《Shattering The Sky》


 0: Prologue

    Rain poured down from the sky relentlessly pounding the ground. Rushing down the road amidst the rain were a man and a woman in a carriage pulled by two large beasts. The manner in which the man was recklessly controlling them would cause onlookers to only imagine what kind of rush they were in. Suddenly as if out of nowhere, five individuals clad in black burst from the forest onto the road trailing the carriage.


    What was most peculiar about these five however was the fact that they were not riding on anything. They were pursuing the carriage on foot! The people of Kray could only dream of moving that fast and yet here were five people doing it.


    ¡°Bram, how long do we need to chase after these two?¡± The individual to the back of the five said. ¡°Until we catch them of course¡± Bram instantly replied.


    ¡°But why? We almost never undergo a task without at least knowing the reason.¡± The individual to the back was very frustrated about how this job had been given to them and why he had to pursue two people who merely gave off the feeling of poor folk.


    ¡°Orders are orders. The guild rarely tasks out the five of us so this job must be completed. We can not afford to offend the master.¡± Bram was tired of this conversation and focused his attention on the pursuit. In that moment luck struck the five black-clad individuals. The carriage had hit a nasty rock and sent one of the wheels off its axle. The carriage skid to the side of the road and came to a halt.


    Instantly the five black clad individuals surrounded the carriage. A murderous aura filled the air. Without hesitation a blur shot out from within the carriage in the direction of the woods. The person standing closest to the woods was utterly shocked. A movement technique of that caliber would have an extremely heavy cost on the practitioner. In the moment that this happened another shadow emerged from the carriage wielding a massive broadsword. The man stood there like a large boulder glaring at the five black-clad individuals.


    ¡°Pity we do not care for honor and pride where we come from. Five against one. I hardly see you putting up much of a fight before we go and finish off that blur that I assume to be your wife.¡± Bram seemed to spit the words like venom at the man in front of him. He wanted to kill the two and end this assignment without any unforeseen hindrances.


    ¡°Even if you were to immediately bypass me and pursue her you would all not have even the slightest bit of hope at catching her.¡± The lone man said to the five individuals in front of him. ¡°That movement technique is fast to the point that it looks harmful on the body and yet she can keep it up for hours.¡± ¡°I¡¯d have to see that to believe it.¡± Bram quickly retorted. ¡°If she could truly move that quickly why didn¡¯t the two of you run the instant you knew you were being trailed?¡± Bram felt rather proud of himself for poking this hole in the man¡¯s logic and eagerly awaited what fabricated nonsense the target would spew out next. He rarely talked to his targets but this was due to him taking on assignments that required quick assassination with utmost discretion. He reveled at seeing his prey struggle.


    The man had a very succinct reply, ¡°Because I¡¯m as slow as you lot.¡± As soon as he said that he raised his sword and prepared himself for a fight to the death. The five black clad individuals all raised their weapons. Three of them used short swords, one was wielding a dagger in the left hand with a sword in the right, while the final individual was wielding a lone dagger.


    The lone man instantly swung his sword towards the two that were standing to the left of him. They swiftly dodged and moved to his side not yet intent on counter-attacking. The five were willing to probe and carefully deconstruct the style of the man. The man was alone but the aura he gave off was similar to that of a large boulder and one hit from his sword could likely paralyze if not kill instantly. The man¡¯s goal however, was to free up his back and direct it towards the forest. Broadswords have the power to take on several opponents at once, but clearly the people in front of him were most likely all agility type practitioners. If he were to attack without thinking it through at least one of the five would instantly rush his blind spot and deal a killing blow while the others would be able to chase after his wife.


    ¡°Yo Bram, let me give this guy a try. If I can¡¯t even defeat such a slow guy on my own than I wouldn¡¯t be able to show my face in the guild again.¡± The individual holding the dagger and short sword proclaimed. ¡°Shay, I know you wish to test your skills and prove yourself to the master but you should clearly be able to feel the aura he¡¯s giving off. Not only is he ready to die, he¡¯s willing to use any means to drag us along with him.¡± Bram flatly stated. He continued, ¡°But I am willing to let you test yourself, if you need help we will instantly jump in.¡± ¡°Mn¡± She grunted and then dashed towards the man. Shadow Spirit¡¯s Movement Shay yelled out in her mind. Instantly the woman turned from one silhouette in black into three. She swung her swords at the man¡¯s head while directing the daggers at his waist. She wanted him to try to parry the blows so that she could redirect the dagger and quickly slice his throat. The broadswords weakness was its heavy weight that made agile movements and redirections difficult. The man had other plans. With one powerful swing of his sword he blew the images away and blasted Shay back five meters.


    Stolen story; please report.	Not willing to be pushed around so easily Shay used Shadow Spirit¡¯s Movement to the utmost of her abilities and made it seem as though there were five of her. Immediately following she yelled out ¡°100 Strikes of Death¡± and slashed ferociously with both her dagger and sword. The trick to this move was that it made it seem as though there were 500 slashes about to strike. Its name however was intentionally deceitful and also why she yelled it. Only one strike was not a feint and it was done with the sword as to instantly kill the opponent. The man stood calmly, as long as all five did not attack at once he stood a chance at winning and escaping with his life. He saw through the trick and blocked the fatal strike with his sword while dodging some of the lesser swings that would still damage him if they hit him. Shay jumped back and said ¡°I alone can not injure him much less kill him. We may as well attack together and pursue the woman.¡± Bram nodded in agreement and signaled for them to all attack at once. The man swung his sword and dodged to the best of his ability but received several wounds and only managed to break the sword in one of the attackers hands. The individual whose sword he broke instantly pulled out another of similar quality. After a few quick exchanges the five paused for a moment and stood in front of the man. The man seemed to be deep in thought for a second and then roared ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡± He knew the costs of doing this but could only think of his wife and protecting her future. His aura which could earlier be compared to a boulder now dwarfed that boulder. He was as imposing as a mountain. He swung his sword and the force from the blade shot out and sliced an unprepared Bram directly in half. As blood spewed out of Bram¡¯s mouth and life slowly flickered in his eyes like a dying flame he uttered ¡°Im¡­poss..i..ble.¡±


    .


    Without even touching him, the man killed one of the pursuers. The other four had a look of absolute shock. Part of why this happened was the surprise nature of the attack while the other part was due to the appearance of the man. The man appeared to be in his early twenties and he wore an old-looking shirt and pants that had several holes. The only redeeming thing about the man appeared to be the thing around his wrist. It was made of some fine metal that began at his wrist and wrapped halfway up his forearm.


    The four having witnessed what they assumed to be the full strength of the man decided to abandon all caution and focus on dealing a killing blow as quickly as possible. They moved to surround him and unleash their most powerful killing moves. Noticing their intent, he swung his sword in a large circle. With that movement he decimated everything within a hundred meters. He sliced anything that came in contact with his blade or the wind it released directly in half. Blood splattered everywhere and covered the road and nearby trees. Trees that had been sliced in half if they were too close. Realizing what was happening Shay threw out her dagger and it pierced through the man¡¯s neck. Her body pieces fell to the ground and a sinister smile crossed her lips.


    As the man fell to his knees and then the ground all he could see and think about was the beautiful image of his wife. Her long flowing hair and flawless green eyes that had first caught his eye and led to him falling in love with her. The long walks they used to take at night while talking about nothing of importance. The time he first said I love you and the look in her eyes as he said it. His last thought before his consciousness faded and he hit the ground was regret at not getting to see his newborn son grow up.


    Rain continued to fall down and time crawled on.

 Chapter 1: A Mother, Her Child, and Thousands of Beasts

    In the middle of a dense forest, hundreds of kilometers away from any signs of human life, rain slowly ceased and the clouds began to part. A ray of sunlight burst through the clouds and struck an insignificant looking cave that was situated 50 meters from a small waterfall. Inside that cave set a woman who was breathing extremely heavily and had sweat pouring down her elegant face. She had been running for three hours without stopping and decided on this secluded area. She couldn''t feel the presence of any beasts much less that of another person. As she thought about all of these things, she gently cradled the baby in her arms. Running with her inherited technique was one thing but protecting her newborn child while doing it pushed her to her utmost limits. It would take a long time before she could regain her spirit. Sitting there and marveling at the young boys new born life a single drop of sweat rolled of her nose and landed on his. "Torren. You''re name shall be Torren."


    The woman began to feed her son and eye her surroundings. On her wrist was a peculiar bracelet. It was a only a few centimeters in width but it had an intricate carving of a chest on it as well as a few symbols followed by an artistic pattern. From this bracelet she opened up the storage space that it contained and with a flick of her wrist a blanket appeared in her hand in which she wrapped her delicate child. He had vibrant green eyes that matched her own as well as an already devious smile that was similar to his father in his younger years. She let the child rest in a nook within the cave and set out to truly examine her surroundings.


    The waterfall was nearby to the cave and fell into a large pond of water. Just by looking at it she could not fathom the depth of the pond but paid it no mind as she couldn''t sense any dangerous presence within. The forest nearby had no signs of beasts. Small animals and the songs of birds could be heard but this was extremely uncommon for an area of this sort. Dangerous beasts should be found all around her and yet from what she could sense with her remaining spirit there wasn''t one within one kilometer. It was like this place had some kind of ward set up that made it an oasis within the desert. It was truly a sanctuary. Outside of that circumference though caused a chill to shoot down her spine. She couldn''t tell their exact strength, but there were some extremely frightening things just laying around and going about their daily life. Beasts of that nature were rarely seen in one''s life but near her there were thousands! Despite the fact that none of them were approaching her she decided to take a slip out from within her bracelet. This was a gift her father had given her for her journey in case anything were to happen. It releases a presence that ought to ward off even high level beasts and if infused with spirit and placed into a boulder it can last until the user removes their spirit from the boulder.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.             Once she had taken care of that she returned to the cave to take a look around. The cave was rather dark and only the entrance was illuminated due to the small amount of sunshine that could get inside. From her bracelet she took out a light stone and tossed it in the direction of the darkness. She thought that the stone would hit the back wall and illuminate the cave that she believed to be small. The stone however flew to the point that the force she gave it permitted and then it landed on the ground with a thud and rolled another meter. The cave actually opened up in the direction of the water fall and had a spacious cavern where she was currently standing. From this cavern there were a few passage ways that were about large enough to allow two people to comfortably walk side by side extending out. Without thinking too much, she searched around the cave and outside of it for some small boulders and large tree branches that had fallen. She sealed off the entrances and began to set up what she believed to be a temporary home.


    From deep within what seemed to be an ordinary pond at the bottom of a small waterfall something began to stir.

 Chapter 2: The Power of the Pond

    Days passed as the mother and her child resided within the cave. Two weeks after the woman arrived at the cave she believed she had regained enough of her Spirit. She had been focusing most of her attention on Torren and hadn''t been taking care of her self as much as she could. This was a given however as she was a new mother and wanted to make sure her child was cared for. She felt well enough and decided to have a detailed look around. Not only did she want to bring her child out of the wilderness but she also wanted to know what had happened to her husband. He had stayed behind to deal with the pursuers but hadn''t come in search of them yet. From the bottom of her heart she desired to see that smile of his and punch him in the chest while asking what took so long.


    When she got to the edge of the kilometer what she saw startled her. Within several hundred meters of her were beasts of the 6th rank and higher and they were just casually strolling around. The woman had only reached the peak of the 3rd rank herself and she was quite proud of it. For someone who was only 23 years old it could be said that she had a decent amount of talent and was a hard worker. She didn''t come from a family of much background but through her hard work she was able to marry into a family that made a modest living. As she was eyeing a pair of Oak Wolves they felt her gaze and caught her scent. They instantly ran over to go have some fun with her, after all it wasn''t common for them to run into a human so much weaker than themselves in this area.


    Feeling the intent of the wolves she backed up in fear and took out her staff. In her heart she knew she wasn''t a match for them and a cold sweat broke out on her back. If they could smell her they would most likely smell Torren as well and things could get ugly. The wolves were so excited in their pursuit of enjoyment that they lost their bearings and crossed where they knew they shouldn''t have. As they crossed the line the ground shook violently. Leaves fell off of the trees and animals scattered in different directions. The Oak Wolves dropped as low as they could and put their tails in-between their legs while shivering. They were whimpering and slowly backing away from the woman in the direction they had come from. As if a switch had been triggered as soon as they were back across the line the tremors ceased.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.            Not knowing what had happened the woman decided to return to the cave and make sure Torren was safe and sound. The nook she turned into a make-shift baby bed was in a very secure spot but the tremors were extremely violent. When she got back to the cave Torren was softly crying and seemed upset. She tried to feed him but he wouldn''t eat. He hadn''t made a mess, he wasn''t breathing abnormally, and his Spirit was extremely low but at the level of most babies. She decided to bring him out to the pond and rinse him off. Perhaps the soothing sounds of the water fall and the cool pond water would help him to calm down.


    The woman blew into the face of the child and made a face as if she were holding her breath. He giggled a bit and then mimicked her. She lowered him into the water and lifted him up quickly. The smile on his face and the bright look in his eyes made her feel something she had never felt before. This was her child. His smile made it seem like all the problems of the world vanished. Thinking that he might be thirsty she decided to scoop some water up with her hand and allow him to drink some. As he drank the water, in his eyes a faint light seemed to flash, and then in an instant it went away.

 Chapter 3: One Trees Branch is Another Trees Treasure

    Time began to slowly pass and before Solana knew it a few weeks had gone by. In these weeks she had fully recovered her strength and had been setting up the cave to have a more home-like feeling. Without her husband Ryu, hardly anything would truly seem like a "home" but she did what she could nonetheless. What most concerned her today was that she was slowly running out of food. It had already been approximately two months since she had moved into this cave by the waterfall and originally there was only enough food in her bracelet to last for her and her husbands'' six month trip. She was only one person so naturally the food would be able to sustain her for a whole year but she was also providing food for Torren.


    Before Solana could set out for the day and try to solve the food issue, she had to take care of Torren. Every morning at about the same time he would wake up and begin to cry. It took Solana a few tries to figure it out but she realized the only way to soothe this child was to slowly dip him in the pond and let him drink a bit of the water. She would then feed him and set him down in the make-shift structure she had made from some branches to allow for him to crawl around. Once she had finished this she began to explore the surrounding forest again.


    Solana was always extremely careful now not to step outside of her territory. Beasts would occasionally watch her but none would dare cross the border. In examining the trees she noticed something that hadn''t caught her eye before. One of the tree''s larger lower branches had fallen in night and this opening reveled a large nest of bees! If she were anywhere else on the continent she probably would not be so happy about such an event but she knew the value of honey. Honey is a food source that can sustain life on its own! Solana specialized in speed and did not fear these bees and in her mind she slowly developed a plan to take advantage of this situation and have a food source which she could cultivate.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.            From within her bracelet she took out an axe, a knife, and some strong twine. She immediately set to work and using the available resources constructed what seemed like animal traps that had a dimension of 1 cubic meter. She made three of them and then hung each of them from a tree. These trees were a decent distance from one another as she wasn''t certain about how territorial the bees might be. Then moving quick enough to create a momentary after image, she grabbed the first beehive and put it inside of one of the traps. This was after all the easy part. Before the bees even knew what was going on she would have transported the hive. In the future however Solana would need to figure out how to harvest the honey. She walked around for a little bit before she discovered another two hives and set them down into the contraption. Once she was satisfied she went back to the cave to check on Torren.


    The little baby saw its mother and instantly began to smile. His small little hands gripped the wood that had been made to keep him from crawling off too far. As the woman reached down to pick up her son he instinctively grabbed on to her hair and let out a laugh. "Torren you mustn''t pull too hard. I know you don''t realize it yet but you could hurt someone if you put too much force into things." Solana knew that her son wouldn''t understand yet but she wanted to start teaching him early as well as hear her own voice. It had been quite some time since she could converse with anyone else and aside from her son it was quite lonely being out in the wilderness.


    At the bottom of the lake two eyes opened up. "Mmm? It appears those two humans are still within my area. Beasts seem to know what''s best for them but these humans can''t even perceive me? They must truly be week or maybe stupid heh heh. Their fortune must be excellent though as the seal has only begun to crack. It''ll probably still be years before I can leave."