile appeared on my face.


    The waiting for this moment to arrive was excruciating! I didn''t search for them actively, but I always wanted to find them, and give the fierce man a lesson that he would never forget.


    I remembered what Althaea said in the letter, and those words kept conflicting with what I wanted to do to him. But, at this moment nothing mattered. Seeing him in front of me made me instantly forget what Althaea said about being good.


    The man and his team got up from their places. They were unarmed and didn''t have any weapons on them, I looked to the side and saw that their weapons were around the bonfire, looking almost like a ritual to enjoy the feast.


    "WHAT THE HELL?" the fierce man shouted in surprise on his face. "You truly are a cockroach, it seems that I have to cut you to pieces and smash your head for you to die."


    An aura appeared around him again, but this time, instead of being bronze-colored it was silver. He had evolved his mutation to silver level.


    His skin transformed into metal, and he pounced at me like a beast, throwing a powerful punch at my head. I could see that his companions were laughing from the back after getting rid of the shock, almost like they were seeing a comedy show.


    I didn''t even get my sword. seeing he coming at me like a beast, all confident in his physical prowess and strength, I would give him a lesson that he would never forget. Cold fury consumed me, and I strengthened my body with soul force and origin energy and punched him in the chin, contracting a ball of air and expanding it on impact.


    "BOOOOOM"


    My punch reached him before he could do anything to me. The fierce man was thrown high in the air and landed in the distance with a boom.


    I knew that the attack was not enough to kill someone with a metal mutation at the silver level, but it would be enough to stop him for a while, time enough to make him suffer.


    Rage fueled my eyes, and I unconsciously released a thin layer of black fire around me, making me look like a fire demon. I grabbed the sword on my back and attacked.


    The first one to react was one of the other warriors on the team, the man fought using two sabers from what I remembered from the last encounter.


    However, he didn''t have the sabers in hand right now, so he transformed into a hybrid between a man and a bear and attacked me with his claw.


    The attack was truly powerful, but it was too slow. I danced around his attack and attacked him with my sword.


    "Peng."


    Instead of reaching his flesh, the sword struck a barrier that was created by the mage. I ignored the defense and attacked again, this time involving my sword in flames and enhancing it.


    "Shhaaa"


    My sword cut the shield and the bear-man almost in half. The other teammates had used this time to grab their weapons but were shocked after seeing me destroy the mage''s shield and kill the man.


    The body feel to the ground while gushing blood. There was a red rain for a moment and the ground was dyed red. I used this opportunity to dash toward the mage, who was closest to me.


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    The man formed another shield around himself and attacked me with a wind blade.


    I rolled in the ground to evade the blade and jumped forward slashing at the shield, ripping it in half together with the man.


    His eyes opened like lanterns and he looked at me, almost as if he was trying to say his last words. But before he could say anything, he fell in the ground with a resounding thud.


    I stepped back, evading an arrow that tried to impale my head.


    I looked at them and laughed, almost as if I was watching a comedy show¡­.


    ***


    The fierce man got up from the crater that was formed in the ground and dizzily stood up. He looked around and heard the sound of battle in the distance. unfortunately, he couldn''t see was happening there because of the trees blocking the way. He staggered forward and tried to get up.


    However, he was still too dizzy. He stumbled and almost fell on the ground.


    After resting for a bit, he finally was well enough to walk there. As everything was quiet, he betted that his team had taken care of the piece of shit.


    He walked to the house, as he didn''t see the necessity to run there anymore. He left behind a tree while saying.


    "Hey buddies, did you wash your feet after having¡­." But he lost the words that were about to leave his throat and was stunned.


    various bodies littered the courtyard, and all of them were from his teammates. The bodies were either cut in half or burnt.


    Standing in the middle of the massacre, was a man drenched in blood and with a sword in his hand. The man demonically grinned and said.


    "Who is the cockroach now? Are you going to crawl under my feet or are you going to stand there stunned."


    The voice sounded like thunder in his ears, and he was so frightened that he took a step back and began to run from the place.


    He looked around at the forest as if something was running after him, and there was!


    He could see a man''s shadow running between the trees and playing with his mind. The horror and terror began to take root in his mind.


    He was a young master of one of the clans from the north and had awakened a powerful mutation that gave him a powerful defense. He had even evolved it to the next stage and was enjoying the best phase of his life.


    And suddenly, someone that he was sure was killed by his own hands had come back like a ghost, trying to kill and terrorize him.


    He stopped in place, and the silhouette began to run in circles around him, while making a circle of black fire, making sure that he couldn''t escape.


    The man stopped running and began to walk out of the woods. He walked through the circle of fire and looked at the man.


    "This is the retribution for what you have done to me, live with it!"


    After saying this, the man cut his left arm, which was the arm who wielded his weapon and left.


    ***


    Ullach left the building and went directly to the hotel. He didn''t have the mind to go to the other team today, he hoped that they still had the spot tomorrow.


    Arriving in my room. I seated in the bed and looked at my hands. They were trembling! The trembling didn''t come from fear or regret but from the joy of having slaughtered the fierce man team.


    I was shocked by seeing the natural reaction that I had. I was afraid of what I was becoming.


    I know where the feeling of joy came from, from killing people that deserved to be dead. The fierce man''s team never complained or said anything about him treating a fellow diver like this, and only laughed and enjoyed watching. This was surely not the first time that they had done something like this.


    Even knowing what I did and why I did it, I felt wrong on the inside. It was not that I didn''t like what I did, after all, the taste of revenge was sweet. But I knew that there was something wrong with me.


    My elbows were in my knees and my face buried in my hands. I remembered the letter that mas had left me and searched for my bag to find it. With the letter at hand, I began to repeatedly read it.


    There was nothing more impacting them being torn apart from the inside, without having someone to rely on, without a shoulder to lean on.


    I knew that if I stayed in this condition, I would probably go crazy.


    I seated down on the bet and began to meditate. I manipulated my soul force and used an apprentice technique that Althaea passed to me.


    I know I don''t have anyone to rely on right now, but at least I had them in my memories.


    I slowly manipulated my soul force and there was a sudden blackness. A door appeared in this dark room, and I went through it.


    ***


    I was walking through the beautiful garden that was located in my clan grounds. Beautiful flowers were everywhere, and my brother was running in front of me while looking back and creating petals and throwing them at me. The beautiful petals fluttered in the air and danced around him.


    The sunlight illuminating passing through the petals made the scene even more wonderful.


    ***


    Althaea and I were eating the daily Anam and talking about the training. I used the soul force and manipulated a leave to drop on her head. She looked at me with mischievous eyes and controlled a sea of leaves to cover me. while laughing she said. "You''re still too weak boy."


    ***


    I was laying on the bed beside Hannah. We were under the cover of the sheets. We talked about many things while caressing each other. in the end, she slept on my shoulder while speaking, tightly embracing me and smiling.


    ***


    Many happy moments passed through my head. I finally got back on track and realized that life was not so easy like some people thought it would be.


    Life was full of ups and downs. The important thing was how you got through them, but even the hard moments could never erase a happy memory from a person''s head. You only momentaneously forget that it is there, but it is still there!

 Chapter 23 - Companions

    After calming down, things became clearer to me.


    Doing that with the fierce man was not wrong, but behaving like a demon was.


    I killed all his teammates, which was understandable. But the process changed how I felt. I lost control of my own emotions and enjoyed the slaughter, and wanted to kill even more!


    I got control of myself again and decided to focus on mastering some soul techniques that would help me better control my mind. I remembered some of them that I still hadn¡¯t practiced to mastery and trained.


    The techniques were easier to learn now that the tier of my soul force was higher. I used the entire afternoon to master them, and felt better now.


    I slept that night like a baby and was well-rested.


    I woke up in the morning and went to find the other team. There was a possibility that the team had left. But I would at least try.


    Arriving in front of the inn where the team was. I entered it and went directly to the balcony. the team had left instructions to the servants to call them when a recruit arrived.


    I talked to the servant and he said that the team was still there. I felt happy for knowing this and waited, seating by one of the tables nearby.


    After waiting for a while, the team finally descended the stairs. And I was surprised by what I was seeing.


    The team was composed of one mage, one archer and two warriors. One of the warriors used a longsword, and the other one a hammer and a shield.


    They were the team that I saw fighting on the third floor.


    It seemed that they had found the mage they were looking for, as the team previously didn¡¯t have one. Differently from the others, that looked like seasoned warriors, the mage had a delicate skin, mocha-colored, with black eyes and black silk hair.


    They came and talked to the barman, he pointed to me and I got up to compliment them.


    The leader, the woman that used the longsword, came walking forward, her red-colored hair was waving with the wind, and the vertical scar just under her eyes strangely gave her a charm that was unlike everything else.


    She stopped in front of me, placed both hands on her hips and said. ¡°So¡­ You¡¯re the one that is trying to enter our team. Right?¡± She asked in confirmation.


    Her fierce-looking and intimidating aura gave me a pause, but I ignored it and nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Good.¡± She said while nodding her head. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the back.¡± She turned around and left toward the back of the bar.


    Her companions followed after her and didn¡¯t say anything.


    Leaving through the door, I saw that the place had a platform that looked pretty resistant. There were several depressions on it, and stains of blood. The place truly looked intimidating, it was almost as if they were doing it on purpose to see my reaction. and that¡¯s what I think it was about.


    The red-haired woman got up to the platform and pulled out her sword. The air around me suddenly felt dry and hot, the same sensation that I felt from one of the abyssal¡¯s fire domain.


    ¡°So she is a domain user¡­¡± I thought to myself.


    Seeing that she held quite a power, I got up to the platform and also released my death domain, making it clash with hers.


    She had a surprised face and was flabbergasted by the revelation of my domain. The mains clashed, almost erasing each other.


    As soon as the domains clashed, the woman advanced, with a sword on hand. She concentrated a red fire on her blade and slashed at me.


    I involved my domain in destruction fire and attacked her.


    The slash''s clashed midair, and they canceled each other. I was surprised by this. My destruction concept was one of the most powerful concepts.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I looked at her and was amazed, her domain was about to break through to the earth level, because of that it was so powerful!


    We clashed around the arena, leaving only after images in our wake. I was reinforcing my body with soul force and origin energy, but even with that, she was not loosing to me one bit.


    And it seemed that she was still holding back.


    The fight went for a while, and there was no end to it. But the woman had an advantage.


    After another clash. She retreated a few steps and said. ¡°You are quite a good fighter, that''s what we are looking for. Will you join our team?¡± She said while smiling.


    I looked at her and nodded. ¡°It would be my pleasure,¡± I said.


    She walked forward an extended her hand. I grabbed it and she said. ¡°My name is Lana. As you have seen, I fight using a longsword and using the concept of fire.¡± She pointed at the man that was holding a shield and continued.  ¡°That brute over there is Beirut. He uses the concept of earth.¡± The man smiled heartily and waved his hand. ¡°The other man using the bow is Silver, he uses the concept of lightning.¡± Silver bowed and gave me a curt nod. Lana pointed at the last member and said. ¡°And that woman over there is a newbie just like you, her name is Lily. She uses the concept of water, and is quite proficient at healing and crowd control.¡± Lily shyly waved her hand.


    ¡°Now that I have talked about everyone, it''s your turn.¡±


    I nodded and said while looking around at the team. ¡°My name is Ullach, and I use the concept of destruction.¡±


    ***


    We left the arena and went to the bar. We talked about many things and how we had arrived here. Most of the stories were quite standard, but Silver story was quite harsh.


    He was an orphan and was abandoned after he was born. He grew at the alleys and streets of the city where he lived in, and only survived because some homeless people took care of him when he was little.


    He discovered his talent in using the bow while hunting with a man that accepted him as an apprentice.


    From there onwards, he developed his talent until he arrived at the level he was today. He was a tier 5 ki user and had a mutation of lightning control, which helped him comprehend the concept of lightning even further.


    My new teammates looked like good people. At least they had the determination to fight and strive for a better future.


    After passing the day bonding on the bar, we decided to train on the 3rd floor for a few days, to develop our cooperation.


    My sleep was heavy that day. At the moment my head hit the soft pillow, my eyes closed and darkness came.


    I woke up the next morning and went to the third floor again, and the rest of the team was already waiting in there for me.


    We searched for a while and finally found some abyssal''s to fight with.


    The abyssal''s didn''t stand a chance, the team was formed by various professions that were at the fifth level.


    Today, they truly exhibited their full power. My teammates were stronger then what I thought.


    Lana looked a fire goddess, moving around the battlefield with fire burning around her, easily killing the abyssal''s.


    Silver showed why he was a powerful archer, and moved on the battlefield while shooting the monsters and making the monsters die one after the other.


    Beirut bashed the abyssal''s with his shield and smashed then with his hammer. He used the concept of earth to fortify his defense and enhance his attacks. He looked like a living tank.


    And Lily created water shields to defend the others. Healing water to treat wounds that occasionally appeared, and created water flows and quagmires to slow the monsters down.


    The team was pretty complete for what I could see, even if someone had a flaw, the others could easily cover it.


    I didn''t get behind and showed my fighting style to them. Of course, I still had some things reserved, but they were on par with most of my abilities.


    After an entire day of hunting, our cooperation was beginning to get in synch. Something that was needed to get to lower floors. We decided to train on the third floor for one more week, and then go to the fourth floor.


    ***


    We trained like mad, and could finally cover each other perfectly. There was almost no hole left in our formation, and everyone was getting along pretty well.


    One of the most important things in a team, besides cooperation, was friendship.


    If the teammates didn''t care for each other, casualties would happen some time, as hesitation to risk your life for another would appear.


    With both aspects of a team appearing in them, they felt that the time to go to the fourth floor was coming near, and they would go tomorrow!


    Ullach went back to the hotel and passed by the blond receptionist. He nodded to her and continued toward his room.


    Although they had slept that night, it didn''t happen again. It''s not that the woman didn''t want to, but Ullach was avoiding it.


    Since that day, he decided to do things for himself and to not let his instincts control him.


    After having a good night of sleep, he went toward the underworld hall, that was the place where he was supposed to meet with his team.


    He got there early and was the first to arrive. Seeing many teams coming and going to the abyss, made him excited. Although he had trained with the team in the last week, they didn''t have any challenges on the third floor and were only training.


    But now, real challenges would appear, as the fourth floor was totally different from the third.


    According to his investigations, the fourth floor had an entire ecosystem that came from the abyss, full of exotic and dangerous animals, and it even had a city governed by abyssals!


    Although many tried to build a city there, it was impossible to do so. Every time it was built, the abyssals destroyed it after some time.


    There was one period of the year when the underworld was closed. And it happened because of the abyssals horde.


    The abyssals left the abyss en masse to populate the floors, and any person that was on their way was brutally killed. Even if the person was a truly powerful diver, he couldn''t do anything against huge numbers.


    So, it was advised to the divers to leave the abyss at this time. The event would happen in a month, so the team still had enough time to go to the fourth floor.


    I waited there for a while and the others arrived after some time. The first to arrive was Lily. She was to shy to talk to me alone, so after complimenting me, she waited silently on the side.


    Lana, Silver, and Beirut arrived together after some time. They were already all geared up and ready to dive.


    ¡°Hey newbies, already waiting here. Good work!¡± Beirut said teasingly.


    Lily cutely looked downwards with blushing cheeks and said. ¡°Thanks.¡± in a low voice.


    ¡°Hey guys, are you as excited as me to go?¡± I asked with a big smile. This was a new experience for me just like it was for them.


    Lana looked at me and said. ¡°Of course we are. Who wouldn''t be?¡±


    ¡°Let''s go in then!¡± I said while turning around.


    The others looked around and laughed. They were in a cheerful mood.


    I was really happy today. I have developed some friends this week, and finally discovered what it felt like to be part of a group that accepted you. I have seen many people adventuring together, and drinking together, but I have never felt anything like it.


    My mind felt clearer, and I could finally see some light entering my life.

 Chapter 24 - Fourth floor

    After descending the floors, we were finally in front of the entrance to the fourth floor.


    unlike the other floors, the entrance to the fourth was no stairs, but a portal. It spun clockwise and was black. You could see the space distorting on its hinges.


    Everybody looked at Lana, who was the leader of the team, and she nodded. She stepped forward and we soon followed behind.


    Space distorted for a moment, and suddenly, I appeared on a field. My teammates were already beside me.


    We all looked around, investigating the environment. And just like it was told, it was like a new world around us.


    The ground was covered in a grass-like plant, but it was black, and when we passed near it, the plant retracted to the ground. The trees had black lines all over its trunk, almost as if blood was flowing on it. The leaves of the trees were red, just like blood.


    The sight amazed me. The abyss was not ugly, but it was different and beautiful in a macabre way.


    What truly puzzled me was that the plants looked almost the same from my world, just with some different aspects. I wondered if all the dimensions would be like this, just more of the same, but just different.


    The team entered a formation, with both Lily and Silver in the middle, Beirut guarding them, Lana in the front, and I was left to watch the back.


    We decided to head toward the opposite direction where the Abyssal city was located, to a camp that the races had made. Although cities couldn''t be made here, it was possible to create temporary camps, and you could acquire the information where they were located in the fortress.


    We walked through the forest, even seeing some strange and exotic wildlife. This place was truly a wonder!


    Traveling through this forest was a bit complicated, but nothing that could matter to us. The real hair raising thing was that we could be ambushed at any time. there was a forest around us, making our field of vision very short.


    Although both me and Silver had some sensing abilities, they could not be used in a long-range and would lose a lot of its effects in an environment where our sight was impeded.


    The worst thing on this floor is that we were not used to it. On the other floors, the sight was almost always clear, with nothing that could impede our sights, but here, it was another history.


    After walking for 3 minutes, Silver raised his arm and said. ¡°Wait.¡± We looked at our surrounds with rapid attention, ready for anything that could come at us.


    Silver lowered his head to the ground, putting his ear on the floor. After a few moments, he got up and said. ¡°Quickly, hide in the trees.¡± We quickly scaled the trees and were hiding in the treetops after a few seconds.


    We waited for about 1 minute, but nothing happened. I looked toward Silver, and his serious look hadn¡¯t disappeared.


    After 30 seconds, I began to feel the vibrations. the trees were trembling and even leaves were falling. I retreated my aura and looked around. My companions had all hidden entirely as well.


    After half a minute, I could finally hear some commotion in the distance, and they were quickly approaching us.


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    from the tree top, I could finally see what was heading in our direction.


    A big horde of mounted abyssal was now passing below us. The abyssals from the fourth floor had many variates, but all of them had a humanoid built. But some had a scales, while others had skin. they were really different from one another.


    The creatures that they were hiding had a streamlined body and tough carapace. It seemed that it was a commonly used mounts by the abyssals.


    But what startled me was the fact that some abyssals were using armors and weapons, most of them.


    So they were an army¡­ probably from the city of abyssals. This level of organization scared me. The abyssals from the lower floor were weaker, thus, dumber.


    It was discovered long ago that abyssals were born dumb, but the stronger they got, the higher their tier, the more intelligent they were. And here on the fourth floor, they were strong enough to form a society and an army, not different from the races of taotrom.


    We waited in silence until the abyssals disappeared. When we were sure that there was none left behind, we got out of our hiding spots.


    Everyone looked toward Silver, because he was making a really, really bad expression.


    ¡°Shit.¡± He said while putting his hand over his face. ¡°They were probably coming from the direction of the camp. What do we do now?¡±


    Everyone looked at Lana, waiting for her decision. She thought for a while and said. ¡°We still head to the camp. There could be survivors, or everyone could have scattered before the abyssals arrived. In either of the options, we have to take a look at the camp. So, let¡¯s go.¡±


    After she decided, we followed Silver directions and headed to the camp.


    Now, it was much easier to now the camp¡¯s direction. After all, there were tracks all over the place¡­.


    We quickly ran through the forest, having it easier now that we knew that there was no abyssals in the way.


    After a long hour, we finally arrived in what was left of the camp. Tents were on the ground, or what was left of them.


    The majority of the camp was burnt. However, there was good news, there were no bodies! It looks like the people living in the camp identified the invading army and left the camp before they arrived here.


    We looked around for clues where the survivors could be, but there was nothing. After some time, we gave up and decided to make rest far from here.


    Just as we were about to leave the camp, the ground 30 meters from us erupted, and a Troich left the ground. It had a bulky body made of dark metal, and two lights coming out of its eyes. The Troich stood at 3 meters tall.


    After leaving the ground, he approached us and said in a metallic voice. ¡°Are you here to look for the camp.¡± while bobbing his head to the side.


    Lana stepped forward and said. ¡°Yes, we are. could you please guide us to it?¡±


    The Troich nodded and said. ¡°Yes. Follow me.¡± while turning around and entering the hole where he came out from.


    Lana followed him and we did the same. After entering the hole, the entrance closed. The tunnel was made of dirt. I wondered why it was not falling, then I sensed the mana that was reinforcing the walls. The Troich had made a good job.


    We walked for a long time on the tunnel. the tunnel was falling behind us, covering any traces that could be left.


    We made a silent march, and after 4 hours, the Troich finally dug upward, meaning that we were had finally arrived at our destination.


    It was amazing to see the Troich manipulating the earth, it looked natural and easy to him. He just ran ahead and a tunnel opened before him.


    His expenditures of mana was minor, as he could manipulate the earth with such a finesse that the mana usage was minimal.


    After some time, we finally reached the surface.


    Light came from the entrance. I put my forearm in front of my eyes to adapt to the light, after a few moments, my eyes adapted and I looked around.


    The sight amazed me. There were Troich¡¯s, Adhar¡¯s, Dianach¡¯s and humans everywhere. They were building tents and making some places using magic. The atmosphere in the camp was lively.


    The Troich that brought us here pointed to one of the bigger tents and said. ¡°The commander of the camp is in there, you should speak with her.¡± After saying this, the hulking creature left and went toward some of his companions.


    When I looked forward, I saw that Lana was already heading to the commander tent. I followed after the team, and we arrived in the tent after a few moments.


    Voices were coming from the inside, they were talking about layout and somethings like that. Lana talked to the guard at the entrance, an Dionach, and he went inside to call the commander.


    After a while, he came out and signalized for us to follow him. We entered the tent.


    In the middle of it, there was a big table, full of sketches. They were discussing the layout of the camp.


    there was one representant of each race in the room. One of them, an Adhar, with silver wings and runes flowing through his body, was in the center of the people. He was leading them.


    The Adhar stepped forward and said. ¡°Welcome to our camp. we are here to offer shelter to the divers who need and, and you can even exchange things in here. My name is Lorion, the leader of this camp.¡±


    Lana stepped forward and complimented him. ¡°My name is Lana, and this is my team.¡± She said while pointing to us. ¡°We want to take shelter in here between hunts.¡±


    Lorion nodded to us. ¡°You can talk to my assistant. He will guide you to a place where you can place your tent.¡± He emitted a kind of signal and a human entered the tent.


    The human nodded to Lorion and said to Lana. ¡°Please, follow me.¡±


    Lana nodded to Lorion and left the tent.


    We followed the man, and he showed the place where we could place our tents. We assembled it, and after some time, everything was ready.


    We decided to rest for today. But tomorrow, we would hunt!

 Chapter 25 - Learning how to cooperate

    I rested for the night. Everything was quiet and peaceful. My teammates slept like a baby.


    The morning came, and I promptly got up. It was strange because there was a read sun in the sky. Was it an illusion? How had they built it?


    These questions passed through my mind for a moment, but I quickly dismissed them.


    I checked my things and saw that everything was ready. I had already checked them before coming here, but giving a second look wouldn''t kill.


    The team dismantled the tents and left the camp.


    Leaving the place, we assumed the usual formation and were attentive.


    Hunting abyssal''s on the fourth floor was a pain in the ass. We would need to be very careful not to die.


    We left toward the opposite direction of the abyssal''s city. We left the camp behind and began to journey.


    This floor had many other monsters besides the abyssal''s, and some of them were pretty strong.


    There were almost none of them near the city because the abyssal''s had killed most of them. But there were plenty in the opposite direction.


    Leaving the camp, we walked through the forest, and calmly advanced.


    Lana was a clear-headed leader and knew how to get things done.


    We walked for an entire day, and only had minor encounters. Small monsters that were quickly killed.


    It was not even worth it to stop and harvest them. They only had some parts that were not that valuable.


    After walking for the whole day, we finally stopped to rest.


    We made camp and defined the order of the people who were going to watch the camp in the night.


    I would take the first shift with Lily, and the second one would be Lana and Beirut.


    Silver would rest today, but tomorrow another person would rest and he would have to watch.


    I seated on a tree near the camp, and Lily was sitting beside me. She was looking at the opposite direction, looking for enemies.


    ¡°Where are you from?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I¡­ I am from the south.¡± she answered.


    ¡°Hmm¡­. So maybe you have heard of the Solas clan?¡±


    She flinched at my question and said. ¡°I have heard of them¡­. They hold quite a power in there¡­ but at least they have a good reputation.¡±


    ¡°Good reputation?¡± I asked puzzlingly.


    My clan was just like the others when I left, only caring for their things.


    ¡°Well, not the whole clan, but the Solas saint.¡± There was a glint of admiration in her eyes while saying this.


    ¡°Who was that saint?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ You''re from the south, but have never heard of him?¡±


    ¡°It''s been a long time since I left the region.¡±


    ¡°That is it then. Well, the Solas saint is a genius that has broken through in the concept of life and has a high achievement in it. He healed people in cities, and even created special plants to cure illness.¡±


    I was flabbergasted by this news¡­ I already knew who that person was. The only one good enough in my clan to do something like this was my brother!


    I nodded to her and continued to look around. Lily realized the change in my mood and didn''t ask me any questions.


    My shift ended and I entered the tent. There was plenty of time to sleep, 4 hours.


    I laid on the bed and began to roll over it. My mind was full of things, and receiving news from my brother made me feel his absence.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    My eyes slowly closed and I drifted to dreamland.


    ***


    Lana was watching over the camp with Beirut. They attentively looked around, looking for monsters.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think about Ullach?¡± Lana asked Beirut.


    He briefly looked at her and turned his attention back to the forest. ¡°He is a good boy. A bit young, but he will learn more over time.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t mean in that way. I am talking about his behavior in fights. Don''t you think he is too aggressive sometimes?¡±


    ¡°That''s normal, some people are even more reckless then him when fighting.¡± Beirut answered.


    ¡°You know what I mean. We already had a problem with an aggressive person, I don''t want to have another.¡± She looked at the distance as if remembering some things.


    Beirut placed his hand on her shoulder and said. ¡°Don''t worry about it, everything will be fine.¡±


    ***


    Morning came and everyone got ready. They were approaching a dangerous area, so there would surely be a combat today.


    Everyone already had their weapons at hand, in case something happened.


    They could clearly feel the powerful auras in the surrounds. There were broken threes and claw marks on the ground.


    Silver tracked the monster, an began to lead us to it.


    Arriving near, we could see a corrupted abyssal bear on the distance. It had black fur, full of festering wounds, and its claws had almost sickles in place of its nails. The monster was 4 meters tall on all fours.


    Everyone paused for a moment, and Lana nodded toward Lily. Lily silently chanted some incantations! And runes appeared around her.


    This was one strength of the mages, they could use mana to create runes with their knowledge and concepts, to enhance their attacks.


    She pointed to the ground beneath the bear, and the creature paws entered the soft mud.


    She had created a quagmire!


    Silver took the opportunity and attack the bear with one arrow after the other. I also took the opportunity and launched a fireball at it, just like Lana.


    The attacks hit the monster, but they only destroyed its fur and singed its skin.


    ¡°PREPARE!¡± Lana shouted.


    Beirut jumped to the front, and Lily retreated. I stayed beside Lana and waited. Silver was constantly bombarding the monster with arrows, but it only flinched and didn''t stop.


    After a few moments, the bear freed itself from the quagmire and darted toward us.


    Beirut used a technique that I had never seen. A brown aura appeared around him, and his skin transformed in stone, making him grow bigger and bulkier. Fortunately, his armor and clothes expanded with him. After seeing the process, I realized that it was his mutation!


    The bear head-butted him intending to throw him away. Beirut placed his shield in front of him and received the blow. The responsibility of shielding his team.


    Instead of being launched in the air, the extra weight held him to the ground, and after skidding for a few meters, he stopped the bear charge.


    Me and Lana, that was just behind Beirut took the opportunity and attacked him from the sides.


    I reinforced Purb¨¢s and slashed at the bear.


    The sword left a shallow cut in it. Even the fire was extinguished by the energy the monster was releasing.


    I retreated after the bear tried to smash me using its monstrous paw, and attacked again.


    We released an attack after attack on the bear, but the creature was too resilient. Even the wounds that we made on it were regenerating. After seeing that the battle was not going so well, Lana jumped above the monster.


    She lifted her sword to the skies, and a red horn and demonic wings appeared on her back. The bear that was waiting for her to land was left without knowing what to do. A big red flame appeared on her sword, and she slashed downwards. The bear realized the danger it was in, but it was already too late.


    The creature was too slow to evade the flame slash, and it hit the bear on its side. There was a huge gash left on it, and the fight was easier from there onwards.


    After making the huge attack, Lana was too exhausted and stayed beside Silver on the back.


    The fight was concluded after 30 more minutes. The bear struggled until its last breath, and almost killed me during the process. If I hadn''t evaded the attack, even my regeneration would not save me.


    The body hit the ground, lifting a curtain of dead leaves.


    Silver hit some arrows on the bear''s eyes to make sure it was dead. The bear moved for a bit, and after struggling on the ground a little, it truly died.


    Silver went forward and harvested the monster. After some time we left the region.


    There were many combats during the day. I was still holding back my strength because I saw no need to show it yet.


    The night arrived, and Lily placed some concealing formations. We were now in the heart of a dangerous environment and needed to hide, mainly at night.


    After placing a few formations, we decided that Lily would sleep today, and everyone else would watch the camp in pairs.


    The first pair was me and Lana, and after our shift, Silver and Beirut would take our place.


    Lana was a bit strange with me today, although it was not a big difference, I could see it.


    We watched our surroundings in silence. I couldn''t hold it in anymore and asked.


    ¡°Is there something wrong leader?¡±


    She turned her eyes to me and said. ¡°Nothing much, just a bunch of old memories.¡±


    I nodded and continued. ¡°You know, the good thing about memories is that they are just the past.¡±


    Her body shook for a moment and she said. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Time passed quickly, and it was almost time to change shifts.


    We got up while Beirut and Silver were leaving the tent. Everyone suddenly stopped in place. There was a threatening aura just out of the formation.


    It was coming from the south and heading north. Everyone stopped in place and held their breaths.


    The danger was not coming from a lone beast but a group of it.


    Although the monsters were strong in here, individually they were not a mortal threat to our team. But in big groups, it was a different story. These monsters were in the fourth tier, and even a tier 6 could only run from a big group.


    After waiting for some minutes, we finally released our breaths. Thankfully, the monsters didn''t realize our existence.


    I slumped into the bed. My back was full of cold sweat, this was a close call.


    We went out to hunt the next morning. Just after leaving the camp, I trembled at the sight. There was almost a road formed by fallen trees.


    The monsters that passed through here last night were surely strong.


    We hunted in the following days and even returned to the camp once.


    Time slowly passed, and three weeks flew by. We were now a concise team, and the friendship between us had grown. Even Lana had stopped treating me strangely after that night.


    ¡°Hey buddy, is there some hot chick waiting for you at your city?¡± Beirut asked me while slapping my shoulder.


    ¡°Leave the poor boy alone.¡± said Silver while chuckling. ¡°His mother must be surely waiting for him with a bottle of milk.¡± everyone laughed heartily.


    I remembered Althaea and wondered where she was. She was more of a mother to me than my biological one.


    ¡°There is no one waiting for me outside of this hellhole. What about you guys?¡± I asked.


    Silver pointed at himself with his thumb and said. ¡°I have a daughter waiting for me in my hometown. I have been sending some money to her mother.¡±


    Beirut scratched his head while saying. ¡°Well, I have only a brother. But he is older than me, and have his family already.¡±


    Beirut elbowed Lily on the ribs and said. ¡°What about you little girl?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have a clan in the city. My mother must be anxious to see me again.¡±


    After Lily said this, everyone looked at Lana while waiting for an answer. She only looked at us with fiery eyes and everyone shut their mouths. ¡°We are close to the exit of the fourth floor. We are going to take a month of vacation, after all, the invasion will be happening.¡±


    Everyone agreed with her. Staying here during the invasion of the abyss was suicide. Although the invasion was still a week away from happening, it was better to leave earlier than never.


    I suddenly stopped in place after sensing something. The scent of blood.

 Chapter 26 - Survival plan

    I raised my hand and signalized for the group to stop. Everyone stayed in place and Lana gave me a look as if asking. ¡°What is it?¡±


    The group gathered, and I said in a low voice. ¡°I feel the scent of blood in front, it¡¯s better if Silver investigates what is happening first.¡±


    Lana looked at Silver and nodded. The ranger left the group while sneaking in the forest. Everyone else laid low and waited for an answer.


    After some time, Silver came back. His face didn¡¯t look so well, and he was clearly perturbed.


    Lana turned to him and asked. ¡°What happened Silver?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first.¡± He answered with a somber expression.


    The group followed his guidance and got away from the region. I already imagined that something nasty had happened. After all, the scent of blood was too thick.


    We arrived at a secluded place near a hill, and the group looked at Silver while waiting for answers.


    ¡°The situation is very, very bad. The Abyssals have surrounded the portal and are guarding it. There are countless corpses on the ground¡­ We are royally screwed.¡±


    The face of everyone went pale. We were stuck in this hell! This meant that our chance to survive would be very little. By how Silver described the portal, it was pretty unlikely that we could escape from here.


    ¡°We have to prepare for the worst. By what Silver said, we can¡¯t get out of this floor before the abyssal horde arrives.¡± Lana said while looking around. Her eyes had a calming effect on everyone, a good leadership made the difference.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the camp and see if there is still anyone in there.¡±


    Everybody nodded and we hurried toward the camp.


    The trip was silent and depressive. Everyone here knew what it meant to stay in one of the floors during the abyssal hordes, certain death!


    Our will to live was stronger than that, so we would struggle with everything we could to survive.


    After running through the forest for some time, and getting rid of some monsters, we were finally approaching the camp. My heart was beating fast, and the closer we got to the camp, the bigger the anxiousness.


    There was nothing that we could do if the people on the camp had left. They were our last beacon of hope. I looked around at my teammates. Lana had a serious face¡­ Silver looked as pale as a sheet of paper¡­. Beirut held his shield close to his body as if having it would protect him from anything that could happen¡­. And Lily¡­ She had an empty look in her eyes¡­.


    Lily was very close to my age, she didn¡¯t have many experiences with difficulties and challenges. Knowing that we were stuck in here was the same thing as a death sentence to her¡­. Not that it was not truth¡­.


    I tried to keep a calm appearance but was slowly panicking.


    The fact that I had survived some near-death experiences some time ago didn¡¯t diminish my fear of death. In fact, it made my fear grow.


    Being afraid of dying was a normal thing, and I surely knew that. I was afraid of many things in this world, and death was only one of them.


    Being so close to death was a good thing to my concept understanding. I had a great leap in the concept of death because of it, and my others were also growing by the day.


    I focused on the path forward and walked with the group. As soon as we arrived in a place where the camp could be seen, everybody stopped.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Thanks¡­.¡± I released a breath that I didn¡¯t realize I was holding.


    The camp was intact, however, everybody had a gloomy face. The scouts were standing on the entrance, while cautiously looking around. We entered the camp and the guards stopped us and said. ¡°Please, go to the commander''s tent. Every new arrival has to go there.¡±


    We walked through the camp while looking at the despairing people around us. The atmosphere was horrible in here, and with justification.


    We entered the commander tent, and Lorion was there with the others. His Silver wings had somehow dimmed, and his complexion was not so good.


    He raised his head and looked toward us. ¡°More help.¡± he said mumbling to the Dionach beside him.


    We stood in front of the big wooden table, and Lana said. ¡°We are aware of the circumstances, we need to know what we can do to help the camp now.¡±


    Lorion nodded and said. ¡°Good, at least you¡¯re not crying in a corner.¡± He waved his hand, signalizing her to approach. He pointed at the table, where a big map was laid and began to explain. ¡°We need to move to a safer place than here¡­ we were planning to move underground, but the Troich¡¯s don¡¯t have enough power to build a shelter safe enough for all of the camp, and other monsters live underground to take into consideration.¡±


    Everyone nodded in understanding. The Abyssals used some monsters to locate and destroy an underground base as well.


    ¡°We decided that getting as far away from the portal was the best solution¡­ so that is what we are going to do!¡±


    Lana answered with a serious face. ¡°When will we move?¡±


    ¡°The camp is going to be divided into groups. The groups are going to leave through different routes tomorrow, and meet at the destination.¡± He pointed toward the map and said. ¡°The abyssal¡¯s are already tracking us. Fortunately, our scouts and diverting their attention for now, but it won¡¯t work for long.¡±


    ¡°The best option that we have is to split up and meet later. I will give your route tomorrow together with a copy of this map. Dismissed.¡±


    Lana nodded and the group left the tent. After we went to a more private place, I looked at Lana and said. ¡°Are you truly buying what he is saying? He is the one organizing the routes. He will probably use the others as a distraction and safely arrive at the destination.¡±


    She looked around and seated on the ground while waving her hand, telling us to do the same. ¡°Ullach, I know that you have no experience in this kind of thing, but even if he is using us, he is our best shot.¡±


    I was just about to answer her when she said. ¡°Think with me. We are outnumbered in here, the abyssal''s have the absolute advantage over us, and the camp is not so united in the end, after all, everyone  only looks for their interests.¡±


    ¡°If he is using us as a distraction or not, he is still our best shot of getting away from here alive. As he said, the abyssal''s must be on the cust of discovering this camp, and if they do, the only thing that we can depend on will disappear.¡±


    ¡°But if we have great mobility as a group. staying here will limit that.¡± Lily said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ But think again, it will only limit us while the camp is safe, if there is a big attack, we always have the choice of running as a small group again.¡±


    Everyone understood her point. Staying with them at least gave us options, something that we didn¡¯t have if we were alone.


    ¡°We will rest tonight, and tomorrow we will go with their groups. But don¡¯t worry, we can always get away from here.¡± Lana said with confidence in her voice.


    I readied my tent and meditated. My soul power was getting stronger, and my origin energy was almost breaking to the next level. I felt that, if my origin energy was able to advance, I could escape safely from this hellhole.


    I rested during the night, knowing that this was probably one of the last peaceful nights that I would have in a long time and woke up in the morning, together with the rising of the red sun.


    Everyone organized their stuff, and we walked toward the center of the camp, where Lorion would give us the map and the route we were supposed to follow.


    Beirut punched me on the shoulder and said. ¡°Hey boy, relax! It¡¯s not like you¡¯re alone in here, we are together with you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, this means a lot to me.¡± I answered him.


    We could already see many groups waiting in the middle of the camp. The tents were already dismantled, and the place looked desolate.


    Lorion waited for a while. And after seeing that everyone had arrived he said. ¡°We will distribute the routes shortly. It¡¯s of great importance that you follow the planned route because, in this way, we can ensure that almost everyone will make it.¡±


    He nodded to a man that was beside him, and the man took some papers and began to distribute them.


    ¡°The map you¡¯ll receive has a detailed layout of the route where you¡¯re supposed to go through. You can see that some notes are indicating the species living near the routes.¡±


    The distribution was pretty quick. Seeing that every group already had their route in hands, he said. ¡°We part ways here my friends. I wish to see each one of you soon.¡±


    He turned away and left with his group, disappearing in the forest.


    Lorion words were direct and to the point. There was no embezzlement or lies in what he said, but there were a lot of hidden meanings.


    As soon as Lana opened the map, the group was shocked. ¡°That fucker¡­¡± Beirut said while gripping his shield hard.


    The map had the route that we were supposed to follow, but only that. The route was detailed enough that we couldn¡¯t lose track of it, but everything on the surroundings were blank.


    ¡°He truly meant what he said. The routes are detailed.¡± Silver said with a sarcastic smile on his face.


    Lana took a deep breath while Beirut was gritting his teeth and Lily was quietly looking around. After calming down, Lana looked at the map and said. ¡°At least we have something. Together with our maps that Silver made in our exploration, we have some notion of the places we are going through.¡±


    Silver took his sketches out and began to complete them with the map provided by the camp. He was truly a skilled ranger. Besides tracking and fighting, he still knew how to map the surrounds.


    Silver took a few minutes to finish the map. After taking a good look at it, he said. ¡°We have passed through some of these places before¡­ They have some danger, but nothing that we can¡¯t deal with. My worry is how the Abyssals scouts are distributed.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to us anymore. We can only use the information that we have. The only group in possession of such information was the one that Lorion left with, but we at least know where to head for now.¡±


    Looking around, I saw that most groups were also analyzing the routes, and many had already left.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave this place as well.¡± Lana said, and Silver guided us through the place.

 Chapter 27 - Forest

    The group cautiously looked around while trying to see if any enemies were nearby. Silver was good at what he did, the forest looked like a playground to him. He could easily identify tracks, and if any monsters or abyssal¡¯s were nearby.


    Lily was trembling while walking, she was scared by the situation, and was not comfortable with what was happening. Lana tried to comfort her and calmed her down after some time.


    The forest was quiet, oddly quiet. No insects were buzzing, or animals nearby. Silver said that all the animals in the region had evacuated to a faraway place because they were following their instincts. I wish I knew where there was a safe place in this hell as well.


    We followed through the predetermined route, and everything went well, at least for now. The day passed, and the red sun was setting on the horizon.


    ¡°We should find a place to stay, the abyssal¡¯s are going to keep chasing after anyone at night, and if they find us, we will be handicapped by the darkness.¡± Suggested Silver.


    Lana nodded her head and said. ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to rest then.¡±


    They looked around, and after some search, found a small cave that was used by some animal. The animal had abandoned its cave and probably ran away to a faraway place.


    We covered the entrance with shrubs and I began to ponder about everything that happened these last fell days. Things were progressing too quickly, and death was once again near me. It was a good thing because the concept of death was advancing pretty well, but being threatened all the time was not good.


    I seated on the ground while meditating over everything that happened these last few days. I felt the heat coming from a flame that Lana was using to prepare the meal and the heat of our bodies.


    I began to feel the concept of fire, and everything that came with it. Life came out of fire, just like destruction. A flame could give heat in the cold or could burn someone.


    A million thoughts passed through my head, and I felt my concept of fire slowly breaking from the mortal realm, and entering the domain realm. The air around me began to get hotter. Lana looked in my direction and her eyes opened like a full moon. She knew that my concept of death was at the domain realm, and now, another one was breaking through.


    Time passed slowly, and after consolidating my understanding of the fire at the domain realm, I opened my eyes.


    I looked at my palm, and a black fire was lit on it. The fire of destruction was even more powerful now. It could burn even hotter.


    I heard a smirk and looked up. Beirut was looking at me and said. ¡°You are quite a talented boy.¡± with a smile on his face. I could feel the happiness coming from his smile, I knew that he was not only happy because I broke through, but because know we had more chances of surviving, after all, the strength of an individual belonged to the group as well.


    I gave him a cheeky grin and got up. ¡°There¡¯s food left for me?¡± I looked at the pot and saw that there was still some soup left on it.


    ¡°I left enough for you boy! Be grateful!¡± Lana said while smiling.


    ¡°Thank you, OH, great leader!¡± I bowed to her with exaggeration and threw a small fire in my direction. I hastily evaded and laughed.


    ***


    I ate my meal and rested. We divided the group into shifts, and I was left with Beirut this time. I slept for a bit, or tried to, and got up to watch the entrance of the cave.


    I seated on a rock beside the huge man, and he looked at me.


    ¡°Hey boy, tell me something. What are you doing here on the fourth floor at such a young age?¡± He looked at me with a seriousness that I had never seen.


    I breathed and said. ¡°I¡¯m trying to become more powerful. Power is the only way to control my destiny.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Humph¡­. You know nothing.¡± He said while looking to the exit. ¡°Power is good, and it can lead someone to greatness and glory, but let me tell you a history.¡±


    I prepared myself and straightened my back so that I could concentrate on the history.


    ¡°A long time ago, a genius appeared in a small village. He wielded a sword like no one, and could even defeat adults by the tender age of 8. Some day, when the boy was 10 years old, a swordmaster passed through the village and saw the boy, taking great interest in the boy¡¯s talent. He stayed in the village for a year and trained the boy in using ki while teaching him some arts as well. The boy progressed very quickly that year, becoming a Tier 3 in no time. The years passed and the boy left the village when he was 16 years old. By this age, he was already a tier 6 Ki user, on the verge of breaking through the seventh tier.¡±


    ¡°He went to the place where the talented trained, the abyss fortress. He arrived there and made a huge commotion, quickly passing through the floors, and smashing the abyssal¡¯s like they were ants.¡±


    ¡°Like I said before, that boy came from a backward place, where there was no powerful people. He just wanted power to become famous, and be like the heroes in the histories. However, he underestimated himself, he and his team arrived on the seventh floor, a place where no one had ever stepped on since the creation of the abyss fortress. He overestimated himself and ended up dead. No one ever heard of him and his team ever again.¡±


    There was a longing look in Beirut¡¯s eyes while saying this. I could feel the sadness in the man¡¯s heart.


    ¡°That man was my brother.¡± He said with a deep voice. ¡°I learned how to cultivate Ki and fight with him. He was truly a genius, and he gave me a lesson, never, ever, underestimate others and overestimate yourself. Everything has its time in this world.¡±


    I felt the wisdom in those words, and they truly impacted me. I was too hasty sometimes, waiting to descend the floors like a madman, and breakthrough to gain power. Everything had its time, and I would someday become powerful as well.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said to him. There were no other words that needed to be said at this moment.


    He patted my shoulder and said. ¡°Keep these words boy, sometimes, it''s better to do things slowly, and taking longer to achieve your goals than go fast and never achieve them.¡±


    ***


    The night was quiet. No abyssal came to botter us that night. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. A good thing because it meant that they were still behind us, and we had some space to run. Or a bad thing because they were ahead of us, and waiting in ambush.


    We packed our things and got ready. We left the cave shortly and proceeded through the forest.


    The air was oppressive today, the abyssal energy was even thicker in the air. This could boost the abyssal¡¯s power while suppressing ours. Of course, the suppression was minimal, but every bit of power mattered in this situation.


    Everyone walked in silence along the forest. Silver guided us with expertise while looking for enemy signals. Silver raised his hand with his fist closed. It was the signal for stopping.


    Everyone froze in place and waited for him. He lowered his ear to the ground and listened¡­.


    Moments passed, and the group was becoming nervous. We knew that if there was nothing, he wouldn¡¯t be taking so long. He was trying to identify how many the enemies were, and their position.


    He stood and said in a low voice. ¡°Scouts are approaching us, there are three of them, and they are coming through the trees.¡± He looked up.


    Lana pondered for a while and asked. ¡°Can we avoid them?¡±


    Silver shook his head and said. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They are already following our tracks, although we didn¡¯t leave any obvious clue, they can smell us.¡±


    ¡°They are here to find us and report to the main group. Our best shot would be to ambush them so that none could go back and report.¡± I said after hearing what Silver said.


    Lana looked around the group, and after seeing both Beirut and Silver nodding to my idea, she said. ¡°You¡¯re right, that is our best option.¡± She pondered for a moment and said. ¡°However, we need a bait for it to work, and that¡¯s going to be me.¡±


    Beirut was about to raise his voice in protest, but after receiving a fierce glance from Lana, he shut his mouth.


    ¡°I was the one that suggested the plan, that person should be me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ullach, there are some responsibilities that the leader must take, one day you¡¯ll understand me.¡±


    I saw the determination in her eyes and realized that it didn¡¯t matter what I said, she wouldn¡¯t back down.


    This would be very dangerous for her, although the team would be waiting to help her, there would be three fourth level abyssal¡¯s hunting her.


    We quickly planned how we would proceed, and headed forward to a place where the ambush would happen, while Lana stayed behind.


    We climbed the trees and waited. The minutes passed, and nothing happened. Cold sweat flowed through my back, and I could feel my hands trembling while holding the spear close to me. The trembling came from the uncertainty of the situation, from nervousness, not from fear.


    Lily was even worse than me, she was trembling from head to toe. At least she was quiet, and her nervousness wouldn¡¯t let the enemy see where we were, or so I hoped.


    Beirut and Silver were quietly waiting, there was no signal of nervousness or fear, I realized that experience would help in those circumstances. Even though Silver and Beirut were not geniuses, they had experience to cover that. Being a genius would only give someone an initial boost in cultivation, but later, the effort was worth much more than talent.


    After a few minutes, we could finally hear some sounds from the distance, Lana had met the scouts. She was alone, and that would lead the enemy to pursue her.


    I heard noises coming from that direction, they were getting even closer. We couldn¡¯t see where they were exactly because I was hidden behind the tree, but as soon as they appeared, I would take action.


    We decided that both me and Silver would attack one abyssal each, and Beirut would take care of the last one with support from Lily. I could hear the footsteps approaching us, I concentrated my origin energy in my weapon and got ready to strike.


    Lana passed through us, and I could finally see the abyssal¡¯s that were pursuing her.


    They had slender bodies and sharp claws. The creatures greedily advanced upon Lana, but she was defending with easy. After the three abyssal¡¯s entered the formation, we took action.


    I lightened a black fire on the tip of my spear and stabbed toward the abyssal closest to me. I didn¡¯t even look at the others and concentrated on my foe.


    The abyssal felt the danger and tried to defend itself with its claw, fortunately, that was the last mistake it would make. The spear clashed with the claws, and the destruction fire exploded forward, charring the creature, and killing it instantly.


    After making sure that the abyssal was dead, I looked around and saw that the others had succeeded in their missions.


    Lana approached the group and said. ¡°Now that the scouts are dead, we have won some time. Let¡¯s get the hell out of here!¡± She turned around and gestured for silver to guide the way.


    Everyone got ready and left the place, I was finally relieved.

 Chapter 28 - Survival

    We frantically ran through the forest. Although we had killed the scouts, the main group would soon discover their deaths and send a group to hunt us. Because of this, we couldn¡¯t stop to rest until we were sure that we got rid of them. Silver guided us through the forest, and instead of being in the front of the group, he was in the back to make sure that no tracks were left behind.


    We ran for three days without stopping or resting. Lily couldn¡¯t hold on during the second day, and Beirut had to carry her on his back. Everybody else was exhausted but was still faring well. After all, Lana, Silver, and Beirut were Ki users and had great stamina, but Lily used mana, and couldn¡¯t hold for so long. As for me, the properties of origin energy, and my mutation made my stamina seem almost endless. My mutation transformed my body and made me use all of my strengths without waste, thus giving the impression of not getting tired because the energy was replenishing faster than it was used.


    Night arrived, and we finally stopped in a clearing that Silver found. Everybody seated around the bonfire, and I used the concept of darkness to hide the light that the fire was creating so that our enemies couldn¡¯t find our position if they were close by.


    I got some old jerkies, herbs and dried vegetables that were left from our supplies and made soup while the others laid on the ground. They were dead tired, and even Beirut, the one that had most stamina from the Ki users, was exhausted because he carried Lily during a whole day. After some minutes, the soup was ready, and I separated the portions in different bows and served them. They ate like hungry wolves, and the soup ran out fast.


    Lana forced her tired eyes open and said. ¡°We will watch in two shifts today, I will do the first one with Ullach, and Silver and Lily will make the second one.¡± Everyone nodded and promptly laid on the ground to rest; they didn¡¯t even care to set up the barracks.


    I seated on a rock and looked around while keeping the light of the bonfire in place. Lana was between the dreamland and looking around. It was a funny sight to see her fighting against the tiredness. I watched the surrounds and the night quickly passed.


    Morning came, and I was already up. I didn¡¯t sleep last night as I didn¡¯t feel the need to. I could sleep if I wanted to, but I thought that it was not necessary. Just staying put and reserving my strengths was enough to make my body well-rested. Everyone got up and walked like zombies.


    ¡°The camp is just a few days away. We have made it here, let¡¯s keep going.¡± Lana said to motivate the group.


    We left the camp and continued to walk through the forest, I felt that there were no more enemies behind us, but it was always good to be cautious. The last days of the trip passed slowly, and we were finally getting closer to the camp. The group was rested now, we found some beasts and herbs in this land and ate them. Although it was not ideal because the food from here had abyssal energy in it, we could still survive eating it.


    ¡°SCREEEEEE¡±


    I heard a cry coming from the sky. The whole group instantly hid in the shadow of the trees and looked up to see what was flying in the air. A huge red bird with black striped was flying, transpiring power and confidence, and on the back of this bird, was an abyssal. He had humanoid features. Instead of having a bulky body full of scales, it had pale skin and a red horn on its head. It looked like a beautiful human with horns, and it was using a black battle armour with a halberd on his hand. Even from the ground, I could feel the oppressive power emanating from the abyssal.


    Everybody froze in place and waited for the enemy to pass by. After everyone was sure that he had gone away, Lily left her hiding place and said. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± I had the same question in my mind.


    ¡°He was an expert from the lower floors,¡± Lana said.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it impossible for abyssal¡¯s above the fourth tier to appear in here?¡± I asked with doubt in my voice.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. They really can¡¯t normally descend. However, there are ways around that. One of them is sealing your cultivation, lowering it to other tiers. That abyssal is an expert that sealed his cultivation to come to the fourth floor.¡± Lana answered.


    ¡°If that is possible, why we couldn¡¯t see any other abyssal¡¯s like him before?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s too dangerous to do that in normal times. Although they have superior fighting strength, if they seal their cultivation to tier 2, someone at tier 5 could easily kill them on the second floor, this usually only happens during the abyssal invasion.¡±


    I looked toward the horizon where the abyssal had disappeared. By now, everyone had realized that the direction where the abyssal was going was the meeting point. There were only two possibilities to this; One, it was a coincidence, and he would only fly by the place. Two, the abyssal¡¯s had already found the site and send an expert to deal with the situation.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I was more inclined to believe in the second possibility. It was unlikely that the abyssal passed through this region by coincidence.


    ¡°We should find another place to go, but where to?¡± Lana asked while turning to silver. The man thought for a while after receiving the glance of everyone in the team and said. ¡°It¡¯s better for us to head back and find a place to hide. The abyssal¡¯s should be coming from there, but at least they will not expect us, and we could go unnoticed.¡±


    ¡°Although it sounds crazy, I agree with you. Let¡¯s head back.¡± There was a flame of determination burning in Lana¡¯s eyes. This decision was too hard for a leader. Any wrong move and we would be sentenced to death.


    I agreed with Silver opinion as well. The survivors of the camp would scatter in the opposite direction of where the abyssal¡¯s were coming from, and if we went toward the abyssal¡¯s, our chance of surviving could be higher.


    There was a heavy air on the group, from now on, any mistake would be the last one.


    Silver carefully guided them and instructed the group to be careful not to leave any tracks. We strolled, paying attention to every detail. I could see the sweat flowing through Silver¡¯s neck, the responsibility must be pressuring him right now. Strangely, Lana had a serious look on her face, like everything that could be done was done.


    After going back for a few hours, the sun was almost set on the horizon, and the darkness was spreading through the forest. Only the top of the trees still had some light, but the bottom was all dark. The group stopped in place, and we could feel the ground trembling beneath our feet. The enemies were approaching!


    The crucial time of our survival was arriving. If we got through the group unnoticed, we would be safe for some time; otherwise, we would all die in here.


    I quickly looked around, looking for a place to hide. The anxiousness was taking place in my heart, and I was becoming nervous. It was a forest, and there was no cave nor hole to hide. Even though Beirut practiced the Concept of earth, there would not be enough time to dug a hole to fit all of us. I saw a huge tree and got an idea. ¡°Follow me!¡± I said while looking at my companions.


    I got behind a tree, and they arrived before me. ¡°Get as close as possible. I¡¯ll camouflage us with the darkness.¡± I laid my back against the trunk, and everybody got before me. We looked like a group of ants clustered together. I used my concept of darkness along with my concept of space to hide us. A drop of sweat flowed through my forehead while I concentrated on hiding the group. I could feel the nervousness of everyone. Lily was leaning against me, and she was not trembling like the other times. I could see the determination to live in her eyes. ¡°It looks like these experiences can truly change someone.¡± I thought to myself.


    The trembling of the ground got stronger, and even the leaves were falling from the trees. The tree was vibrating on my back, and I could feel the blood in the air. I could now hear the sound of hooves hitting the ground. It was like a chaotic heartbeat that made one go crazy.


    The first abyssal passed through us and didn¡¯t see anything. Soon, abyssal after abyssal were passing through the forest, mounted in some ferocious beasts. They were wielding brutal war weapons and had thick killing intent.


    I unconsciously held my breath and waited for the group to pass. Each second was agonizing; even keeping the field around us was challenging for me in this situation; the pressure was making me lose control of my concepts. I quickly circulated a soul technique around me and relaxed a little bit, making my control over the darkness stronger. They passed and passed endlessly. It seemed that there was no end to the horde. The most horrible thing was that each one of them was armed and had armor. They were clearly an organized army!


    After more than 30 minutes, the group finally passed through us, and I could finally release my field; however, I thought that it would be better to check before getting out of our hiding place.


    I looked at silver and said in a low voice, almost inaudible. ¡°Are there any more enemies?¡±


    Silver stopped for a moment and placed his ear on the ground, making slow movements. He stayed in that position for a few minutes and said. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Everyone fell to the ground on their buts. We could finally relax somewhat. The worst had already passed; now, we should only be careful and avoid their armies.


    We stayed in there for a few moments, and Lana got up and guided the group away.


    The rest of the night was full of tension. We couldn¡¯t relax for a second. Even a small sound would make the group aware. This state of high stress was exhausting us too fast. Only after 4 hours of this, everyone in the group had a tired face, and even I was affected by the atmosphere.


    The night passed, and we finally could see the sun rising on the horizon. It was soaking our backs with warmth and illuminating our way. Seeing the sun made the group relax a bit, and I could even swear that I heard Lily making a small prayer in thanks.


    The light made us see the state of the forest. All the shrubs and small plants were trampled to the ground. Only smashed plants and the soil could be seen. Even some trees were bent toward where the army went.


    We left the army route and walked toward a small cave signalized on the map. Although the map didn¡¯t have many useful pieces of information, this was one of them. The group entered the cave. It had a length of 30 meters, and the deeper one went, the smaller it got. Everyone was aware that this was only a temporary solution, and that this hideout wouldn¡¯t last for long if they picked our tracks. Fortunately, the place where we went through was completely destroyed by the army, which made finding us almost impossible.


    We quickly prepared our beds and laid around a magic fire created by Lana, it only emitted heat, and because it used Ki to burn instead of wood, there was no smoke. Of course, she could only keep the fire lit while she was beside it, it was one of the limitations of a ki user, no being able to control their elements from long distances.


    We rested there in the cave, only occasionally leaving it to grab some herbs and edible plants. Our supplies have ended by now. There was not enough food to feed us. Although a mana user could survive longer using mana as his or her sustenance, Ki users required a significant amount of food.


    Food was becoming one of the problems, and I could already feel that liveliness of Beirut, Silver and Lana¡¯s Ki was already diminishing. It was a problem that had to be dealt with immediately. I didn¡¯t have that problem because I could refine the natural mana in the air just like mages, I only needed a small quantity of food to survive.


    The days slowly passed, and we left the cave in search of edible food many times. We were lucky and found some things to eat, but not every day was a good day. The ki users avoided making any movement and just seated on the ground in a state of trance most of the time. This state was used in troubled times like this one to preserve warrior stamina during rests.


    Thankfully, Lily could create some water with her magic, more than enough to sustain all of us. I left the cave daily to search for supplies.


    One week had passed since we arrived in the cave. There were still three weeks until the waves stabilized and the number of abyssal¡¯s returns to normal. I was looking around the forest for food when I heard the sound of a twig snapping in the distance.


    I leaned against a tree and hid my body with the concept of darkness. I sneaked around while using soul force to levitate in the air, to make sure I made no noise. I levitated while laying my body against the ground. My belly was almost touching the earth.


    ¡°The cave is close guys. There¡¯s only a bit left.¡±


    I heard a voice saying.

 Chapter 29 - Hidden

    I quietly laid on the ground, making sure to be hidden from them. I changed my position just enough to see who was coming. Fifty meters ahead, a group was walking through the forest, they were composed of two humans, one Troich and one Adhar. The troich had a green metal skin that shone with a metallic luster; it stood at 3 meters tall. The adhar had blue wings with some electric lights on it, and he also had blue hair and black eyes. I could feel a strong mana from one of the humans, a man with a huge robe and a hood covering his face. The other human was a warrior, he was carrying a big spear, and his body was full with muscles.


    I observed them and saw that they were heading toward the cave where my team was. Using my soul force, I felt the fluctuations of their powers and concluded that the team was at the average level of tier 5. Some of them were at the late stage of tier 5, but the mage and the Adhar were at the middle stage of tier 5.


    I was confident that our team had enough strength to fight against them in their peak state. However, the ki users were too weak right now, and couldn¡¯t challenge this team. I thought about what to do, and a million thoughts passed through my head¡­. Were they a threat? I could sneak attack them and probably kill two of them, and worn out the others¡­ But was it truly necessary?


    A million thoughts passed through my head, and I finally concluded after analyzing the team. They probably survived because of the Troich ability to mold earth. We could use that to our advantage with we cooperated with their teams.


    I took a deep breath and quickly went to the cave, disguised under the shadows. After a few minutes, I arrived in front of it.


    ¡°Guys, I have something important to talk with you.¡± Everyone looked at me, and I began to explain the situation about the team I found in the woods.


    Lana pondered for a while and said. ¡°Although we are not in our peak states, we could pose them a huge threat. They will not dare to attack us.¡± She looked to the forest and said. ¡°I will leave with you to greet them.¡± She got up and gestured for me to follow her.


    This time, I didn¡¯t hide and waited with her some distance from the cave. Although we were not in front of it, the range was good enough so that if a fight began, our teammates could come quickly. After a few minutes, we finally heard the sound of footsteps, and the team soon appeared amidst the forest. They looked at us and stopped in place. There was no need to get into a fighting formation, as they already were walking in one.


    Lana stepped forward and said. ¡°Hello fellow divers, my name is Lana, and this one here is Ullach. We are here to talk to you about cooperation.¡± with a smile on her face. Her voice was mild and calming right now, she was just a great leader, just as she was a fighter.


    The Troich stepped forward and said with a metallic voice. ¡°I am Tung. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet such a beautiful human.¡± I was surprised by the manners of the Troich. I had only met the one from the camp, and I mainly thought they were a brute race and didn¡¯t have the same kind of manners as humans.


    ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Tung.¡± Lana smiled at him. ¡°What about my offer?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very tempting; having more people is always better at these difficult times.¡± He said while nodding. ¡°But this is not your entire team, right? How will I cooperate with them without knowing them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true; let me call them.¡± Lana decided to call all the team. The Troich looked amiable enough, and he seemed willing to cooperate. Soon, all of my teammates arrived. Beirut came in the front, giving steady steps and showing his big muscles. Silver was just behind him, looking ahead and analyzing the other team with cold eyes. And Lily was in the back, cautiously looking around and trying to find the best place to stay and support the team if a battle started.


    Although all of our team was composed of humans, we were a diverse bunch. You could feel and see the different air around each one.


    Tung looked at us and analyzed our team. His colleagues and tried to discover the limits of our powers. The person I was the wariest about was the Adhar, if a battle started, staying in the air would give them a significant advantage. ¡°Let me discuss this with my teammates,¡± Tung said and turned around to talk with the others.


    We were also together, and Beirut was in front, in case something happened. The group discussed for a brief moment and soon split apart. Tung took a step forward and arrived before Lana.


    ¡°It would be a pleasure to work with you,¡± Tung said while bowing. Lana gave the gesture back and said. ¡°Please, come with us to our hideout.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    We turned away and guided them back to the cave. The place was big enough to fit all of us. And tung used some abilities to mold earth, to make the ground even. Beirut looked at him, working with attentive eyes. The Troichs were born with the ability to mold earth since birth, and someone that was trying to understand the concept of earth could gain a lot by watching them.


    Although warriors mainly relied on their techniques and mutations to fight, if they had a good comprehension of some concept, they would be ahead of their peers.


    The group sat around a bonfire and talked a bit. Everyone was still aware of each other. These were dangerous times, and a group could take some action that would only benefit themselves.


    The day quickly passed, and I knew the name of their members. The Adhar was named Ravno, the mage Carlin, and the warrior Sam. They demonstrated to be good people, but I still couldn¡¯t fully trust them. They were the first people that I developed a friendship with, and I wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to them.


    Night arrived, and we decided that one person from each team would keep guard. Today the chosen were Silver and Sam. I laid on my bed and closed my eyes. I was too worried to sleep, and I didn¡¯t feel the need to anymore. I quietly listened to everything that was happening, but soon gave up and seated to meditate.


    I extended my soul force around me and sensed the area. The darkness, the heat from everyone¡¯s body, the coldness of the ground, the leaves falling far away.


    It has been a long time since I meditated, my mind was too worried to do that, and I only focused on fighting. I circulated my soul force and cleared my mind and revitalized my body. I cultivated my soul fore, origin energy, and felt the concepts for the rest of the night.


    I felt that I was on the verge of breaking through in the darkness concept, but there was something about me that was stopping it. Even the concepts of space and time had advanced pretty well and were approaching the peak stage of the mortal realm.


    I tried to use the concepts of space and time in combat. However, they were too hard to use. I still didn¡¯t have enough power to use them. Every time I tried it, the consumption of origin energy was so significant that it was not viable.


    Morning arrived, and we continued with the usual routines. I left to search for food with Lily, and the other group sends Tung to help us. It seemed that they were in the same situation, and their supplies were ending. Tung was a Troich, and lived by consuming the natural mana from the earth. However, he could help us with searching for supplies.


    I extended my soul field and felt the surroundings, successfully finding some things to eat. We were returning to the cave and felt a tremor on the ground. I turned my eyes toward the horizon and ran to the cave. They were returning! It took them only a week to get rid of the fugitives.


    We ran back to the cave and found everyone alert. The warriors were already standing and with weapons in hand. I looked toward the forest and masked the inside of the cave with the concept of darkness, to make sure none of us would be found.


    Everyone stayed quiet and waited for the army to arrive. The cave we were in was a bit far away from the route they used to pass the other time, theoretically giving us some breathing space. The thing was, we didn¡¯t know if they were going to go back through the same way, or if they were going to deviate.


    The answer soon arrived, they were going back in the same way! The group was relieved by discovering this, and I felt the tight rope around my neck becoming loose. We quietly waited in the cave, and the army slowly passed. The minutes slowly passed and they finally disappeared.


    However, there was something we were not counting on this time. Last time, the army was following behind the scouts, which gave us some breathing time, as there were no scouts with the army; however, this time, the scouts were coming back with the army!


    One of the scouts stopped in place and looked around. He smelled the air and looked toward the army that was now a bit away. He went toward the army and disappeared.


    Everyone in the cave unconsciously released a breath they didn¡¯t know they were holding when the army disappeared. They had done it! They went toward the bonfire and lightened it. They cut the ingredients and began to prepare a soup.


    I left the cave and walked toward the entrance. I looked around and saw that everything was normal. The only thing that was different was that I could see the trampled plants and twigs that were trying to grow again.


    I felt a chill down my spine. Cold sweat flowed through my forehead, and I looked around. I felt a powerful being was observing me, someone that could quickly kill me. A bad omen made me look up, and I saw the abyssal commander up there, smiling and looking in my direction. I grabbed Purb¨¢s that was on my back and shouted toward everyone in the cave.


    ¡°WE WERE DISCOVERED! GET OUT OF THERE!¡±


    It took only a moment for everyone to appear. They followed my gaze and saw the enemy. He was quickly coming toward our direction. What scared me the most was that we saw him flying above the army and going away a few minutes earlier. He coming back directly to us meant that someone discovered our presence, and a part of the army should probably be coming back as well.


    We entered in a formation, and Beirut raised his shield in front of us. The other team also organized themselves, and Tung was standing in front. The blackbird descended at a ridiculous speed, and the abyssal raised the halberd that was in his hand. Beirut used his mutation, and his body grew in size. The bird aimed for us, and the abyssal used his halberd to attack our group. Beirut quickly jumped to the front and raised his shield to take the attack.


    ¡°BOOOOM¡±


    Beirut silhouette was thrown back at a ridiculous speed, and his body hit the wall. leaving numerous cracks on the hill. Beirut slowly got up and came back to the group. Although he was not gravely injured, I could see that he felt the impact. The bird circled in the air and prepared to dive again. ¡°Get read and shoot that bird down!¡± Lana commanded.


    Silver readied his bow, and I let a dark flame in my hand. I concentrated some origin energy on it and waited for the abyssal to attack again. ¡°They are going back to the cave.¡± I heard Lily¡¯s voice coming from the back of the group. ¡°Tung is probably going to try to escape underground. Good luck to them!¡± Lana said in a sarcastic voice. Everyone knew that the abyssal armies always had some animals that specialized in discovering traces of underground fugitives. They used tremor-sense to identify any space in the underground and see if there were any big creatures there. They were gambling by doing this, but it was their lives. Following them and trying to escape together was also useless, as the first thing they did after seeing the enemy was fleeing alone. If we tried to go with them, they would probably attack us.


    We were used as bait!


    Looking at the situation gave me a hopeless sensation. We had a powerful enemy in front of us, and the army was probably coming back. There was a hill in our backs, we could even scale it to try to flee, but the abyssal that was flying wouldn¡¯t let that happen. Our only option was to kill the enemy in front of us as quickly as possible and run!


    I took a deep breath and saw that the bird was once again diving from the sky!


    I will survive this!

 Chapter 30 - Escaping

    The bird descended like a bolt of lightning, and Beirut put himself in front of the attack again. The moment that the attack hit, Beirut was hurled away, everyone attacked. I released the black ball of fire, Silver struck with a lightning arrow, and Lily formed a sphere of water to contain the bird.


    The Abyssal waved his halberd and reflected the arrow, released a powerful aura and destroyed the water attack and tried to slash the ball of black fire. His defense was pretty good, but I was preparing for that. When his halberd touched the ball, it exploded and the bird collided with the ground, skidding for a few meters.


    The dust settled, and I saw the dead bird. However, the demon was standing beside it without any scratch. His defense was pretty good, reacting quickly enough to evade the damage of my attack. The bird burned to a crisp, and all the feathers were gone. I was sure that he avoided my attack because it was too powerful for him not to be burnt.


    He looked toward us with a wicked smile on his face and said with a dark voice. ¡°Ohh, see what you have done to my mount¡­ I will make you pay for it!¡± His voice distorted between being sarcastic and being full of rage. I couldn¡¯t identify which emotions he was trying to convey; however, I still entered in position and concentrated my power.


    He hurled his halbert toward me, and I quickly sidestepped to avoid the weapon. Cold sweet flowed through my neck. If I hadn¡¯t activated my soul field previously, I would surely be dead, the attack was too quick for me to follow with my eyes.


    The spear vanished in the air and appeared in his hand again. The demon made a surprised face and squinted his eyes. I made my body reinforced by everything that I had and dashed toward him.


    Lana transformed with her mutation, and red wings grew from her back while horns appeared on her head. She wielded her sword and attacked together with me. She activated her fire domain while I activated my death domain. We attacked from both sides, while Lily and Silver supported us from the back.


    The abyssal didn¡¯t panic, and rotated his halberd, deflecting both attacks. His rotation was not so strong, but there was something else, he was using some concept to strengthen his attacks. We skidded on the ground for a few meters, and he attacked us. The abyssal disappeared from his place, and he was instantly upon me. This time, even my soul field couldn¡¯t identify his movement. It was like he teleported to me.


    He attacked with his halberd, and I defended myself with my Purb¨¢s. I used the concept of destruction to form a black shield, that would explode upon contact. He cut through my defenses, and I was thrown backward.


    I feel on the ground with blood spurting from a big wound on the right side of my chest. I sealed the wound with soul energy and looked back to him. The abyssal tried to finish me off, but Lana entered in his way and stopped him in his tracks.


    The wound in my chest was not closing, some energy was not allowing it. I felt it with my soul, and realized why he could attack in such strange ways; he was using the concept of space!! When he struck me with his halberd the first time, the attack was so fast because the space folded before the spear, and it went much faster than before. He even teleported before me to attack.


    ¡°HE IS USING THE CONCEPT OF SPACE, WATCH OUT!¡± I alerted my comrades, knowing the enemy was already a step taken toward victory. The wound on my chest was not closing because the space on it was ¡°open¡±, and until the space energy was erased, it would remain that way. Knowing the properties of his attacks, I realized that he was at least at the earth level to use the concept of space with such finesse.


    I got on my feet and threw myself toward the battle again. By now, Beirut was already up and fighting against the abyssal as well. Somehow, Beirut was using some ability to keep him at bay, without letting him attack Silver and Lily.


    I approached the battle entering a formation with Beirut in the middle, and me and Lana at the sides. I involved myself with black fire and attacked. Lana attacked from his other side at the same time. The abyssal stepped backward and distorted the space, almost making both me and Lana attack each other, we realized his intentions and stopped just before we did that. The battle proceeded in a stalemate. The abyssal was truly powerful, and if any of us were alone, he could take us out in seconds. However, now that we were in a formation, we could at least hold for a while.


    One full minute passed, and the battle was more heated than ever, but it was clear that we were on the losing side. There were many cuts all over my body, nothing so big as the first one to my chest, but I still had to use the soul force to seal the wounds, making my battle power lower.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Lana¡¯s and Beirut''s situations were worse than mine. They couldn¡¯t use ki to hold their wounds together as well as I could and were all bloodied, as the wounds wouldn¡¯t close. The abyssal was still in his full glory, and there was no wound on his body. He could even avoid my destruction fire by bending and twisting space.


    A huge tremor was coming from the forest. Their armies were approaching!


    ¡°WE HAVE TO RUN! THE ARMY IS APPROACHING!¡± Silver screamed from the back, but doing that would not be possible in our situation. We were barely holding him down with our formation, and if any even of us were missing, deaths would inevitably happen. Even Lily¡¯s support was valuable, as it could restrict his movements.


    I looked around and realized that there was only one way to escape from this hell, climbing the hill where the cave was, and escaping to higher grounds, where the army movements would be restricted.


    However, the problem was, while this abyssal was holding us here, there was no way to escape!


    ***


    Beirut was on par with the situation and knew that if they stayed here for longer, the whole ground would die. Lana was more inclined toward attacking, and couldn¡¯t hold the man down. Ullach, while powerful, could not resist the man for long. And Silver and Lily shouldn¡¯t even be mentioned, they were long-range attackers, and couldn¡¯t even phantom stopping me man.


    The way he saw it, there was only one way out of this situation.


    Beirut remembered the day he discovered that his brother went to lower floors of the abyss fortress, and didn¡¯t return. The sadness in his brother¡¯s wife, the soft crying of his nephew. There were moments in life, where losing someone was a sad moment, but sacrifices were inevitable some times. He remembered all the happy moments when he laughed with his companions and the happiness that they have brought him.


    A steel determination appeared in Beirut¡¯s eyes. He knew that he was the only one that could hold the abyssal long enough so that his companions could escape. Making this decision, his heart knew that there was no coming back. Loyalty was something that a man should never back down from.


    ¡°AHHHHHHH¡± he shouted on top of his lungs, and used a forbidden Ki technique to burn his life force to strengthen his body. His mutation evolved to the next stage at this time, and his brown body made from rocks began to have a deeper color. The vastness of earth invaded his mind, and he ran toward his enemy.


    The abyssal saw Beirut running like a train toward him, and stabbed forward with his halberd. Instead of using his shield to protect himself from the attack, he let the attack pierce his body, and tightly grabbed at the abyssal, he sealed him with his own rock body, making a dark brown glow appear around them.


    ¡°RAN!! DON¡¯T DISREGARD MY SACRIFICE!!! DON¡¯T LOOK BACK!¡¯¡± His companions were shocked by what they were seeing. The abyssal struggled inside the seal that Beirut made using his life as collateral, frantically trying to escape.


    ***


    Lana was shocked for a moment and didn¡¯t know what to do. Seeing one of her best friends making this, she was tearing down on the inside. She hesitated only for a second, and tears appeared on his eyes while she steeled her expression. ¡°Let¡¯s fall back,¡± she said with a sad voice.


    Lily was looking at the scene full of shock and tried to say something. ¡°Bu¡­¡±


    ¡°NOW!¡± Lana screamed on top of her lung while turning around. Everyone could see the sadness on her face and the tears falling from her eyes. Beirut saw this happening, and a broad smile appeared on his face while he said. ¡°Survive!¡±


    The group quickly climbed the hill and disappeared in the forest while running for their lives.


    ***


    I looked at the scene happening in front of me and didn¡¯t know what to do. Beirut''s sacrifice let me shocked. He was willing to sacrifice his life for his team. I saw the determination in his eyes, and couldn¡¯t refute his will.


    A companion with such a determination to protect his team should be respected. I quietly listened to what Lana said and retreated with the group.


    My heart was throbbing in pain, and I felt powerless. I understood why Beirut did what he did. He was the only one that had that capacity. If he didn¡¯t do that, the whole group would undoubtedly die. His sacrifice had meaning.


    We quickly climbed the hill and scaped toward the forest. The group quietly ran with all they had. Sadness was evident in all faces.


    I remembered what Beirut told me about his brother. It was a sad destiny, he would disappear on this hell, just like his brother did.


    ¡°One day, I will come back, and retrieve your remains, so that you can be honored.¡± I thought to myself while remembering all the things that we went through together.


    ***


    While the group retreated, Beirut held the abyssal in place. The abyssal was furiously attacking him while trying to get rid of the seal. He waved his halberd around and used his concept of space to destroy it. The halberd slowly broke through the seal, and Beirut threw himself on top of the abyssal. The weapon perforated his body and ravaged him. Despite the furious attacks of the creature, Beirut used his body to earn even one more second to his team. The halberd cut toward his neck, and Beirut used his left arm to protect his neck.


    The arm was cleanly cut off, and it fell to the ground. The creature attacked again, and the weapon pierced Beirut¡¯s chest. He used his right arm to hold the weapon in place, not letting the man take it back. He used what was left of his energy to seal the weapon so that he couldn¡¯t take the spear out with his concept.


    Instead of taking the weapon out, the man released even more energy through the halberd, destroying Beirut¡¯s insides. A gush of blood escaped through Beirut¡¯s mouth, and he kneeled on the ground, slowly losing his strength. He clenched his hand and didn¡¯t let the weapon go.


    Beirut fell sideway and laid on the ground while the energy destroyed his insides. He looked toward the red sky and remembered all the happiness that he had in his life ¡ª growing in a small village while having a good big brother, having many friends during his life, and all the people that he helped in some way.


    ¡°It was a good life, big brother.¡± He thought while the darkness slowly encroached upon him, and his life escaped from his eyes.


    Even until the last moments of his life, Beirut didn¡¯t let the halberd go, and even after the light escaped from his eyes, his hand tightly held it!

 Chapter 31 - New destination

    They quickly climbed the hill and ran through the forest. They ran without looking back, with fear in our hearts that the abyssal would have rapidly killed Beirut and was running behind us.


    We ran to almost a day and finally stopped.


    We didn¡¯t stop because we wanted to, but because Lana collapsed on the ground. She was suppressing the wounds from the battle with her ki, but there was a limit to everything. The attack from the abyssal had nasty energy that clung to the person and didn¡¯t disappear over time. I could get rid of my wounds because I had a basic understanding of the concept of space, but Lana didn¡¯t have it.


    I quickly realized what had happened to her and projected my origin energy to get rid of it. Lily used some water techniques to stabilize the wounds while I took the energy out of them. We stood in place for 2 hours and completed Lana¡¯s healing. She stood up as if nothing had happened, even though she had a pale face and continued to walk.


    ***


    The forest was endless, and the red light coming from the sun was contributing to the gloomy mood.


    The team was running without stopping for almost four days now. We only stopped some times to eat something or to quickly catch our breaths. Even Lily was persisting this time, it is evident that her body was in shambles, but even so, she continued. The atmosphere was not one of the best. We only ran and stopped to identify if there was any other danger around.


    We had evaded their enemy¡¯s sight. Beirut¡¯s sacrifice earned them enough time to accomplish that. The Abyssal that attacked us was not a tracker and had to wait for the army to arrive and attack with them. This fact, together with the abyssal being stalled, gave us enough room to get out of there. We insisted on not stopping because there could still be scouts in search of us. It was better to be safe them sorry.


    I had to use my origin energy to expel the energy left in my wounds to heal them. I used my soul force to feel the concept of space left in his energy, and even had a breakthrough, bringing my concept of space to the peak of the mortal level. This breakthrough was minor but helped me in fortifying my concept of destruction.


    Everyone was having a hard time, and even I was a bit tired after so much running. The sun was setting on the horizon, and we finally decided to stop and rest for the night. We made a camp and prepared an animal that we luckily found while running around. The meat was cooking over the fire, and the delicious smell was all over the place. The succulent juices dripped on the ground, making the meat even more alluring. Even though this sight was before us, no one was in the mood to be excited about it, even resting now seemed dull without Beirut.


    He was a lively man and always waited for the food to be ready with excitement in his eyes. We all laughed at his antics during the meals. Being seated beside this bonfire, without having him with us was depressing. Lana got up from her seat and stood before the fire, the extended her hand and picked one of the barbecues.


    ¡°Beirut was a happy man, and he cheered everyone up, do you think he would like to see us this sad during a meal? Let¡¯s eat with gusto, and remember him as the good man he was.¡± She took a big bite and began to eat the meat quickly. Everyone nodded their heads and began to eat. Even though the situation was awkward, it was better after what Lana said. We should live and escape from this hell hole in memory of what Beirut did for us.


    This was the first time that I lost someone close to me, the first time a friend had died. I cried while eating the meat and silently swore to be powerful enough to destroy the abyssal that killed him.


    The night passed, and I only took a quick nap. Everyone could barely sleep this night, after all, the threat of death was still hovering above us. The light from the sun rose, and I opened my eyes. I realized that I couldn¡¯t sleep and meditated that night. Enhancing my soul force and origin energy made my body became revitalized, I got up and stretched my body, feeling all the energy circulating through me.


    Everyone was already getting up and organizing their things. There was almost nothing to do because we were ready to run any time, the essentials were always left packed and ready to go.


    The group was soon walking through the forest again, and looking to the horizon. They were just running without aim these last few days, getting away from the abyssal¡¯s was the priority now.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The group finally relaxed a bit after so long, but the relaxation was only physical, not mental. Our minds were running like a wild horse running from its predator.


    The days passed, and the group finally settled quietly after some time. There was no signal of being followed by the abyssal¡¯s, and the abyssal energy was becoming thinner compared to these last weeks.


    The Abyssal invasion was finally ending.


    Without the boost of abyssal energy, the most powerful ones would return to the lower floors, and the weaker would populate the higher floors. The situation was pretty much as we predicted, surviving the first weeks would be hell, but afterward, it was only a matter of waiting.


    I practiced and trained every day. Lana trained sword with me, and I meditated on the concepts at night. There was not much to do.


    I felt that the conclusion of the abyssal invasion was lacking. I wanted to kill the abyssal that killed Beirut and throw his head at the abyssal fortress. However, somethings didn¡¯t happen as we expected. In the end, I only had third-tier origin energy and fifth-tier soul force. I still had much to grow. I knew that even if my concepts all evolved to the domain level, and my origin energy was at the fifth-tier, I still couldn¡¯t kill that Abyssal. He had the concept of space at the earth level, much more powerful than I could even imagine.


    He was even restricted to the fourth-tier of his cultivation to come here¡­.


    I got these thoughts out of my head and concentrated on what I was doing. There was another problem¡­ The concepts of space and time were advancing pretty well, but the concept of darkness stopped at the peak of the mortal level. It didn¡¯t matter what I did. I couldn¡¯t get it to the domain level. But at least I could use my battle techniques much more smoothly now. Lana taught me how to apply some techniques that I learned, and now they were used almost as a reflex.


    The time quickly passed, and we could finally leave the fourth floor. I looked at the red sun above us, and at the dense forest in our surrounds. I was getting used to the strange flora. Even this place had its beauty. However, some memories of this place would never disappear.


    We could finally see the dimensional stairs in the distance. Many divers were coming to kill and harvest materials from the abyssal¡¯s. Some even had a powerful presence that was here to ¡°clean¡± the mess left by the abyssal¡¯s.


    I talked with silver, and he told me that divers from lower floors had the agreement to no attack the abyssal city. Some old monsters could undoubtedly destroy the city with one strike, but these powerhouses were so rare that something like that happening was unlikely, and there was also the matter that the abyssal city was used to cultivate more powerful divers.


    I didn¡¯t agree with many things, but there was nothing I could do with my actual power.


    We approached the stairs, and I gave a last look at the fourth floor. I didn¡¯t know when I was going to be back here, but it would surely take some time until I came back.


    I entered the stairs and felt the space distorting around me.


    ***


    I left the shower and changed into a set of clean clothes. It has been a long time since I last took a proper shower and slept on a real bed. I laid on the bed and felt the soft sheets beneath my back.


    It was like I was laying on heaven, and the fluffy clouds in the sky were my bed.


    I woke up and felt rested like I wasn¡¯t in a long time. Sleeping was good but unnecessary. I was often having dreams of destruction and slaughters. In those dreams, I was always the killer, and nothing stood on my path. They began just sometime after Beirut was killed, and I thought these were the consequences of my suppressed rage.


    One day I will surely come back and kill that abyssal.


    I left the bed and did my morning necessities. After that, I got into a new set of clothes and left the hotel. I went toward a restaurant where I would meet my friends.


    I walked through the crowded streets and saw many people on it. I looked toward a balcony and saw a woman attending a customer. Remembering about Hannah and imagined what she was going through right now. She was on my mind most of the time. While I was on the abyss, I remembered the tenderness of her lips and wanted to taste them at least a last time before I died. And I truly believed that I would die down there some times.


    I arrived in front of a tavern and entered it. The place was made entirely of wood, a strange contrast to the big rock buildings surrounding it. I entered through the door and saw that despite it being morning, there were already some customers. I looked around and found the three of them in the corner of the tavern. There were already big cups of ale on the wooden table, and they were talking when I arrived. Silver, being attentive as always, noticed my arrival and waved to me. I walked to them and sat at one of the empty chairs.


    ¡°Hey Ullach, we were discussing where we could go next.¡± Said Lily, while having some written options on an open notebook. I looked over them and looked at the possibilities.


    Many were about places where monsters usually appeared in big quantities, and others were about big cities that were about to go to war. The second ones were pretty dangerous options in my opinion. Fighting against the same race was ofter much harder than going against a monster. I wished I could stay in the abyss fortress for longer, but the whole team agreed that we needed some time out of this place, mainly after what happened in there.


    One of the options was going to the north¡­. I remembered about Hannah and how much I wanted to see her. I was also missing my master¡¯s, but our relationships were different. The bond I developed with Hannah was unique, and I had nothing like that in my whole life.


    ¡°I am more inclined to go to the north,¡± I said after looking over the options. One of the missions we could do in the north was to help one of the local powers in a fight. They were recruiting adventurers that could help in the battle against the other faction. At least that was written on Lily¡¯s notebook.


    The group looked at me, and everyone considered for a moment.


    ¡°The north is a good option, even though it might be dangerous; war is where adventurers grow the most,¡± Lana said after pondering for a while.


    I was excited after seeing that Lana agreed to my proposition, of course, we would have to pick sides and prepare as best as we could before departing. But having her consent almost guarantee that we would go to the north.


    We finished the discussion, and by the end, we decided that we would go to the north!