《Magus of Soul》 Prologue: Beginning of the Path On a square of a small rundown village, dozens of people had gathered. This was a gathering of the entire village and nearly all of the people were very skinny, wearing rags and their faces betrayed obvious signs of malnutrition. They were currently gathered there for one reason¡­. For a trial of one of the villagers. The one on trial was a young boy around the age of ten. His body was only skin and bones and his clothes didn¡¯t even pass for rags. They were simply scraps of clothes barely stitched together. Even though the boy looked one foot in the grave, his eyes were burning with immense hatred towards the young man and the middle aged man in front of him. The two weren¡¯t as skinny as the rest of the villagers but looked normal. They were the Village Chief and his son. They were the reason the rest of the village suffered so badly by hoarding all the food and other resources. They sold all the surplus of resources for money and using that money they had even enrolled the young man in a Magic Academy. The rest of the villagers were blinking on the verge of death while those two indulged themselves in luxury. As none of the people present had the strength to fight against them, they could do as they wished. The middle aged man smirked at the young boy in front of him and said, ¡°As punishment for your crimes I sentence you to traverse the Death Cave.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Hearing those words, the rest of the villagers had a pained expression. That young boy had been the only person to awaken the Qualities of Magus naturally. The Village Chief¡¯s son had his awakened artificially so his future prospects were extremely limited. However, the emergence of a Natural Born Magus was a serious threat towards the supremacy of the Father-Son Duo, so after making up some false charges, they hoped to quickly get rid of the young boy. However, even they couldn¡¯t outright kill him, so the only thing they could do was make the false charges and have him traverse the Death Cave. Not a single person has emerged alive from setting foot in the Cave, so him going there was a certain kill situation anyways. The young boy didn¡¯t say anything as his death verdict was said but if looks could kill, he would have killed the two several times over. Under the watching gazes of the entire village, the young boy raised his head and with determination, walked to the mouth of the Cave before stopping for a brief second. He looked back and left behind a very cold threat before jumping into he crevice that was called the Death Cave, ¡°If I survive this, I promise this: You two will forever wish to die but be unable to.¡± As had he jumped into the crevice before the two could even say anything, the Father-Son Duo could do nothing more than coldly laugh at the last effort threat from an already dead person in their eyes. However, Fate had never been kind to people like them and no genius or powerhouse had had a normal life. Each of their paths to the top had been a path filled with thorns and seas of blood. With this, the young boy had taken the first step on his path to the top. Prologue Chapter 1: Death Cave Having jumped down to the crevice, the boy could only grit his teeth and curl his body as he fell down and hit one ledge after another. The crevice itself wasn¡¯t steep at all, only a hundred meters or so, but the only reason the boy survived was because there were several ledges coming out from the walls that broke his speed when he fell. When he finally reached the floor, he could do nothing but groan as he clutched his left hand that was bent in a weird shape. Obviously due to the severe malnutrition, the young boys bones were fragile and it was even a miracle that he had escaped with only some bruises and a broken hand. As the young boy was gathering strength and enduring the pain, an old man was suddenly disrupted from his work when a small spiritual fairy appeared next to him and said, ¡°An intruder has appeared in the southernmost passageway.¡± The old man raised his head and looked towards a small crystal screen on the wall. A flicker passed his eyes as he smiled, ¡°Hoo, he possesses the qualities of a Soul Magus.¡± He fell into thought as he suddenly said to the fairy, ¡°Put him on the Testing Path. If he can pass through it, I will take him as a student.¡± The fairy acknowledged the order and changed the Death Cave to suit the Testing Path. ** After slowly getting used to the pain, the young boy slowly worked his way up from the ground. Although his body was covered in filth, his original appearance hadn¡¯t changed much. His eyes were azure blue and his short hair was bleached white from the lack of proper nutrients. His hair used to be golden but due to the lack of food, he never got to eat properly, in fact, in his life, he had never even had a full stomach. His physical strength had suffered greatly due to it as well. Currently, he was only moving forward only on pure determination and the thought of revenge. Getting back out from where he came in was impossible, so the only route he could take was deeper into the Cave. As he slowly walked along with the assistance of the stone wall, the old man frowned as he observed him through the crystal screen. He seemed to be pondering deeply as he waited for the young boy to reach the testing area. Although the old man was silent, the deep interest was evident in the old man¡¯s eyes. Suddenly, he waved his hand and a small gate opened behind him. As the gate opened, a squadron of ten skeletons walked out from it. Their bones pitch black as a green flame flickered in their eye sockets. Without turning his head, he said, ¡°Take up position after the examination area.¡± The skeletons nodded their heads as they started moving towards the cave. With each step they took, different armour and weapons appeared on them and soon, they were fully armoured in black armour. The young boy had no idea what had happened as he cautiously made his way forward with the assistance of the wall. He hadn¡¯t heard a single sound except his own inside the cave and that was what made him most vigilant. This place was known as the ¡°Death Cave¡± because without a single exception, every single person that entered here, had never walked out alive. Since it was so quiet, without a single sign of life, it was even scarier. Suddenly, as he took one step forward, he suddenly saw a bright flash as he was blinded for a second. When his eyes readjusted, he wasn¡¯t standing in the pitch black cave any more but rather, in a weird room. The room was made purely out of grey stone and the walls were adorned with torches, lighting up the entire room. As the boy looked around, he didn¡¯t see any door or anything resembling an entrance anywhere. The entire room was tightly closed off and he had no idea how he had even gotten inside in the first place. In the middle of the room was a one meter high podium on which a black slab with red writing was levitating in the air. As he vigilantly glanced around the room, suddenly stone cold voice entered his head, ¡°Place your hand on the Slab of Measuring.¡± Hearing the voice, the boy jumped back and bumped into the wall. As he nervously looked around, he didn¡¯t see anyone besides him in the room. Without any other option, after a while of hesitating, he did as the voice told him and put his hand on the black slab in the centre of the room. As he did that, he suddenly felt a weird feeling take over him as something ran around inside his body. When the uncomfortable feeling disappeared, the slab lit up and the red writing on it transformed. A sequence of information entered the young boys head. [Skeletal Age: 10. Body condition: Severely malnourished, left arm broken, several bruises across the body, light internal injuries. Overall Physique: Weak. Elemental Affinity: Darkness, Fire. Affinity Talent: Darkness 9, Fire 6. Special Bloodline: None. Special Affinity: None.] ** At the same time the young boy got the information, the same information appeared inside the head of the old man. As he went over the information a frown appeared on his face as he mumbled, ¡°Everything except the Body condition is very good. Especially his Talent for Darkness¡­.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The old man didn¡¯t care about the Special Bloodline because a Special Bloodline could be transplanted at any time. Actually, he was happy that he didn¡¯t have one as the old man could make use of this and after some research, he could find the best bloodline to help the young boy grow. As for the Talent for Darkness¡­. It was a very rarely seen figure. These numbers weren¡¯t taken out of thin air but rather had been carefully selected after centuries of meticulous study. The Talent of 9 meant that he could achieve the result in training in a year that another person with the same Element achieved in nine years. Basically, if the young boy and another person with the talent of 1 in Darkness Element were to train in the same Darkness Type Art, then the young boy would achieve the same results in a year that the other person would be able to only with nine years. What made the old man a bit downcast was the poor physique of the boy. He had no idea why he was in the passage in the first place or that there was a village right outside the passage. If the old man took him as an apprentice then the first thing he had to do was slowly nurture the boy back to normal health as it was very detrimental to his future if the boy started training right away. ¡°I wonder, what is the story behind his injuries and his weak physique¡­.¡± ** After the information entered his head, the boy could not make heads or tails of it. The only thing he could understand were the injuries but the Elemental Affinities and stuff, he didn¡¯t understand any of it. Suddenly, the slab disappeared and a black necklace with a small red snake head appeared in its stead. As the boy glanced at the necklace, the cold voice entered his head again, ¡°The reward for passing the Test is the Red Serpent Necklace.¡± The boy hesitated before slowly taking the necklace and putting it around neck. He instantly felt a cool energy run though his body, just as he was about to take it off, he felt that the energy didn¡¯t mean any harm but rather slowly nurtured his body and he could feel strength returning to his body. The bruises and small injuries slowly healed and also the pain from his broken arm was slowly subsiding. The young boy¡¯s eyes opened wide as he let out a breath of astonishment, ¡°This necklace¡­. It has strengthened my body immensely and even healed my injuries. Is this one of the legendary Magus Artefacts?¡± as he clutched the necklace, he suddenly felt dizzy as he was transported out of the stone room. He was back in the cave he was before but now, he wasn¡¯t alone any more. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he suddenly could make out ten black figures in front of him. He let out a shriek as he fell on his butt from fright. In front of him stood ten fully armoured jet black skeletons with green lights flickering in their eyes. As he sat there paralysed, the ten skeletons looked at each other and seemed to communicate amongst themselves. One of them pointed at the young boy and more specifically at the Red Serpent Necklace hanging at the young boys neck. After a quick discussion, the ten skeletons seemed to have reached some kind of a conclusion as they walked in front of the young boy. Seeing the fear in his eyes seemed to have no effect on these skeletons as one of them touched the Serpent with one of his fingers. Suddenly, the young boys mind shuddered as he felt a connection to another person in his mind. One by one, the skeletons touched the necklace and each time, a connection was added in the mind of the young boy. As he sat there in confusion, a voice entered his head, ¡°We pay our respects to Master.¡± As these words sounded out in the boys head, all ten skeletons simultaneously fell onto one knee as they put their right hand on their left chest, where a humans heart was. The young boy looked at the skeletons with a blank look when suddenly an aged voice sounded out, ¡°Hahaha, seems like you are very confused little one.¡± As these words sounded out from behind him, he immediately turned around to suddenly see an old man in black robes standing behind him. The old man had wrinkly skin and a head full of white hair. Even though the old man looked fragile, the young boy could not help but feel terrified on a subconscious level when he saw the man. It was an unexplainable feeling, as if he was feeling fear from the depth of his Soul. The old man waved his hand and the boy felt something invisible tug him up and on his feet. When he was sanding on his feet, the old man smiled and said to him, ¡°Focus on the ten connections in your mind and say Return. The ten Skeleton Warriors will then enter the Red Serpent Necklace and you can withdraw them at any time you need.¡± The young boy looked blankly at the old man, extremely wary of him. Seeing the young boy hesitate, the old man smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if I wanted to harm you, I would have failed you in the Test instead of passing you. After you failed, those ten Skeleton Warriors would have killed you in half a minute.¡± Hearing this, the young boy¡¯s eyes opened wide as he asked in a hoarse voice full of fear, ¡°Who are you?¡± The old man laughed as he said, ¡°I am Xie Meng. One of the Thirteen Ancestors amongst Soul Magus of the Heaven Realm.¡± He paused for a moment before he smiled even deeper and said, ¡°And, from today onwards, you will be my Disciple.¡± The boys eyes opened even wider as carriage wheels as he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, ¡°Ji Fang pays his Respects to revered Master.¡± The old man nodded and said in an amused toned, ¡°So, your name is Ji Fang huh?¡± As he nodded his head, he suddenly glanced down and his face changed as the young boy seemed to have lost his consciousness. After a quick examination, the old man sighed in relief as he saw that he had only fainted due to exhaustion. He gently waved his hand and Ji Fangs body started floating. As the old man started leaving with Fang, the small fairy suddenly appeared next to him. Xie Meng didn¡¯t even glance at it and said, ¡°Reactivate all the defensive formations in the path. The small fairy disappeared to carry out this order without another wasted moment. Prologue Chapter 2: The Magi When Fang opened his eyes, he was greeted by a white ceiling. He was currently laying on a soft bed and he was wearing extremely comfortable linen shirt and pants. As he sat up, glanced at his surroundings. The first thing he tried to do was think back to what happened before he lost consciousness. He was currently in a small room with only a few plants, a bookcase, a table with a chair and a small closet. Besides these things there was a small window that overlooked a small yard. As he took in his surroundings, the door opened and Xie Meng walked in with a small tray that held food. He smiled at Fang and put the tray on the table as he took the chair and sat next to the bed. He asked gently, ¡°How do you feel?¡± Fang cautiously answered, ¡°I feel good. The best I have felt in years.¡± Hearing the answer, the old man smiled and nodded his head. He then asked, ¡°How did you even enter the Passage Way?¡± This was the thing that bothered him the most. That passageway should be in the middle of nowhere, deep inside Magical Beasts territory, and even though humans sometimes stumbled in there, they were made quick work by the defensive formations. This was the first time a child had entered that passageway. That was also the reason the Spirit had even told the old man. Usually, it didn¡¯t even bother him when there were trespassers and took care of them according to the orders. However, this time it had been a child and even one with a Magus Aptitude that wasn¡¯t training in any path. This piqued the old man¡¯s interest so he had deactivated the defensive formations and had instead let him undertake the Aptitude Test. Fang collected his thoughts and started, ¡°I was born in a village named Aronde. It is a small village with barely one hundred people that is right next to the Death Cave. Due to circumstances, I was forced to enter the Death Cave and well, you know the rest. I stumbled along the path until I entered the Test.¡± Hearing this, the old man fell deep into thought as he asked, ¡°A human village?¡± Fang nodded his head. Seeing the nod, the old man sighed and said, ¡°Seems like I have been in seclusion for a bit too long. That world seems to have changed quite a bit from the last time I visited it.¡± Fang tilted his head to the side as he didn¡¯t understand. Currently, he wanted revenge on the Village Chief and his son but for that, he needed strength. To get strength, he needed to be on this old man¡¯s good side as currently, he was the only person that could grant him enough strength for it. The subtle changes in the young boys eyes didn¡¯t escape Meng¡¯s eyes as he observed him. He asked, ¡°Now then, is your village very poor?¡± Fang snapped out of his thoughts and nodded his head. His eyes turned colder as he said in a cold voice, ¡°Our village was originally quite okay. We had enough food to feed all the families and even some left over to store as reserves.¡± He took a breath as he continued in a depressed tone, ¡°However, once the new Chief took over 7 years ago, it all went downhill. Now people barely have enough to stay alive, not to mention having a full stomach.¡± After saying so, he shook his head dejectedly. The old man asked with a curious glint, ¡°Why didn¡¯t the villagers stand up against him? With one hundred people, it should be easy enough to usurp him, no?¡± Fang sighed even more deeply as he said, ¡°Five years ago, through sacrificing nearly three quarters of our villages resources, he managed to forcefully awaken his sons Magus Talent and enrol him in an Academy. We don¡¯t have another Magus amongst the villagers, so the moment our village does anything against them¡­.¡± Hearing this the old man sighed, ¡°The Academy would wipe the village out. So they have no choice but to endure this, no matter how unwilling they are.¡± The old man could do nothing but shake his head to this. No matter which world it was, strength ruled supreme and ones personal strength determined everything. The old man could see the general picture now, Fang had Naturally Awakened, so he had become a threat towards the current status quo in the village. If a Magus passed by and sensed the young fellow or if he managed to enrol in an Academy, he could overthrow them easily. Naturally Awakened Magi were far more valuable than Forcefully Awakened ones. The path of a Forcefully Awakened Magus was extremely limited and it was a miracle if they could even enter the ranks of Arch Magi. However, that required extremely hard work and incredible luck. However, for Naturally Awakened Magi, it was only a matter of time and training. Suddenly, Fang however sighed and shook his head, ¡°That is what the grown ups amongst the village told me¡­ As far as I remember, we have always suffered like this. But, well, after I my parents died from the lack of food, soon the two charged me with some bogus crimes and threw me to the Death Cave.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The old man sighed even more deeply as he shook his head. His new apprentice was a peculiar fellow indeed, his calmness and intellect seemed to surpass any of his peers by a large margin. The old man asked, ¡°Have you received some sort of formal tutelage from somewhere?¡± Fang look puzzled as he answered, ¡°No, Grandpa had travelled around a lot in his younger years so he taught me to read and some simple etiquette when I was smaller.¡± The old man nodded his head and said, ¡°Now then, as you have become my apprentice, lets first talk about your future.¡± Fang¡¯s eyes glittered as the heaviest stone was lifted from his heart¡­. ¡°It hadn¡¯t been a dream! I really did become his apprentice.¡± As he thought that to himself in excitement, it didn¡¯t escape the old man¡¯s eyes as he grinned saying, ¡°Before we start your training, let me explain a little about this world, Magi and different worlds too.¡± Fang asked in astonishment, ¡°There are other worlds out there as well?¡± Meng nodded his head and said, ¡°There are countless worlds out there, every one of them has their unique Laws, environments and inhabitants. Those countless Worlds are all part of a Plane. However, currently that is all you need to know. As you grow, I will naturally tell you more as you discover more about our Plane.¡± Fang nodded his head as he had gotten an answer to his question. He was interested in the other worlds but currently, he lacked the means to go there any ways, so even if he knew, he couldn¡¯t go there. Seeing the slight disappointment on his face, Meg slightly shook his head with a smile as he thought to himself, ¡°Ahh, youth.¡± He then continued, ¡°In our Plane, there are seven elements that Magi can train in. It doesn¡¯t matter how many Elemental Affinities they have, they can only train in one Element.¡± He then took a breath as he said, ¡°You have an outstanding Affinity to the Darkness Element and good Talent for Fire Element.¡± Seeing the confusion on Fang¡¯s face, the old man explained, ¡°Remember the Slab of Measuring? It is a tool used in Higher Worlds to determine the talent and affinity of new disciples to determine the most optimal path for them to train.¡± Fang nodded his head as he understood a bit. The old man then continued, ¡°For example, you will have the best results if you train in a Darkness Element Art. You will have some results and accomplishments when you train in a Fire Element Art but seeing as your Talent in Darkness Element is a 9, it would be too much of a waste.¡± Saying that Meg shook his head. Fang then asked, ¡°Is there a difference between the Magi?¡± Meng nodded as he continued explaining, ¡°The Seven Elements have created Seven Organizations. Each Organization follows the path of a certain Element. For example, although the relationship between us is harmonious, none of the Organizations take in a person with another element that easily. As another example, if you decide to follow my teachings and walk the path of the Darkness Element, you will be automatically considered a part of the Darkness Organization. It would be impossible for you to join a Light Element Organization.¡± Fang understood from the explanation that the Element you trained in directly decided with Organization you belonged to. However, there was something off. As Meng saw Fang in thought, he smiled as he explained, ¡°Even though we are all one Organization, there are countless Schools amongst the various Organization. We might seem as a single Organization but that doesn¡¯t mean that all of our views are the same. For example, I am part of the Soul Magus School that specializes in controlling Undead and in the Soul and our relationship with the School of Poison is extremely bad.¡± As he explained, the most relevant comparison Fang could make was his villagers. Even though they were all part of the same village, the Chief and his son and the other villagers didn¡¯t get along at all as one side suppressed the other. The village was an Organization and School of Poison were the Chief and his son. Him and the rest of the villagers were the Soul Magus School. To the outside world, they were one people but they couldn¡¯t stand each other. Even though he understood this, one thing piqued his interest more than the Organizations¡­. Control over the Undead. From his memories, he could remember that his Grandpa had told him about these kind of Magi. There were known as the vilest Magi out there that tortured people to death and then controlled their corpses. Fang¡¯s face paled as he remembered that and looked at the old man in fear. Seeing that look, Meng sighed deeply as he said, ¡°So, you have heard of the rumours about us¡­.¡± He then took a deep breath as his eyes turned serious. He said in a cold tone, ¡°Everything you have heard is bull crap. None of the Soul Magus has ever ¡°risen someone from the dead¡±. The skeletons we control come from a certain World. In that World, the Undead are the only inhabitants of the World.¡± Hearing this, Fang tilted his head in confusion again. The old man sighed as he explained more in depth, ¡°You see, an extremely strong Soul Magus once discovered a World filled with Undead. After centuries of trail and error, he discovered the way to take control of those Undead and developed the Path of Necromancy. All those stories about us killing innocents and then refining them into our Undead troops are complete bullshit made up by Light Magi.¡± Towards the end of the explanation, there was an obvious tinge of annoyance and hate in his tone. The old man then calmed down and sighed again, ¡°All we do is connect to that World and using the Ancestors method take control of the Undead to work for us. Those ten I gave you are the same.¡± Fang thought about it deeply as he didn¡¯t know what to say. He had always heard of Necromancer¡¯s raising corpses to fight. Seeing this, the old man sighed as he stood up and said, ¡°Come, follow me.¡± Fang hurriedly stood up and followed behind the old man. After walking a bit, they reached a giant gate. This gate had a Skeleton standing with a sword in front of it on each half of the Gate. Seeing this Gate, Fang looked at it with wide eyes as he asked, ¡°What is this?¡± The old man said seriously, ¡°The Gate to the World of the Undead.¡± Prologue Chapter 3: Soul Academy Staring at the portal, Fang¡¯s mind blanked. Meng looked at the young boy and said, ¡°We Soul Magi used to be quite weak due to two things.¡± He raised one finger and said, ¡°We lacked a base of operations. Meaning that we were all scattered around the various Worlds when one of us ran into big trouble, he or she was on her own.¡± Fang snapped out and listened intently. Meng then raised a second finger as well and said, ¡°The second reason was because we lacked simple means of protection.¡± Fang didn¡¯t understand what he meant. Meng sighed deeply as he said, ¡°Soul Magi were originally mostly scholars and even though we were mediocre in a fight, all our strong attack spells need a long time to set up.¡± He then shook his head as he said, ¡°In a fight, no one will give you the time to arrange a Spell Formation or chant any spells. Now, using the troops as the buffer wall, we have enough time to arrange the Spell Formations, spells and so on.¡± Fang didn¡¯t understand well but he didn¡¯t want to ask either for now. Seeing that look on Fang¡¯s face, Meng explained it instead, ¡°You see, all large scale and powerful spells need time to arrange and set up. Magi use different means to buy that time in a fight. Some use Golems for defence, some team up with other Magi or Knight¡¯s. There are many methods but none of those methods worked for our Soul Magi.¡± Meng then had a nostalgic look on his face as he sighed deeply. ¡°We use our knowledge of the Soul to take control of the Skeletons. Some Light Magi use some devout believers in them. Earth Magi mainly use Golems and so on.¡± As Meng said that, Fang lightly nodded his head indicating his understanding. Seeing that, Meng¡¯s eyes flashed as he thought to himself, ¡°This boy, there is something special about him¡­.¡± Although he couldn¡¯t point out what he felt was special about him, he could tell that something was very off. ¡°His calm and analytical judgement¡­ He absorb all the knowledge like a sponge and he understand the information passed on to him very easily. It¡¯s almost the same as¡­.¡± As he thought of the person, he shuddered. He then smiled to himself, ¡°It¡¯s impossible. After the Light Magi exterminated his bloodline, he hasn¡¯t had any other mate to give him successors.¡± When he thought back to that chaotic time, his eyes turned extremely icy. Fang didn¡¯t know what Meng was thinking about, so he didn¡¯t understand why Meng¡¯s expression changed so much. Suddenly, Meng snapped out from his thoughts and memories and looked at the giant Gate in front of him. His eyes looked resolute now as he put his hand on the Gate and the Gate started shining. The door suddenly opened and Meng gestured for Fang to step in. Seeing him hesitate, Meng smiled as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± After saying that, he stepped past the gate and vanished. Fang grit his teeth and picked up his courage to step past the Gate as well. His world was engulfed by extremely bright, white light and he felt extreme nausea take over him. *** ¡°Welcome to the Soul Academy. Home and headquarters of all Soul Magi.¡± As Fang heard the familiar voice, he slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by a humongous city. The giant city was filled with many tall towers, greenery, houses and many, many races. When Fang saw all the weird creatures that were wearing the same emblem on their robes, Fang couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Some look like fairies, some looked like grotesque demons but all of them were wearing different coloured long robes. And on the front left side, all of them had the same emblem of an upside down cross adorned by two roses. After noticing that, he stole a glance from Meng¡¯s robes and saw the same emblem on his chest as well. The arrival of the two caused quite a big stir amongst the regular Soul Magi. All of the Magi that saw Meng would cup their hands and give him a deep bow when they saw him. Fang raised a brow in confusion as he glanced towards Meng. Meng chuckled at Fang, seeming to enjoy the attention. He waved his hand and a gentle power enveloped both Fang and Meng as they raised upwards. Meng smiled at Fang and said, ¡°You go and register yourself. Here this token will show the examiners who sent you and you will be recorded as my Disciple after the examination.¡± As he said that, a black token flew towards Fang. On one side, was the same emblem as the one on everyone¡¯s robes, on the other side, only ¡°Xie¡± was written. Before Fang could say or ask anything, the gentle power that enveloped him started moving, dragging him towards a particularly large tower in the centre of the city. After Fang had disappeared from sight, Meng still looked towards the direction of the tower. After a few moments passed, a light beam appeared on the horizon and stopped in front of Meng. The person who appeared looked like a middle aged man. He had chestnut brown hair that was greying from his temples. His brown eyes looked filled with respect as he cupped his hands towards Meng and said, ¡°Greetings Master!¡±. Meng nodded and a trace of nostalgia and gentleness appeared in his eyes. Meng then smiled as he said, ¡°Little Ryan, long time no see. How is your progress lately?¡± The person called Ryan stood up and gently sighed as he shook his head, ¡°Same old¡­. Making progress is hard when I have to manage the entire Soul Academy.¡± Meng sighed as well as he nodded his head.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He then asked, ¡°How are your senior and juniors doing?¡± Ryan¡¯s eyes turned serious as he said, ¡°Senior brother Martin is currently travelling the worlds, collecting different materials and resources to upgrade his troops, junior sister Laura and junior brother Jack are doing the same.¡± He then sighed deeply again as he said, ¡°The Inter Planar War is fast approaching, only a century is left until it. Every Magi, Qi Master or any other path follower is desperately upgrading their power.¡± Meng¡¯s face darkened when he heard of the Inter Planar War. Ryan then asked, ¡°But Master, what are you doing here? You are one of our strongest Magi so the responsibilities you will have to shoulder will be significantly more than the rest of us¡­.¡± This had puzzled him from the moment he got word that Meng had appeared in the Soul Academy. His knowledge on his Master was that he was one of the most meticulous of the Soul Guardians, so he would use every moment to it¡¯s up most to guarantee an increase in power. The stronger you are, the higher the chance of surviving the War. Meng then looked towards the tower again as he said, ¡°Well, I am here to register your new Junior Brother.¡± Hearing this, Ryan¡¯s eyes opened wide as he exclaimed, ¡°Now?! There is only a century left until the Planar War!¡± Ryan couldn¡¯t understand his Master at all at the moment. This century should be spent on doing everything to upgrade his own strength or augment his troops but he suddenly decided to take in a Disciple at this crucial time. Meng let out a soft laugh as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Teaching him won¡¯t impede with my preparations. Most of them are done by now any way and it will be hard for me to make any significant progress in this century. In another ten years at most, all my preparations will be completed.¡± Ryan could only softly nod his head indicating that he had nothing more to say. If his Master said so, who was he to say otherwise? He was his second Disciple and although he was the Soul Academy Headmaster, he lacked any sort of power over him. His gaze also turned towards the tower and soon, the two disappeared from the spot they were talking at. *** Fang had no idea of what had happened after he had disappeared, before he knew it, he had appeared before the entrance to the giant tower. When he landed in front of the giant door, the mysterious power that had enveloped him had disappeared. Fang now looked around in confusion as he tried to figure out where to go or what to do. As he stood there in confusion looking around like a lost lamb, a giant shadow suddenly enveloped him. When he looked up, he saw a giant red skinned devil behind him, looking at him with contempt. Fang felt his knees weaken as he subconsciously felt an invisible aura suffocate him. The more he stared into the man¡¯s eyes, the more he felt his eyes blur. Just as his world started turning black, a sudden ¡°Hiss.¡± rang out inside his mind. Seeing the little human in front of him clear his mind, a trace of interest flashed in the red skinned man¡¯s eyes. As the two stared at each other, the people around them stood stupefied. The red skinned devil had blood red eyes and the young boy in front of him had azure blue eyes. The devil had long pitch black hair, the small boy in front of him had snow white hair. As the two stared into each other¡¯s eyes, suddenly, Fang felt a very weird feeling in his head as his eyes suddenly turned into slits like a snakes, that stared back at the devil. When the Devil saw that, his eyes opened wide as he subconsciously jumped backwards, creating some distance between the two. His back was soaked in cold sweat as he looked at the young boy in front of him in astonishment. ¡°When his eyes turned into snakes, that feeling¡­.¡± The moment Fang¡¯s eyes turned into slits, the Devil felt as though an enormous snake was laying in ambush, waiting to devour him. However, that lasted for only a moment before Fang¡¯s eyes turned back to normal. Without saying anything, he gave Fang one last glance of confusion as he suddenly turned towards the gate and walked in. When he took his eyes off of Fang, he thought to himself, ¡°Did I imagine that? I could have sworn that the aura he gave out was extremely dangerous¡­. As if a giant snake was waiting to devour a helpless little rabbit¡­.¡± Fang didn¡¯t know what was going through the red skinned devils mind as he looked at him in confusion. He thought back to that exchange with confusion as he thought to himself, ¡°At first I felt as if I would blank out, then a mysterious power filled me and that person jumped back.¡± As he thought about that, he couldn¡¯t help but cast another glance at red skinned devils back. After thinking about it a bit, he couldn¡¯t figure out what had happened. Giving up on thinking about it for now, he also turned towards the gate and walked towards it. He figured that he most likely was supposed to enter that tower. Even if he wasn¡¯t, he could at least find out from there where he was supposed to go and do. With his mind stillin confusion about the weird encounter, he walked inside the tower. *** Up in the clouds, hidden from everyone else¡¯s gaze, sat two people, Ryan and Meng. They both looked filled with shock as Ryan said, ¡°It¡¯s the Founding Ancestors Bloodline!¡± Meng nodded his head in astonishment as he said, ¡°I felt that there was something special about him but the preliminary test showed that he did not possess any Bloodline.¡± As he thought back to that, he suddenly felt something click into place as he exclaimed, ¡°Of course it wouldn¡¯t show! He has an extremely high grade Bloodline that has been dormant for generations. His Bloodline is extremely thin and the Testing Stele that I have is only a low grade one only used to simply see if anyone has the ability to become a Soul Magi or not.¡± After saying so, he suddenly felt expectant towards the results the Top Grade Testing Stele would bring. Prologue Chapter 4: Top Grade Stele When Fang entered the tower, he was greeted by several people sitting at different tables. Above the tables were different symbols that Fang couldn¡¯t understand. He suddenly felt the token in his hand lead him towards the table where a grey haired old man was soundly sleeping. All the other tables had long lines and all the people lined up at those tables were wearing the Soul Academy Emblem on their chests. As Fang walked towards the table the token was leading him towards, he observed what happened at the other tables. He saw that all the people were handing in different resources and then briefly gave the people behind the table the tokens. The administers took the tokens, then seemed to record down something and then gave the tokens back. Some of the people that got their tokens back were jubilant, some sighed with regret. Seeing this peculiar scene, Fang didn¡¯t know what to think. As he was absorbed in his thoughts, he arrived in front of the table with the sleeping old man. ¡°Magus level?¡± Suddenly, the old man asked, his eyes still closed as if sleeping. Fang woke up from his thoughts and looked at the man in confusion. Not hearing an answer, the old man frowned before opening his eyes and looking at Fang. After sizing him up, he waved his hand and the token that Meng had given to Jack flew to his hands. The token lit up for a second before the old man looked surprised and sized up Fang with a serious gaze. He then stood up and said, ¡°Follow me.¡± Fang meekly nodded and slowly trekked after the old man. They soon came in front of a small wooden door. The old man then turned to Fang and said, ¡°Go inside, the person in charge will explain the rest to you.¡± Fang nodded his head in confusion and after the old man had opened the door, Fang hesitantly walked in. Inside the room, a man that seemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties was standing in front of the Testing Stele, reading a book. Feeling that someone had entered the room, he raised his eyes from the book and smiled towards Fang, ¡°Hello, are you here to be tested?¡± Fang was a bit taken aback from the friendly demeanor of the young man and gently nodded his head. The young man then closed his book and beckoned Fang to step closer. Fang walked towards him and when he arrived in front of the young man, the young man started explaining, ¡°Place your hand on the Stele and relax.¡± He took a breath before continuing, ¡°This Top Grade Testing Stele will send waves of energy inside you. It isn¡¯t harmful towards you in the least, so don¡¯t try to resist these waves that will roam through your body.¡± Fang had gone through the process once already, so he had some experience with it. Last time, he had flustered and didn¡¯t know what was going on but this time, it was different. He had some idea of what to expect so this time, he was mentally prepared for what is coming. Seeing Fang nod, the young man also nodded with a smile and gestured for Fang to begin. Fang then placed his hand on the Stele like last time and waited. It didn¡¯t take even a minute before a gentle stream of warm energy started flowing to Fang¡¯s body from the giant Stele. As the Energy roamed around in his body, he couldn¡¯t help but think back to the last time and frown a bit. The last time, the energy didn¡¯t seem to go through all the muscles, skin and bones but currently, he could feel that no place was spared from the energy. As the energy roamed around and an angered ¡°Hisssss!¡± rang out in his mind. Fang¡¯s eyes opened wide as he suddenly felt the weird energy and feeling take over him again. ¡°Just like before¡­.¡± As he murmured that to himself, the young man that had been reading a book before wasn¡¯t smiling any more. His eyes were extremely serious as he intently stared at everything happening. Since Fang flinched and opened his eyes the moment the hiss sounded out in his head, the young man noticed that something happened. He then turned towards the Stele and looked at the other side that was hidden from Fang. From there he read, [Skeletal Age: 10, Awakening: Naturally Partially Awakened, Body Condition: Malnourished, Overall Physique: Weakened due to malnutrition, Elemental Affinities: Darkness 9, Fire 6. Special Affinities: Space 0, Special Bloodline: Undetermined, Not completely Awakened] Reading those results, the young man¡¯s eyes narrowed. Inside his eyes, there was excitement present when he read those stats. The Affinities were approximate in the first place and there was a margin of error. The margin was a plus one or minus one, meaning that it could be higher or lower that displayed by the Stele. When the Energy had left Fang¡¯s body, he slowly took away his hand from the Stele. Seeing that Fang had taken his hand away, the young man gestured for Fang to come closer.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. When Fang reached the young man, he also saw all those numbers and stats behind the Stele. As he looked at them in puzzlement, the young man kindly started explaining. ¡°This Top Grade Stele is far more thorough than the Low grade one your Master has.¡± Fang looked at the young man in astonishment. The young man let out a chuckle as he revealed the Command Medallion Meng had given him, ¡°This Medallion belongs to Xie Meng, one of the strongest and oldest members of the Soul Academy. He is one of the pillars that holds up our Heaven.¡± He then gave the Command Medallion back to Fang with an amused smile and continued, ¡°If I couldn¡¯t even recognize the Command Medallion of a fellow Soul Guardian, I wouldn¡¯t deserve to have eyes in the first place.¡± Feng let out a hollow laugh as he understood that the old man that picked him up may be a bit nonsensical but he was strong. He had status as well and these two things were the main things that were the biggest deterrent in any world. Why had no one from the village dared to rise up against towards the Father Son duo? Because the young boy was a part of a Magic Academy, meaning that they stood behind his back. However, the Magic Academy belonged to the Light Magi Alliance, which ended up being Fang¡¯s saving grace. Light Magi had strict rules and if the young boy or his father had killed him outright, if the higher ups found out about it, there was a high chance of being severely punished according to the rules. However, if he was charged according to the village laws and executed according to tradition¡­. Even if someone found out about it, there was no fear of any punishment what so ever. As a Naturally Awakened Magus, his value was very big to all the Academies and Schools. If they ignored his Darkness attribute, then his Fire Attribute in itself wasn¡¯t bad at all. Fang asked the young man, ¡°What do those letters and numbers mean?¡± The young man was startled for a second before he looked at Fang in astonishment, ¡°You don¡¯t know letters or numbers?¡± Fang shook his head and said casually, ¡°I grew up in a small village, only some of the grown ups could read a little and knew numbers.¡± ¡°Ohh, that¡¯s how it was.¡± The young man crossed his arms in front of his chest and lowered his head as his brows furrowed. There hadn¡¯t come a child to be tested with the Stele that couldn¡¯t read or understand numbers before. Since he hadn¡¯t met with this situation before, he didn¡¯t know how to approach it. As he thought about it, Meng suddenly appeared out of thin air and said, ¡°No need to worry yourself Brother Feng, I will explain everything to him myself.¡± Meng¡¯s face was beaming with eagerness and his eyes showed a hint of astonishment and shock. The young man named Feng let out a light laugh as he also said with a beaming smile, ¡°Congratulations Brother Meng, you seem to have picked up another unpolished jade.¡± lthough there was a tinge of regret and envy in his tone, Meng ignored it. Seeing this Fang looked at the two of them in confusion. From the smiles and flattery between the two, it seemed as though his testing results were good. As to how good¡­. Only now will he get an explanation. Feng and Meng exchanged a few more pleasantries and after saying his good byes, Feng left with his book in tow. Only Meng and Fang were left in the testing room. Fang¡¯s results were still written on the Giant Stele and Meng was looking at them in excitement. Meng then started explaining to Fang, ¡°Well, the results this time were way beyond my expectations to be honest.¡± He paused for a second with a slight sigh and then started from the beginning, ¡°The first is ¡®Skeletal Age: 10¡¯ I don¡¯t think I need to explain what that means¡­.¡± Fang nodded his head and answered, ¡°It means that I am ten years old.¡± Meng nodded his head and elaborated a bit, ¡°We find determining the skeletal age to be the most accurate. There are countless spells to alter muscles, skin, height and so on but altering the bones is extremely hard.¡± Fang nodded his head to the simplified explanation. Meng then continued, ¡°Next, the Physique and such is simple as well, due to the lack of food, like you told me, you didn¡¯t get the proper nutrients needed for a young man¡¯s growth. We can ignore all those as well because give a bit of time and you will be as good as your peers, if not even better.¡± Fang nodded again as it was truly easy to understand. Now Meng¡¯s face turned serious but his eyes betrayed excitement. He took a breath and continued, ¡°Next comes the ¡®Awakening: Naturally Partially Awakened¡¯. This is a bit more complicated to explain. It means that your Awakening as a Magus isn¡¯t complete yet.¡± As he said that, his hands crossed on his chest. He then held up two fingers as he said, ¡°In your case, there are two reasons why you haven¡¯t Fully Awakened yet: The Bloodline and the Special Affinity.¡± Fang displayed a confused expression on his face as he had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the old man. Meng then explained it further, ¡°Remember the weird feeling when you met the Red Skinned Devil?¡± Fang¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Yes, a loud ¡®Hiss!¡¯ echoed in my head and my body felt full of energy.¡± He then lowered his head to look at his hands. Meng¡¯s eyes flickered when he listened to Fang¡¯s explanation but Fang didn¡¯t see it. Meng then continued, ¡°This is your Bloodline. Not every person has one and not everyone, who has one, can awaken it. Due to luck or fate, whichever you prefer, your bloodline has awakened from it¡¯s slumber. Given enough time, it will fully awaken.¡± Fang then nodded his head slowly as he tried to keep up with the old man again. He was only ten, even if his intelligence, comprehending and thought process was years ahead of his peers, it was hard to understand all this information right off the bat. It would take time, more explanations and examples for Fang to understand it. Meng then said in an extremely eager voice, ¡°The main reason your Awakening as a Magus isn¡¯t complete, is because of the ¡®Special affinity, Space¡¯¡± His eyes were on fire with eagerness and also a tinge of jealousy. Prologue Chapter 5: Results from the Stele When Fang heard that, his eyes opened as wide as carriage wheels. ¡°Space?¡± As he asked that, Meng could no longer hide his excitement and said, ¡°Yes, Space! We have the Seven Main Elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness and Lightning.¡± He then took a deep breath as he continued, ¡°Besides those, there are some Special Affinities that are a fusion of the Seven Main Elements or independent ones that are extremely rare.¡± He then brought a few examples, ¡°For example, Ice is a fusion of Wind and Water, Lava is Earth and Fire, Holy Flame is a fusion of Light and Fire and so on.¡± As he explained the Fusion Elements, he moved on to the independent ones, ¡°Independent ones are not counted in the Seven Main Elements because they are far too rare. These Elements can only be acquired only through ones Bloodline or by some extreme fortuitous encounters.¡± His eyes blazed as he continued, ¡°Since they are extremely rare, they are also extremely strong and for example there is Time, Life, Death, and yours: Space.¡± Meng seemed to have forgotten that the person he was talking to was only ten years old as he continued blabbering, ¡°Space and Time are pure independent on their own but Life and Death for example can be could also be counted as Fusion Elements.¡± Fang¡¯s mind was already blank from the information overload but Meng didn¡¯t seem to notice as he kept talking and explaining, ¡°Life can be counted as a Fusion Element because it is an Element that requires one to have affinity with Light and Earth. But not anyone who has an affinity with these Elements can comprehend it. The same goes for Death. There are countless Fusion Elements out there that can be traced back to two or three of the Seven Main Elements.¡± His eyes then turned serious as he said, ¡°However, The two Elements of Space and Time are the only Elements that do not trace back to any of the Seven Main Elements. They are completely reliant on ones Bloodline.¡± Fang could only blankly nod now as all of these deep and technical explanations already didn¡¯t make any sense to him. The only thing he could make sense of was that outside the Seven Main Elements were some other Elements that could either be fused from the Seven Main Elements or the two Completely Independent Elements. However, all the technical things of what Element is a Fusion of which completely escaped his understanding. Only now did Meng turn his attention to Fang and noticed that he looked as if he had been hit with a plank on his head. Seeing that he had talked a bit too much, Meng let out an embarrassed laugh as he coughed and said, ¡°In short, the Space Element that you possess is extremely rare but because you haven¡¯t yet awakened the Element, your Awakening as a Magus is incomplete as of yet.¡± Fang understood what Meng said now and asked, ¡°How do you know?¡± Meng then pointed towards the Stele and said patiently, ¡°The Stele says, ¡®Special Affinity: Space 0¡¯. The zero means that you have the affinity with an element but the affinity is way too weak at the moment for you to use.¡± Fang was a bit confused as he asked, ¡°But how come it doesn¡¯t say the same for the other elements?¡± Meng let out a chuckle as he explained, ¡°This Stele doesn¡¯t take these numbers and things randomly. This Stele has been perfected over tens of thousands of years and millions if not billions of different people.¡± He walked closer to it as he continued explaining, ¡°Through the trial and error of thousands of years, we have slowly perfected this Stele by comparing and making adjustments to the numbers and the achievements of the people that used it at the time.¡± He then looked at Fang again and said, ¡°If a person doesn¡¯t have the Affinity to a certain Element, it isn¡¯t displayed at all. However, if it is, like ¡®Space 0¡¯ it means that the person has the Affinity to the Element however, some certain conditions need to be fulfilled before the person can use the Element.¡± Fang fell into thought again as he went over all the information again. He couldn¡¯t understand much of it, at most about half of it. But one thing he understood clearly was that the Stele didn¡¯t put out information that was completely irrelevant. If there was a 0 behind some Affinity, it meant that there was a possibility of awakening that Affinity but certain conditions need to be met before that could happen. Just as Meng was about to open his mouth to keep talking, the space next to him warped as a woman dressed in black appeared. She wore long black robes with the Soul Academy Emblem but sadly, Fang couldn¡¯t make out any of her features as her face was covered with a veil, her head covered with a hood. Fang was a bit taken a back when she suddenly appeared but more importantly he felt a strange familiarity with the person, as if she was someone he had known for his entire life. Meng¡¯s eyes opened wide as he cupped his hands and said respectfully, ¡°Greetings Guardian Ancestor.¡± She merely nodded towards him and then focused her gaze on Fang, seeming to peer through every little detail. Only now did Fang notice her eyes, they were azure blue. As she focused her gaze on Fang, he felt a sudden urge to drop to his knees and bow down to her. However, that feeling soon disappeared as the woman moved her line of sight to the Giant Stele. She seemed to ponder over something as her gaze was stuck on the Giant Stele. Meng didn¡¯t dare disturb her and stood at the side in complete silence. Fang had no idea how to act or what to say, so he did the same as he just stood at the side.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Finally, after a few minutes of total silence, where you could even hear a pin drop, the woman finally turned towards Fang and flicked her sleeve. As she did, an old book, that seemed to be as old as time itself flew towards him and Fang caught the book. Since he couldn¡¯t read, he looked at the book in puzzlement and when he raised his gaze from the book, he saw the woman looked at him again. However, this time, in her eyes, there wasn¡¯t endless coldness but rather a tinge of warmth and gentleness. She then turned towards Meng and said in a melodious voice, ¡°Take good care of him Meng.¡± Meng solemnly nodded his head towards the woman and a second later, the woman disappeared the same way she had appeared. Meng¡¯s gaze lingered on the spot she had disappeared from with a complicated look but in the end, he didn¡¯t say anything. A few moments passed before he looked a Fang and said, ¡°Hold that book close.¡± Fang then asked with confusion, ¡°What is it?¡± Meng turned around as he gestured for him to follow. Fang was puzzled by the lack of answer but he didn¡¯t ask again. Meng then brought him to register as his Disciple and they collected the things that were given to every Disciple. The one in charge of the distribution also explained to Fang about the contribution system, tasks and all the benefits each of the tiers of the people had. The higher ranked you were, the more benefits you enjoyed. Some of the things could only be bought or enjoyed with contribution points. Fang also got a brief explanation of the rules and where to exchange what. For example, there were specific tables for different types of missions. Collecting, Forging/Concocting, Battle, Support. These were the four Main Types and amongst them were myriad of different missions. There were different tables for different types to make it easier to accept specific tasks or turn them in. Meng walked next to Fang and sometimes added a few details to the explanations given or clarified some things that seemed to confuse Fang. When Fang had picked up all his allocated things, Meng brought them back to the World they had come from. *** High in the sky, in a concealed space, a woman in black robes was standing, looking over every action Meng and Fang took. She was the person that had given Fang the book, the Guardian Ancestor. Her gaze was extremely complex as she watched Meng take the young boy around and collect his robes, Elixirs and simple Magic Diagrams and all the other stuff that were given to new disciples on their admittance. When Fang and Meng went through the portal, she let out a deep sigh. Her gaze was filled with melancholy as she seemed to be lost in her memories of old. Suddenly, a pitch black skeleton with green flames in his eyes appeared next to her. The skeleton also looked at the portal and then sighed, ¡°He looks just like him doesn¡¯t he.¡± The woman nodded her head as she looked at the skeleton and asked, ¡°You are finished with your experiments?¡± The skeletons shrugged his shoulders as he sighed, ¡°There are some still left but when I heard that Meng had brought a weird young man to be tested, even my interest was piqued and I sent a Skeleton Puppet here. However¡­.¡± The Skeleton Puppet let out a deep sigh as he finished the sentence in his head, ¡°I had no idea he would carry this Bloodline and he would look so much like him.¡± The flames in the skeletons eyes flickered the more he thought about it. The woman also sighed and the man asked, ¡°How are your preparations? We have only a century left until the War. You should know that this one is different from the rest and the entire future of our Plane rests upon this fight.¡± The woman sighed even more deeply as she nodded her head, ¡°I have already completed all that I can¡­. Only the talks and strategy meetings with between the Seven Alliances remain. This time we don¡¯t have the luxury to pursue our own benefits.¡± The skeleton nodded his head and sighed. The Inter Planar War this time was far more important than the previous times. Every top expert in the Plane was painfully aware of the fact that if they don¡¯t band together and truly fight as one this time¡­. Only extermination awaits them. He gave one last glance towards the Portal and disappeared leaving the black robed woman there on her own. *** Back in Meng¡¯s quarters, Meng talked with Fang a bit about his future. After explaining to Fang that the first things, and most important, were to nurse his health back to normal and also take the time to learn to read, write and arithmetic¡¯s. After making a simple schedule, eating a good meal, Meng showed Fang to his new little cottage. This cottage now belonged to Fang and after explaining the different rooms and their uses to Fang, Meng left. Fang familiarized himself with the cottage a bit before he dropped on his bed. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he was knocked out. He had learned a lot of new things today and his mind was utterly exhausted from the overload of new information. The next day, they started with a hearty meal, a few lessons on reading, numbers and writing. Following that came simple exercises, history of Magi, the relationships of Elements and so on. *** In a swift pace, five years passed. In a study room, Meng was sitting behind a desk and in front of him stood a young man with a slender build. His hair was snow white and his eyes azure blue. That young man was Fang. Meng looked at him with a smile and said, ¡°In these five years, you have completely exceeded my expectations, I have nothing more left to teach you.¡± Fang was startled by Meng words but before he could say anything, Meng gently shook his head with a smile and said, ¡°It is time you left my protection and established your own little domain and carried out your own research, suffered hardships and took care of loose ends.¡± With the final part, his eyes narrowed a bit and Fang could clearly understand what he meant by that. A cold smile appeared on Fang¡¯s lips as he thought to himself, ¡°Time to fulfil the promise I made those years ago.¡±