《Flame-Eyed Immortal》 Chapter: Prologue Special thanks to Neshi for editing! ------------------- A world, much like any other. Where humanity had the potential to become anything they wanted to be, but they chose to not expand their technology and to live beside nature. That wasn¡¯t to say that humanity didn¡¯t have swords or castles. The world was in harmony with one another, and although mankind was at the top of the food chain, they never chose to over butcher animals for food. Commoners would wake up daily with the rising sun, turning the cold darkness in a warm refreshing tingle. Nobles and Kings would wake up with a massage and look over their beautiful land and smirk. Neither existed without the other, and both knew of their relationship for one another. Commoners provided the kingdom resources while the kings and nobles brought them security and peace. In other areas tyrannical kings would exist, but because the commoners would strive for a peaceful and happy life they would soon migrate or rise up against their kings, forming another kingdom or joining a previous one. The biggest difference in people, were those who lived isolated from the world. Monks or warriors would sleep in the wilderness and befriend the animals. Monks would meditate striving for the most calm of minds. Warriors would relentlessly practice with their weapons. Each and every movement would be concise and perfect. However, whether commoner, king, monk or warrior or any other lifestyle, there was definitely one custom they all shared. Every person prayed to the gods for good fortune or protection. As the sun set, every person would kneel and bow to the setting sun in hopes of its return. Although the sun would return without fail, only with some luck would their other wishes be fulfilled. While the ones who were lucky thought the gods were merciful, it was by no means the gods intentions. Even with millions of people praying they hadn¡¯t even noticed the presence of this insignificant planet. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. That was until one god, felt a pulse. A pulse that carried a feeling of longing for this god. The moment he felt it, he couldn¡¯t concentrate on anything else, and for years it bothered this god. It was only until the god had nearly become insane for this feeling that he finally fled from his responsibilities to arrive at this planet. When he arrived, that was when everything changed for planet. Though the god didn¡¯t meddle with anything on the planet, the rest of the gods took notice of this particular god¡¯s location. Although they couldn¡¯t understand why the god had run to such a small planet off on the edges of the universe, a group of them still followed. At the moment of their arrival, was the day the planet was reborn. This is the tale of an ember. An ember that grew with the passing of time. The hardships it overcame. The relationships it created. All of which birthed a flame. A flame that would bring forth change to everything. Chapter 1 Special thanks to Neshi for editing! -------------- ¡°Is this where he is?¡± A giant blue-scaled dragon spoke. It was a voice that didn¡¯t resemble a human¡¯s. The flow was awkward and it felt as if the dragon said gibberish, but all the other beasts around him heard him clearly as he had spoken perfectly with his mind. It was only after the other beasts looked around that they started to whisper thoughts back and forth, whether or not they truly believed the one they were looking for was here was irrelevant at this point. Because the moment a god descends onto a lesser world is the moment that the world has the right to step on the pathway to immortality. Even if the god they were chasing wasn¡¯t here, it was true that they were now on the planet. As such they had responsibilities to fulfill. Why did they have too? Even with their current strength they wouldn¡¯t dare ask. Finally, another voice reverberated through the minds slightly causing them to became dizzy. The voice was soft and calm but it definitely held terrifying power if it was used against them forcefully. The beasts all looked towards a seemingly tiny weak beast above them. It was a wolf, only 3 meters long and 1 meter tall. Its silvery fur reflected the light softly as it was absorbed into the retinas of the other beasts. The eyes of the wolf were also silver but gave off an incredible cold feeling almost as if it was blind. However, the beasts all knew that this seemingly weak wolf, was in fact the most terrifying of them all. It was the Lunar Wolf. After the Lunar Wolf looked down at the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, Black Turtle, Rebirth Snake, Ice Phoenix, and the numerous other beasts, it finally spoke again. ¡°Remember the laws passed down. Do not destroy the humans, and do not let any of your disciples kill them either. Azure, Vermillion, White and Black, you will split this land into four and set up the boundaries.¡± ¡°We shall do as commanded.¡± The four giant beasts immediately bowed in a respectful manner. At that moment the Lunar Wolf didn¡¯t give them a second glance and looked into the distance and disappeared. When the beasts realized the Lunar Wolf had finally left, the heavy pressure they were feeling suddenly dissipated without a trace. The four who were left in charge soon looked at one another and nodded. ¡°Let us summon the World-Shredding Stalactites.¡± The Azure Dragon spoke, and as he did he focused a powerful energy source deep within his body. Matching the Azure Dragon, the other three each took a position making a square. The energy gathered and soon left their bodies colliding into each other. As the energies collided, only a blinding light was seen rising into the skies. The time it took for the light to reach the sky was only a mere few seconds, but for a result to come forth from it? Many minutes passed because of that. Though as if time was insignificant to these beasts, they waited without a hint of impatience on their faces. Only looking straight into the sky, when the time finally arrived. The earth started to shake, and the skies started to split apart. The previous blue sky started to collapse onto itself rushing away from the shaking and opening to the never ending abyss above. Though the abyss was soon replaced with another scene; what descended was a giant stone. It was shaped like an arrow head, but had a giant hole at the bottom all the way through the top. Only through this whole could the abyss be seen again. Though this giant piece of rock was many times larger than the beasts, as it slowly dropped from the sky, people finally started to notice the sky above them was changing. Though the beasts were huge, they were already so high up even at their size they would only look like pebbles in the distance, but this rock was able to cover the sky and cause an early night. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. --------------- At this moment many people were staring into the sky; some were crying, others were praying, but the vast majority looked on with stunned expressions. The giant stone in front of them covered the sky: what could that possibly mean? Were the gods angry at them? If so all the people would gather together and destroy every piece of existence of that person. However, how could they know it was because they were chosen. It was supposed to be a good thing that instead it only brought fear. The nobles, kings, commoners, monks, warriors, fishers, women and men alike all stared with pale expressions. Not daring to move an inch, for they might anger the gods even more. Luckily their fear wasn¡¯t ever-lasting as a voice echoed within their minds. ¡°Humans, We are the gods and have heard your prayers. As such We will bestow you a chance. A way to change the fate of growing old and dying. After today, you may take the first step into becoming gods yourselves.¡± The voice continued to echo within their minds, although it wasn¡¯t because of the voice repeating itself, but because every single word had that much effect on all of humanity. People couldn¡¯t help but be amazed, but before they could snap out of it, another voice appeared in their minds. ¡°We will be changing the layout of this world, therefore do not resist as We will have those who are in the way of destruction gather in one place. Keep in mind, humans, if you resist a slight deviation can be the death of you.¡± Even though the voice was only speaking as a general comment all of the people nodded unconditionally. They didn¡¯t wish to die and in fact it was a blessing for the god to even warn them. That alone said how merciful the gods were being to them. After he said this, people within the vicinity of the descending rock were immediately teleported to various locations on the continent. Without any other worries, the beasts in the sky all nodded as they did the Vermillion Bird spoke up. ¡°Thank you Void Rat, as thanks, you¡¯ll be able to chose where to start first.¡± ¡°Ah, then I shall do that, thank you.¡± Although only the Void Rat could teleport that many people at once, it still required him to put forth effort and with none of the other beasts doing anything, it was only fair. They were neither greedy nor angry, because truthfully none of the beats had any hopes for this planet, but it was too late for regrets now. They could only wait for the World-Shredding Rock to finally land on the continent. Chapter 2 Special thanks to Neshi for editing! ------------- Woosh! The World-Shredding Stalactites collided with the ground, but miraculously, the air pressure from the falling of the rocks only slightly caused a disturbance. The wind wasn¡¯t overly powerful; only enough to sway the grass back and forth, yet this giant rock had touched the ground. Somehow instead of a disaster, the ground split apart wherever the rock managed to touch, tearing the earth asunder. The beasts only looked on with indifference waiting for the finishing results as the four controlling it started to imbue more magic that caused the giant rock to start to twirl. As it twirled out a giant circle was dug out leaving only a island in the middle. Although in comparison to the rock the island was insignificant, to the humans it was already large enough to hold an entire kingdom! When the rock made a complete revolution, suddenly four cracks appeared splitting the rock apart. The rock pieces started to moved outwards, all in different directions. They rushed off at a speed much master than when the rock descended soon splitting the continent into four. As the rocks exited the continent, the giant, never ending ocean rushed into to fill in the gaps creating 5 new islands from a single continent. One in the north, south, east, west and center of the world. ---------------------------- At this moment, in a cave deep underground, the Lunar Wolf reappeared. The Lunar Wolf casually walked over to a open space and looked into the darkness. Although it was pitch black, to the Lunar Wolf it might as well have been as bright as it was outside as the Lunar Wolf could perfectly see the black scaled dragon in front. The black scaled dragon suddenly twitched and woke up when realizing there was a disturbance, but it wasn¡¯t worried and only lazily yawned before speaking. ¡°You old mutt, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°You stinking lizard, you know exactly why I¡¯m here.¡± Suddenly the Lunar Wolf turned into a middle aged woman with silver hair that extended to her mid back. Her silvery robe was neatly pressed and her yet to wrinkle hands overlapped one another. The entire time her bright silver eyes stared at the dragon in front of her. Her small lips couldn¡¯t help but twitch seeing how rude he was being. If it was anyone else, they would admire her from afar, not daring to get near as if no one was good enough to stand beside her. When she transformed, the dragon too transformed into a human appearance. His black hair was soft and glossy looking, as it barely passed his ears. He was toned man in his 40¡¯s, but every piece of his body looked tough and unbreakable. He had a handsome face, but because of his cold expression one couldn¡¯t help but look away instead of admiring it. Unlike the middle aged woman, his robe was lazily worn and open with wrinkles everywhere, but he didn¡¯t mind at all and only spoke up again. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°You have found your disciple, but when I find a hint of mine I¡¯m not allowed to?¡± Surprised the woman¡¯s silver eye¡¯s brightly lit of the room as she spoke excitedly. ¡°Is that true? Lizard if you¡¯re lying to me I¡¯ll destroy this planet.¡± ¡°AH! Calm down you old mutt, I¡¯ve been waiting for millions of years to find a successor don¡¯t go making me wait any longer.¡± The man couldn¡¯t help but worriedly shake his hands. He was clearly telling the truth, otherwise from what the woman knew of him, he wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye at the destruction of a lesser planet like this. Sighing, she couldn¡¯t help regret coming here, but because she was ordered, she had no choice and only spoke a few more words. ¡°Fine, but you should know with your appearance the world is now on the Path.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever. Get out of here after you handle the affairs.¡± The man grumply responded to the serious woman. He couldn¡¯t help but be in a bad mood with her appearance. After all, every time she appeared he would always be bothered and was never able to sleep. The woman smiled and then turned around starting to walk away, but as if remembering something she spoke out softly with a hint of teasing. ¡°I think I¡¯ll stay and see how your disciple developes.¡± The old man was shocked silly, as the woman laughed holding her stomach. She always loved to see this lizard¡¯s reactions as if they were the most entertaining thing in the world to her. As she finally calmed down she turned back into a wolf and disappeared. During the entire time the man couldn¡¯t recover himself, but the moment she left he clenched his fists and roared causing the cave to shake. ¡°Damnit! That old mutt, I was hoping to train the boy for a few million years and using that as an excuse to sleep! Now with her staying I¡¯ll never be able too!¡± The man then turned back into a dragon before twirling up and falling asleep again. He knew it wasn¡¯t yet time as his disciple would soon find him. After all, they were fated to be student and teacher. Chapter 3 Special thanks to Neshi for editing --------------- On top of a mountain on the edges of the continent, a temple was built. It was to attract those who wished to stay away from the power of the kingdom, or those who wanted to be isolated from other powers. A couple of men, one a fierce warrior, the other a monk who cherished all forms of life, built the temple in hopes of gathering people with like mind sets. The result was much better than they thought and they soon gathered enough people to make a village. The sheer amount of warriors who gathered hearing about the famous fierce warrior settling down, they all joined in hopes of becoming disciples. Hundreds of years passed by and the soon small temple turned into a sacred land for monks and warriors alike. Both living in harmony with one another; the monks would heal the wounds of the warriors and the warriors would protect the temple from beasts and bandits. It later became so powerful that even the neighbouring country avoided angering this force. However, the temple throughout its entire history refused to give itself a name. As if giving itself a name would cause it to lose its true purpose. Names are only needed for those who need to be known. For such an isolated existence it was only means not the end. However, to their surprise being highly elevated on the mountain they were one of the first to see the rocks descend. ¡°Wh¡­. What is that?!¡± ¡°Quickly get the headmaster!¡± ¡°Are the gods forsaking us?!¡± The shouts of worry erupted the once peaceful square. The monks started to pray and kneel, while the warriors couldn¡¯t help but shiver and show fear. All but one person showed fear. This one person was still sitting near a flower bed calmly pouring water onto the Lilium speciosum. He was wearing a old looking brown robe that showed hints of weathering. His short brown hair was barely long enough for the wind cause it to sway. His skin was a darker tan colour showing how much time he spent basking in the sunlight. Even still, his hands were taken care of and soft, not fitting the image of a man; he was neither built looking or manly as his face showed signs weak frail boy. Although he was frail looking, underneath the robe he was incredibly toned and every muscle worked perfectly in sync with one another. When the shouting started he didn¡¯t even stop his actions and continued to water the plants. He could hear everyone shouting and crying. but what did that have to do with him? He was blind. He couldn¡¯t see and because of this Owen adopted the mentality, ¡®if I can¡¯t see it I can¡¯t fear it¡¯. To him, worrying about something he couldn¡¯t change was just plain tiring, more so because he couldn¡¯t see the worrisome object which would lead to an even more stressful result. This caused Owen to learn quite fast that not everything can be changed. The heavens would fall and Owen would use his lasts moments to water the flowers. He couldn¡¯t help but think to himself while he doing so as well. ¡®I am like the flowers, because they can¡¯t stop it, they continue to sway back in forth in the wind accepting their fate. I am the same. I can not hold the heavens so why should I worry about it? I will go continue to be the way I am till my final moments.¡¯ This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As Owen continued to water the flowers, the droplets continued to fall softly on the petals and drip down the stem. The water reaching the dirt was quickly sucked in and the dirt became as dry as it was before. Owen couldn¡¯t see the result but after carefully listening to the sounds of the droplets hitting the dirt with a heavy plop he would stop the water and continue onto the next flower. It can be said that being blind was a disability, but Owen never thought so. By being blind he was able to heighten the rest of his senses to their peak. He was able to hear the difference when the dirt was saturated from the drops of water, after which he would turn to the next flower and water it. Each action was done perfectly, and because of this meticulous action, the headmaster appointed him the flower caretaker. With Owen being in charge of all the plants, their brilliance spiked and the temple was filled with numerous colours that gave a scent unique only to the nameless temple. Even with his talent in watering, none of the other warriors or monks were jealous of him. None of them would be able to say that they would live as happily as Owen could while being blind. But that didn¡¯t stop them from admiring him. After all because Owen didn¡¯t look at people¡¯s faces, he never judged them because of this. He only used his heightened hearing to hear the differences in tones and knew exactly the mood from that and drove any fights back to laughter. Owen was also the only one fit be called a monk and a warrior. Although it could be said that Owen was weak because he couldn¡¯t win fights even with his heightened hearing, he still trained his body day and night. Owen even started to wear a bell on his ear that would ring as he tried to listen for the sounds that would echo back to him. It wasn¡¯t good enough to be called successful, but at the very least it helped him last a few more hits than normal. Though no one would ever voice the words ¡®weak¡¯ to describe Owen, as no matter how much he was beaten he would stand up and ask for more. His will was stronger than most. He knew that and because Owen knew that, it was the only benefit he had over others. Just as Owen finished watering the last lily, the headmaster rushed outside. He was about to yell for the people to calm down, but suddenly a calm unhuman like voice echoed in their minds. ¡°Humans, We are the gods and have heard your prayers. As such We will bestow you a chance. A way to change the fate of growing old and dying. After today, you may take the first step into becoming gods yourselves.¡± Hearing this even Owen stopped doing what he was doing. He was unable to hold back his curiosity when these words were mentioned in his mind. Shortly after, words echoed in their minds once again. ¡°We will be changing the layout of this world, therefore do not resist as We will have those who are in the way of destruction gather in one place. Keep in mind, humans if you resist a slight deviation can be the death of you.¡± Hearing the words of the god the people couldn¡¯t help but stand there dumbfounded. They simply had no idea how to react. But for once, Owen¡¯s soft and concise actions twitched causing him to feel anxious for the first time in his life. Chapter 4 Sorry the first few chapters are going to be slow paced. Hopefully you don''t mind~ Enjoy~!~
Although the people at the temple including Owen were did not need to be transported through the Void Rats ability, they were able to see a part of the World-Shredding Stalactite rush towards them. As it did it shredded the world apart without causing an earthquake or bothering the trees just a few meters away from it. There was no passing breeze as if the entire situation was just an illusion. But everyone knew better than that. If they could hear words, and not just one person, but every single one of them here it would be impossible for this rock to be fake. Even while on the mountain the people couldn¡¯t see the top of the rock as it rose through the never ending sky. It dug out a pathway leaving nothing but a giant pathway to the center of the continent. Even the tiniest of dust particles didn¡¯t lift off of the ground. Leaving only the dumbfounded humans to stare as the rock split their world apart. After finally reaching the ocean the water rushed in like a stampede of white horses all racing to be the first. However this race looked like one of life and death and held terrifying power behind it. But all this didn¡¯t matter to Owen. He couldn¡¯t see it, even though the crashing of the waves were big enough for him to hear. He was still pondering about the words said by the gods. ¡®Becoming a god? What kind of existence is that?¡¯ No matter how hard Owen tried to imagine it, he simply couldn¡¯t he never once saw anything since the moment of birth. This left his imagination power to be quite low, however when he could touch the object or animal. Everything from the simplest touch would create a wonderful image in his mind. Because his mind didn¡¯t have to go through the effort of always creating images through his eyes, his mind was always blank. Like an endless void waiting for its own world to be made. And only at the moments that Owen would touch met a flower, everything would would come alive within his mind. Although her wasn¡¯t sure if the actual image he was ¡®seeing¡¯ was the real life image, he dreamed for it to be, because if they were, they would hold endless beauty. Did this make Owen jealous of others? On the contrary he loved his ability to feel and create the image in his mind. But that was only through his touch that he was able to. Just by hearing the sound he could feel the distances and maybe the contour of shapes from the echoes but as for details it was simply impossible. ¡°Gather everyone!¡± All of a sudden Owen was snapped back into reality as the headmaster roared causing everyone to regain their composure. Although Owen liked to do things to completion, it didn¡¯t mean it was always like that. If the headmaster called for a gathering he would naturally drop everything he was doing and continue it later. Although the flowers dirt would dry differently like cutting the grass would cause it to grow at a different rate, sometimes perfection just wasn¡¯t possible. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. However, even though the situation was dire, and everyone rushed together, even though Owen dropped everything also to join the gathering, he was alone in that he was walking slowly but surely to the main hall. He calmly walked with his palm of palm, his fingers not overlapping one another even a bit. It was a tradition for them to show their hands at all times in the temple. This showed good faith that no matter who was in front of you, you were never hiding a concealed item. It was a gesture of trust. After being shown by forcefully having his body mimic the actions Owen came to love the action. Regardless where he was, he always walked like this unless he was carrying something. This wasn¡¯t to say that Owen needed to gain the trust of others, but instead that he wanted to respect everyone he was around. Only then would they in turn respect him. Soon after Owen entered the room. Because it was noisy, and the help of his bell that rung softly in the background he was able to find a seat without disturbing others. This bell was handcrafted by the headmaster for him. Because the headmaster liked how dedicated and respectful Owen was, he attempted to help alleviate his burdens if only slightly. He put a red string representing fate, and a silver bell made out of a rare metal that no matter how long it sat it would never weather. With the gift Owen, was naturally very happy, even he himself who was known as the most calm of all the people in the area couldn¡¯t help but immediately rush to grab the headmaster¡¯s hands and shake them with enthusiasm. When he wore the bell, Owen knew at that moment it he would never replace this bell. It was felt like the bell was always meant for his right ear as it hung and rung a sweet tune with every step. Seeing Owen sit down the headmaster nodded slightly, although he knew Owen couldn¡¯t see the nod to him it did not matter. Instead of pondering any longer the headmaster immediately spoke up. ¡°Everyone, I know that the world is changing, we I have gathered us here to see what our future shall be. Let us discuss!¡± Headmaster Dreue, spoke with enthusiasm as his long beard hid the movements of his lips. He skin was wrinkled and his age was unknown, but it was clear he was reaching his end. Luckily he was a monk and with the help of herbs he was able to alleviate the pain of age for a few more years. As and old man, Dreue knew that this was the last matter he would ever handle again. As such he would do it with all is ability. Especially one as important as this. Chapter 5 Nothing to say enjoy~!~
¡°Headmaster!¡± A big burly man stood up from his seat. Owen recognized this voice as the man in charge of the warrior division. His name was Gerboud, the First Warrior. He was full of a pride, but this was backed up by his overwhelming strength. Everyone knew that this man wanted nothing more than to make a name for himself. Something that all others in the nameless temple had long stopped caring for, for generations. But the first headmasters never forbade one from making a name for themselves. Those who wished to leave could do so. If they ever returned they would forever be banned from leaving again. After all the nameless temple was a place to seek isolation and rest. Seeing Gerboud speak, Dreue had already felt a headache coming, but he still gestured for him to continue to speak. ¡°Thank you headmaster. I believe with this chance, we should take our disciples and test our strength. Who knows maybe we will all become god?! Then we can expand our temple and create a temple that will never age for centuries to come!¡± Gerboud knew that speaking only for fame would not be enough to incite the hearts of the older generation. He could easily sway the young ones but that was because they were hot blooded. What young man didn¡¯t wish to make a name for himself? That was why Gerboud used the temple to sway the monks and older generation. After all the most important thing to all of these people within the temple was the temple itself. To help expand their ancestors temple would be something they could be proud about for the rest of their lives. Never a day would pass without them smiling ear to ear. Hearing this Owen slightly smiled. ¡®This Gerboud will always strive for more power. Luckily I¡¯ve never had a reason to be on his bad side.¡¯ Owen wasn¡¯t stupid after all he took care in paying attention to the smallest of details. He could even tell people¡¯s emotions through their speech pattern. However even while listening Owen could only hear truth behind his words. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Owen heard his voice many times previously maybe even he would be fooled? But it wasn¡¯t just Owen that knew he was lying, the headmasters and greater elders also could see through this ruse. But if the vast majority agreed, they were willing to agree. Not to mention these were the words of the gods themselves. It couldn¡¯t be wrong to follow them could it? Even though Gerboud had other intentions that was irrelevant. The headmaster sighed and looked over to the First Monk, Tiebuat. Noticing the headmaster''s gaze, Tiebuat slightly bowed and also stood up. He was an obese man, as one could clearly see the chub on his stomach. He was dark skinned and had a differing facial features from most of those here. In fact he was from the other side of the continent, from the eastern lands. It was no wonder he looked different, but no one ever brought up such a topic, because it didn¡¯t change that the First Monk Tiebaut was incredible at the usage of medicine. It is because of Tiebaut that the headmaster still has a few years left of him. A gracious act that the headmaster fully respected. As such he wouldn¡¯t make a decision without hearing the opinion of this man first. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Headmaster, I actually do not have an qualms about sending the warriors out. I only wish for the warriors to be accompanied by a monk. That way by pairing up their chances of survival will grow.¡± To everyone''s surprise, or at the least until they remembered this was the will of the gods, they looked at Tiebuat with shocked expressions that slowly faded. The headmaster also thought that sounded reasonable and finally nodded in agreement. Luckily for Owen, this meant he could attend as well. Although he was both a warrior and a monk, his accomplishments as a monk far outstripped the warriors. He couldn¡¯t win a fight against even some of the weakest of enemies. With only a strong will, that simply wasn¡¯t enough to save his life in times of worry. However because of Owen¡¯s heightened sense of smell and touch. He was able to pinpoint exact herbs and use them to cure most injuries sickness. It was at this moment when everyone was casually discussing amongst themselves, whether it be their future partner of the might of the gods, but suddenly the mahogany doors to the exit blew open. Wind invaded the hallway causing the stagnant air to be filled with freshness. As Gerboud was about to roar in anger to the disrespectful entrance he immediately shut his opened mouth that had yet to speak. What stood in the doorway was a beautiful woman. She looked to be in her early 20¡¯s, her black hair was tied in superficial way that looked like a dark waterfall falling endlessly down her back. Her hazel coloured eyes gazed upon every individual and when it came time for the person to meet her gaze their hearts stopped. Not because of her overwhelming beauty but because of a sudden pressure that felt like they were suffocating. Her skin showed traces of never ending liveliness with a light whitish pink. As she stood there only for a few moments everyone was unable to tell how long time had truly passed. Whether it felt like years or months or centuries no one knew and continued to sit there unmoving. Owen, once again was alone in the fact that he felt no pressure nor did he know what was going on. Owen had truthfully only known that the door had opened. He couldn¡¯t tell that there was a lady in the entrance way. How could he though? Her footsteps made no sound. Although she had a scent, it was so familiar to the lilies outside he felt it was only because of the wind that he could smell them. But he knew the moment she took a step forward and bowed, that she was there. Because the voice that followed next nearly caused him to unconsciously stand up. ¡°Greetings fellow Pathwalkers.¡± Chapter 6 This chapter is the chapter that lets you decided whether or not you''re going to like this series. Like I said previously, my goal is to fuse Western and Xianxia together while taking the bad points out (revenge arrogant antagonists etc) and leaving the good in (OP characters huge world). Well here you go hope you enjoy this~
¡°Young Lady, I might be so rude as to ask whether you are a God?¡± Headmaster Dreue spoke out lowly. He was as tense as everyone else in room, after all the pressure she emitted was also felt by him. The responsibility to speak for the temple rested on his shoulders. As such he finally regained his composure enough to spit out a single sentence. Hearing the headmaster speak the woman in red walked forward softly. With each step the pressure was increasing, but suddenly as if noticing the pain of everyone around her she was startled and spoke up. ¡°Oh, my apologies fellow Pathwalkers, I forgot redraw my Aura.¡± She bowed lightly once again, although her words might sound sarcastic at first, her gaze caused everyone to feel relieved. At this point everyone had realized she was not doing it on purpose. Although she ignored the question from the headmaster, it was only because she wished to approach closer before responding. But she was a little late in figuring out why everyone was in so much pain. At the same time she also gave Owen a glance. Simply because she knew that he wasn¡¯t bothered by her Aura at all. But upon noticing he was blind, she immediately knew why and continued to walk forward. Everyone got up from their seats and split into two groups, allowing her to walk straight to the headmaster. When she arrived she gave another slight bow of respect and answered him softly. Just barely loud enough for everyone to hear, with each syllable she spoke sung a beautiful tune. Naturally all the men were bewildered, but even the women were unable to feel a slight attraction to this tranquil voice. ¡°I, Alesia, have come to fulfill my duty as envoy of the God, White Tiger. I have come to bestow you how to cultivate as a Pathwalker and the rules of the new world. Would you like to listen now? Or would sometime later work?¡± Alesia spoke humbly. Although the people in front of her were much weaker than her, she was not someone who looked down on others. After all she too was once as weak as they were. And only because she had this train of thought was she able to become an envoy. The headmaster didn¡¯t even need to think for a moment before quickly nodding agreeing with her proposal to explain. Alesia gave a light smile and then turned around facing all of the numerous disciples and elders alike. As she did she spoke gently and started to move her hands elegantly through the air. ¡°We have already looked through your world, and naturally chose the best method for cultivating for everyone. Each different island will have a different cultivating method. Naturally this one represents the White Tigers. Before I show you I have to tell you of the Laws governing Pathwalkers.¡± She paused in her explanation giving time for everyone she steady themselves. It was clear b the meaning by pausing that this was incredibly important. When the disciples saw their concentration reached its limits. As for Owen, the moment she first spoke he was already concentrating on her to the best of his ability. Alesia then inhaled as she slowly looked back and forth between everyone finally seeing that everyone was prepared she spoke. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°All Pathwalkers are those who fight the wills of the heavens. We are those who wish to stand beside the gods who created us. However, although we can deny their wills, we cannot deny their laws. But these laws only apply to us Pathwalkers and not of mortals. You might as why, but be patient young ones. I will explain shortly.¡± She gave a slight wink and the hearts of everyone froze. It wasn¡¯t because everyone was entranced but because she noticed some disciples were impatiently waiting to ask questions. She only needed a wink to calm everyone once again. ¡°There exists seven sins, that we as Pathwalkers can commit. They are: Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Acedia, Ira, Invidia and Superbia. There exists many things in this world that you will be tempted by or gathered emotions for. However walking the Path is so simple matter and you must first discard these human desires from your bodies. Now then, although I told you the laws I simply did not tell you the result of breaking these laws. After all if I don¡¯t you might blame me when you commit them right? Hehe.¡± Alesia laughed coquettishly. Soon after she spoke again. ¡°If you rape, you will forever be impotent and never be satisfied. If you become a glutton no matter how much you eat you¡¯ll never be full. If you become greedy, all your possessions will become dirt in your eyes. If you harbour hatred, you will turn into a Feral. If you become envious of others your Path will forever become blocked. If you become too arrogant, naturally the only result will be your own downfall. As such this one can not really be considered on the same level of the other sins. But it is known by all the Pathwalkers, that arrogance only leads to their downfall.¡± She explained each one with a single sentence, and although the others still had questions they didn¡¯t dare voice it. Not until Owen, thinking back that she previously mentioned seven but never explained the seventh, did he speak up. ¡°What about the last sin, the sin of Acedia?¡± Hearing Owen speak up, Alesia turned to face him. She was hoping someone would have the courage to speak up, but she never thought out of all the people including the First Warrior Gerboud, or even the First Monk Tiebuat, it would be Owen to speak up. She immediately had a good impression of his courage and slightly smiled before answering him. ¡°The sin of sloth can be said to be the harshest. This is because the moment you stand on the Path you can never leave it. One must always strive to become stronger, and can never be complacent. If one can not reach the top, and decides to live a happy lifestyle they will be struck by the Lightning of Sloth. From the day you stepped on you denied the heavens wills. You do not get the chance to back out halfway.¡± Chapter 7 Everyone was dumbfounded. Although her words didn¡¯t say they couldn¡¯t relax and was specifically mentioning giving up, how could they be sure they would become gods? What if they couldn¡¯t? It was natural to lose motivation, but clearly the moment one lost their Path, it could never be found again and would only result in dying by lightning. But Alesia didn¡¯t care for their worries and spoke again. ¡°For those who wish to give up now. Leave.¡± Surprisingly even though people were afraid, their desire outweighed their fear. Everyone stood motionlessly and waited for her to continue. ¡°Good. Maybe you¡¯ll all have a chance yet. For now, if commit a Sin, you¡¯ll gain a black imprint from the heavens. This can not be stopped, and for your own safety I recommend not befriending any of these people.¡± Though there was more information Owen wished to learn about the sins, he decided it was best to allow Alesia to speak her own thoughts. If she didn¡¯t tell them something, such as what Feral meant, it was obvious she did it on purpose. Much like she was hoping that someone would have to the courage to speak up to her even knowing she was a frightening existence. Only a person could grab their own destiny. The world would not change it for themselves. As such she wouldn¡¯t tell them about the Sloth Sin if they didn¡¯t ask. Not only was this taught to her, it was almost something she believed in herself. After all one could only motivate themselves to cultivate. Seeing the change of expression everyone started to exhale with relief. Although there was no longer pressure from the Aura, one could not help but be slightly afraid of Alesia. But now, Gerboud, Tiebuat and even Dreueu were patiently waiting for Alesia to teach them. Luckily for them she was now ready to pass on the cultivation method. She raised her hands and brought just before chest and spoke. ¡°Watch ca¡­¡± But as she was about to speak. She was suddenly startled. Everyone looked on with confusion and couldn¡¯t help but stare at Alesia waiting for an explanation. But who would have thought that her next words would be so surprising. ¡°You, the blind boy.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Owen pointed to himself. He was the only blind person here, so even if he thought it wasn¡¯t him it could only be him. But he was too confused and couldn''t help but show it in his voice. ¡°I can not teach you. Please leave.¡± ¡®What?¡¯ Owen stood there confused. ¡®What does this woman mean she can not teach me?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t help but repeat his words. He couldn¡¯t possible imagine why she would suddenly call him out. At the same time he never saw she startled expression so he was unable to think that would possibly have anything to do with it. But all the other warriors and monks also didn¡¯t connect the two together. After all who would know of Owen? Who would not want him to be taught? Thus they only could imagine it had to do with him being blind as they stepped back from him, as if he was contagious and being around him would cause them to also not be taught. Although reluctant, Owen wasn¡¯t someone who would vent his frustration out on others, and so he left and the only sound heard was the ringing of a bell with every step he took. He looked lonely, but no one wanted to comfort him. Seeing the boy leave, Alesia wore a complicated expression, but it was only a moment before she continued to speak. ¡°Now put your hands in front of your chest and feel the world¡¯s Essence. Then-¡± --------------------- ¡°Why me?¡± Owen was unhappy but his face never showed it. His heart was burning with anger as he couldn¡¯t help but think it was unfair. However what did this all matter? He was mad, he was unhappy, but so what? Owen did in fact want to step on the Path. But if he couldn¡¯t he would just continue to water the lilies. His desire was never stronger than his beliefs. He would, regardless, of the situation take his time to do everything to perfection. If he couldn¡¯t take that first step onto the Path, then he wouldn¡¯t continue bothering with it. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Thus Owen started to water the lilies once again. He started from the one he left off of and with meticulous actions he poured a tiny bit of water. Letting the droplets flow down the stem, and only when he heard the harmonization of saturation did he stop and move onto the next. Flower after flower was watered, and the dirt being moist and thick. But suddenly Owen started to feel something. He felt as something was behind him, even though he didn¡¯t hear anything nor did he smell anything. He instinctively thought something was there. He couldn¡¯t explain why he had this feeling but nonetheless he felt he had to stop and turn around. If he didn¡¯t he would regret it for the rest of his life. Sure enough when he did a soft voice sung in his ears. ¡°You truly are unique.¡± It was the voice of Alesia. She was no longer wearing a red robe but instead a pink one. But apart from that she was no different. Yet Owen could not feel the same attraction to this Alesia as he did with the other. Seeing this reaction and confusion written all over Owen¡¯s face Alesia started to burst into laughter holding onto her stomach. ¡°Might I know your name?¡± She asked when she finally calmed down. ¡°Owen.¡± Owen responded confused as to what was so funny about his confusion. ¡°Hm, you must think I¡¯m different from that other Alesia right?¡± Owen was surprised. ¡®Can she read minds?¡¯ ¡°Hahaha!¡± Once again Alesia started to laugh again but held back more, which only gave it a more cute approach. ¡°That is because I am not my sister. I am Iohanne. Surprised right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Owen answered frankly. He was after all surprised why wouldn¡¯t he admit to it. But because he was so blunt Iohanne was momentarily stunned, but as she regained her composure she smirked and spoke. ¡°Are you wondering why my sister won¡¯t teach you?¡± ¡°Indeed I am.¡± ¡°Are you angry?¡± She asked after not giving him the chance to recover from closing his mouth. Owen on the other hand didn¡¯t respond right away and gave a exhaled before inhaling again she he could speak with lungs full of new air. ¡°I was.¡± Watching his behavior Iohanne like her sister also started to have a good impression on him. She only asked him if he was angry because she wanted to see what type of person he was. If he answered yes immediately he would be hasty and have a short temper. If he took a few seconds to respond, he would hold grudges while hiding his true. If he immediately denied it without a change of expression he would be good natured. But instead of all of these something surprising happened instead. He took a few seconds, but not to think but instead to breath. The importance of him having a healthy breath every time he spoke was more important than answering her question. So if she asked to find out why type of person he was, with this result what type of person was Owen? ¡®He is quite strong willed. He feels, but will never let it truly bother him. He only slightly vents in order to regain his perfect composure. This man, if he practice he would become terrifyingly strong.¡¯ Iohanne couldn¡¯t help but think to herself As she did she nodded and spoke once more. ¡°If you wish to practice, and can not be taught. It is because we don¡¯t deserve to teach you. Then if we aren¡¯t qualified it means you must find someone who is. Let me give you a hint. Somewhere in these mountains you can find your destiny.¡± As she finished she disappeared. Because Owen wasn¡¯t able to hear her move he thought she was still standing in front of him. Thus he bowed slightly thanking her as he then continued to water the flowers as if nothing had happened. Naturally though, everything from this moment had changed. Chapter 8 The moment Iohanne spoke the words ¡®find your destiny¡¯, Owen was already convinced to find it. But as he was about to move another voice appeared inside his head. ¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you. Now that we have already filled this world with Essence, the beasts will evolve into strongest beasts. As they say survival of the fittest. If you manage to find any beasts, I would suggest running.¡± Owen nodded in thanks. He didn¡¯t know how to speak with his mind so he didn¡¯t attempt to. This simple act might look rude to others, but in fact he was wholeheartedly thanking her. After a slight bow he walked home. Each step was perfectly a meter apart. As soon as his foot was flat on the ground the next with follow after. It sounds easy, but every movement was fluid, but from another¡¯s view it was simple walking. How difficult could it be? No one other than Owen would be able to tell. He walked through the streets of the small village, as he arrived a few children ran over to him. ¡°Owen! Owen! Come play with us!¡± A cute little girl with her hair dangling on his shoulders called out. Owen looked towards the direction of the group of children. He naturally knew the children gathered. After all he was one who played with them after finishing his duties with the temple. If he wasn¡¯t training, practicing medicine or watering the flowers he was playing with the children. He was good hearted like that, and because as a child he never knew what it was like to have parents. He never felt the need to stay home for periods of time. He was abandoned as a child but that didn¡¯t mean he was sad. Owen simply enjoyed the company of these children. Often they would tease him for being so serious, or drag him along to the river to play. Even though he tried his best to be meticulous at everything, when it came to the children he could only yield. There was some unknown power that made children able to convince him to do whatever they wanted. However today was different, and listening to the girl¡¯s question he could only shake his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry little Seloua. I have to go for a little bit, but next time alright?¡± Surprised the kids couldn¡¯t help but feel something was off about today¡¯s Owen and they looked sadly at him and mumbled. ¡°Why though?¡± A boy called out to him. ¡°You will understand shortly. I¡¯m truly sorry.¡± Because Owen didn¡¯t know how to properly say no to others, when he declined them it was a bit awkward. They were also children so being declined they couldn¡¯t help but feel unhappy. The children even thought that they did something wrong, because until now Owen was always the one to play them without question. The tears on Seloua didn¡¯t stop as she felt she was the one in th wrong the most. She was considered the leader of the children and she was always the first to call out to Owen. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! However Owen had already walked off and had no idea that they children were feeling guilty. If he had he would have been able to console them. Unfortunately life was such a place, misunderstandings happened all the time. Finally after walking down a few more streets her arrived to his small little shack of a home. It was made poorly but Owen was never bothered by the looks of a house. The inside had soft material and it smelled nice. That was enough to allow him to live happily. As long as the rain didn¡¯t drip through he was content. Owen quickly gathered a leather bag with thick mantle to shelter him from the rain and sleep with. He grabbed a short sword no longer than his forearm. It wasn¡¯t beautiful and had signs of rust on it, but every time he softly touched the blade he was able to feel attachment to it. This was his only reasoning for keeping it. Although money existed in the town, mainly trade was done through forms of work or bartering. And because Owen did a splendid job of taking care of plants people would trade his services for other items. He had long ago received this blade. Ever since he gained it, he used it for practice every night. Allowed the light of the moon to be absorbed in the blade every night showing his perfect form of practice. He was never the strongest swordsman but if one was to evaluate him on the precision of his form it would be perfect thousands of times over. Owen didn¡¯t care for material objects and if one had to say he cared about anything in particular it would be flowers. Weirdly enough he was a guy, but because he was blind, he was only able to truly find a love in flowers. They carried a unique scent, a scent that would wake him up no matter how tired he was. Their petals were always different so no matter how many new flowers Owen found they would always be different. Not to mention watching something grow because of one¡¯s own effort gave him pride. He was truly happy to know that the flowers he planted grew into such wonderful forms of life. Although he didn¡¯t have much to gather, he decided to clean up. His house wasn¡¯t dirty and only comprised of a single room with a small table in the corner for dining. But each and every individual dust particle needed to be removed before he left. Even though just moments after he left it would be considered ¡®dirty¡¯ by him again. Finally finished cleaning he left. ¡®It¡¯s time.¡¯ He thought to himself as he looked in the direction of the exit of the village. He could smell the difference of the village and the forest. He then took his last step in the village and his first step into the wilderness where he would change his life forever. Chapter 9 Here''s another. Tomorrow (well today now) there should be some more. Idk how many more so I won''t promise more than one. But until then enjoy this chapter~
[/hr] Owen had already been walking for some time. The location of his temple was near the edges of the mountain range on the outskirts of the continent. Although he didn¡¯t have a set destination, he felt if he was to find something it was be further in the mountains. Why did he feel this way? Well the moment he left the village he felt a pull in his heart. He was one to never let his heart pump faster for any reason. It was always calm and pumped a steady rate. Naturally it would beat faster upon exercise or when feeling other emotions. But nonetheless Owen did his best to always keep it steady. Even if the rate at which it pumped came out to be faster or slower the numbers of beats would turn out to be steady in a elongated time. The only problem he was met with, was that the clouds seemed to form the moment he walked out of the village. It was such a beautiful day and now suddenly dark rain clouds fluttered over from the distance and became a blanket over the sky. It didn¡¯t take long for the rain to start to turn into a drizzle. But the worst part was it didn¡¯t stop at a drizzle. At first, Owen ignored it, he even let the droplets run down his eyelashes without batting an eye nor did he try to wipe it off. Because it he was blind didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t feel the cold water invading his eyelids. When the water seeped through the cracks, it gave a soothing feeling. But other than that one place being soothed, the remainder of his body was soaked and starting to become cold. He had long ago put on his mantle, but that was only able to achieve so much. Thus as soon as he could without speeding his pace up even a little bit, he walked to find some cover from the rain. When Owen finally found something, he walked by the shrubs that gently caressed his hands. Although under normal circumstances anyone passing by would fail to realize what was wrong with this shrub. Owen was no normal person. If it wasn¡¯t raining anyone could tell what was once the plant. But only Owen could feel the difference between the rainwater and the different liquid that was dripping from these leaves. As he felt it he immediately brought his right hand that felt the unknown liquid to his nose. With a sniff he immediately became vigilant. ¡®Blood. It¡¯s also fresh. Even to the point that the rainwater had yet to dilute it entirely. The beast must be somewhere close.¡¯ Owen immediately perked out his ears. And brought it left hand over to his ear. He then flicked the bell allow it to ring constantly. Although the rain was a deterrent to most people who couldn¡¯t tell the difference between droplets from afar or near. Owen was able to know where droplets didn¡¯t and did land. And although adding the slight ring of a bell would be overtaken by the rain it didn¡¯t hurt to have it help as well. In fact he was lucky because when he rung the bell, he immediately turned around to face the direction of a cave. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. It was a dark cave with the entrance width of a few meters. However the problem wasn¡¯t the cave itself but what was inside of the cave. If the creature didn¡¯t step out he would never know he was being watched. But with the slight ring of the bell he could tell that two eyes were patiently watching him. The predator was simply watching its prey looking to have fun before its meal. Noticing that Owen found out about its presence, it no longer hid and started to walk out. The droplets alone crashing on the beast that walked out caused Owen to frown. He was sure, that this beast was huge. The beast that walked out had giant paws and long limbs. Its brown spikey fur was soaked but one could still see the sharpness of every hair. It was like a porcupine yet was larger than a bear. It didn¡¯t have the issue of short limbs and naturally would be fast. Owen could tell from the heavy steps of the beast that it was no easy predator to face. It was clearly the evolved beast that Iohanne had warned him about and this made Owen frown a little. He couldn¡¯t believe that after a short day a beast had already managed to evolve like this. Did a bear eat a porcupine? This could be the only result. But naturally this wasn¡¯t the main issue. The issue for Owen was surviving. Although one must usually slowly retreat, Owen didn¡¯t think that applied to evolved beasts. They were obviously absorbing the world¡¯s essence through the bodies of other animals. If they didn¡¯t at least get some intelligence it would be a waste right? Thus the only other solution was to run before it got any closer. Woosh! The moment Owen sped through the forest attempting to run, the spiked bear also chased. It was incredibly fast in a straight stretch and to make matters worse it was incredibly hard for Owen to rush through the forest while blind. It was not problem while walking, but trying to organize the sounds while running was incredibly taxing on his mind. The worst was he couldn¡¯t run in a straight stretch because if he did the spike bear would immediately catch up. But even with all these problem Owen ran. The branches of trees swung at his face causing his skin to split. But he didn¡¯t even take a moment to touch the wound. The mud was filling his boot, but he didn¡¯t care. He could only run. But unfortunately for Owen. He was still in the mountains and because of this, when running his destination naturally led to a cliff. Now Owen was stuck in a position of facing the beast or falling off the cliff. The cliff sounded like the worst option to him, but facing off against a evolved beast sounded almost as terrifying. But even still, through all of this Owen was calm and could only mutter a few words under the rainfall. ¡°If today is the day I die. So be it. However, I will at least not go as a coward. Come! You might eat me, but I will make sure at least one of my bones get stuck in your throat!¡± Chapter 10 I didn''t expect to see the huge difference in popularity after I woke up. I be all like "holy shit wtf." So good job in surprising me, so he''s a chapter~!~
¡°Grrrrr.¡± The spiked bear like beast responded with a growl. Owen didn¡¯t know whether it was intelligent enough to understand human but it was clear that he pissed it off by raising his voice. Naturally he only raised his voice slightly. Deep inside he was still calm, he only felt it best to at least say something before his death right? Without much thought to his words they kind of just came out. While Owen was armed with the blade in his right hand and the bell ringing on his left ear. The sounds of the bell were drowned out just after a few meters from the heavy rainfall. But if it was completely silent Owen had no idea how he would be reacting right now. Facing the the bear while it only continued to walk back and forth examining its prey. The silence didn¡¯t need to last for much longer as Owen wasn¡¯t going to wait until the bear was ready and instead he acted himself. He wanted to make the first move to startle the bear into action, as he thought this he stomped his left foot forward as hard as he could. The mud exploded under his feet and was sent flying. The bear expecting Owen to charge forward at that moment also decided to charge at Owen. But this was where the bear was wrong. Instead Owen continued to stand there waiting for the bear. He did not use the stomp to give him an explosive start, but to prepare his next move. As the bear was only a few meters in front Owen finally lifted his left leg that was deeply inside the mud. He kicked his leg forward bringing up massive amounts of mud along with his leg. As the leg started to curve the mud was flown off straight into the bears oncoming face. Because the bear was already charging it was unable to dodge the mud. But even still it didn¡¯t care what was a little mud to a mighty beast such as it self? Naturally Owen didn¡¯t think the mud would damage it in the slightest. Luckily for Owen the bear was more stupid than he originally thought. As the mud successfully blinded the bear for a moment as it swung its head back and forth to remove the mud. Owen had already disappeared from its sight. The next moment surprised the bear because it felt a stinging pain in its throat. Owen had already used this opportunity to move next to it stabbing with all his force. However, Owen made a huge mistake. He would never have thought that he would barely pierce an inch into the skin. Although the wound was bleeding profusely, with a bear this size it definitely wouldn¡¯t die any time soon. As the bear stopped charging and swatted at Owen with its claws. Because of the sudden immediate stop Owen was surprised and had to dive out of the way to dodge. Even with this dodge his leg was nicked and the claws dug into his leg. Although the bear was not smart, it was strong and had huge amounts of vitality. Although Owen was smart, he did not have the strength to finish off the bear. Each of them had their own positives and negatives to their fighting ability. For such a fight it could be said that only the luckier of the two would survive. Owen calmed his heart as the pain ignited his calf muscles. It was still within reason but Owen knew that he didn¡¯t have long till he was unable to continue fighting. Worst of all he was unable to escape from the bear with a injured leg. Although it was guaranteed for the bear to also die. It wouldn¡¯t be anything to be happy about if he died too. ¡®What should I do?¡¯ The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Owen calmly asked himself. Despite having little time available he wasn¡¯t in a rush. He still even at death¡¯s door calmly took his time to think things over. Rushing could potentially get him through the door quicker. So he did what he always did by acting calm. Though even if he wanted too he wasn¡¯t given the chance. As the bear knew it too was running out of time it rushed towards him again. The only thoughts of the bear was to eat its bear. Maybe then it would evolve especially with a human as its nourishment. This action made Owen kind of disappointed. He was hoping the bear would stop and use its head to think a little. But while the bear was charging at him, this time Owen only ducked and threw himself to the side completely dodging the bear. Because Owen was too far for the bear to stop and claw at him anyways it didn¡¯t try to stop its charge and curved its path to return for another charge. Once again Owen had his back to the cliff with the bear charging forth. Owen thought for a moment, before quickly deciding his next action. He immediately walked backwards edging himself to the cliff side. Without any other option the bear calmly slowed down its approach and only walked forward. It wasn¡¯t stupid enough to run off the cliff, much to Owen¡¯s disappointment again. ¡°If you¡¯re going to be stupid, be stupid to the end.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but call out to the bear. Owen only wanted the bear to happily throw itself off the cliff. It wasn¡¯t much to ask, at least Owen thought so. Unfortunately knowing full well he was at finale of the battle he prepared himself for one last strike. As the bear stood up on its hind legs and roared. ¡°GRRRRRRRRR!¡± The roar echoed in the rain as it continuously poured down. But even still the roar was drowned out only a dozen meters away. But this didn¡¯t bother the bear, as it only roared to announce its victory. But how could Owen let the bear have its victory so easily? AS the bear slashed down with the final strike, Owen brought up the blade to counter. It wasn¡¯t to block, but to counter. He held the back edge of the blade with his left hand, and found the crack between the bear''s claws as they collided. The sword dug itself deeply into Owen¡¯s hand nearly cutting it in two. But the same happened to the bear as the impact caused the bear to have the web of it''s claws slashed through. Immediately feeling the pain the bear left released most of its strength allowed for Owen to successfully block the attack. It the bear wished to sacrifice his arm, then Owen would sacrifice his own. The pain caused Owen¡¯s face to twitch but he was steady. He had already prepared to lose his hand if it meant surviving. But the bear? It felt pain and instantly cowered back. But this was Owen¡¯s chance. As the bearwas unsteady on its hind legs and its hand still hadn¡¯t retreated, Owen grabbed the bear¡¯s arm and pulled with all his strength. Even by using the bears own gravity to help, it still took Owen¡¯s entire strength for it to gain momentum. As the bear was falling over, its massive body would still collide with Owen¡¯s throwing the both of them off the cliff. But even still, knowing fully well that this cliff would be his final moments he would still achieve victory. He might die with his opponent but he caused the winning blow. That was victory to Owen. The bear roared as it and Owen fell off the cliff into the abyss below. Only the heavy impact of the rain could be heard, washing away all traces of a life and death battle. Chapter 11 ¡°Damnit.¡± Owen thought to himself as he was falling through the air. Even at a time like this where death was imminent he wasn¡¯t overly worried. He was only thinking how unfortunate he was to meet up with an evolved beast right after leaving the village. Now he was falling off of a cliff how would he survive now? ¡°Where is it?¡± Owen looked as if he was swimming in the air looking for the bear. But as he heard the bear growl he immediately found its location. ¡°Grrrr!¡± The bear continued to flail around without accomplishing much. The bear at this point was no longer trying to attack Owen, as it was experiencing a new sensation it had never experienced before. Naturally it would be the last thing it felt. However to its surprise it felt something grab on it. At the time Owen grabbed onto the hairs of the bear, his hands were immediately punctured by the barbs of the sharp hairs. His head just a second before white, but now was dyed red in blood as his gripped tightened. Owen pulled himself onto the bear¡¯s back but he didn¡¯t dare to mount it in fear of causing him to lose too much blood. He only hovered just barely over the bear and waited. Owen patiently waited to meet the ground. What kind of person while falling from a cliff would be able to wait to collide with the ground? If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Owen¡¯s determination to survive was stronger by many folds over others he would be screaming until he lost his voice. Just like the bear who had no idea what was going on but simply could not do anything but unhappily growl. Boom! Before he knew it, the bear collided into the ground. What happened next was Owen, who was just barely hovering over the bear came into contact with all the barbs of the bear¡¯s hair. All these millions of hairs instantly pierced through his skin and muscles. No matter how strong he was even if his body was steel he felt it would still be pierced through. The excruciating pain that followed caused him to lose all the breath in his lungs. With the air sucked out from his lungs he was knocked unconscious before he even felt the impact of the ground. As soon as the unconscious Owen, he naturally continued to fall compressing the back of the bear, allowing the hairs to puncture deeper into his body. But he was no longer able to feel, however with the intense pain increasing he was woken up by it. As he felt the pain increased he couldn¡¯t even scream because he had no air in his lungs. Boom! He finally was stopped by the full collision of the ground as the back of the bear broke and numerous bones punctured through Owen¡¯s organs. The bones in his hand protecting his head immediately shattered. His legs bent in two, and all of this happened in such a short period of time, but even still every single individual bone he felt at a different fraction of this short period. The only result was left for him to be knocked unconscious left to die. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. --------------------- ¡°Haha! He¡¯s here!¡± A black robed man looked at the sorry state of Owen. When he saw how terrible Owen looked he titled his head in confusion and spoke again. ¡°How is he so hurt? Was the fall¡­ oh I totally forgot how weak these humans are before they walk the Path. Ah I messed up. If I knew this was going to happen I would have also gotten one of those sisters to bring him to me.¡± The black dragon spoke with a tinge of regret. But it looked more like sarcasm than anything else, as he was still grinning sharply. He couldn¡¯t help but laugh to himself again as he picked up Owen and walked away with him. ¡°Haha! If you weren¡¯t this brave you wouldn¡¯t be deserving to be a disciple of I, The Sun-Dragon.¡± Immediately after, the Sun-dragons body started to change. Black glossy scales started to rip through his skin, His body constantly expanded and a tail exploded out from his tailbone. His toes burst apart, replaced by lizard like feet. Then, the most peculiar thing, his eyes changed into bright stars. As if real flames twirled around in his irises. Then he finally fully transformed into a massive black dragon. He opened up his wings and disappeared as he fly into the sky. ----------------------- ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Oh you¡¯re awake already? Quite determined to live aren¡¯t you?¡± As soon as Owen awoke he was bombarded by a loud obnoxious voice. He even felt the urge to throw his watering can at the person so he could go back to sleep. Owen¡¯s head was pounding so hard he had even monemtarily forgotten what had just transpired and thought he was still in his nice warm bed being bothered by the loud fatty across the street. But shortly after he realized that this voice was not the fatty but instead was very deep he could even hear inside of his head. But even still, Owen calmly tried to get up. As he tried to he felt a unmovable hand on his chest refusing to allow him to move past this point. As Owne turned to the direction of the owner of the hand he couldn¡¯t help but ask a question. ¡°Why did you save me?¡± ¡°Simple. You¡¯re going to be my disciple.¡± Chapter 12 In case anyone was wondering where the hell I come up with these names. I take no credit as fantasynamegenerator did all the work xD You might ask why I used it? Simple writing a eastern/western combined fantasy that takes place in a medieval setting requires foreign like names to stay immersed into the story. For example: Bryan was cultivating as the foreign energy entered his meridians and caused a slight ectasy to run through his body. To me this completely breaks my immersion into the story. It might not be the case for everyone but for me its awkward to use modern names (at least english/engrish names in a story with already its own set of foreign words AKA meridians, chi/qi and so on. As we go on in the story you''ll see the combination of people calling it chi/qi and calling it Essence. There will also be the explanation of meridians in this planet but for our MC Owen he will be told a more advance explanation (you''ll find out later). As such I hope you guys are enjoying the series so far. Yes it is slow paced, but I don''t want to have him get a huge power up and be OP I want him to work for it. Just like EVERYONE else will have too. There will be ways to become stronger faster but requires more risk. Hence this relates directly to people''s personality. No one can hide behind their clan. Although clans can group and become stronger together they can not force only one person to become stronger by themselves. This will all be explained in time. But just for those who are curious on the way I''m handling it. Imagine Soul Continent AKA Doulou Dalu where people have to kill their own spirit beasts for rings. I rambled for a bit but I hope that kinda gives you guys an idea where this story is going. I can''t be perfect however I will always try my best. Until next time~
The sun-dragon¡¯s rough face gave a slight smirk. If Owen could see him right now he would be surprised to see that he was incredibly anxious and happy. He was shivering from just the thought of finally having a disciple. Luckily for the sun-dragon his excitement remained a secret to Owen. It was at this moment that Owen started to remember all that happen and naturally he started to feel the pain after finally waking up. Noticing the twitch of pain in Owen¡¯s face the dragon spoke up. ¡°Hurts doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°A lot.¡± Owen replied bluntly. He didn¡¯t put on airs, he wasn¡¯t someone who couldn¡¯t admit that he was in pain. But at the same time, he realized it only hurt. It wasn¡¯t a pain he couldn¡¯t handle unlike what he felt previous. As he thought something was strange he started to pat down his body. Immediately finding out that all the bones in his body were no longer broken. The punctured skin was left with only small scabs that would more than likely heal in a few days. Owen was surprised, but he didn¡¯t show it on his face and couldn¡¯t help but look back to the man seriously. He knew at this moment the man¡¯s words of him becoming his disciple were true. He didn¡¯t know who he truly was, but at this moment he knew that this was the person he was looking for. At that moment he used all his strength to lift his body refusing to allow the man to set him back down and he bowed. ¡°Please take me as your disciple.¡± The man smiled and turned around to walk away, naturally Owen heard this but he didn¡¯t lift his head and continued to bow in respect. Just before the man left he softly spoke out. ¡°Training starts tomorrow. You¡¯ll be healed by then.¡± ¡°Yes master!¡± For the both of them they felt satisfaction. One because he would step on the Path. While the other finally met someone who he could call a disciple. With that Owen relaxed all his tense muscles allowing himself to fall into a deep slumber. ---------------------- The next day, Owen¡¯s master had already brought a plate of food as soon as he woke up. Surprisingly it was the meat of the evolved bear that died from the fall. Owen could only tell because of the lingering scent he previously remembered. The one thing Owen was proud of most was how well trained his other senses were. He would dare to even say he had a nose that could be compared to a dog. Although this was an hyperbole, he still like the comparison. Because it was one of the things he took pride in. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. As the black robed man put down the plate and gave him the necessary fork and and knife to eat with he sat down and started to speak while Owen was eating. ¡°First, of all let me introduce myself. I am Kovinth, the Sun-Dragon.¡± The moment Owen heard the words dragon, as he was putting a piece of meat in his move he unconsciously dropped the fork. ¡®What?¡¯ Is what Owen wanted to say, but he felt it would be disrespectful. In fact he was already slightly embarrassed that he dropped the fork with meat on it.. But nonetheless he slowly patted the bed to find the fork. As he did he pretended nothing happened and put the piece of meat in his mouth. It might have been dirty but it was his fault originally, and if he made a fuss out of it he would only show that he was momentarily stunned by Kovinth¡¯s words. He refused to let such a situation happen and continued to eat. Seeing all of this, Kovinth tried his absolute best to hold in his laughter. He didn¡¯t expect such an interesting outcome. Sure he wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if Owen screamed and jumped up. He also wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he just stood there dumbfounded. But against all his expectations, Owen acted as if his previous actions never occurred. How could he handle such a funny reaction? Finally after chewing exactly 20 times and swallowing lightly, Owen turned to face Kovinth and bowed again. ¡°I am Owen. I greet master.¡± ¡°Now, you might be wondering why things have happened this way. But let¡¯s just say I need you. Just as you need me. We will form a bond of teacher and student. I will not protect you, but I will teach you all I know. You will rely on me, but you will take advantage of me. From this day forth, we will be as father and son, I will show you the path amongst millions. You will walk in my footsteps before finally choosing your own. If you accept open your eyes.¡± Kovinth spoke his words slowly and with deep meaning behind each and every individual word. His pronunciation was awkward but Owen could feel the overflowing emotion. He never knew what it was like to have a master. Although at the temple there was teachers. That was all they were. Owen also didn¡¯t know what it was like to have a father, and although Owen was hesitant at the words of father, he didn¡¯t feel it was a bad thing. Owen could only feel truthful words from Kovinth¡¯s pitch. And because Owen could feel that coming here was the right decision he didn¡¯t hesitate in accepting and slowly proved that he accepted by opening his eyes. ¡®Good. This boy, thought about the truth behind my words. His heartbeat was calm through the entire thing. I waited. I waited so long for you and even as a god my heartbeat isn¡¯t calm. But you Owen were meant to walk this path. I look forward to this.¡¯ Kovinth thought to himself as he examined Owen¡¯s reaction. Naturally this was all done at the moment and as soon as Owen accept by opening his eyes that were filled with colourless grey. With no life in them as if waiting for something to happen. At this moment Kovinth started to move his arms. It wasn¡¯t fast at first, it looked so slow that even a snail could move faster, but suddenly after images started to appear. It looked like his hands were solar flares and his body was a raging star. At this moment all the Essence started to gather around in front of Owen¡¯s eyes. It didn¡¯t have a particular form, and was changing constantly. At this moment Owen wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but he could feel on his face that something was there. It was warmth that felt it was holding him tightly, but it was a nice feeling. But then, as all the Essence was gathered it started to approach Owen¡¯s Irises. Kovinth patiently watching as he stopped moving, grabbed onto Owen. At the sudden action Owen wanted to free himself on instinct but knowing that his master was not trying to harm him he relaxed and quickly asked. After all he knew that by grabbing onto him, the next moment was not going to be easy. ¡°Is this going to hurt?¡± ¡°....It¡¯s going to hurt¡­ a little bit.¡± Kovinth replied softly, clearly he was lying but Owen didn¡¯t mind such a small lie. He gave a wry smile as he prepared to take on the pain. Chapter 13 ¡°Urgh.¡± Owen clenched his hands so tightly, they his palms started to bleed. But he didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. It was already so painful he wasn¡¯t even able to scream. As the Essence dug straight into his irises forcefully removing every single colour pigment within his eyes. Although it sounds like an easy matter, the pain was even stronger then when he fell onto the bear. In fact Owen was currently thinking that he would rather jump off a cliff 10 times the distance falling on top the bear again instead of feeling this. However that was why Kovinth grabbed onto him. Owen wasn¡¯t even able to move a tiny bit of his body and even after closing his eyelids he regretted it immediately, because once he did the pain skyrocketed and was now tearing through his eyelids to get to his eyes. His only option was to hold the pain while keeping his eyes open. This task was as hard as letting a waterfall slam down onto his eyes directly, and adding rocks every once in awhile to increase the pain. He wasn¡¯t even able to pass out because the moment his body could no longer handle the pain, Kovinth forcefully channeled Essence into his body. He was left with the worst pain or slightly less worst pain. He naturally took the slightly less worst pain as he kept his eyes open. The Essence continued to spiral into his Irises clearly any and all impure substances from his eyes. The feeling of burning invaded into his eyes rushing through his entire body. After a few minutes of pain, it finally ended. Kovinth lightly laid Owen down. As he was finally able to pass out. Kovinth didn¡¯t move and only took the chair in the room and sat down. Patiently watching Owen and softly muttered. ¡°You did good.¡± --------------------- As Owen woke up he consciously blinked his eyes because the immense pain he was feeling. But there as soon as he opened them he was blinded by light. He had never experienced such a thing before and closed them right after. Seeing him wake up Kovinth spoke lightly to him while smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t get too used to it.¡± ¡°Master?¡± ¡°Quickly open your eyes.¡± Owen did as he was told and opened his eyes, although he was blinded by the light again he refused to give up and continued until finally he was able to get used to the light. But he was dumbfounded by the result. He was staring at Kovinth. He was literally using his own two eyes to look at the big burly man in front of him. He noticed that Konvith had black sharp hair and was wearing a black robe. Although he knew these were colours he couldn¡¯t actually describe them himself. How could he? After all Owen had never until this moment been able to see. Now suddenly he could see it was like an entirely new world for him. Owen didn¡¯t know when, but his hands started to touch the top of his cheekbones. He was actually afraid that if he touched his eyes at this moment he would cause him to become blind again. And knowing it wasn¡¯t a dream tears started to well up in the side of his eyes. Although he was calm by nature, although his will was as hard as steel. Although he was never jealous of others that he could see. It didn¡¯t change the fact that being able to see was a lot better than being blind. He enjoyed that dark world because he didn¡¯t know what he was missing. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Master¡­ I can see?¡± Naturally Owen was happy. He simply couldn¡¯t hold back his feelings. He was truthful to his emotions and this was something he would never be ashamed about. But unfortunately, for some reason even though he was happy, when he momentarily calmed down he was able to feel that something was off. As he Kovinth noticed his slight confusion he answered him. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s only temporary. Although you can see now, that is only because I am blocking the Essence from leaving your body.¡± Owen already figured out on his own that Essence was what allowed them to walk the Path. But he didn¡¯t know much about it so he decided to patiently wait for Kovinth to continue. ¡°For me to teach you everything, I need you to be able to see. However in order for you to train in the Solar Eyes you must not be able to see. The moment you open your eyes, because you are too weak all the Essence you¡¯ve gathered will be lost. Although I say all, it will only be that of the level you¡¯re currently on.¡± ¡°Master, I am not too sure about the changes of this world can you teach me?¡± Owen wasn¡¯t too heartbroken. Although he wouldn¡¯t be able to see after he left, from the way his master worded it, he was sure that he would be able to see one day. With just this alone, Owen had a goal. Although he wanted to become a god, he was much more interested in being able to see. Until that moment nothing else mattered and he would train for that one goal alone. But right now he was truly to ignorant of the world and could only ask for Kovinth to teach him. ¡°Haha! Boy, this is why I have waited millions of years just for you. You are truly strong willed. Immediately after realising you would be blind again, you didn¡¯t panic. Instead you pieced together that you would be able to see when you became stronger. That¡¯s right, if you become stronger you can regain your sight.¡± Kovinth roared with laughter as he anxiously prepared himself. He had wanted to say more, however it was still too early. Although Owen looked like he had the mindset and heart of a Pathwalker. He did not know what would happen in the future. Chapter 14 For the purposes of THIS novel, Meridians DO NOT exist. They are interpreted as a lack of knowledge for science. This means that it is an ancient technique in comparison to modern medicine. Thus I am not writing that I claim whether they exist or do not exist. This is for fantasy purpose alone xD I only say this to avoid offending people~!~ Well enjoy!
Owen continued to stare at his teacher and didn¡¯t make a comment on his words. Owen knew he was being praised, he also knew that his master must have been lonely in the millions of years he waited. But Owen couldn¡¯t wrap his head around such a concept. Thus he decided to not voice anything. He was looking straight at Kovinth as he didn¡¯t know what else to do with his eyes. He felt awkward with them. He almost unconsciously closed his eyes because it would be harder for him to get used to being blind again. But Kovinth didn¡¯t allow him too as he raised his hand to quickly stop him. ¡°Boy, how can I not know what you¡¯re thinking? Take this chance to learn everything you can. The more you learn the better.¡± ¡°Yes master.¡± Owen replied quickly learning no time for Kovinth to even catch his breath. But he didn¡¯t mind and soon got up gesturing for Owen to follow him. Now that Kovinth wasn¡¯t looking at him, Owen¡¯s eyes started to wonder. He realized he was inside a room, but the walls were made of stone. There were no decorations, and other than the chair a candle and the bed there was simply nothing else. Although he noticed the candle earlier he was after all still talking with his master and wouldn¡¯t dare to be so disrespectful as to look around. But not that he had a chance, he couldn¡¯t help but think it was entirely beautiful watching the flame dance around. At least he assumed that this was a so called flame. As he waved his hand over the candle to double check. Sure enough it was a flame just like he thought. It was hard to describe while he was blind but now that he saw it, it was way off from what he originally had thought of. Owen couldn¡¯t help but think a flame was a cloud like substance that was emitted from lighting something aflame. But even while surprised, he didn¡¯t linger long enough for Kovinth to call him. In fact Kovinth purposely slowed his steps in order for Owen to get a good look around. He was curious, and because of that reason alone Kovinth wasn¡¯t willing to stop him. After all curiosity is what leads to success. Or death, that happens as well, but Kovnith just shrugged. Future problems were problems for the future! As Owen followed after Kovinth entering into a giant clearing he saw 1 giant crater, and 2 filled craters. The empty crater naturally didn¡¯t have anything inside of it. The other, Owen could guess was water from the scent. The other was a mud like substance but he couldn¡¯t smell the regular mud after rainfall from it and could only assume it was something similar. As Kovinth approached the empty crater and turned around to face Owen. ¡°First, we need to get you to learn how to breathe.¡± ¡°Master I can breathe just fine.¡± ¡°From the fact that you¡¯re alive right now that was clear. Thank you disciple.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome Master.¡± ¡®Smart brat.¡¯ If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Is what Kovinth thought but decided not to voice it. He knew that Owen was a clever boy and realized he wasn¡¯t talking about breathing in air but something else entirely. Kovinth then gestured for Owen to come closer. Following his teacher''s gesture Owen arrived in front of him. ¡°Owen, I have forcefully imparted Essence of the Solar Eyes to you. But that doesn¡¯t mean that you can all of a sudden practice it. To walk on the Path, everyone must learn to absorb the world¡¯s Essence for themselves. In the multiverse it is known as many things, only the lesser planets call it things such as Mana, or Qi. Where I am from we call it Essence. There¡¯s no need to differentiate between them, as they all mean the same thing. As such, Essence for a Pathwalker is what gives you energy and what makes you stronger.¡± As he voiced the words stronger Kovinth gave Owen a deep look. Owen met with his gaze and understood immediately. Kovinth was telling him, that his Path started here. If he wanted to be able to see again, it was gathering Essence that truly mattered. Seeing that Owen understood while holding a blank face, Kovinth only smiled and continued. ¡°That is only the first part. The next part is fusing the Essence into your blood.¡± At this Owen titled his head in confusion. What did blood have to do with anything? ¡°Haha! Looks like your world is truly ignorant on the ways of science. However, do not worry, I will teach you the secrets behind your body. For now just take my words as truth. As the blood absorbs the Essence, it will give its energy to your muscles. In turn this will cause them to strengthen.¡± ¡°Is what you¡¯re describing Meridians Master?¡± Kovinth smirked at this remark. He knew that this world had a very ancient way of thinking when it came to medicine. However that was fine too, if he taught his disciple properly he would have a much better chance than the rest of the Pathwalkers on this planet. He then shook his head and continued. ¡°No, while it¡¯s fine to think of them as a similar structure. They are not the same thing. What allows the blood to flow through the body from the heart, is what we call arteries. This will allow all the blood filled with Essence to travel through the body. When the Essence is all used it, it will travel back through what we call veins. You see those blue lines on your body? Those are called veins. As for the arteries, you can not see them, but you can feel them.¡± As he said that he lifted Owen¡¯s hand and placed it on top of his wrist. He only applied a little bit of pressure and Owen was able to feel a ba-dump motion. Owen never thought to ever try this so he was momentarily surprised considering it was his own body. He immediately realized it was the same feeling as his heartbeat that he could feel from his chest. And when Kovinth removed his hand, Owen brought his head to his chest to feel the similar feeling. Kovinth nodded lightly impressed and spoke up. ¡°That¡¯s right. Your heart connects all of your arteries so naturally you can feel the same sensation through your arteries. Come enough of that, you will find out more of that later. For now jump into this crater.¡± As Kovinth pointed to the crater Owen immediately walked over. Chapter 15 Just as Owen, jumped into the crater, he realized that Kovinth was already covering the top. Seeing this Owen stood there staring at the cover wondering what he was going to do if he suffocated. Naturally he could figure that that was the point of being inside this crater, was so he would be forced to breath without air. If he could acquire the Essence through the air he would no longer need the air itself to breathe! Seeing that Owen caught on without his explanation he didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately covered the crater. He then telepathically spoke to Owen. ¡°Now, sit down and concentrate. It doesn¡¯t matter how you wish to meditate. But find the method that will make you the most calm and one with the world.¡± ¡°I like watering flowers, it makes me the most calm.¡± Owen replied bluntly to Kovinth. As the answer came without hesitation with no change in pitch Kovinth knew how completely serious Owen was at this moment. Trying to hold back his laughter he continued to speak. ¡°Just close your eyes. And feel the world. If you remember that slight warm sensation when you had the Essence travel into your eyes try and feel for that energy again.¡± ¡®I was nearly dying from the pain. How could I spend any time worrying about a nice feeling over all that pain.¡¯ Owen wanted to reply, but because his eyes had lit of the crater, he felt it was best to close them to concentrate. Otherwise he would be like a cat to a moving object and continue to follow it everywhere due to curiosity. The moment Owen closed his eyes was already starting to feel a certain energy within the air. He had guessed that this feeling was what his master was talking about and he tried to grab out at it within his mind. ¡°Oh? This boy is more talented than I thought.¡± A middle aged woman in a silver robed appeared beside Kovinth suddenly. Seeing her arrival, he couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue in satisfaction and call out. ¡°Old mutt, what are you doing here?¡± Knowing full well she her presence wasn¡¯t wanted she faked being offended as she dramatically fell over with a ¡®Ah!¡¯ Sound effect to make it even more fake. No only was the crater covered, Owen was too immersed in the current feeling to pay any attention to what was going on outside, as such he stayed ignorant to the play the Lunar Wolf was playing. Kovinth on the other hand nearly had his veins bulge out of his skin. He unhappily looked towards the Lunar wolf with displeasure. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Fine fine! I¡¯ll stop playing around. But seriously Kovinth this disciple of yours might be a genius.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a genius? He simply was born with the right conditions!¡± Kovinth answered unhappily towards the Lunar Wolf¡¯s calm remark. Seeing that he was quite thrilled that she was complimenting his student she couldn¡¯t help but think to herself. ¡®Ah he¡¯s still so adorable!¡¯ But she knew better than to voice such a comment. Instead she agreed wholeheartedly with his comment. Geniuses didn¡¯t exist in this world, or at least not when it came to walking the Path. If one wanted to get further down the Path, one must have a calm heart. They must throw away their mortal desires and become one with the world. As for Owen, his heart had always been the most calm out of anyone he knew. His will and determination was already at the peak. And because he always wished to complete whatever he started, once on the Path he would never look back! All on top of being blind, was what made him the only existence in the universe that made him qualify to cultivate in the Solar Eyes. The Lunar Wolf also knew this. Because like the Sun-dragon her technique was similar in that it required almost all of the same traits but rather than being a male, it had to be a female! One of essence of fire, the other the essence of ice. And because she knew that they as two opposing forces, they were bond by a string of fate. Always fated to meet one another. As the Lunar Wolf was reminiscing about her own fate with the Sun-dragon he spoke up. ¡°Osena, are you thinking whether our disciples will meet?¡± ¡°Naturally. You and I both know that we are bound by fate.¡± Kovinth laughed at Osena¡¯s quick response. But he didn¡¯t make any effort to deny it either. He only, spoke a few more words softly, but even if the sound didn¡¯t leave his mouth Osena would still be able to hear it. ¡°Maybe he will accomplish that in which I failed.¡± Osena, didn¡¯t answer him as it didn¡¯t require an answer but she could only slightly frown. After all she knew exactly what he was talking about. Chapter 16 If you guys like the way I describe things from the point of view from Owen who was blind let me know. I''m trying to make it as refreshing and interesting as possible. This is an interesting chapter for sure I''m sure you guys will love it! Enjoy!
Osena had left as fast as she had arrived. She didn¡¯t talk about anything in particular and only wanted to have a look at her friend¡¯s disciple. As much as Kovinth tried to deny it, they had been through many life threatening situations together. There was no way he was able to refute that. That was why there was the slight playful attitude from Osena even though they were both millions of years old they still retained their playful sides. For then on Kovinth continued to patiently watch over his student diligently. Although he wouldn¡¯t spoil his student, and although when he left he wouldn¡¯t protect him either, until then Kovinth would do everything in his power to cram all of his knowledge into Owen¡¯s head. At this moment in time Owen was still trying to grab that certain warmth flying through the air. It wasn¡¯t a physical object and thus no matter how much he tried to grab it with his mind he wasn¡¯t able too. The feeling using his mind to grab something was more like he was trying to approach a crow that always knew exactly where you were at any point in time. If you got closer it would hop away a few more steps. The most worrisome part was that because Owen instinctively felt like if he forced it it would fly away forever and he would lose that feeling. As he was already immersed in this feeling, as he was a person who needed to complete everything until it was done thoroughly and meticulously. He didn¡¯t, and couldn¡¯t fail here now. Thus as the sweat started to flow down his cheeks, and his breathing started to speed up he couldn¡¯t even manage a bit of his thought process to complain. His entire subconscious was working towards the same goal of this feeling. Once again, and more than likely his last attempt Owen tried to feel his way to the Essence. As he did he suddenly realised something. As he did he halted his attempt to chase after the Essence and thought of a different approach. Because he was no longer forcing himself to chase after it the burden on his mind lightened and as he thought to himself. ¡®If it¡¯s like a crow, maybe I only need to have to approach me on its own?¡¯ As soon as he his way of thinking changed Kovinth was immediately able to tell. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of admiration for his disciples cleverness. After all he had chosen correctly. Although Essence was not a living thing, it was able to feel the emotions clearly of all life forms. It was the very reason that if one wanted to continue to walk on the Path that would only get wider and wider as you went, it would acquire one to absorb more Essence. However because of this problem it required people to have a more pure heart. Only then could one absorb the Essence infinitely. As soon as Owen stopped chasing after the Essence, like a child who was no longer being chased in a game of tag ran back over. It approached Owen slowly but surely, it felt that Owen¡¯s heart was pure and then that was when the miracle happened. As the Essence started to spiral into Owen¡¯s eyes he was actually momentarily worried he would feel that excruciating pain again however to his surprise, a warmth he had never felt before swam through his body. It was hard to describe but if Owen had to put it in words. It was like every spec of his body was being washed by a small stream of water. Each and every muscle, tendon, bone, organ etc was all washed lightly by this warmth. As the warmth finally started to dissipate Owen felt a surge of energy. But luckily Owen was able to hold it in, as he slowly stood up breathing in all the air he could. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But the air he was inhaling was no longer the stagnant air that filled this dark crater. Now it was full of Essence with every breath, revitalizing his lungs as slight tingles of warmth was felt. ¡°What a wonderful feeling.¡± Owen couldn¡¯t help but speak in admiration. His opinion of Pathwalkers had definitely risen after feeling this. He once again confirmed that he would do his very best to get his sight back and so he could continue to feel this feeling. It was a little selfish but Owen was allowed to be selfish every once in awhile right? After all it was an incredible feeling. Seeing that Owen was successful on his first attempt Kovinth was incredibly happy for him, as if his disciple¡¯s achievements were his own. He didn¡¯t worry about such things and instead prepared to give him a present, as he wanted to give it to him right away he quickly called out to Owen. ¡°Owen, come here I have something to congratulate you on successfully stepping onto the Path.¡± Owen walked out of the crater, he was momentarily blinded by the light but it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as when he first gained his vision and thus he only had to blink a few times before he adjusted. He then walked in front of of his master and bowed. ¡°Thank you Master for this wonderful chance.¡± Owen spoke full of respect, but even these words alone were unable to speak how gratified Owen truly was. Nodding happily to his gesture Kovinth quickly picked up his hand and placed his fist into Owen¡¯s palm. This was a usual custom to those who were blind. Someone wishing to gift them something would fully place their fist into their palms and only open when they felt a grip back from the other party. As Owen realized that Kovinth was performing this tradition he slightly gripped onto his master¡¯s fist. Kovinth didn¡¯t waste anymore time as he giant rough fist released it¡¯s grip lightly dropping a cold metal object onto Owen¡¯s palm. Because Owen was blind he knew that instead of looking at the object because he naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to, he instead closed his fist onto the metal object. He then closed his eyes picturing what the object was inside of his palm. It was round, had a small opening on the bottom but wasn¡¯t large enough for a pinky to fit through. Attached to the end of the round metal object was a string like material. Suddenly from just this alone Owen looked up towards Kovinth and spoke. ¡°I thank master for the bell.¡± As Owen opened up his palm he saw a red coloured bell attached to a black string. It was majestic as it was calming. But as a gift for Owen, there was nothing better. He quickly attached to his other ear as both of his ears were already pierced it did not complicate anything. Kovinth tightened his rough fist and gave a deep nod full of enthusiasm smiling happily. ¡°Good! That is called the Wildfire Bell. It will help you control Fire Essence later on. For now it can only help you locate things when you lose your vision again.¡± Owen, lightly caressed the bell as it sung a melodic tune. Both he and his master were happy for such an outcome. Chapter 17 Author''s rant: I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY dislike the new changes. Author''s rant finished ----------- -One week later ¡°Hmmm, after staying in this crater for a week, it¡¯s become quite easy to breathe. I no longer have to breathe even the slightest bit of stagnant air and can solely breathe Essence.¡± Just as Owen was pondering about his progress over the week, he suddenly felt that the crater¡¯s cover was being removed. After it was removed Owen saw Kovinth standing over top of him. Then Owen stood up and gave a slight bow in respect. Kovinth just nodded, gesturing for him to follow after him. Owen naturally, walked after him, and when Kovinth noticed he exited out of the crater he spoke. ¡°Now, you have stayed training your breathing for one week. You should be able to solely breathe Essence now right?¡± Kovinth asked the question, but he already knew the answer. He simply wanted to hear it from his own disciples mouth. After all if they are able to speak about their accomplishments even if they aren¡¯t prideful they will become slightly happy and motivated about it. Owen was no different he was just calmer than most people, and didn¡¯t easily show his emotions. However he was still happy to answer. ¡°Yes Master. During every breath I take, there is always some Essence to be found.¡± ¡°Good. Now that is only the first step of breathing. I imagine it isn¡¯t easy to control the quantity of Essence with every breath. But continue practicing and in time you will be able to take all the Essence in an entire room with a single breathe! I did not teach you this because it is required for cultivating. In fact all the others will be taught by channeling the Essence in stead. However this is a more advanced method and allows you to constantly always absorb Essence becoming stronger in the process. Much like drinking many small doses will allow you to feel less dehydrated as opposed to drinking a lot at once.¡± Owen listened with his entire focus on his teacher. As Kovinth explained it by using simple analogies. Because of this, Owen was always able to understand what his teacher meant when it came to Essence. Essence was in fact very mysterious and it was hard to explain its actions without using a reference to something else. As the days went by Owen learned, that he simply did not learn enough. He was like a baby stepping onto the Path with no real knowledge of how anything truly worked. Owen couldn¡¯t help but be thankful for having such a wonderful teacher. Although Kovinth at times was lazy and wanted to sleep all day, the moment Owen would finish his breathing in the crater Kovinth would be the first to respond and remove the top. He would then give him some sort of lecture pertaining to his expansive knowledge. One day it was about the anatomy of the body, which Owen simply could not understand whatsoever. But Kovinth was patient and only continued to explain things slowly. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Luckily Owen was intelligent and caught on quickly. But even still there was simply too much knowledge about the body he never realized. Kovinth never told Owen why he was learning about the body, and Owen never asked. Owen trusted Kovinth wholeheartedly and for that Kovinth was grateful. If Kovinth had to explain why he was doing something every time it would just end up wasting time. Something Kovinth didn¡¯t want to do. But still nonetheless Kovinth would still give a basic explanation such as it could be used to heal injuries. As it was too early for that, Owen wasn¡¯t sure how, but he still believed in Kovinth. Another day, Kovinth would just sit next to him in the crater and show him some tips about breathing. Every day, the entire days were used for learning or perfecting his breathing technique. And like today Owen was going to learn something new as he sat down on a mat. But realizing he knew too little about the changes of this world, Owen decided to ask about them. ¡°Master, would it be alright to learn about the changes of this world today?¡± Kovinth pondered with his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin slightly. Aftera few more seconds he nodded and spoke. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. You will learn it eventually why not today!¡± Kovinth laughed and waited for Owen to ask him a question for the starting point. Knowing full well if Owen asked for atopic he would have to continue the to ask questions in order for his master to teach him. If Kovinth willingly picked a subject he would continue to teach it in a orderly fashion set by him. But if Owen wished to know something, it was on Owen to find which parts to ask. Only when Owen gave up would Kovinth fill in the remaining information. This allowed Owen to keep thinking, to always question everything so when the time came, he could be able to find out all the important details. ¡°Master, I would like to know what I¡¯m supposed to do after I leave.¡± Owen asked a calm manner. As he did he looked up at Kovinth with his bright flaming eyes. Kovinth returned the gaze with his own flaming eyes and answered. ¡°You must have heard about the World-Shredding Stalactites right?¡± ¡°Yes Master. Apparently they were huge and split the land apart, is what I heard from the commotion.¡± Owen replied bluntly to Kovinth¡¯s simple question. ¡°This continent had four of those giant rocks split the continent into four parts. This means that this planet is undergoing to the Poles Journey.¡± Chapter 18 For now on, If I make a mistake with Owen "seeing" something he shouldn''t, call me out and I''ll release a new chapter to make up for it. Eventually I''ll piss myself off from releasing so many chapters I''ll correct that mistake~!~ Well thanks to Leafy for smashing me first D: Wuu wuu. *Bows* my bad I know that completely destroys character immersion so forgive me~!~ ---- Although Kovinth took a pause in his speech, Owen knew it wasn¡¯t for him to question it but as to ponder what would be the best way to teach his disciple. Kovinth deeply cared about whether Owen was being taught in the best way possible and after nodding he continued. ¡°The point of any Pathwalker is to absorb Essence. However at the same time this becomes problematic. The more you absorb at the early stages, it becomes increasingly difficult to attract more Essence to you in the future. So we use a catalyst. You remember that spiked bear?¡± ¡°Yes Master, I nearly lost my life from that beast.¡± Kovinth nodded to Owen¡¯s response. Although Owen didn¡¯t show much, Kovinth knew that Owen fought for his life during that fight, after all he was watching. It might sound cruel, but no one would get strong is a expert was hiding behind them protecting them all the time. Even if Kovinth was waiting for Owen for millions of years, just like how Owen would never rush things, he would never act overprotective of his student. ¡°Beasts, they follow the Survival of the Fittest Path, which allows them to grow stronger by devouring others. They at the same time develop Essence crystals. These crystals are a get source of Essence that allows one to grow without relying on absorbing from the world. And only the person who defeats it can eat the absorb the crystal.¡± ¡°Why is that Master?¡± ¡°Because once you kill the beast, the crystal will absorb your Essence and is unique to you, and for others to absorb would only be harmful to them. The problem is that beasts are usually strong and they develop extremely quickly. ¡°But Master wouldn¡¯t that mean the entire continent is filled with those beasts now?¡± Owen asked curiously. After all he met a beast like that on the first day, it would be strange if the rest of the continent didn¡¯t change as well. Although Kovinth wanted to agree at the same time it was wrong to assume that so he only smiled and continued. ¡°The beasts that have set on Devouring to grow stronger will all be snatched away by the Keepers. Like those two sister¡¯s you met. They roam around the continent teaching everyone the Path. But there are also some who gather the monsters and place them in Boundaries. They place the stronger ones in the inner boundaries and the weaker ones in the outer boundaries. When any beast evolves the Boundaries will automatically kick them to the next boundary to avoid any becoming too strong.¡± Owen was shocked. He felt that this world was becoming increasingly well ordered. It was like king brought his servants to protect the world but let his subjects roam freely. However although Owen understood for the most part he couldn¡¯t help but question one point. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Master, what are Boundaries?¡± Giving a smug smirk, as if it was saying ¡®I knew you would ask¡¯, Kovinth flicked his wrist and suddenly a box appeared out of thin air. Although it was box, it was red in colour and it was transparent! Then Kovinth went to touch the box and his hand actually passed through! Even Owen who had already seen miraculous things one after another couldn¡¯t help but be startled. Kovinth felt a little pride from causing his student to be shocked. After all it was really difficult. But he continued to explain after he felt pride. ¡°These are called Boundaries, and those who can make them are called Boundary Artists. Although anyone can learn, it requires enormous amount of time and skills and immense imagination to create these. Anyways for now let¡¯s just say that allow you set rules and laws and people of similar strength must follow them unconditionally. The more restrictive the rules, the stronger the Boundary Artist must be.¡± Owen nodded in agreement. Although he wished to know more about these miraculous Boundaries, he knew he was simply too weak at the moment to focus on it. So he asked his next question. ¡°Then, by using these crystals we get stronger and make our way to the center Master?¡± Kovinth who was anxiously waiting for the next question titled his head back before answering. ¡°Sort of, after you enter the first Boundary, you need to find the first Pavilion. In these Pavilions you will be required to pass a test. A test in which even I do not know what they will be. After each of the Pole Masters will determine.¡± ¡°So what Master is saying is that after we will have to go to the remaining Poles to pass their tests as well?¡± Kovinth gave Owen a deep nodd. He gave a slight pat on Owen¡¯s shoulder as if he was pleased by Owen¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, Although you won¡¯t be required to stay in the same Boundary. If you wish you can enter the second Boundary, However for you, I will require you to at least go up a rank before you go on to the next Boundary.¡± Now that Owen thought about it. He stepped onto the Path, but he still didn¡¯t know how to gauge strength at all. He clenched his fist, knowing fully well he became stronger, but he wasn¡¯t sure what to call this strength. As if knowing what Owen was thinking Kovinth waved his hands. ¡°Too much knowledge will be hard to remember. I will tell you the ranks of strength tomorrow. For now go grab some food for yourself from the mountain.¡± Owen was curious, but he knew that Kovinth didn¡¯t want to overwhelm him and so he complied and went to walk out of the cave. After being here for a week he had naturally gone out looking for food before. Chapter 19 Owen was given the opportunity to have one good look at the outside world before Kovinth quickly told him to pretend he was blind again. At first Owen wasn¡¯t sure why but as he pondered it for a bit he suddenly realized. ¡®If I fight with my eyes, I will be reliant on it for when I become blind again.¡¯ But even still, Owen truly loved the beauty of the world. The colourful forests that stretched over the horizon, or the mountains that rose into the skies. Each had their own uniqueness that caused Owen to stare at them bewildered. Luckily, even though he loved the sight, he loved just as much the scent of the forests and the touch of the ground. This was why the moment he closed his eyes he didn¡¯t feel any negative emotions towards this black abyss. He only felt a calming sensation run through his body as the he breathed in the Essence of the world. As Owen walked through the mountain area, he felt the mud sink as he lifted his foot, but even still he continued to walk as meticulously as before lifting the foot only as soon as the other was perfectly flat on the ground. He continued like this for awhile before hearing a loud crashing noise. Boom! Although Owen wasn¡¯t able to see he was able to picture a piece of lightning crash down onto the ground destroying one¡¯s body. As Owen had already been told by Kovinth that that crashing sound was from the Lightning of Sloth. Even if it was as clear as day the lightning would crash down out of nowhere. Owen couldn¡¯t help but want to ask but he felt it was too early so he remained calm trying to hide the curiosity on his face. Although Owen was able to hide most things, his curiosity was one that allowed Kovinth to read him like a book. As Kovinth would laugh at this, he couldn¡¯t help but give in and explain. ¡®The Lightning of Sloth doesn¡¯t just strike those that are lazy, but those who give up the Path.¡± Was the only explanation Owen was given, but that was to explain what happened to those who didn¡¯t prepare their hearts before hand. Owen wasn¡¯t sure how many times he heard this thunder crash but he started to get used to it. He never thought for a moment that he would be hit by the lightning because he wanted nothing more than to restore his sight. However to his surprise, Kovinth told him that no matter, as long as he continued to breathe he would always walk the Path. This was the true benefit for using Breathing as a way to gether Essence. Although the amount is considerably small in comparison to channeling, it was after all something you did constantly. Owen couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration to his teacher. Whether it was someone who taught his Master or not didn¡¯t matter, it was the fact that his master was willing to teach him this alone was enough to make Owen feel grateful. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Although everything was a bit overwhelming, Owen still took breaks to find food. Although most animals evolved that did not apply to all of them. Much like humans weren¡¯t forced to walk the Path as well. The animals would have to instinctively choose to become a Devourer. Everytime Owen went out he would find some small game to cook for him and his Master. It was quite easy as well, because the small animals were quite attracted to the melodic bells that run with every step, it allowed Owen to simply stroll on the mountain path and he would find some food. But at this moment, he realized the bells did not only attract small animals, but Devourers as well. As Owen turned his body to face the direction of the oncoming Devourer, the scent finally arrived close enough for him to smell it. It was an overpowering smell of blood, rotten flesh was probably even stuck in between the teeth of the beast. It was finally at this point that a paw stepped out from outside the bush. It was not in a rush even after it knew Owen found out about its presence. It was clear as a Devourer that it was strong. It didn¡¯t fear anything being able to outrun it. This was because it was a evolved cougar. One of the fastest predators in the territory, nothing could escape from its grasp. But little did it know, that Owen had no intentions on escaping. In fact Owen at this moment had already taken out his short sword attached to his waist. Owen could only mutter softly. ¡°I couldn¡¯t ask for more. After stepping on the Path, you will become the first crystal for me to absorb.¡± It might sound like Owen was arrogant, but instead it was rather that Owen had to do it, or he would die. Words for the dead didn¡¯t matter much so there was only the words for the victor left. But Owen wasn¡¯t the type to talk after defeating his foe so he would announce the results before hand. To anyone else who didn¡¯t know Owen, would think he was insane to fight such a beast while only just barely stepping on the Path. But to Owen, there was no time for being weak. He had to get stronger and see the world with his own two eyes. This was the Path he chose, he naturally would do everything to achieve it. The cougar slowly moved into a crouching position ready to launch at any time. Likewise Owen bent his knees a little preparing himself for the fight. He learnt previously that Devourers were the impulsive type so if he taunted them there was a good chance that they would fall for the bait. As such Owen stomped the ground. The mud exploded outwards and because the slightest action would cause the cougar to react it instinctively jumped out at Owen. At the same time Owen swung out his blade. Chapter 20 Owen wasn¡¯t the type to speak when he was fighting, he would merely get knocked down and stand back up. His will was not something normal warriors could understand. No matter how much pain was inflicted he would continue to get and fight. And because of this determination to never lose, in the face of death he would welcome it willingly. Owen¡¯s hand slashed towards the throat of the oncoming cougar, just as the cougars paw was about to strike. Suddenly though, Owen made his first step, as he pivoted on one foot, bringing in his left leg as he swung with the short sword. ¡°Roar!¡± This action allowed him to move back as the cougars slashed downwards barely dodging the strike. With his quick movements the bells rung, and at the same time Owen put all his strength into slashing down onto the cougar straight for its throat. But the cougar wasn¡¯t stupid nor was it as slow as the bear he encountered previously, as soon as the cougar saw the approaching blade in the corner of its eye it also made a move. Though because it was too fast and didn¡¯t make a single sound Owen was immediately knocked away, causing the short sword to fall short of its target into empty air. Crash! Owen was tumbled into the ground rolling straight into the trunk of a tree. This action caused him to cough as the air within his lungs was forcefully shot out. He couldn¡¯t understand what happened, but what he heard a certain swoosh against the ground he realized what had hit him. ¡®So you can use your tail like that huh?¡¯ The cougar¡¯s tail was much larger than it was as a normal cougar, now it was thick as man¡¯s arm and from the impact alone Owen could tell it was probably as hard as steel. But it wouldn¡¯t be helpful to him if the fight was easy. He wouldn¡¯t become stronger from weaklings after all as Owen smiled as he stood back up. This time he didn¡¯t speak to start the next bout. But instead patiently waited for the cougar to make his move. Although he it looked like the same strategy in fact Owen was thinking of a possible solution to the tail. He couldn¡¯t hear the movements of the tell and thus wouldn¡¯t be able to tell when the tail was coming for him. The bell would help but it was only helpful to larger objects that weren¡¯t constantly on the move. ¡°Grrrr!¡± However the cougar didn¡¯t allow him any more time to think as it pounced straight for him. As Owen hadn¡¯t come up with a plausible enough strategy yet, he jumped out of the way from the oncoming cougar. But the moment he did the cougar anticipated that and used the trunk of the tree to launch itself straight towards Owen¡¯s location. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. At this moment Owen could feel that his life was severely in danger, if this blow hit him he could become a ragdoll that would never be able to get back up. So he did the only thing he could do and block the claws. He was one to sacrifice any part of his body to win. Although when he was sparring with the other warriors, both he and his opponent weren¡¯t willing to ever get to that point, now that he was fighting for his life he could. When the cougar¡¯s paw came slashing down Owen didn¡¯t use the hand with the sword but instead used his bare hand to collide with it. As the two forces collided, it would be obvious to tell at a single glance Owen was the weaker of the two. Without any way to stop the force Owen¡¯s arm was immediately blown backwards, although his arm was mangled and possibly destroyed, it at the very least managed to stop the rest of the cougar¡¯s force. Although that was the end of the cougar¡¯s attack, it was only the start of Owen¡¯s AS he used his sword to strike straight into the eyes of the cougar. The cougar couldn¡¯t react in time even if it could it would still take considerable damage. The sword dug straight into the eye of the cougar and a loud roar was heard. The roar alone made one feel that it was suffering incredibly so. Even still the cougar toppled over and attempted to escape, but Owen knew that the wound wasn¡¯t deep enough and that if he let it go at this moment, with his mangled arm he would completely be unable to fight off the cougar. Although the cougar would be blind in one eye, it could still kill Owen with one more strike. As Owen pushed his body into the cougar causing them both to topple over onto the ground, Owen grabbed the sword once more and pushed in into with all his strength. Luckily due to the pain the cougar was feeling it was unable to react fast enough and was stabbed through the same eye, but this time the blade didn¡¯t stop at only the eye and pierced straight through to the brain. ¡°Roarrrr¡­.. ¡° The cougar made one last growl before he become limp. As Owen was sure that it was now dead, he stood up holding on to his arm, he made his way back to the cave. He didn¡¯t bring the cougars body with him, because he was worried he might find another Devourer during this time. He could only hope his master would be kind enough to bring it back for him. Chapter 21 Hey guys for the next 3 days I have finals (yes each day I have a final) so there may not even be a single chapter in those days. Anyways I have some explanations for this chapter at the bottom so if you''re confused about how I rank Devourers take a look at that. P.S I know this is a rant but seriously when people rate a story .5 star without even writing a comment or because they simply don''t like it, its really frustrating. I don''t see how a story possibly can be rated .5 stars unless its a troll story. *Shrugs* if something is wrong with my story please inform me, I can''t improve if you just rate and walk away. It might not seem like we, as authors, care about our stories but you can be sure that we want people to like the stories we write and we post them here so that we can improve them. Anyways thanks for following so far and I hope you guys continue to enjoy this unique take on Xianxia''s ----- When Owen arrived back at the cave, the first thing Kovinth did give him a slight nod. Once again Kovinth had watched patiently after his student. Life and death experiences were the only way for one to truly grow, and after this fight alone Owen¡¯s comprehension and strength would increase dramatically. Although it pained Kovinth to see his disciple get injured this did not outweigh his wish for his disciple to become strong. Thus Kovinth did what was most important, and gave him a place to return to. A place that Owen could come back and have his wounds restored the next day. Especially someone like Kovinth who had an immense amount of knowledge in the medical field. With this alone Owen was knocked out by Kovinth¡¯s medicinal drugs as he worked to restore his arm to perfect functionality. Although Kovinth knew Owen was someone who could withstand pain from being able to withstand the Essence from the Solar Eyes technique he still didn¡¯t want to force him to undergo the pain when he didn¡¯t have too. The Solar Eyes technique was important because the user had to actually feel the changes within his eyes to be able to use them successfully later. If one was unconscious their eyes would forever become lightbulbs in the darkness. Not to mention that the user would forever lose the ability to train in the future, as they wouldn¡¯t be able to successfully control the leakage of Essence from their eyes. After Kovinth successfully finished treatment he teleported and grabbed the carcass of the Devourer bringing it back to the cavern. He pulled out a walnut sized gem from the cranium of the cougar and nodded. ¡°This is a decent Devourer, it even managed to just reach the peak of an Omega Devourer. Although this is still considered the weakest, for it to be this strong in a week still shows its potential.¡± Kovinth muttered softly as he twirled the gem around. It was dyed with different colours forming a combination of colours. But he knew that the bigger discrepancy in colours meant the more impure it was. Only when it was either pure Red, Green, or Blue would it truly become an Alpha ranked Devourer. The different colours represented the type of Essence they naturally absorbed from the world. Blue being Ocean Devourers, Green being Land Devourers and finally Red being Sky Devourers. This was just a simple classification, as because at the early stage when Devourers were still evolving they would end up eating many types of these beasts. Only when they decided on a set path at the Beta stage would they continue to eat only one type of these three. After speaking he finally put away the gem and continued to prepare the beast for dinner. After all his student would be awfully hungry when he woke up. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ------------------- ¡°Urgh.¡± Owen slowly opened his eyes, and although this time there wasn¡¯t his master beside him just a dish of food and a gem beside him. Owen looked at the colourful gem and mumbled under his breath. ¡°This must be the Essence crystal.¡± As soon as he said that a slight gust of wind arose and Kovinth suddenly appeared and spoke. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a good opportunity as you were just asking about ranks about this world. You will absorb this by channeling your Essence into it. It can only be said that then you will have finally stepped on the Path.¡± Owen couldn¡¯t help but be slightly surprised. He thought that just by absorbing Essence he would already be on the Path but he was clearly wrong. Knowing fully well what Owen was thinking Kovinth explained. ¡°Only when you make the Path will you have stepped onto the Path, my ignorant student.¡± Owen wanted to retort, as he clearly wouldn¡¯t have known this because Kovinth didn¡¯t tell him. But because he knew the personality of his teach he wasn¡¯t worried. ¡°Will Master please teach me.¡± Kovinth gave a smug look of victory and Owen could only roll his eyes and pretend he didn¡¯t see it. Knowing that Kovinth got a one up on Owen he contently continued. ¡°Let¡¯s start with beasts. The rankings for beasts are Omega, Beta-Omega, Beta, Alpha-Beta, and finally Alpha. This also represents the number boundaries that you have to successfully pass through in order to reach the center of the continent. As such there is 5 Boundaries to pass, but if you include the ocean as one as well there is 6. But forget that for a bit. Look at the gem here.¡± Owen eyes followed Kovinth¡¯s hand as it picked up the gem. He didn¡¯t waste anymore time and continued explaining. ¡°This is a peak Omega Essence crystal. Although the finer details are harder to tell, you can tell ranks by their colours of Essence wrapping around the animal. Omegas are mixed randomly and have so set colour. Beta-Omegas are thicker and have some small stripes of one colour. Beta¡¯s are rainbow in colour. Alpha-Betas are either fully Cyan, Magenta or Yellow. As for the Alphas they are Red, Blue or Green. These final colours represent their lifestyle as they will either live in the sky, ocean and land respectively.¡± ¡°But master, I won¡¯t be able to see them when I go blind again how I will be able to tell?¡± Owen was curious after although he had seen all these colours Kovinth had explain over the course of the week, he would soon be blind again how would he be able to tell? Kovinth couldn¡¯t help but smirk as if this was his intention all along. ¡°And this is why I explained about Devourer¡¯s ranks first now listen up!¡± ----- Ranking so if you''re curious about the assorted colours it comes from the RGB colour system. Yes there are others however I chose RGB because it fits with Land and Ocean, and Sky more than let''s say yellow would. As for the Omega this is taken from the idea of animal pack authority. Some of you might ask the question, well what bout white and black? Well stay tuned :D Red=Sky Blue=Ocean Green=Land Chapter 22: The Body Refinement Stages Owen gave a slight nod in anticipation as he was quite curious to know more about Pathwalkers. Needless to say he wasn¡¯t jumping around, but a slight glint could be seen in his eyes. At least Kovinth thought it wasn¡¯t just the light from the Solar Eyes acting up. He didn¡¯t stretch it out any longer and continued. ¡°Just like beasts have five ranks so do humans. These stages directly relate to the strength of the body. As the first stage of Pathwalking requires one to strength their body. They are Opal, Jade, Quartz, Topaz. As for the last stage this is similar to the Devourer¡¯s ranks. As we directly use them as a catalyst to train it can be said that your body will develop in one of three ways. Can you guess?¡± Kovinth gave Owen a meaningful look, as if hoping he could answer it. Seeing this expectation of him, Owen began to ponder while putting his hand on his chin much like his master usually would. Although Kovinth didn¡¯t usually do it while thinking, like student like Master as Owen had been getting closer to Kovinth he was developing habits like him as well. Seeing this how could Kovinth not understand that this brat was becoming like him. Although he thought that was a bad thing, he would never admit as it was coming from him afterall. Luckily for Kovinth after Owen thought for a few moments he came up with a sound explanation. ¡°Will the colours be presented by the Alpha Devourers?¡± Kovinth continued to hold his smirk as he nodded and then continued. ¡°That¡¯s right. As you reach the final stage of the body refinement, you are required to chose a type of Devourer to consume. If the body absorbs too many different types it will be unable to purify the 3 types of Essence. As such the three stages become the Ruby for using Sky crystals, Sapphire for Ocean crystals and finally Emerald for Land crystals. But maybe it¡¯s because Land are much more numerous the strength of the Emerald stage is slightly less than that of Ruby and Sapphire.¡± Kovinth inhaled deeply as he spoke that all out at once. He knew that he was teaching Owen an incredible amount of information in the last few days, but what choice did he have? Owen was required to know at least the very basic of information before he became a Pathwalker. Although not knowing some of these details wouldn¡¯t hurt him at the beginning it would become much more confusing in the future. As such he swamped Owen¡¯s brain with information every day. At this Owen was lost in though as if coming to a sudden realisation putting everything together he asked Kovinth in a questioningly manner. ¡°Master, does that mean I should choose which Path I wish to take right now?¡± ¡°It does not require everyone too. However, it makes it easier, and in fact I will require you to do so now. Although you may use this Land Essence crystal to become a Low Opal Pathwalker, from now on you will find Sky Essence crystals for the remainder. Although they are impure, they still will have more because that is their base Path. Owen nodded in agreement. He wasn¡¯t sure why he was required to walk the Sky route but he figured that his Master had already planned the best route for him. Naturally he would trust his master and follow through. As soon as Kovinth saw his agreement on the subject he immediately handed the gem to Owen to get started. Owen had already started absorbing Essence and already had a great deal stored up within his blood, it was time to use that stored up energy to create his Path. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Owen, as you absorb this gem, I want you to picture that you¡¯re in the sky standing on the clouds. When you make the first block of your Path, try and imagine it being as red as possible. If your foundation is closer to the Sky route you will find it easier to train. Remember, your Path has to be something you¡¯re familiar with in life.¡± ¡°I will do my best Master.¡± Owen closed his eyes as soon as he grabbed onto the Essence crystal. The moment he closed his eyes, as if a pathway opened from the crystal it immediately started to channel into his body. Seeing this fast reaction Owen was momentarily startled but as he was Kovinth spoke within his mind. ¡°Calm yourself. Remember who you are, remember you every day life, and how you live. Take all the Essence and treat it just you were watering those flowers. Slowly, but perfectly control the flow of Essence as it travels into your blood, muscles, bones, and organs. Don¡¯t let a single drop go to waste.¡± Owen didn¡¯t nodd but deep inside he already acknowledged the words of his Master. Just then the flow of the Essence from the crystal was slowed down immensely. It was like a dam was forcefully put on the crystal and only allowed a tiny bit to be drawn out at a single time. As the Essence flowed through his body Owen simentanously was in his subconscious dreaming of the sky. The image at first was blurry but surely he was arriving to a giant endless blue sky and below him was a blanket of clouds as far as the eyes could see. He wanted to stop and just watch the scenery endlessly, but he knew he dind¡¯t have an endless amount of Essence to absorb from the crystal and this image was the direct result of using the Essence to form an image within his subconscious. When the image became crisp and sharp, Owen started to focus on the first block for his Path. He wasn¡¯t sure how the Path was suppose to look other than it being as close as possible to red. But he did know tha the stronger his image of the Path, the stronger his Path would be from attacks. Owen had already learnt that there was possible ways to attack the Path within one¡¯s subconscious. And like his Master said, the foundation was the starting place, it directly related to how one would walk from then on. Even if one part of the Path was stronger than all the universes¡¯ materials put together, if there was a weak link as weak as a blade of grass it could all fall apart with a simple strike. But to image a substance that was incredibly strong was something Owen couldn¡¯t picture. He had been blind his whole life, even if his teacher showed him many things, this kind of image had to be something he experience through his own life experiences. It was after all a part of his own soul. ------------ Yikes it took me awhile to find the right stones from the Absolute Hardness Scale D: *Scurries back to studying* Chapter 23 Sometime passed, and the world of the sky was still endlessly becoming sharper, but still there hadn¡¯t been a single block of the Path made. Kovinth continued to watch but was starting to get worried. He knew that he could help show his student Skystone, or diamonds, or Meteorite Obsidian, but it would be a weak Path because it wasn¡¯t truly Owen¡¯s Path. It would be a Path created through help. When one became a Pathwalker, having help was never a bad thing. But when it came to one¡¯s own Path. That was unique to them alone. Only they could create it. ¡°Then what should I make my Path out of?¡± The only thing Owen could say that he knew really well was flowers. He worked hard with medicinal herbs but that was still a plant as well. Although he worked hard as a warrior it can¡¯t be said that he knew it better than his monk duties. Therefore Owen could only think of flowers. He never thought that flowers were too feminine to like, it was after all life in this world as well. He didn¡¯t grow them cause they looked nice, it was only because it stimulated his nose and feeling of touch the most. And because of this Owen made a final decision. He suddenly started to remember a feeling, not an image, instead he remembered the scent of the lilies perfectly. The way they smelled with morning dew on them. The way they shook when the droplets of water fell off their petals shaking the scent free. He remembered the feeling of endless softness but incredible elasticity. That the petals would rub against the ridges of his finger tips. The most important part was this feeling that he loved the most. At this moment, he felt a spark ignite within his mind. As suddenly the Essence that was coursing through his body rushed to this sudden spark. Even the dam that Owen had set up on the crystal blew apart and all the leftover Essence was sucked up shot like a lightning bolt straight towards Owen¡¯s subconscious. As the Essence gathered with that spark as the source it started to condense. Owen didn¡¯t forget about changing the colour into red and as it started to condense he immediately started to bring out a thin drop of red like liquid to fuse with the block. As liquid and the Essence started to fuse it the red started to become homogenous with one another. But something happened that Owen didn¡¯t expect, as the Essence finished condensing into a small block the size his foot, he noticed it was similar to the the Boundary block that Kovinth had created. This was completely not his intention but he couldn¡¯t help but think to himself. ¡®Was this because I didn¡¯t use an image?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t help but wonder. But now that everything was successful he wasn¡¯t overly worried as he would just ask Kovinth to explain it to him. As Owen grabbed onto the block, he noticed that it wasn¡¯t hard instead it felt exactly like the petals of the lilies he watered everyday. But it felt incredibly durable to the point where he was sure it could even take a sword strike and it would concave a bit, but it would soon return back to it¡¯s original form. Owen wasn¡¯t sure if this was a good thing or not but at the very least he was happy to create his first Path. He then let go of the block and without his help it dropped down and softly landed on top of a cloud locked itself in place. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ----- Patiently watching Kovinth was starting to get more worried as time went by. He had already seen that all the Essence from the crystal disappeared, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was successful or not. It was very normal to fail creating your first block after all. It also didn¡¯t require a Essence crystal to create one, however the first block was the foundation and the more Essence this one block contained would mean a stronger Path. At the same time although he was worried he didn¡¯t dare to bother Owen at this point. A single thought from Kovinth could break his concentration ruining everything. But just as Kovinth was starting to sweat from being so tense, Owen opened his eyes. ¡°Master?¡± Owen looked over to Kovinth, seemingly noticing that he was sweating he wasn¡¯t sure what was wrong. Seeing Owen talk to him Kovinth was jolted out of his anxious state and immediately hugged Owen. He didn¡¯t care whether Owen was successful or not. He simply wanted him to be safe. By simply opening his eyes, that alone was enough for Kovinth to do a quick check to see nothing was wrong. Owen was startled by the sudden action of his teacher, and he wasn¡¯t even able to remain calm as his heart beat a little faster. Although they weren¡¯t related by blood, Kovinth treated him like a son. This alone made Owen feel grateful and as time went on Owen came to think of his master as a father like figure as well. As Kovinth was nearly strangling Owen with his hug, he felt Owen also hug softly back, or at least he thought it was a hug back but instead Owen started pounding Kovinth¡¯s back because he couldn¡¯t breathe nor could he speak. ¡°Puah!¡± Owen inhaled as much air as he was released from Kovinth. Kovinth on the other hand awkwardly scratched his temple fully knowing he might have overdone it bit. But of course he wasn¡¯t going to admit to that. Instead he only straightened his expression and asked seriously. ¡°Was it successful?¡± Owen nodded. Kovinth wanted to explode the entire cave and scream to the entire world, ¡®HA THIS IS MY DISCIPLE GET IT OSENA¡¯ but he held back after all he might kill Owen if he did such an action. That was unacceptable for him. He only asked another question instead. ¡°What colour was it? How hard is it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ It¡¯ looks like that red block you made Master, and it¡¯s incredibly elastic.¡± ¡°Good! Good! Oh that¡¯s so goo¡­ Wait what?¡± Chapter 24 Kovinth who was in the midst of preparing to dance suddenly froze. He froze so fast his head didn¡¯t even manage to look at Owen while he spoke. Only after managing to replay the words that Owen spoke was he able to recover his stance and look at Owen seriously. He thought for a few moments looking at the serious faced Owen he asked. ¡°Red? Transparent? Elastic?¡± It was as if Kovinth lost the ability to speak and could only say one word because if he spoke anymore he might miss the chance to hear properly. Thus he kept it short and waited for Owen¡¯s answer. Owen didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with his answer so he blunted repeated his previous words without changing his tone in the slightest. ¡°Yes. The block was a red and transparent and it is also elastic. Is there a problem Master?¡± ¡°HAHAHA!¡± Kovinth roared in laughter and disappeared right at that moment. Owen was left sitting on his bed in confusion. Owen quickly cleaned up food that Kovinth prepared for him, erasing the entire situation that just happened. ----------------------- Center of the Continent- Ascension Tower. There was a middle aged woman sitting at a desk with her long strands of silver hair resting on the top of the desk. The hair was not in her way so she didn¡¯t take the time to move it. Her eyes started to look lifeless as she stared at the endless paperwork in front of her. As she was nearly to the point of throwing everything up she remembered that she hadn¡¯t seen the Sun-dragon Kovinth and his disciple for awhile. She started to grin thinking of teasing Kovinth, but just as she stood up, suddenly a burly black robed man appeared in front of her. She almost thought it was someone else entirely because of the massive grin that was stretching from ear to ear. Seeing this she even felt it was ominous. ¡®What happened to make him this happy? Did his disciple make his first Path block?¡¯ As Osena thought to herself she convinced herself as that was the only possible conclusion she spoke up trying to direct the conversation so he wouldn¡¯t be able to brag too much. Even if he did it was only stepping on the Path it was no reason to come out his way just to brag to her. But she knew how happy he was to have a disciple so she wouldn¡¯t get angry for a once in a lifetime action. ¡°What did you disciple step on the Path finally? Psh it only took over a week with your help.¡± She thought to goad him into arguing so he would forget to brag but to her surprise he only smile even wider. At this point she didn¡¯t think it was possible for this guy to smile wider, yet he just proved her wrong. Instead of the lips being wide as can be his entire front row of teeth were showing. His canines gave the impression that he could bite through anything on any other occasion but this time they looked like baby teeth. Even though he was acting like this he didn¡¯t answer her, which caused her to pop a vein in annoyance and she just flat out asked what happened. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°What are you so happy about?¡± ¡°Do you want to know?¡± ¡®Would I ask if I didn¡¯t?¡¯ She knew that he was only doing this to tease her and make her annoyance rise another level, and because she was usually the one teasing him she wasn¡¯t willing to let him get her annoyed any further so she simply raised her slender shoulders in a shrug. Knowing full well he couldn¡¯t tease her anymore Kovinth released his massive smile and spoke as calmly as he could trying to hide the sheer amount of excitement he was feeling. ¡°He has a Boundary Block. Not only that, it¡¯s also a Sky Boundary Block¡­.¡± As Osena was about to yell out in surprise, Kovinth spoke before she could. ¡°He also has the Path of Softness.¡± Fainted. Right on the spot Osena fainted and Kovinth couldn¡¯t help but do a victory fist pump. He then teleported away but before he did looked at Osena laughing while he spoke. ¡°That will teach you to tease me for millions of years!¡± Kovinth cracked his neck in satisfaction releasing all those feelings of slight revenge all at this moment and teleported away. Meanwhile, Owen had finished his dinner and was thinking of taking a nap. He was pretty tired after all and he felt he deserved it. So just as he as he closed his eyes, he suddenly felt a gust of wind. At the origin of the gust was Kovinth, and he was in an incredible mood, so much so that Owen could almost see the light coming off his smile. Although he wasn¡¯t sure what happened he bowed slightly and spoke. ¡°Welcome back Master.¡± ¡°Mmm. Have a good rest, tomorrow I will impart you the Blind Motion technique.¡± Although Owen wasn¡¯t sure what that was he nodded with a little more exaggeration than his usual nods. Because he listened to everything that Kovinth said he immediately closed his eyes to fall asleep. Chapter 25 Hey guys chapter 25 and I just wanted to say thanks for voting on the polls so far. I am actually quite surprised at the overwhelming support this series has at this point. So as such I can''t promise something like I''ll make this story great, but I will try and meet your expectations every step of the way. If you can trust me then lets walk down this Path (ha see what i did there?) together and enjoy this story. ---------------------------------------------------- The next day Owen woke up feeling refreshed. He was immensely tired after creating the first block in his Path, but because he was able to breathe Essence even while asleep he easily recovered to full strength by the next morning. But that wasn¡¯t even the best part about this day. As Owen remembered that Kovinth was going to teach him the Blind Motion technique he couldn¡¯t help but get excited. Although he wasn¡¯t sure exactly what the technique would do he was still nonetheless overly excited. Kovinth on the other hand was preparing breakfast for Owen like a happy newlywed wife. The obvious reason for his excitement was Owen¡¯s successful step onto the Path. As a teach there was nothing for him to more proud of. Naturally if Osena was here she would attempt to tease him endlessly. But who was Kovinth? He was the person who would brag to all the gods in the universe about his own disciple¡¯s greatness without even batting an eye. Even if they all called him fools, the only thing he would hear would be ¡®oh wow your disciple is so great!¡¯. As Owen walked out of his room to the kitchen like area where they prepared meals and saw Kovinth. What was truly surprising is Owen heard him humming, and dancing. Now Owen didn¡¯t know exactly how strong his Master was, but he knew very well that he was immensely strong. Now adding on his appearance of a big burly guy with some stubble facial hair. Thick rough looking skin and those blade like black hairs, it was by far an odd match between the two. In fact as Owen approached Kovinth didn¡¯t even notice Owen¡¯s presence. That¡¯s how distracted and happy Kovinth was. But Owen felt nothing but happiness seeing this. He was calm by nature and thought everything to the last detail, as such how could he not know that his Master was this happy for his own sake? But he didn¡¯t want to embarass his teacher so he walked back behind the wall and made a slight cough as he reentered the kitchen area. Luckily this time, Kovinth heard his disciple immediately but awkwardly attempted to fix his posture and became stern and serious once again. Inwardly Owen almost burst into laughter, he was usually calm but funny situations were still after all funny. But Owen was strong willed and held it in. He only slightly bowed and spoke. ¡°Good morning Master.¡± ¡°Hmmmm, yes indeed it is a nice day. Go practice breathing for a bit I¡¯ll be done with breakfast soon.¡± ¡°Yes Master.¡± Although Kovinth emphasized the words ¡®nice day¡¯ Owen pretended to be ignorant and walked into the crater and practiced his breathing technique. Although it wasn¡¯t covered it didn¡¯t matter, Owen was only borrowing the place because he was used to meditating here. It didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t meditate anywhere else, just that this was his usual spot. He sat down and begun to concentrate on the fluid movement of Essence throughout his body. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ----------------------- ¡°Now, Owen.¡± ¡°Yes Master?¡± Owen answered Kovinth as they finished breakfast, and because Owen knew what was going to happen next he had a little anticipation in his voice. Although usually no one would be able to hear this slight difference in pitch, Kovinth could. After all he paid great attention to his disciple. But Kovinth felt this was a good thing and only smirk continuing. ¡°Although you will be blind until you gain full control of Essence at the end of your body refinement, it will in fact allow you to be stronger. Partly the reason is as you have grown used to relying on your hearing and sense of smell and touch you can heightened those sense to their utmost limits. Even with body refinement these are incredible difficult to achieve.¡± Owen heard the slight praise in Kovinth¡¯s voice, but because it was simply a natural thing for him he didn¡¯t disrupt his Master to thank him and only continued to listen on. ¡°However, while fighting in the world it still becomes a handicap for you. This is where the Blind Motion technique comes in. It won¡¯t allow you to see, but instead will allow you to utilize all your other heightened skills, and is only possible because of your blindness and heightened senses that you can learn this. There is also another requirement to this technique and that is utilizing the breathing technique.¡± As Kovinth explained the requirements for the Blind Motion technique he couldn¡¯t help but perk up his interest even more. Owen could imagine that out of all the people in this world he would be the only one to be able to utilize this skill. Although there might be people who have heightened their senses to the utmost limit like him, or people with the breathing technique, he was sure there was no one else that was blind and held both! Seeing his disciples excitement grow so did Kovinth¡¯s, his emotions were easily influenced when it came to his disciple but that was simply because he treasured Owen that much. As the leakage of excitement started to show itself, both he and Owen ignored it and continued. ¡°Now then. It is time to take your training to the next level. I want you to go into the Water Crater instead of the Air Crater this time. You will be required to breathe the water forcefully turning it into Essence for yourself to use. But while you¡¯re doing that, I want you to imagine that you ¡®look¡¯, but not with your eyes, at the flow of Essence within the water. Only when you can do both at the same time can you say you have some success in the Blind Motion technique. Now go, I have expectations for you Owen.¡± ¡°I shall not disappoint Master.¡± Owen bowed and started his normal routine of walking patiently to the Water Crater. But even he had to use all of his will power to stop him from walking even a bit faster. As he stood over the Water Crater, his foot never stopped and immediately jumped into the pool sinking down to the bottom of the crater. Chapter 26 First final= done so here''s a chapter to celebrate. (yes celebrate with me damnit) anyways enjoy this Lol filled chapter. I do btw have a strong sense of humor and anyone who has read [Second Saga] is probably surprised there hasn''t been much comedy in the series as of yet. (Excluding the slight fist pump) As for those who think that these actions don''t suit them because they are gods. Well just remember this is an attempt at combining western and eastern fantasy. So enjoy~!~ ---------------- Sometime after Owen jumped in it had already been a few minutes that Owen was underwater. Kovinth was surprised that Owen lasted this long so he thought to go personally check on him. He could have checked just by spreading out his soul throughout the cave but although he wa a lazy person when it came to his one and only disciple he was more than willing to work for it. He was thinking of how to praise Owen on lasting this long without letting it get to Owen¡¯s head. Naturally Kovinth never thought that Owen was the type of person for pride to get in the way. However it was never a good idea, as a teacher, to over praise his student. It would directly reflect on bad habits to the student as well. Kovinth was just that serious of a person. He was diligently teaching Owen, and he wouldn¡¯t start slacking off now. However while he was thinking this he turned the corner to where the Water Crater was and noticed something. This something he noticed, was a body floating on top of the water. At this moment Kovinth¡¯s world shattered and he started to panic. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do, it was as if all his millions of years of knowledge at this moment shattered in his mind and he could only stare at the drowned state of his student. As Kovinth was recovering there was a fire of rage that erupted in his eyes, his body was tensing up and he was about to fully explode when someone slapped him so hard he slammed into the ground. ¡°You damn fool, is your happiness of having a disciple allow you to forget how to use CPR? Even then you could just force the water out of his lungs with Essence.¡± Osena stepped on his back while reprimanding Kovinth. At this moment Kovinth started to think straight and didn¡¯t mind the hard blow that Osena landed on his head. He only teleported while under Osena¡¯s foot and started to force Essence through Owen¡¯s water filled lungs. Directing the water out of his throat Owen immediately started to cough. At this moment Kovinth and Osena were thinking quietly to themselves. ¡®Ah this boy is so stubborn he might end up killing himself.¡¯ On the other hand Osena was thinking something entirely different. ¡®Ah that felt good. I probably would never have gotten the opportunity to get revenge for yesterday if he didn¡¯t turn into an idiot at this moment. Well whatever I like this side of him.¡¯ The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Finally Owen managed to regain consciousness after a few more moments. He felt weakened all over as the muscles had lost all of their Essence entirely. He had found it incredibly difficult to breath the Essence while under water. But nonetheless as time went on he kept thinking. ¡®I¡¯m getting closer, I can do this!¡¯ But at last breathing underwater successfully in a matter of minutes on the first try was too difficult for anyone not to mention Owen. It can be said that talent doesn¡¯t exist in the world of Pathwalkers, but instead only the strong willed and diligent are able to keep walking. But then that creates another problem where people become stubborn to the point of losing their lives. And now Owen had experienced that and Kovinth nearly destroyed the entire world. ¡°From now on you can only stay underwater for 2 minutes at a time.¡± ¡°Yes Master.¡± Seeing the worry all over Kovinth¡¯s face Owen felt a tinge of regret and answered simply. But as soon as he answered he realized that there was another person in the room. This was the first time since he met his master that he met someone else. And clearly from the fact that Kovinth was not driving her out meant that she was an acquaintance. Osena made eye contact with Owen and she smiled sweetly, after all she was impressed by how idiotic this pair of student and teacher pair was. Owen noticing her gaze gave a slight bow in respect as he forced himself to get up. Kovinth wanted to stop him but Owen was simply too stubborn. He wished to be respectful to all those he met for the first time. Even if someone else was disrespectful in their first meeting Owen would show the utmost respect. This was his personality. This was how he lived. ¡°Owen, this is¡­. Umm¡­ What are you too me?¡± Kovinth gave a serious look to Osena as if he entirely no idea how to describe their relationship the slightest, he nearly said acquaintance at best, but seeing her cold glare he stopped and decided it would be best if she answered instead. ¡°Nice to meet you Owen, I am Osena. And this brawn for brains is unfortunately my husband please take care of him.¡± On impulse Owen bowed and responded. ¡°I will do my best.¡± But Kovinth was momentarily stunned and after seeing the serious reply from Owen he roared back ¡°Who is your husband!¡± Owen and Osena both pointed to Kovinth as if the answer was already quite clear. Owen had already learned that in a relationship usually the woman was right. So he agreed. Even if it was a slight betrayal to his Master, deep down he felt that if he didn¡¯t point, Osena would never let him off. Chapter 27 So it can be said that this is the last chapter of the prologue. Well at least after this everything will start to get more serious and go faster. So for those who have been waiting patiently for some real action (no I''m not just talking about a simple short chapter with a few exchanges with some Omega Devourers) I''m talking about about the introduction of new characters, the use of Essence in this world the outer boundaries and so on. Stay tuned for the ride, because any ride I start on is planned to last a long time. ------------------- As Kovinth was about to retort the actions of their actions, Osena gave him a smile. But because of this smile he wasn¡¯t able to even open his mouth. He could tell from show of fangs, that if he argued about she would test whether his scales or her teeth would win. They had traveled the universe together for many years, there was no way he didn¡¯t know of the strength of her teeth. The ice cold teeth that could shatter maybe even the Walls of the End. His defense was something he was incredibly proud of and he could even argue he had some of the toughest scales in the universe but in front of her? He wouldn¡¯t dare to let her bite him. As such he turned slightly red at the idea of being known as her husband by Owen. Not being able to handle the embarrassment he quickly disappeared. Osena closed her lips and gave a slight grin, afterwards she thought to herself. ¡®This is why I can never stop teasing you, oh mighty Sun-Dragon.¡¯ Although she was thinking this she let out a sweet giggle that filled the room with the sounds of a beautiful laughter. It wasn¡¯t to the point of her stomach hurting but a tear did well up in the sides of her eyes. Owen on the other hand stood there. That was all he could do. He felt a little awkward, he also felt that his Master¡¯s actions were a little funny, but only a little bit, because he was sure that his Master would get revenge on him. It wouldn¡¯t be anything terrible but he might not cook him a delicious meal and Owen knew how terrible of a punishment that was because surprisingly Kovinth was an amazing cook. ¡®Maybe that¡¯s why this lady chases Master. The headmaster always told me no matter what, always listen to a woman but if you wish to win her over it¡¯s always by her stomach. After all a woman loves a man who can cook.¡¯ Owen look over to Osena, after coming to a conclusion he nodded and started to ponder again. ¡®Hmm sounds logical, very logical, yes, yes indeed, should I get Master to teach me how to cook? Hmmm, this, this might be a good idea. I don¡¯t have any redeeming qualities after all. Hmm yes very logical.¡¯ Owen came to a final conclusion. He would become a cooking Master and a Pathwalker taught from his Master. It was like killing two birds with one stone. How could he lose this opportunity. Although love was not top priority for Owen. There was never a boy who didn¡¯t want to fall in love. He was no different, it was just he wouldn¡¯t go searching actively for his future lover. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Meanwhile Osena was staring at Owen and on numerous occasions wanted to start a conversation with him. But she felt that instinctively he was thinking of a very important concept. ¡®Maybe he¡¯s having some sort of breakthrough?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t help but think to herself. Owen¡¯s expression at this moment was deadly serious, a conclusion such as that was sound. Seeing this deep concentration Osena decided to wait patiently. After a few more moments of silence Owen finally nodded himself out of his concentration and looked towards Osena. Maybe because he understood she was waiting for him, he bowed slightly and spoke. ¡°I greet Lady Osena.¡± Osena was deeply impressed by his utmost respect. Although she saw a glimpse of it earlier, she now knew sort of person Owen was by watching him for just a few moments. He was immensely smart and knew exactly how to respond in key moments, especially when she sent a string of Essence towards him which gave him that instinctive feeling he had to agree and point at Kovinth. He was stubborn as his Master, but wasn¡¯t even a tenth as lazy as him. She could only start to imagine how far this boy would go. After a quick thought she waved her hand and responded to Owen. ¡°There is no need for formalities between us. Although I said he was my husband, he isn¡¯t yet.¡± Owen ignored the word ¡®yet¡¯ and waited for her to continue. Osena smirked once again and continue to explain her reason for appearing in front of him. ¡°You have one more week until the first Pavilion opens up. At that time you need to finish up here and leave.¡± Osena looked reluctant as she wanted to ask about his Sky Boundary Block, but she knew that was overstepping her bounds, as Kovinth wouldn¡¯t tell anyone but her, she would respect this trust and not dwell into it further. ¡®The boy himself will soon realize what he can do. I shouldn¡¯t hasten that progress.¡¯ Owen nodded and immediately after Osena departed. Coincidentally, the moment she departed Kovinth reappeared and asked as if he didn¡¯t already know. ¡°Did she leave?¡± Owen once again nodded but because he had a question of his own he spoke calmly with a serious expression. ¡°Master can you teach me how to cook.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Chapter 28 Don''t mind me procrastinating studying. --------------------- -A few days later ¡°I still haven¡¯t found this Pavilion and Lady Osena said it would open up tomorrow.¡± Owen was currently walking through a forest area, the trees were thing and he could easily put his arms around them. They were tall and white, but the bark was incredibly thin, and peeled easily. In fact it was noticed that many of the trees at head level had been ripped off as food for many of the herbivores around the area. The shrubs and were low to the ground and spread out allowed for trails to be easily formed. At this point in time Owen had his eyes sealed shut. He could open them if he absolutely needed to be able to see. However he was time and time again reminded that if he opened his eyes before he could control the Essence of the Solar Eyes at the very least he would lose all the Essence he gathered for the stage. He was only a Low Opal stage at the moment, which made it even more dangerous and the chances of dying if he opened them was easily over ninety percent. Owen felt there was still many things that his Master could teach him but apparently, all disciples of Gods had to depart from their Master¡¯s teachings before the Pavilions opened. It was an attempt to make it as fair as possible for all the other PAthwalkers, even if it wasn¡¯t truly fair, it was better than allowing them to get continuously taught by these extremely powerful existences. If one wanted to to walk the Path, one had to at the very least use their own strength. Their masters could only help them build their foundation. Owen remembered this clearly because he realized there were many other disciples that were taught by other gods as well. But now that Owen had left he had no idea where to go, and he could only keep walking. There was nothing to worry about being attacked by anymore Devourers because they had already been collected and sent into the Boundaries. In fact it was a miracle in itself that Owen had encountered the cougar, as nearly all of the Devourers had already been taken. This was partially to prevent Pathwalkers from getting a head start from others. Luckily Owen had managed to grab one and create an incredibly strong foundation. Even though it was elastic, Kovinth had told him that he just needed to create more blocks like this for his Path and he would never have to worry about soul attacks. Owen didn¡¯t know anything so he agreed. At this moment while Owen was thinking about what he had learned he heard a shout. ¡°Get away!¡± A high pitch squeal was heard. It felt girlish but held a hint of a boyish tone to it. It was like a young boy who had yet to mature was screaming at the top of his lungs. Because little boys would end up becoming high pitched when screaming they avoided doing so. After all little boys wanted to look manly even if they were puny. But Owen¡¯s hearing was incredible and he could hear the slight changes and determine the sex instantly. Even before he determined the sex of the party Owen was rushing towards the source of the sound. Running past the branches of the trees barely moving his body in order to miss them by a hair. At this point in time Owen had already practiced the Blind Motion technique to the bare minimum. This allowed him to see Essence! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Owen was simply amazed by the fact that Essence existed in everything. There was a total of three colours that he could see, and after having gained his vision for a short period of time he was able to identify them as Green for Land, Red for the Sky, and Blue for Ocean. Owen¡¯s vision had truly become unique to the world. The Land was green in front of him, although the plants were green not everything was green, but for Owen it was. As opposed to the streams, and rivers they were a dark navy blue that was incredibly clear and sharp. But the most strange thing was that the Sky was filled entirely red. There was only one thing Owen wasn¡¯t able to look at and that was the sun. When Owen went to look at the sun the amount of Red Essence coming off it was so incredible he felt dizzy, and he promised himself never to look again. Maybe it was because he hadn¡¯t practiced the Blind Motion technique enough, but he was only able to see the contours of the objects. But even this was enough to judge where he was at any given moment. Adding on top of the bells it was like he was able to perfectly see in a 360 degree angle. Nothing could escape his notice as long as he could hear it or if he was facing it. Dodging all the green branches he passed by he finally managed to arrive at the location. There he saw two images. Both of which were different from the colour he normally saw as he walked by. But he already knew that Pathwalkers would look different because they were not pure after all. He was the same when he looked at his own body he could see the impure strands of multiple mixed colours flowing through his body. This one shorter looking boy was like him and had different colours flowing through his body. On the other hand was another person. This person was something he had never seen before so he was momentarily startled and looked on calmly identifying the black coloured human in front of him. The boy seeing that someone had come to his rescue, but then stood there looking as if he had no intention to help he couldn¡¯t help but scream out loudly to Owen. ¡°Are you just going to stand there while I die? What you haven¡¯t seen a Feral before? Help me!¡± Owen recalled the word "Feral", from Alesia. His Master never touched upon the Sins very much because there was simply not enough time. Thus his Master only taught things that only he could teach him. But sure enough on the human was a black tattoo like insignia. It was a tattoo of a bear. This was the symbol of Wrath, hatred and anger. And because this man had Sinned he had turned into a Feral. Chapter 29 Owen then remembered his purpose and rushed forth towards the attacking Feral. The boy was struggling holding off the attack of the Feral. To Owen¡¯s surprise the Feral wasn¡¯t using any form of a weapon and was attacking only with his body. The boy on the other hand was holding sword. But this sword was strange, as it the boy was hoping it like it was a whip. It was the first time Owen had seen this type of weapon. Although it wasn¡¯t like he saw it, but saw the Essence wrapped around it. The most important aspect of using Essence at the early level of Pathwalkers was being able to wrap your weapon up with it. If the weapon wasn¡¯t shielded with Essence it would shatter upon contact with another weapon. That was at the very least for weapons that were made by mortals. As for weapons made from gods, they naturally had their own Essence imbued inside of them. These were more commonly known as Essence Weapons, from what he heard from Kovinth. But even the gods weren¡¯t allowed to give their disciples Essence weapons and could only give them mortal weapons. As such this boy¡¯s sword went by the name of Snake Sword. The boy while waiting for Owen to help him was gripping the ropes in between the blades of the sword. As his gripped tightened to hold off the Feral, that held no regards for its own safety, the blades started to tear into his skin. His face started to contort as the pain spread through his arm. He couldn¡¯t help curse in his mind. But luckily just then Owen arrived and slashed the arm of the Feral. Owen expected for the arm to be cut off, but instead it was like slashing against a rock or another weapon. As they collided the Feral¡¯s arm was knocked away. It was only at this moment that the Feral seemed to have noticed Owen¡¯s presence. It stared at him with his dark red eyes. It looked lifeless, but it still contained instinct and noticing that it was now no longer a one on one fight it started to run away with its injured arm. Catching his breath the boy started to calm himself. He looked towards Owen and Owen faced towards him feeling he was about to thank him Owen prepared his response. But the moment he opened his mouth Owen¡¯s expectations were blown away. ¡°Ah! I can¡¯t stand it anymore! I just want to get the fuck outta here and sleep.¡± The boy started to throw a tantrum as he kicked some shrubs and started to walk away completely ignoring Owen at that point. When Owen recovered the boy had already left and he thought to himself. ¡®Who raised that kid?¡¯ But the moment he thought he saw the boy come back. ¡°Are you coming or what?¡± ¡°For what might I ask?¡± Owen asked curiously to the boys angered face. He didn¡¯t want to anger him anymore than he already was. Although Owen helped him, there was no guarantee he couldn¡¯t handle it himself. Owen also wasn¡¯t going to ask for compensation for just helping someone. It was just a natural thing to do. At the same time the boy responded. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°To the Pavilion of course. I imagine you¡¯re a god¡¯s child right?¡± The boy¡¯s expression started to loosen. Owen could tell that this was the boy¡¯s way of expressing his thanks. But upon hearing the second part of the sentence he curiously put his finger to his chin thinking what that meant. Seeing this, the boy kneaded his temples while muttering. ¡°This guy doesn¡¯t know anything¡­¡± But he shrugged as if it didn¡¯t really matter and explained. ¡°The people who are taken as disciples of the gods, you¡¯re one right? I can tell¡­.. As you don¡¯t know anything.¡± The boy mumbled the last bit of the words forcefully as if he had to hold himself back from saying it out loud. Owen heard the last words of the boy and thought that this boy was pretty interesting but he wasn¡¯t offended and only nodded. After Owen finally felt he could introduce himself. ¡°My name is Owen. How about yourself?¡± ¡°My name is Rauf. Don¡¯t mind my attitude, lately I¡¯ve been a little stressed.¡± ¡®A little?¡¯ Owen chuckled inside hearing these words, but feeling that there was no need to dislike Rauf he asked another question. ¡°Rauf, would you mind explaining to me about those Ferals?¡± Rauf rolled his eyes at this question. He wasn¡¯t an idiot and knew this question was going to come up he prepared himself but it still felt annoying to actually hear it. He clicked his tongue before reluctantly speaking. ¡°They become mindless Pathwalkers, left with only instinct. They can still walk their Path, however they become closer to Devourers, but instead they hunt for other Pathwalkers.¡± Owen nodded. Although he didn¡¯t show it inwardly he was surprised. ¡®They can still be Pathwalkers? They hunt other Pathwalkers? If their bodies are that strong they would not be an easy enemy to defeat. Especially that they don¡¯t rely on human emotions and only attack based on instinct.¡¯ After thinking it through it was indeed quite terrifying. Ferals that could use their own bodies to attack and had no emotions were like killing machines. They would not care about a single part of their body if it meant killing their target. Chapter 30 ¡°I just realized something, why do you keep your eyes closed all the time?¡± Owen face towards Rauf. He could imagine a look of confusion covering his face. He held his laughter inside and wore an offended expression. ¡°I¡¯m blind you know.¡± ¡°....You¡¯re pulling my leg right? Do you want me to just hand you my leg so it¡¯s easier?¡± ¡°Haha¡­.I¡¯m serious.¡± Owen, gave a light chuckle to Rauf¡¯s response. As he spoke he even lifted up his small leg and pretended to hand it over to Owen. Naturally Owen didn¡¯t reach out to grab the leg. He didn¡¯t care much and only kept walking creating a larger distance between the two. Rauf on the other hand thought Owen was joking with him at first and thought to play along, but seeing how serious Owen looked, he could tell that Owen was serious. ¡®Damn, of course he hasn¡¯t seen a Feral. He can¡¯t see one. No wonder he didn¡¯t attack until I called out to him. Welp not that I care.¡¯ Rauf shrugged it off. It didn¡¯t effect him and he had his own problems to deal with as well. Not everyone was born equal that was just the truth of the matter. Rauf then caught up before saying. ¡°That¡¯s the wrong way this way.¡± Owen embarrassed, stopped walking and moved to follow after Rauf. He didn¡¯t face in Rauf¡¯s direction, but Rauf only gave a ¡®What does it matter you can¡¯t see my expression anyways¡¯ look. He then only continued to walk down a set path. After some time of walking Owen felt his curiosity get the better of him and asked a question. ¡°Rauf, how old are you? Why is someone so young already a Pathwalker.¡± ¡°WAaaaaaaaaaaah!¡± ¡®What?¡¯ Owen stood there dumbfounded. He only asked what his age was, why was he all of a sudden crying? Was he that sensitive to his age because he was more mature for his age? But little did Owen know that he was incredibly far off from the point. Rauf¡¯s tears soon turned into rage and he started to kick the shrubs, the trunks of trees and few rocks around. It even made Owen somewhat feel that this guy in front of his was bipolar. But before Owen could ask him Rauf spat out words. ¡°Damnit. That old hag! If only she didn¡¯t come find me! All I wanted was to keep sleeping. Was that so much to ask for? But no, not for you Rauf, you just get a god to yell in your head until you nearly become insane. Because of that I had to become the disciple of that god, if I didn¡¯t agree she would keep yelling in my mind! Ah!¡± Rauf¡¯s words became louder and louder as he spoke. Owen on the other hand stood unmoving. Patiently waiting for the important bits and pieces of the story to figure out what he was talking about. At that moment Rauf finally turned towards Owen and asked him. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Do you really want to know my age?¡± Owen nodded. ¡°I¡¯m 32! 32! I¡¯m 32 stuck in this childish body!¡± ¡°....How is that possible?¡± Owen asked in confusion. He was impressed somehow the guy managed to become immortal before the gods even descended, which he jokingly thought to himself but he didn¡¯t dare to say it to Rauf¡¯s face. ¡°It is, and you know what the worst part about it is?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t say.¡± Owen answered bluntly and then went into a pose saying ¡®tell me¡¯. ¡°I did it to myself! That damn snake tricked me! She said I could take the easy way out! Even if I get hurt I just have to use the technique she taught me. Sure why not you think right? BUT THERE¡¯S A CATCH! I shoulda known. There¡¯s always a catch. When I healed myself from fighting Ferals, which I used the technique multiple times cause I thought hey the more the better right?! OOOOHHH was I ever wrong! The next day I woke up¡­. I¡­ I¡­ Urgh dammit!¡± Owen could guess what the last bit was meant to say. Clearly Rauf had the unfortunate ability to heal himself at the expense of becoming younger? ¡®Such a strange ability.¡¯ As Owen held his chin thinking about the interesting side effect of Rauf¡¯s ability. While Rauf was once again kicking a few trunks. Owen almost felt sorry for him, he was pretty pitiful after all. He himself was 17 years old but now this guy have gone from nearly twice his age to have of it. Naturally this was only physical appearance but none the less who say at first glance ¡®You¡¯re 32¡¯. Owen kept on thinking how miraculous the ability was while Rauf was continuously getting pissed thinking about it. They continued to walk on after sometime but every once in awhile Rauf would find a trunk that caught his eye and would start kicking it. Owen would then follow up and slightly pat the trunk. Naturally he only did it to make Rauf feel bad so he would stop going around indiscriminately kicking objects. Rauf failed to notice the first few times, but after awhile he saw what Owen was doing and finally decided to hold in his rage and calm down. Although it was a sin to be angry, among others, these were within the extremes. Rauf wasn¡¯t going to turn into a Feral just because he lost his temper. It was only when someone was the brink of breaking emotionally would they truly commit the sin. Chapter 31 As the pair of Pathwalkers walked through the forest, after pushing through a bit of shrubbery they noticed the Pavilion in front of them. While Rauf was staring at the giant Pavilion that had numerous people walking to enter from the front, he noticed that Owen¡¯s was facing somewhere else entirely. He had almost blurted out that the Pavilion was down a bit more, but seeing his serious face he wasn¡¯t able to. At this moment Owen was using his Blind Motion technique to stare at the immense wall in behind the Pavilion. This wall like structure was much like the red block that his Master had shown him. So immediately he had known that it was a Boundary. But instead of red like Kovinth¡¯s it was green. It didn¡¯t rise high into the sky maybe only 4 times as high at the Pavilion below it, however it stretched across the land into the horizon. There was no mountains that could be seen so the largest seen structure was definitely this wall. From everyone¡¯s actions of nonchalantly walking into the Pavilion one after another it was obvious that none of them could see the Boundary. This was a strange feeling for Owen, as he could directly see something others couldn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t see past the wall, while others could. ¡®What a strange feeling this is.¡¯ As he was lost in thought Rauf had already walked off. Noticing that Rauf called out to him. He didn¡¯t raise his voice as he knew that speaking quietly was better for blind people because he knew that they usually had better hearing than most. Although it wasn¡¯t guaranteed, if Owen was a Pathwalker he had to have some sort of way of dealing with enemies and Rauf couldn¡¯t think of anything other than his hearing to help him. Also after Rauf had calmed down, he managed to find out that Owen was a good natured person . He never called him childish for his actions, or got angry when he yelled at him. The matter followed its course and Rauf started to think of him as a friend. It was also partly because like him Owen had his own problems, which was naturally being blind. Rauf could relate to tough situations in this world and felt a companionship between the two start to grow. On the other hand Owen was completely ignorant of Rauf¡¯s thought process. He had already thought that Rauf was an interesting character and thought of him as a friend. Owen was too calm and it could be said that his personality was actually his strongest and weakest point at the same time. Though Owen would never agree with that. He liked himself after all. He also wouldn¡¯t agree if others said that his blindness was a disability. Owen did want to gain vision, however that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t enjoy life when he was blind. There was so much only he was able to feel and hear, that was unique to him alone and that was his world. Gaining vision was just a bonus and now that he had the Blind Motion technique although in the end gaining his vision was still the overall goal, Owen was not in any rush and would take small steps. That was his Path. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ------------ The two together walked towards the Pavilion. It was similar to an ancient church, with brown shingles that were falling apart from age. Even parts of the roof were missing completely. Only the tower looked to be in a somewhat neutral condition in comparison to the rest of the building. The white painted bricks of stone were crumbling apart from their own weight. It even made the arriving Pathwalkers become slightly hesitant to walk in, but after seeing two keepers on either side so of the mahogany gate they felt a little more relaxed. The Keepers wouldn¡¯t kill them after putting in all the effort to gather them, why would they? They could wipe out this entire planet in a matter of minutes. The gods themselves could do so with a flick of their fingers. There was no need to use such a roundabout way to kill them. However like the wall previously Owen was not staring at the Pavilion in the slightest, it had a green colour it was nothing special, other than that the green was extremely ancient looking in itself, what Owen cared more about was the white coloured Keepers in front of him. Rauf paid no attention towards the Keepers. He just kept walking slightly in a grumpy mood after seeing how terrible the condition of the Pavilion was. After all the distance previously was still pretty far and they couldn¡¯t clearly see the small details. When he turned around he noticed that once again Owen was standing still. ¡®Does this guy like to stop and point his face toward things? Can he not look and walk at the same time?¡¯ Although he sighed he wasn¡¯t too bothered by it and just lightly called out to him again. Owen apologized and walked straight through the gates with Rauf. On the other hand the two Keepers who hadn¡¯t even looked at others entering started to talk through their Auras. ¡°Looks like we got a monster.¡± ¡°Haha, brother Tae, if you say that I¡¯m sure the god who taught him would kill you instantly.¡± The man who spoke first snorted, he but he knew that what his friend said was true. The words he spoke were true, it was just both rude to the student and teacher to acknowledge them as such. As both of them shrugged they continued to guard the gates without blinking.f Chapter 32 Here you go, tortured by courtesy of Leafy again D: *wuu wuu* ---------- ¡°Hey sister.¡± ¡°Hmm what is it Alesia?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the blind boy from the town we visited?¡± Iohanne called out to her sister pointing towards Owen that had just entered through the gates. Alesia nodded but didn¡¯t say anything after that. The two of them only continued to watch him from the third floor. The inside of the Pavilion was completely different. There was 3 floors to the insides of the main room. In the first floor were gathered all the Pathwalkers of the planet. On the other hand were all the Keepers on the third floor watching the Pathwalkers from above. If they saw a strong candidate that they found when they all went out, they would praise them to their friends. But right at the moment a sudden pressure dropped onto all of the Keepers. They all looked towards the source of the pressure and seeing a massive shirtless man with a white haired chest and long hair that stretch all the way down his back they bowed. If they didn¡¯t it was entirely possible that his long claw like nails would rip them apart in a second. His eyes wore a glare on every person they passed. As soon as the Keepers all bowed they greeted the man. ¡°Greetings Lord White Tiger.¡± ¡°Hm? Oh my bad everyone It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve been out.¡± After the White Tiger immediately redrew his Aura. The Auras of gods were much stronger than that of the Keepers and as such just like when Alesia entered Owen¡¯s temple and they felt an incredible Aura they too felt such power. However the power of Aura was directly related through vision. As it finally retreated the White Tiger spoke again. ¡°Iohanne.¡± ¡°Yes Lord White Tiger.¡± ¡°Let us start the test.¡± Iohanne bowed in affirmation and then lightly pressed her hand on the handrail and launched herself quickly off from the third floor. As a command she wouldn¡¯t waste any time taking the stairs. She didn¡¯t have time for that. Boom! A loud crashed suddenly appeared out of nowhere and all of the Pathwalkers looked at the dust that flew about from the sudden crash. Owen was curious and stared at the origin of the crash and saw a white coloured person, at that moment he was the first to know that it was a Keeper. But soon after the dust settled and Rauf and the rest of the Pathwalkers started to see the Keeper. Iohanne at this time dispersed the dust entirely. She didn¡¯t worry about the crater she made and only gestured for the Pathwalkers to follow her without speaking. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Hey Owen.¡± Rauf whispered to Owen. ¡°Yes?¡± Owen replied calmly. ¡°What do you think they have planned for us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Tch.¡± Rauf clicked his tongue at Owen¡¯s boring response, he was hoping for some elaborate thought up fantasy like idea made up on the spot, but of course Owen wasn¡¯t able to meet such expectations. Instead he only gave a wry smile sensing Rauf discontent. They then entered the next room with all the others. What greeted them was hundreds of people lined up while boring slightly. They were all Keepers and dressed in elaborate clothing. There were some dressed in all black like suits, while others were dressed up in silk dresses. The women with these silk dresses wore veils over their faces and the Pathwalkers could only see the direction of their gazes. It caused a slight fire to burn within the male¡¯s stomachs. As for the females Pathwalkers they looked on with slight jealously. ---------------- ¡°Haha looks like this batch will meet some rough edges. Turn it up a notch and let¡¯s get this over with.¡± The White Tiger roared with laughter, he was an impatient man and couldn¡¯t wait any longer so he wanted to get things started. One of the Keepers bowed and rushed towards Iohanne¡¯s direction. Alesia on was still standing waiting for any further orders from the White tiger. At that moment, the White Tiger¡¯s expression flickered and he soon then called out. ¡°Leave, don¡¯t let anyone bother me. I have a few guests.¡± As he said that he was already looking at the group of people who teleported in the Pavilion. ¡°Haha, The Rebirth Snake, Lady Lunar Wolf, and the most surprising of all, Lord Sun-Dragon. Welcome! I am pleased to have such guests enjoy the Pavilion together with me.¡± Chapter 33 Just kitten I just release cause I can. *Teehee* Jk this goes out to teenreader for finding a mistake :( ----- ¡°White Tiger, there is no reason to hold formalities, you are the Pavilion Master, it is only natural that you don¡¯t need to.¡± Osena returned a slight nod while making a comment. She had come to watch Owen after all, actually that was a lie, she was definitely only here because Kovinth was here. Though she quickly made the excuse that a certain Pathwalker caught her eye to the others. The White Tiger, the an old woman who was the Rebirth snake and Kovinth all looked at her dumbfounded thinking all at the same time. ¡®Who the hell would believe that? We all know you¡¯re here for Kovinth.¡¯ Kovinth added a little more on his thoughts however. ¡®I swear to god, some other god at least, if you say we are married¡­¡¯ Kovinth gave Osean a meaningful look as he expressed his thoughts through his glare clearly. Osena played the innocent foolish girl and kept chatting with the old woman beside her. The old woman had very wrinkled skin, and hunched slightly over. Her eyebrows were drooping over, others would think she was ready to die at any moment. But just from her eyes alone, one could tell she was planning on living for another billions maybe even trillions of years. The White Tiger seeing that Osena was now speaking with Kovinth off to the side muttered softly. ¡°Who do you think they are here for?¡± The Rebirth Snake gave him a look of detest. ¡°How the hell should I know? I was training my own disciple after all you blockhead.¡± The White Tiger nodded and maybe cause he remembered something he asked another question. ¡°Is your student perhaps that Blind lad?¡± Hearing this Kovinth¡¯s and Osena¡¯s ears perked up. The White Tiger actually wanted to hear the Rebirth Snake¡¯s answer but upon seeing the completely obvious actions of the Sun-Dragon and the Lunar Wolf, he suddenly felt like a headache was about to approach. He then spread his soul out and spoke to Iohanne. ¡°Make note of the blind lad.¡± ¡°Master I am already aware.¡± The White Tiger looked surprised but he didn¡¯t ask. He felt it was already going to annoying. He was even tempted to run away while Osena and Kovinth were watching. But the old Rebirth Snake gave him a glare which he entirely understood as ¡®don¡¯t you dare leave me with these two alone¡¯. The White tiger started to knead his temples while letting out a deep sigh. ---------------------- Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. During this time the thousands of Pathwalkers were being serviced by attractive ladies and men. There was even a stage where the veiled woman were dancing provocatively. Their dresses already showed incredible amounts of skin as each curve of their body tempted the males with every seductive movement. Rauf as well was charmed by these ladies, but that didn¡¯t overpower his desire for food as he jumped straight into eating the feast before him. Owen on the other hand was thinking something. ¡®What is the point of all this?¡¯ He was calm, he wasn¡¯t interested in any of the Keepers, their looks didn¡¯t matter to him as he could only see hundreds of white forms, and the thousands of different coloured Pathwalkers throwing themselves into the festive mood of a banquet. But this confused Owen. ¡®Although this might seem like we are committing the sins, these are only a happy event. It can¡¯t be said that any of these things would cause extreme desire¡­..¡¯ At that moment everything changed. The once bright room was dimmed softly, and a few candles lit in the back of the stage. Standing there, lit up by these dancing flames, was a single dancer. She wore a dress that held her curves tightly. The colour was a sharp pink like a cherry blossom and her long black hair was tied up and flow down like a waterfall. This was someone Owen met once before, it was Iohanne. Ding! A light bell only slightly louder than the ones on Owen¡¯s ears rung throughout the hall. Then a deep instrumental music started to play. No one knew where the music was being played, but no one cared they only saw one thing, and that was Iohanne¡¯s dance. She was elegant as a queen and seductive as a succubus. Her movements grabbed the hearts of every here, but only Owen started to worry in his heart. ¡®What is that Essence that is coming off of her?¡¯ As the Essence came closer to the Pathwalkers, the people in the front soon were breathing it as normal air. Owen watched as the Essence infected their bodies, turning from the impure colours filled with black spots. Seeing this Owen immediately grabbed Rauf who was happily watching the show. But before he could do anything he saw the instinctively felt a gaze watch over him and soon after a sound was heard within his mind. ¡°You can¡¯t do that fellow Pathwalker. The Path is meant to be walked by those who can. I admire you for already being successful during your Blind Motion, you are absolutely not allowed to interfere in the other¡¯s test.¡± Owen calmly nodded and when Rauf looked at him in confusion he only gave a blunt response. ¡°She¡¯s really good looking..¡± ¡®You¡¯re freaking blind what are you¡­ ah forget it she is attractive.¡¯ Ruaf wanted to retort but he felt like he lost energy when he thought of Owen¡¯s personality. Chapter 34 ¡®This voice is that lady envoy¡¯s sister I met outside the temple. She¡¯s also the one releasing this essence¡­¡¯ Owen sighed as he could only patiently watch as the Essence spread throughout the entire room. He calmly looked at every Pathwalker with his Blind Motion technique seeing the fluctuations of their inner Essence. Soon over half the room had been infected, and until now no side effects could be physically seen. From the manner that no one was causing a commotion Owen came to the conclusion that it wasn¡¯t a fast acting skill that Iohanne used. It was slowly spreading and only caused slight black dots to appear within their bodies. Owen had hoped to see other people causing a commotion cause he wanted to see if there were any other people who were worth paying attention too, however maybe it was because no one reacted or that some were intentional told not to like Owen that the room was still roaring with laughter and excitement. This lasted some time and Owen hadn¡¯t touched his dish nor had bothered to fantasize about the woman. That didn¡¯t mean that Owen himself didn¡¯t get attention, maybe it''s because the female Keepers were attracted to his calm appearance or his slightly above average looks. Or even that cute wavy brown hair that was cut just short of his ears. But even still Owen didn¡¯t pay attention and calmly watched the Essence infect all the Pathwalkers including himself. For Owen, breathing in Essence was the equivalent of it being harmless. He already had the breathing technique he would breathe Essence all the time everyday for the rest of his life. Filling the air with Essence, even if it was a skill, shouldn¡¯t harm him and he was curious as to what the black spots that were appearing in the Pathwalker¡¯s bodies were doing. The moment he saw the light pinkish Essence invade his nostrils he suddenly felt desire. It wasn¡¯t a particular desire for Owen, but at the moment he clearly knew what the purpose of this banquet was. It was to test whether the Pathwalkers could resist the Sins! Although he assumed that was the case when they brought out enormous amounts of food and seductive woman and man, it wasn¡¯t until he realized that this Essence would cause their desires to explode. But for someone like Owen his heart was still calm, his mind was steeled and even with this sudden spike in desire it was only to the amount of slightly enjoying it. As such Owen let it course through him to see if any black spots appeared within his colourful Essence. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡®As I thought, Sins only appear when it''s in extremes. Simply having desire was never a bad thing to begin with. But what about Rauf?¡¯ As Owen faced towards Rauf he was surprised to see that no black spots to be seen. Owen couldn¡¯t help but ask Rauf a question. ¡°Do you not want to eat more?¡± ¡°Why? I eat till i¡¯m full. What kind of idiot would eat more than that? Do I look like I want to be fat¡­ wait you can¡¯t see what the actual you know what I know you¡¯re doing this to piss me off.¡± Owen turned his head to ignore him. But he thought about another question and asked another. ¡°What about the women? Don¡¯t you want to go have some fun?¡± ¡°Well until I get tired. Although I¡¯m fit and have some good endurance it gets boring after I sweat a bit.¡± Rauf completely forgot about the previous question and answered the next. He was truly someone who flipped moods quite frequently. Owen again turned his head as he thought about another thing. ¡°What about the other guys. Aren¡¯t you jealous they are more attractive than you?¡± ¡°Ha! I¡¯m think I¡¯m positively stunning. How could I care about their appearances.¡± ¡°You surprisingly believe in yourself to the point that it¡¯s pure and can¡¯t even be seen as a Sin¡­. I¡¯m speechless.¡± Owen finally came to a certain conclusion. Rauf was someone who wholeheartedly did things the way he wanted without letting anyone influence his decisions. Maybe this was why he was so angry about that god for taking him in. Because he didn¡¯t like the idea of being forced into anything. Now Owen truly could see the personality of Rauf and he was honestly quite speechless by such a personality. ¡°Oi. I don¡¯t want to hear that from the guy who even with all this desire floating around hasn¡¯t even been slightly moved. I¡¯m not stupid I know what they are doing here. Although I am better off than others, compared to you? Not likely.¡± Chapter 35 Owen felt embarrassed as if he was getting praised he lightly scratched the side of his chin to alleviate some of his embarrassment. Rauf sat and felt like he wanted to find a trunk to kick around again . As to why he wouldn¡¯t kick anything in the hall, well the food was good so that wasn¡¯t option. Hitting the ladies? Rauf would never take his anger out on women. Attack the other Pathwalkers, with the current desire raising at an alarming rate if Rauf caused anyone to become angry they would definitely fight him to the death. As such he was left with no way to release his built up anger and could only start to breathe with ¡®wooo saaa wooo saaah¡¯ sound effects. This only lasted until the first person finally started to show side effects of the Essence flowing through their body. Both Rauf and Owen turned serious and faced towards the frail looking man that could be seen as the definition of poverty. The man rushed over to one of the female Keepers and grabbed onto her seductive body letting his hands roam all over her curves and taking great care around the bosom. The seductress didn¡¯t mind and continued to let him touch her. This only caused the man¡¯s desire to increase another fold as her roared in happiness. ¡°Haha! I have been a slave for my whole life! But now I¡¯ll finally get to have a beautiful woman as I please!¡± However the moment he said these words a single cow tattoo appeared on his arm. His eyes filled with lust as he didn¡¯t even notice the tattoo suddenly appear. However the female Keeper did and the moment she saw this, her attitude towards the man completely changed and she threw him off. She threw him so hard that he landed into another pile of men that were happily indulging in the wonderful food that was provided. Bang! ¡°You Bitch! How dare you throw me around?!¡± The frail man spoke up and his lust was soon mixed with rage. Although the Lust tattoo appeared that didn¡¯t mean that his lust disappeared it only meant that he would forever be impotent. Owen was watching this scene and noticed the black spots were becoming larger and thicker within the man¡¯s body. But that wasn¡¯t the only change that occurred at this moment. The men that were previously eating were now angered as well. Although they hadn¡¯t gone over the limit with their gluttonous stomachs their rage started to appear within their hearts as the grabbed the frail looking man. In return the frail man immediately attacked the short fat man who grabbed onto him! ¡°He¡¯s already lost. Most likely that group of men will be as well.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Owen spoke out softly, enough for only Rauf beside him to hear. Rauf responded with a nod. He was curious about the sins, even if they didn¡¯t affect him up till this point most people have only met Ferals. They had yet to meet other Sinners. Boom! The short fat man was launched back, although the group of men were stunned one of the short man¡¯s friends responded the moment the short fat man was knocked back. The group of men rushed over to the fat short man and looked at his injuries. Many of his ribs were broken and blood was leaking through his nose. Their rage manifested within their eyes as they slowly turned crimson. With the help of the Essence increasing their desires and affecting their emotions, the group of men weren¡¯t able to hold back their anger. They roared with cursing at the frail man. At this point the frail man turned and directed his increasing anger towards the group of men. ¡°That bastard dared to touch me. He got what he deserved don¡¯t you think?¡± His eyes were already bloodshot red and just then another symbol appeared on his forearm. This time it was in the form of a bear. As for the group of men they couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°You were just a slave how dare you hurt one of my men!¡± The more elegant of the men stepped forward and raged at the frail man. The elegant man¡¯s eyes also turned red. Although they were his subordinates, they were closer than blood. As such all their eyes followed their leaders turning red. Tattoos appeared on each and everyone one of their arms. They had lost all reason, and now they had lost their minds as they felt the rage explode. But the moment their tattoos appeared it wasn¡¯t each other that they directed their rage towards it was in fact to the nearest Pathwalkers. At this moment mayhem had already erupted in the entire hall. Although the frail man¡¯s lust was the first thing to happen. Some time still passed after the fight between him and the group had happened and during this time many of the other Pathwalkers had tattoos of pigs, cows, bears and dogs appear around. Slaves were envious of nobles from their lifetime of slavery. Nobles were prideful and contained lust that knew no bounds. The fat crazily ate all the food in front of them. Slaves started to attack nobles while they were caressing the bodies of the Keepers. Fights broke out left and right and Owen and Rauf frowned as they started to back away in hopes that they wouldn¡¯t get involved. Chapter 36 ¡°Hmm so your disciple knows my disciple lil snake?¡± ¡°Lord Sun-dragon, please do not call me that. I have already been a god for millions of years.¡± The Rebirth Snake started to pout while her wrinkled skin created more ridges. It was not an attractive sight, but one could tell that this old lady had some liveliness to herself. Kovinth cringed seeing that pout and no longer cared about whether Owen knew Rauf or not. ------------------ As Owen, Rauf and some dozens of Pathwalker backed off and defended themselves against the attacks of the Ferals. At this moment Iohanne stopped dancing and nodded, and whispered in the air. ¡°Alesia you can stop now.¡± ¡°Yes sister.¡± Alesia who was on the third floor with all the other Keepers, stood shoulder width apart and clapped her palms together. The palms met perfectly flat and caused the vibration of the clap to echo throughout the entire building. As it reached the first floor, the sudden Keepers who were attending to the Pathwalkers disappeared! Owen could only see the white Keepers disappear and he was startled. He thought he could see things others could not but it was clear that the Blind Motion technique was either too weak, or something like these illusions could not be seen through at all! Rauf was also surprised at the sudden change. While he knew gods could teleport, he knew that Keepers could not. So the sudden disappearance of these Keepers definitely meant they weren¡¯t real to begin with! Now that the illusions all disappeared Iohanne stepped forward no longer showing any hint of a seductress but a warrior would could slice the head of off anyone. Then as she gazed upon the few hundred left over she nodded and spoke. ¡°Now then, for those of you who have yet to Sin. Remove those that are here. You don¡¯t have to worry about killing those who are sinned.¡± Iohanne spoke coldly and didn¡¯t wait for anyone¡¯s retort but she could hear screams at her back as she walked away. ¡°That¡¯s my brother! How can I kill him!??!¡± ¡°My wife? Kill her? Are you mad?!¡± But no matter how much they screamed at Iohanne she never made effort to turn around as she disappeared behind the curtains. On the other hand Owen started to fidget through his robe and he looked for something. He knew that it would soon turn into a bloodfest, and although he didn¡¯t have any qualms in killing people he still wanted to avoid the situation somehow. Owen wasn¡¯t sure if there was some way to remove the tattoos, nor was he naive enough to not fight because he couldn¡¯t save someone. But if there was a chance, why not try it. With this Owen could only think of one thing that could turn this situation around. It wouldn¡¯t fix everything, it was just a starting point. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Rauf was watching Owen fidget around and wore a look of confusion and curiosity at the same time, but when he saw the object that Owen pulled out he couldn¡¯t help but yell out. ¡°What the hell do you plan on doing with a rock?!¡± Owen opened his mouth and stepped back a little showing his most offended face possible. ¡°How rude! This is the Little Light Rock you know.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s the that giant rock that split the world. What the hell are you doing with a smooth rock that I could even wipe with?¡± ¡°Haha I knew it, you truly are interesting.¡± Owen chuckled at the ridiculous words that Rauf spoke out. But he didn¡¯t continue to argue as time was too important for him. He only pulled his arm back and thought to himself. ¡®Well this much should be enough.¡¯ Then he whipped the rock with about 70% of his strength, towards the center of the room that was vacant of people. -------------------- Meanwhile Osena was glaring at Kovinth with a huge death glare. Although it would be a death glare to anyone else, it was as harmless as a kitten towards the target Kovinth. She blurted out unhappily to him. ¡°Is that what I think it is. You¡­ You need to give him a World-class item? Are you crazy?¡± Kovinth looked the ceiling, then the floor, stared at a dust bunny that miraculously appeared at this moment. Osena shrugged and spoke again. ¡°Does he at least know what that thing is?¡± Kovinth stopped paying attention to the dust bunny and stared seriously at Osena. ¡°Yeah, he destroyed my entire home because he didn¡¯t want it. So he chucked it away.¡± ------------------- The rock flew in the air, although it was thrown heavily, it still had the faintest bit of a parabola as it reached just centimeters away from the ground. But the moment it started getting infinitely close, the ground seeming to run away as it started to disperse outwards. As the rock flew closer, the crater continued to spread open until¡­ BOOM! A massive explosion erupted, the sound was heard first, but the Pathwalkers soon felt the wind pressure blow them straight into the walls of the hall. Even Owen was not saved by the power of his own rock. Rauf was even more surprised as he was unfortunate enough to slam face first into the wall. Chapter 37 -One week earlier ¡°Hey Owen come here.¡± ¡°Master?¡± Owen gave a perplex expression towards his master. Although Kovinth called him out many times, Owen could his the trace of reluctance in Kovinth¡¯s voice. He wasn¡¯t sure what was happened, so he quickly walked over to him. ¡°I have something for you.¡± Owen felt some excitement to Kovinth¡¯s words and smiled lightly. Kovinth fished out a smooth thumb sized rock and placed it in Owen¡¯s hand. Maybe it was because he was reluctant he didn¡¯t explain anything and only gave a smug look as he had done the best deed in his entire life. Owen on the other hand was flabbergasted, and definitely thought his Master was getting revenge for the ¡®husband¡¯ incident. So without much thought Owen casually threw the rock away. Seeing this, Kovinth¡¯s smug looked turned into despair and he immediately screamed and felt his time sped up many times over. ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!¡± Kovinth rushed to grab the rock but it was too late. When he wore a smug look he closed his eyes not daring to see Owen¡¯s excited expression, but he didn¡¯t know what Owen was thinking and all these coincidences led to the worst result possible. Just as the rock approached the infinitely close to the ground it suddenly froze in air. While Kovinth was still screaming, a giant 20 meter crater was instantly created underneath the rock, and the rock sped as fast as light towards the ground repeating the same process once again. This happened many times over before Kovinth was even able to approach the rock and the shockwave was finally felt. Kovinth was shot backwards so fast that Owen just saw a blur past his eyes. Even before Owen heard the sound of Kovinth crashing he too was blasted away in the same direction after Kovinth. Boom! Boom! Two loud crashes one after another as Kovinth made a human sized sized crater into the wall and Owen slammed straight into Kovinth, which surprisingly hit him to so hard that Kovinth had the wind knocked out of him. On the other hand Owen¡¯s bones were arms and legs were crushed as he protected himself in a fetal position that shot towards Kovinth like a cannonball. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. -------------------- ¡°My home!¡± Kovinth screamed when he saw the result of the rock. He wanted to glare at Owen so badly. But he couldn¡¯t, as he knew he was partially to blame for not explaining. He knew that Owen wasn¡¯t the type to be ungrateful so he never expected his result, but he soon figured out Owen¡¯s train of thought and this led to a massive misunderstanding. Kovinth didn¡¯t worry any longer, he had already shoved a pill down the unconscious Owen¡¯s throat. -------------------- Owen was reminiscing about his first encounter with the Little Light Rock. He was later told that the lighter he threw the rock the more destructive he was. He was also warned repeatedly under no circumstances was he to drop the rock without any force. Kovinth didn¡¯t explain what would happen but from the cringe, Owen could take a wild guess as to what would happen. As Owen was being blasted backwards he nodded happily. ¡®Hmm, this time it went a lot better.¡¯ Boom! He crashed into the wall and was knocked unconscious. He wasn¡¯t nearly hurt as he was before, only some bruises and cuts here and there, but he wasn¡¯t the only victim to the Little Light Rock as every other Pathwalker and Sinners alike were slammed into the walls. The Sinners had it the worst because the Pathwalkers were already moving to the outer edges of the hall. But the Gluttons, and the Lusters were close to the center were hit the hardest and fastest to the wall. The Ferals were somewhere in the middle but even with their strengthened bodies they were knocked unconscious as well. Soon the dust settled and there were thousands of human craters in the walls, none of them were dead, but some were unlucky enough to have their heads trapped inside the walls. The White Tiger looked in shock towards Kovinth, he had heard the conversation between the Lunar Wolf and Sun Dragon but he had no idea that the item was going to make a result like this! The Rebirth Snake shrugged as if it didn¡¯t matter to her. Osena rubbed her temples in an adorable manner choosing to not care anymore. Kovinth on the other hand felt some glee as he thought to himself. ¡®Well at least it wasn¡¯t just my home that got destroyed.¡¯ Chapter 38 The White Tiger knew it wasn¡¯t the time to ask questions and roared at all of the stunned Keepers to get into action. ¡°What are you fools doing make sure they get treatment! Throw any Ferals into the boundary, any of the other sinners that don¡¯t revert can be throw into the Sinner¡¯s Cage.¡± ¡°Yes Lord.¡± The Keepers bowed and all answered at the same time, after they responded they turned into blurs quickly rushing to the nearest Pathwalker. Pulling their heads out of the walls or force feeding them pills to heal their injuries. The Ferals were grabbed by the dozens as the Keepers immediately left the Pavilion with them, soon throwing them into the Boundary. Alesia and Iohanne were some of the highest in the hierarchy of the Keepers so they didn¡¯t move. They had already down their parts in the first test, but even still they both rushed to Owen¡¯s side and gave a complicated look towards Owen, who at this moment was smiling while unconscious. ¡°He definitely did it on purpose.¡± Iohanne said seriously. On the other hand Alesia laughed coquettishly as she held her stomach. ¡°Truly he is an interesting one. Let¡¯s help him sister.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Iohanne rolled her eyes at her sister¡¯s remark but she didn¡¯t argue and helped him out of the crater he made. Iohanne was about to put a pill into his mouth when someone appeared out of thin air. As the two sisters turned to face the appearance of Kovinth they bowed and wore expressions of admiration. ¡°Lord Sun Dragon.¡± They bowed slightly. Kovinth didn¡¯t bother with formalities and quickly asked with a hint of worry in his voice. ¡°Is he alright?¡± ¡°He has some slight bruises Lord.¡± Kovinth nodded happily and then grabbed a pill about to put it into Owen¡¯s mouth when another person appeared. Kovinth suddenly feeling a chill behind his back stopped and slowly with huge amounts of reluctance turned. There he saw Osena, smiling happily at him. ¡®That is a terrifying smile. And I don¡¯t even know what I did, that¡¯s what''s even more scary.¡¯ Kovinth thought to himself as he looked at Osena¡¯s current ice cold eyes. She then spoke to him telepathically. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to spoil your disciple, but it¡¯s another to help him in the Pavilion by giving him a pill like that. I¡¯ll let the Little Light Rock pass as technically it isn¡¯t a weapon nor is it a defensive artifact. But this is as far as it goes. Don¡¯t forget that we must follow rules even with our disciples.¡¯ Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Osena gave him a serious look. There was no longer the look of love she usually held, but the look of a woman diligently doing her job. Although she acted differently around Owen and Kovinth she was still the Overseer of this planet¡¯s Pathwalkers. Her duty was still the top priority even over matters of love. Kovinth sighed as he nodded. Even he thought it was a bit overkill to give a pill of this quality to Owen for such light injuries. But what could he do he didn¡¯t have those pathetic pills that the Pavilions gave, it was also his only disciple worry flashed through his eyes every time he was hurt. He was afterall the god who couldn¡¯t even remember how to save a drowned person because he was so flustered At this moment two more people appeared behind Osena. The Rebirth Snake slowly walked towards Rauf as she grabbed him forcefully pulling him out in one fell swoop. Alesia and Iohanne shivered at how painful that would be for a regular Pathwalker, Osena ignored it and her eyes had already turned lovestruck again, Kovinth was still looking worryingly to Owen and lastly the White Tiger was crying to himself not only because he was completely ignored, but because the hall was completely destroyed. ------------------------------- ¡°...... I feel like I¡¯m getting too used to waking up after being unconscious¡­.¡± Owen muttered as he casually sat up as if it was a normal everyday occurrence. When he woke up he was greeted with a sweet voice. ¡°Ah, good morning do you remember me?¡± ¡°How could I forget your voice Lady Alesia.¡± Owen bowed slightly to Alesia after hearing her sweet voice again. He never felt bad even before he found out that Alesia done it because of Kovinth¡¯s order. In fact the main reason why Alesia came was to apologize. She felt bad and was hoping she didn¡¯t affect his heart at all. But seeing that his expression didn¡¯t even twitch she felt better. ¡°Well, you seem fine, you¡¯re one of the first who woke up, I¡¯ll take you to the dining room so you can eat. Your friend should be there as well,¡± ¡°Really? Well I¡¯ll have to trouble you then Lady Alesia.¡± Alesia giggled at how respectful Owen was to her as she turned and started to walk away. As she did she slightly turned her head just so she could see Owen in her peripherals and spoke. ¡°Please call me Alesia, as we are already fellow Pathwalkers.¡± ¡°Then I shall thank you Alesia.¡± Alesia nodded happily and gave a light skip as she started to show Owen the way to the dining room. Chapter 39 IDK there might be more tonight, but I''m taking a break for now.................... ----- As Owen entered the room, he was bombarded by the fresh new smell of eggs, of sizzling bacon and numerous other foods. He didn¡¯t eat at the banquet because he felt something was off but now, he felt nothing was amiss as he slowly walked, holding himself back from speeding, after Alesia. After walking by a few more tables Owen¡¯s mouth was starting to water as he could taste the food from his smell alone. When Alesia finally stopped at a certain table there was one other person there. When that person looked up, he spat out all of his food and jumped at Owen. ¡°You bastard! You devil incarnate! You¡­ You.. Waaaaaaaaaah!¡± Owen at first was confused, this high pitched boy''s voice wasn¡¯t someone he knew. But as he started remember a certain friend who got younger after healing he couldn¡¯t help but feeling sorry for Rauf. Partially because Rauf was holding onto Owen by his robes but Rauf was already half the size of Owen and only looked like a child throwing a tantrum. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t know any other way to solve the problem¡­¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t warn me?!¡± Rauf spat more food that stained Owen¡¯s robe. ¡®Actually, I could have done that.¡¯ Owen thought but didn¡¯t dare to reply he was after all guilty of causing Rauf to turn even younger, but before. But the the flip side he suddenly remembered a question he wanted to ask and face towards Alesia. ¡°What happened to all the Sinners?¡± Alesia slightly smirked while looking down muttering to herself softly. ¡°I knew you did it to help them¡­¡± Maybe it was because Alesia didn¡¯t know that Owen¡¯s hearing was already way above anyone he already knew, or that she was just happy that Owen didn¡¯t do it for selfish reasons, but Owen didn¡¯t make a comment about and waited for her to speak on her own. A split second afterwards she lifted her head and nodded. ¡°The Ferals aren¡¯t able to be changed back because it is known as the Sin of no return. All of the other sins will eventually be punished by the Lightning of Sloth, however luckily because their desires were stimulated, and that it was only for a short time, their tattoos disappeared for the others.¡± Owen sighed in relief. He did it cause he could. Not because he was righteous not because he felt he would get rewarded, but because it was something could do. If something was possible with one¡¯s own power then they should do it. This was Owen¡¯s belief and he only acted upon this belief. Luckily it ended up saving many people from becoming Sinners. As he was feeling relieved Alesia continued to speak. At this time Owen and Alesia were ignoring Rauf who was using Owen¡¯s robe to wipe the snot from his running nose. ¡°They only slightly lost Essence that was gathered in their bodies, but the loss didn¡¯t damage any of their Paths at all. You could say that your destruction caused a miracle.¡± Alesia smiled as she started to walk away. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well anyways, rest well the tests will start back up tomorrow.¡± Owen bowed still facing towards the departing Alesia he unconsciously started to pat the head of Rauf who was wiping his snot still. Feeling the sudden pat Rauf twitched and spoke with a slight hint of anger. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing..¡± ¡°Oh.. sorry I just did it on impulse.¡± Owen immediately stopped but before Owen could back away Rauf spoke again. ¡°You idiot, I happen to like my scalp scratched you can be forgiven if you scratch it for a bit.¡± ¡®Huh?¡¯ Owen stood there shocked, as he didn¡¯t know how to react. But then suddenly Rauf started to burst into laughter as he spoke. ¡°Haha! So you can be shocked to this degree as well.¡± Owen shrugged and didn¡¯t bother with more words as he sat down and grabbed onto the food chewing it perfectly 20 times them swallowing. ¡°Excuse me.¡± A elderly man walked up towards Owen¡¯s table and called out while bowing slightly. Seeing someone greet him, Owen swallowed the food that was in his mouth, even it if wasn¡¯t chewed 20 times he was being greeted, he didn¡¯t want to seem rude and make the man wait. As he swallowed he returned a bow towards the man. ¡°How may I help you?¡± Owen asked calmly. He actually wasn¡¯t sure what the man wanted so he could only curiously ask respectfully. The old man waved his hands frantically that didn¡¯t match his age. ¡°Oh, you already helped me greatly. I¡¯m actually here to thank you. If it wasn¡¯t for you I would have become a Sinner.¡± Hearing this Owen was surprised, he wasn¡¯t expected anyone to know he was the one who threw the rock after all the entire situation was a disaster who would pay attention to him who was on the outside and only threw an object that most people wouldn¡¯t have even seen? He had already felt that the Little Light Rock was returned to his pocket so never thought people would link him to the event. Apparently someone had leaked out the information but who could it be? ¡°Rauf.¡± ¡°Yeah I did it. I was angry okay? Can you blame me? Look at¡­ I. can¡¯t. Relieve. This. stess!¡± Rauf started to stomp away as he realized that the person who turned him into an even younger form couldn¡¯t even see the implications of his actions. There was nothing worse than that because he couldn¡¯t get any sympathy from Owen! Just when Rauf thought he was feeling better, he was put straight back into a bad mood so he left the dining room right after. However the old man¡¯s words caused a sudden commotion as it seemed until not everyone was hesitant to walk over. But seeing that Owen was much more approachable than they thought, they rushed over to give their thanks as well. Even a few of the Pathwalkers who didn¡¯t change over thanked them for saving their friend, or their family member. Owen was bombarded by gestures of appreciation and thanks for the remainder of the morning Chapter 40 After Owen finally managed to greet every individual who came to thank him, he was suddenly so exhausted he just wanted to see and it was only just after the sun reached its highest peak. But luckily everyone who wished to get to know Owen better seemed to noticed that he was getting tired. All of the Pathwalkers, found that Owen was too respectful to deny any of their conversations so they decided to slowly back off on their own. Although Owen didn¡¯t greet everyone as some people were definitely not impressed with his method, because they were the ones who didn¡¯t become Sinners to begin with. However, it didn¡¯t change that Owen managed to successfully save the majority of the people with a result that only came with a few bruises and broken bones. After receiving pills from the Pavilion it was hard not to heal after one days time. Even if they didn¡¯t the Pathwalkers would be sore at more. With this reasoning alone it became hard to hate Owen for his actions. With that Owen finally left the dining room, he wanted to somehow apologize to Rauf for making him younger. ------------------ ¡°Ah¡­¡­ so now what?¡± Kovinth hinted that none of this was any of his concern. While it was true that the White Tiger was the one in charge, it was because of Kovinth¡¯s disciple that everything became such a mess. This left a bitter taste in the White Tiger¡¯s mouth but he didn¡¯t dare to try and wash it away. If he said anything, although the Sun Dragon, was usually calm his mood swings were something known throughout the universe. On the other hand stood his superiors who was in love with the Sun Dragon as well. The Lunar Wolf¡¯s chasing was also known throughout the universe. Thinking about the two complications together the White Tiger started to rub his temples relentlessly. On the other hand the Rebirth snake was smiling, as she continued to remember how interesting the situation made for his lazy disciple. Naturally the younger Rauf continued to get the more serious he would get about training diligently. Most Pathwalkers would think of this as a major problem to get continuously younger. However this didn¡¯t apply to those who trained the way of the Shedding Skin Rebirth technique. Right now, Rauf was on his final shedding stage. When he shedded once more he would move from Low Opal to Intermediate Opal. There were many strange Path techniques out there but it could be said that the Shedding Skin Rebirth was one of the most strange. One would get younger and continuously get weaker as they got younger. But upon reaching the youngest stage they would get an explosive boost in power returning to their original body. Only Rauf didn¡¯t know about this. The Rebirth Snake didn¡¯t wish to tell him because if he found out on his own, he would fix his own ways himself. As the Rebirth Snake naturally knew about Rauf¡¯s personality she didn¡¯t try and encourage him at all. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Meanwhile Osena, was trying to feed Kovinth with a fork stabbed into a piece of meat. Kovinth wanted to deny it, but it was meat. Meat for a dragon was irresistible and because of this one fact alone he moved so fast, chomping on the piece of meat and returned to his previous position, pretending nothing happened. He would even make a slightly shocked face at the disappearance of the meat and shrug. Osena delighted, would grab another piece of meat and repeat. This type of joy she could endlessly repeat. ¡®You ask what we are going to do. Then you all ignore the problem only because you want me to deal with it.¡¯ The White tiger inwardly cursed with nowhere to relieve this stress he could only yell at a few subordinates to come over. Iohanne and Alesia then walked over hearing the calls of their Lord. ¡°We Greet the Lords.¡± Iohanne spoke then bowed at the same time as Alesia. The White Tiger only nodded while the others were too busy in their own worlds. The White Tiger then spoke out loudly. ¡°Prepare the Wave Lake.¡± Although everyone in the room was momentarily shocked, thinking of the previous results of the Desire test, it could only move to the Test of Will. Although this test was usually further down the line it definitely had the highest drop rate out of the tests. But maybe it was because Kovinth and the Rebirth Snake had full confidence in their disciples their shock soon turned to shrugs. Alesia and Iohanne nodded, even if they were shocked as well they were only the Keepers. They would follow orders even at the cost of their lives, after all when one becomes a Keeper, to gain something they must give something up. ------------------------- Later Owen found Rauf kicking a trunk of a tree that was surprisingly inside the Pavilion. Although the outside didn¡¯t look very large, it was in fact many times larger inside. It was something Owen wanted to ponder about for awhile but he was too busy with the sudden non-stop developments. After Owen calmed Rauf down by patting the tree again to make him feel guilty, they started to talk about pointless stuff and what they thought the next test was going to be. During this, although Rauf and Owen, had no idea there was a figure watching them. But this figure was transparent and only if one looked very carefully would they be able to tell there was a distortion in the space. This figure continued to watch over Rauf and Owen with curiosity. Chapter 41 For those of you who are having troubles viewing chapters let me know in the comments. I don''t know what''s going on either so I will try my best to make sure that chapters are fixed ----- The next day everyone had already fully recovered and gathered in the entrance hallway. In a group were all the Pathwalkers. Some were chatting quietly others were nervously looking around hoping nothing like yesterday would happen again. The nobles who survive lost their arrogant looks, seemingly understanding that it would be the end of them. The once slaves withdrew their rage and decided to move forward. The fat were rubbing their stomachs, wanting to eat but they remembered the feeling of never satisfying their hunger yesterday and immediately forgot about their hunger and looked to the front. At the front were rows of Keepers standing like unmovable bricks. They were orderly fashioned unlike the mob of Pathwalkers. At the front were Alesia, Iohanne and a single male. His hair was was white and had a similar look to the White Tiger Lord. Even while being the top three of all the Keepers they weren¡¯t looking around and were just a still as the rest. At that moment a door suddenly opened. Walking out from the doorway was the White Tiger Lord. His shirtless appearance allowed all of the Pathwalkers to see his bulky body. Not a singly muscle wasn¡¯t bulging and the veins were looking to explode from within. His hair fell on on his shoulders and continued to flow down his back. His expressionless face was intimidating and the worst was when he made eye contact with a few of the PAthwalkers. They immediately fell down on one knee with a single glance. It was like a sovereign looking over his subjects. But the White Tiger didn¡¯t redraw his Aura and only continued to look around at the Pathwalkers, but the Pathwalkers avoided eye contact seeing their fellow friends fall down. ¡°The other day can be said to be your blessing. Many of you should have either died, or would die in the future from the Lightning of Sloth. However, your luck was immense and because of the actions of one person you all managed to pass that test.¡± Everyone looked towards Owen, but Owen used his blindness to his advantage and pretended to not know that anyone was looking towards him. It was no secret that he was blind and seeing that he didn¡¯t react everyone face the White Tiger once again. The White Tiger on the other hand wanted to curse out loudly and tell everyone that even though Owen was blind he could clearly tell everyone was looking at him, but he didn¡¯t and spoke up once again. ¡°That was your luck. I have no right to take it away from you. However I do have the right to give you an even harder test. This can be said to be the test that fails the most candidates. You won¡¯t become Sinners. Instead failure will simply lead to death. Now is your choice. Remain or leave. The doors to my Pavilion will always be open to those who wish to test themselves.¡± After that the White Tiger left from where he came not paying attention to the sudden burst of whispers among the Pathwalkers. He didn¡¯t care if people survived, as living was up to them and them alone. To be a Pathwalker they must make their own decisions and choose the place they will die. This was a path they would walk by themselves. Whether that path led to a cliff, was something only that person would know. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.The chatter became louder as people tried to compete with talking over the others, some were deeply worried for their lives. Others like Owen, and Rauf didn¡¯t even flinch. They already prepared themselves a long time ago. They wouldn¡¯t back out in the face of death now. At this moment the man that looked similar to the White Tiger roared out causing all the Pathwalkers to become silent. ¡°Listen up! Those who wish to continue walking, follow me. The others will stay here and listen too Alesia and Iohanne. Let¡¯s move.¡± The young looking version of the White Tiger looked as if he didn¡¯t like talking much as his sentences were concise and contained a few awkward pauses, but none the less he continued to do his work diligently as he walked left of the Pathwalkers to another door. The majority of the Pathwalkers followed, they were little minnows in a big ocean that didn¡¯t know the meaning of fear. Some would regret their decision while others even if they died would smile at the end. -------------- After walking through the doorway Owen was met with a large room. This room was actually closer to looked like a new world, as he noticed that there were three colours. There was naturally the green, however this was the green of trees and the huge amount of grass and land that covered the area. On the other hand there was a sky inside the building that was completely red. Finally in the middle existed was a large lake. It could easily be over a kilometer in diameter, but Owen was more surprised to see a giant pillar of ice in the middle. He wasn¡¯t sure as to what this ice pillar was but he could see the heavy blue colour wrapped around it. Like Owen everyone''s attention was focused on the giant ice pillar in the middle of the lake. They could feel the Essence coming from the Ice pillar and they wanted nothing more than to use that to channel more Essence from. After all not everyone was like Owen who breathed in Essence at a constant rate. The young White Tiger then stood in front of the lake and gave a loud explanation. ¡°For now, let me introduce myself. I am Balan. To pass this test you need only to arrive at the ice pillar in the middle. But I will give you one warning. This is the Wave Lake, and it will test your willpower. Struggle hard fellow Pathwalkers.¡± As Balan stopped speaking he turned around and sat facing the ice pillar not paying attention to what the others did. Knowing fully well that he had no intentions everyone started to spread out along the lake shore. Everyone was hesitant to make the first move into the lake, but Owen wasn''t. He was slower than the rest arriving to the lake shore, only because he was calming walking with steps of perfect distance each time. Rauf walked beside Owen, but his steps were clumsy as he was until getting used to his smaller body. When the two of the stepped into the lake, that was the start of the test. Chapter 42 Welcome new and old, I kinda dislike being in the top 5 for views, as it means that all the people with overpowered opinions come in. All I can say is take care of me. Although its not perfect I am trying my best. Thank you in advance. -------------- As Owen stepped into the water everyone else started to follow suit. One by one people started to take off their robes and heavier clothing or weapons. Owen and Rauf had already removed their short sword and snake sword respectively. Their outer robes were also taken off leaving only a thin shirt and their pants left. Although these would cause them to be slightly heavier in the water, without knowing what was inside the lake they didn¡¯t wish to take their clothes fully off. Although the woman were also taking off their clothes, the men only gave slight glances or looked from the corner of their eyes. They enjoyed the idea of stripping women, but after the previous days occurrences they were more afraid for their lives. However this was truthfully the wrong way to approach it. The sins didn¡¯t exist to prevent Pathwalkers from having desires it was to purify their bodies and souls. Only by purifying one¡¯s self could they eventually reach the top. Not only was it too early for these beginner Pathwalkers to know this, they were already afraid of any slight repercussions from the sins. Rauf faced towards Owen and spoke silently so only Owen could hear. ¡°What do you think is going to happen? I know that that Keeper said that this is the Wave Lake, but they can¡¯t seriously think a few waves would hinder us do they?¡± Owen brought his finger to his chin, thinking about the situation clearly. The words from Balan truly weren¡¯t clear enough to make a definite guess but one could infer that the waves would simply be scarier than they could imagine. As the Pathwalkers continued to walk in the water had already reached their waists. The ice pillar until now hadn¡¯t moved but now that the water was deep enough and everyone was 10 meters inside the lake running away wouldn¡¯t be easy but it wasn¡¯t far enough to say it was difficult either. ¡®Looks like it is about to start.¡¯ Owen thought to himself. As he saw through the Blind Motion technique he noticed that the water around the ice pillar was turning increasingly darker blue. In a perfect circle it was starting to spread out towards the outside. Not only was the Essence similar to a ripple effect even the water itself started to ripple. ¡°Look! The water is starting to ripple.¡± One man called out excitedly. This man was impatient and already moved 15 meters inside the lake where everyone else stopped at 10 or were only moving ever so slowly inwards. The distance they had to cover was 500 meters to the center, if they rushed there was no telling what could happen. As the ripple finally reached the man his face suddenly paled, the once previous water started to turn into ice fragments onto his body. Owen watched as the dark blue Essence crawl up that man¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t noticeable at first but the ice fragments turned larger and started to join with other other water droplets. Because liquid would cover a larger area when the ice was being formed it was instead shrinking, but at the same time it was shrinking it was freezing the skin of the man causing his skin to rip as it was stretched along with the shrinking of the ice. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Ah!¡± The man screamed, no one else was affected by the ice and it seemed at the 10 meter point was when the ripples effects would dissipate. All the Pathwalkers turned to face the man they were bewildered at the ice fragments. Owen on the other hand only frowned. ¡®Clearly this isn¡¯t going to be as easy as we thought.¡¯ Although Owen felt this would be incredibly difficult he couldn¡¯t stop here. He concentrated and allowed the Essence in his body to flow outwards and create a thin shell around his body. Rauf noticed what Owen was doing and although he didn¡¯t know as much as Owen, he was smart enough to be able to tell that Owen figured something out. Likewise other Pathwalkers followed suit only slightly slower than Rauf¡¯s reaction. Balan who was watching the scene let out a ¡®ho¡¯ as he inwardly thought to himself. ¡®Truly that boy might be too smart for his own good. Because everyone follows his actions, less people are harmed in the long run. The most terrifying part is that boy doesn''t even realize people are looking towards him.¡¯ This was true, although Owen could see the impure colours of the Pathwalkers, and he could rely on sound, it stopped at a point. If someone only looked at him from afar or gazed at him without turning their heads he wouldn¡¯t know anything. Now that Owen had some sort of protection towards the light rippling effect, he made his first step past the 10 meter point. The ice pillar reacted and the Essence gathered within the water started to ripple outwards once again. Owen thinking it was going to be the same strength frowned as he noticed the Essence gathered this time was much stronger. ¡®Looks like the first ripple is just a warning.¡¯ Owen gathered more Essence within his body. The amount of Essence available for usage depended entirely on one¡¯s control of it. If the Pathwalkers wanted to block more Essence they needs to have a finer control of it. Although there was still limits to this, only Opal stage Pathwalkers would be able to block others. Their body strength didn¡¯t play a part in their control of Essence, but the purity of the Essence did. This was why no matter what an Opal stage would never be able to block a higher ranked stage. Within a few moments the ripple finally struck the bodies of the Pathwalkers. Chapter 43 ¡°How the fuck can water get this cold? My little Raufy is shriveling up here!¡± Owen didn¡¯t pay attention to Rauf¡¯s vulgar statement. Although he did end up thinking that Rauf should start to act his age according to his appearance. How many poor children would cry upon trying to befriend him? This was a matter for another time though as Owen was trying to comprehend how the cold ripple was affecting his Essence shield. As the ripple collided with the shield he noticed a few things. One was that regardless the lake¡¯s temperature was falling. At this point it was already below freezing point and if it wasn¡¯t for the massive amount of water in this lake it would more than likely freeze instantly. The point was the Essence was only contained in the actual single ripple itself. Although Owen could still feel the fluctuations of the water underneath, only the original ripple contained any Ice Essence. The last thing was that this ripple was not actually very strong, but that was only assuming that the ripple¡¯s size didn¡¯t affect the amount of Essence contained within. If it came to the point where a bigger wave would hit then naturally the amount of Essence it brings with it would increase as well. None of these were major problems at the moment. It wasn¡¯t just him that thought so as none of the Pathwalkers were affected by the ice Essence. No ice fragments appeared on their bodies because they were already protecting their bodies with a shield. But that didn¡¯t last long as another person felt that it was necessary to gain advantage after learning the secret, and the moment he crossed the 20 meter range from the lake shore the ice pillar started to gather Essence again. Owen watched at the dark blue Essence started to flood into the lake and ripple outwards. This ripple wasn¡¯t much bigger, but it was still definitely stronger than the previous one. Owen came to the conclusion that from now on a ripple would appear every time someone crossed 10 meters. As Owen wanted to gain more information and others weren¡¯t going to move if Owen didn¡¯t they all stood there watching what would happen to the next guinea pig. The ripple landed on the man, and at first it seemed nothing happened but suddenly the man started screaming for what looked like no reason at all. ¡°Aaah!¡± As the man screamed he dived into the water disappearing from the sight of everyone, except from Owen¡¯s vision. Although the water wasn¡¯t murky it was still hard to see from their angles. But for Owen he was able to see the different types of Essence, and he could see that on the man¡¯s legs were frozen stiff to the floor. It wasn¡¯t a large change, but it was definitely surprising. The ice fragments were much larger than the first man and were growing exceptionally fast. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Even though that man had ice fragments appear he was able to retreat backwards. Even though some were reluctant to already continue, Owen couldn¡¯t stop here and moved forward. This time after reaching the 20 meter mark no one stopped and they all reached the 30 meter mark. Preparing themselves from the next ripple that was visible on the water''s surface. They prepared themselves as ripple smashed into their shields. All of the Pathwalkers looked fine until a woman near Owen who had entered before him screamed in pain. She then immediately retreated after ripped off the ice fragments that left her skin red. ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡± Rauf spoke up before Owen had finished watching. Owen frowned at this and nodded his head. Rauf himself knew that Owen had secrets, that was the same for him, naturally they both knew what it meant to continue moving forward meant. ¡°So the first person receives the most Ice Essence.¡± Owen calmly spoke after piecing all the information. This was what Rauf¡¯s conclusion was as well. Although it might be too early to say, after seeing that the first wave was incredibly weak but still strong enough to affect that man, and now the other man was starting to freeze as well even while protecting himself. Furthermore the problem was that the power was exceptionally larger than the 10 and 20 meter one. Although it would still increase there should be no reason it increased this much. ¡°So, should we rock paper scissors who goes first? Naturally you have to pick rock because you threw rock last time. Ha¡­. get it? Cause you have a rock¡­. Okay fine don¡¯t laugh jeez you¡¯re too calm even in this situation.¡± Rauf threw his head away in disappointment, folding his arms when he noticed that Owen only cracked a smile at his words. It was a serious moment but because it was serious Rauf needed some way to calm himself down. He wasn¡¯t like Owen who was calm regardless of the situation. However Rauf didn¡¯t expect that Owen would agree with his idea as Owen then yelled out. ¡°If everyone hasn¡¯t noticed already. The first person to reach the next 10 meter mark will be hit by the strongest amount of Essence in the ripple.¡± The Pathwalkers started to whisper among themselves when they heard this. Although they didn¡¯t figure out what Rauf and Owen had found out, they knew that at this moment Owen was telling them because he had some sort of idea. With this Owen faced forward. ¡°So why not take the chance and run at the same time and hope that we aren¡¯t the ones who entered first? Chapter 44 Rauf looked at Owen with a dumbstruck expression. Inwardly thinking that no one was stupid enough to follow such a gamble. Although there is thousands of people who wanted to play Noble roulette? As long as you were the last person to slash down on the count of zero you would keep your arm and your life. However if you were one of the unlucky ones that struck first, then you could say good bye to your limbs and life soon after. This expression didn¡¯t just include Rauf, it also included all of the Pathwalkers as well. Although Owen didn¡¯t know what facial expression they were wearing exactly he could take a guess. Owen was incredibly smart, he knew what people were thinking mostly. Except for Rauf there was no way he could imagine what Rauf was thinking and this was another reason why Owen liked Rauf so much. Anyways Owen didn¡¯t believe that anyone would even remotely agree with him, as they only had good intentions for him. Yes, Owen saved them but that only made the Pathwalkers like him. It didn¡¯t mean they would unconditionally follow him. The only reason they were following him in the pool was because they were sure he knew something. If one put together that the Little Light Rock managed to save everyone with the least amount of losses then one could imagine that Owen had some great thinking capabilities. But even still, everyone here wasn¡¯t an idiot. You couldn¡¯t live in a world like this without some sort of intelligence. Even if you were a slave, or a commoner. So how was Owen supposed to convince them? By proving that he wasn¡¯t going to use them. ¡°I know what all of you are thinking, and to unite ourselves so that we can pass this test with the least amount of issues, I¡¯ll even prove my sincerity.¡± ¡°Is he crazy?¡± People started to whisper loudly to themselves. On the other hand Rauf was thinking to himself silently. He would also agree if Owen didn¡¯t speak these last few words. It was easy to come up with a gamble idea. It was another thing entirely to convince people to commit to your idea with actions. ¡®Why is he¡­. No¡­ damn you¡¯re a terrifying man Owen¡¯ Rauf then realized exactly what Owen was planning on doing. But he didn¡¯t make a sound he only smiled and nodded. Just then Owen calmly walked forward. He didn¡¯t rush, as he knew no one would move after he spoke. Every step forward the water became colder. His toes dug into the wet sand on the bottom. Pieces of itty bitty rocks grinded back and forth through his toes. But Owen didn¡¯t care. He was resolved, as he took his final step past the next 10 meter mark. As he did, as if waiting for him, he saw the ice pillar condense the Essence. The ripple appeared soon after and Owen didn¡¯t move another step. He stood there unmoving waiting for the ripple to reach him. ¡®Pain? I don¡¯t think I will experience anything more painful than the Solar Eyes Essence. That was like ripping my heart out and replacing it.¡¯ Owen thought to himself. He was usually never afraid of pain but he shivered at the thought of reexperiencing the Solar eyes. But this ripple? From what Owen saw was that it only ripped off the layers of skin. This was also only the beginning but pain was still pain. As the ripple approached Owen started to lessen his Essence flow on his two arms. He wanted to show everyone where the ice fragments were appearing. He also wanted to keep his legs as intact as possible to continue walking. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. When the ripple arrived, Owen felt like he was hit by the Little Light Rocks shockwave. The only difference was that it felt like it and he wasn¡¯t launched away. It wasn¡¯t painful but it was an incredible amount of pressure. The ice Essence started to invade his body, but because there was already a weakened point, the Essence all rushed towards Owen¡¯s two arms. The ice fragments started to appear and all the Pathwalkers gasped in astonishment. ¡°He¡¯s really taking the first ripple! Does he want our trust that much?¡± A woman spoke out in admiration. It wasn¡¯t far off from everyone¡¯s opinion as well. After all Owen was taking the ripples effects right in front of them, just to get them to try the gamble with him. If this was admirable than what was? ¡°Hm¡­ It doesn¡¯t hurt as much as I thought, but to make it more believable I should at least scream right? But¡­. I don¡¯t know how to scream. Hmmm, this might be a problem. Well whatever it looks like Rauf has already caught on so I¡¯ll rely on him.¡¯ Owen was calmly thinking but realistically he was kind of worried. He had never screamed in his entire life, so he wasn¡¯t sure how to make something he hasn¡¯t down believable but nonetheless he inhaled and screamed, of course it was awkward and low pitched. ¡°Aahhh!¡± Rauf immediately rubbed his temples fully knowing that Owen¡¯s scream was the worst acting he had ever seen, but as his friend he was willing to play along. ¡°Look! See what Owen did for all of you?! Don¡¯t you feel ashamed? He saved 90% of you idiots and you can¡¯t even trust his gamble? How dare you!! Look at the pain he is in right now just to get your trust. Are you assholes ready to act yet? LET¡¯S GO!¡± Rauf started to run into deeper into the lake, as everyone was momentarily stunned by Rauf¡¯s lecture, they realized the sincerity behind Owen¡¯s actions even if the scream was weird he did in fact prove himself. With that, all of the Pathwalkers started to rush in towards the ice pillar. As the crowd moved, Owen had already at this point ripped off the ice fragments causing blood to leak down his arms but he didn¡¯t care. When Rauf reached Owen, under the water¡¯s surface they both pounded their fists together and Owen spoke. ¡°Nice follow.¡± ¡°Work on your screams and next time I won¡¯t have to work so hard!¡± Rauf retorted but underneath Owen¡¯s eyelids he rolled his eyes, and thought to himself. ¡®You worked hard? Do you see this blood?¡¯ But Owen still smiled and rushed off with Rauf. Chapter 45 Owen¡¯s plan went off without any problems. As the entire group rushed in together, besides the first person to enter no one else was bothered by the effects of the ripples. The Pathwalkers were all thinking how amazing Owen was to lead such a thing but on the other hand there were still a few people who were skeptical. However they didn¡¯t voice anything when they noticed that Owen and Rauf seemed to be in the lead every time they entered the next 10 metre mark. Only Rauf and Owen were able to tell that just at that moment they would slow down their speed just enough to not be first. The only person who was able to notice these actions was Balan. ¡®These two are quite sly. They knew that if people didn¡¯t unite it would be extremely difficult to reach the 500 meter mark. After all there was guaranteed to be around 50 people who would be knocked out. However they didn¡¯t take one thing into account. I would like to see what they have planned next.¡¯ Balan smirked as the group of Pathwalkers reached the 100 meter mark. This was the first triple digit point and also a 100 meter mark. Although Balan was right in that Owen didn¡¯t know what exactly would happen, he did at the very least think something was going to happen. However if he stopped now the effort he put in earlier would amount to nothing. The only thing he did was rub his arms lightly as if they were bothering him. Rauf catching on looked and fished out some herbs applying them to Owen¡¯s wounds. Even though all the Pathwalkers were rushing, they were still in waist deep level of water. The speed they could rush it was still only slightly slower than jogging. And this was only because of their increased body strengths from breaking into the Low Opal stage. When people saw that Owen was applying medicine to his wounds they never thought anything of it, it wasn¡¯t much for Owen to not be in the front when he had already been injured once. Thus many people passed the 100 meter mark before Rauf and Owen. However, there wasn¡¯t a slight ripple this time. Instead Owen watched as the ice pillar finally moved for the first time since entering the lake. As the ice pillar lifted itself up from the water, at the same time revealing a larger portion of ice underneath, it gathered massive amounts of ice Essence. As the Essence reached a peak the ice pillar no longer rose and fell down crashing into the lake below. Although it wasn¡¯t the entire body of the ice pillar it was still enough to cause waves to appear. As the now 1 meter high waves started to ripple down towards the Pathwalkers, they all started to wear a grim expression. They had no idea that the 100 meter mark would be such an immense change. And it wasn¡¯t like they could blame Owen either, because his idea was on the basis of already gained experiences. So the Pathwalkers did what they could only do, and gathered their Essence to block the oncoming wave. Owen on the other hand wasn¡¯t too worried, although it looked frightening it still was within reason. Naturally that was besides the first person that entered the 100 meter mark. This was where Rauf spat out the truth. ¡°Well that person is fucked.¡± Owen ignored Rauf¡¯s bluntness and casual watched as the blue colour crashed into them. The wave itself was quite strong only slightly stronger than the ripple that Owen felt by himself. So he held on, but for a few others they screamed out in pain. Owen looked towards the people who had blue Essence forming onto their bodies. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®...5¡­.9¡­. 14¡­. It would seem that the 100 meter mark hits the first 10 people. As for the other 4, they are simply unable to continue at this point. Hmm this might be harder than I thought.¡¯ Owen looked around as he saw the first 10 people struck, had the ice Essence continue to crawl over their bodies. It was no longer simply shrinking of the water droplets but the ice was spreading out instead. As the ice continued to spread the Pathwalkers screamed in pain. However it was too late for them as soon after they turned into ice sculptures. The remaining 4 were only slightly more injured than the previous ripples but they were still in no condition to continue even if they wanted too. With still over 1000 people it was easy to say that they had a lot of people. But if every time the ripples increased, and at the 100 meter mark would be a giant wave, than the rate at which people died or stopped moving forward would rise exponentially. But this didn¡¯t stop anyone. Their plan was already set and there was no need to change it now. As long as they were strong they would lose maximum 100 people excluding the ones who managed to keep going like Owen. Owen was inwardly impressed with all of the Pathwalker¡¯s resolve. Although he knew that he was manipulating it so he would never be hit again. The others did not, but even still people were dying and none of them were afraid. Maybe because it was confidence, maybe they liked to gamble, at this point it was hard to tell. But none the less the group easily crossed the next few 100 meter marks. They had already arrived to the 400 meter mark but this was the point at which everyone stopped. If one didn¡¯t include the ice pillar being the 500 meter mark, this was the last point at which there would be a giant wave. As they passed the 200, and 300 meter marks the amount of people lost was 20 and 30 respectively. They had all turned into ice sculptures without failure but there were still over 100 others that turned from being too weak as well. Now, all the Pathwalkers knew that death was the only result at the 100 meter mark points. As for the 10 meter, if one was strong enough and their control was precise, they could still survive. But they would be unable to continue in this test. Reluctantly those people could only return. However they were only reluctant and didn¡¯t have any bad feelings towards the rest after all it was a gamble, and they agreed to it. ¡°So what now. Although we got this far because of your plan. But it won¡¯t work now.¡± Owen¡¯s expression started to become serious as he looked around with his Blind Motion technique. ¡®Only now do I realize that everyone meant nothing compared to this last 100 meters.¡¯ Before Owen was too far and the concentration of Essence was too thick to see under the water where the ice pillar was. But as he got closer the pillar became easier to see. It was only now did he realize at the 400 meter point the depth of was no longer waist level, but infact was infinitely deep or at least Owen couldn¡¯t see the bottom. But what Owen could see was the massive iceberg portion that was hidden under the surface. It was easily 150 meters diameter, and at least triple that in length. It would appear that the real test was about to begin. Chapter 46 ¡®Ho¡­ I know what Lord Father meant by keep an eye on this boy now. In only 30 meters he was able to put together a plan. At the 100 meter mark, although he didn¡¯t know what would happen he expected something to happen and purposefully tended to his wounds so others would not think anything of it. Now, he has reached the last 100 meter mark and he stopped. But he didn¡¯t stop because he waited for others, he stopped because he knew that it was dangerous.¡¯ Balan praised as he continued to nod. He was inwardly surprised as he praised Owen. Although there were many others worth taking note of, only Owen was particularly standing out. The best part was he was hiding how much he was standing out from only but a few people. But because these Pathwalkers, Keepers, or gods knew that by saying something it would ruin the test. They decided to just watch, although the Pathwalkers who noticed Owen¡¯s plans from the beginning they didn¡¯t say anything because by keeping silent they too could take advantage of the situation. Balan smiled as he waited anxiously for the final result. ¡®Now then boy, what will you do?¡¯ ---------------------------- ¡°How is your disciple so sly? Anyone can read you like a book.¡± Osena smiled as she felt the need to tease Kovinth slightly. Usually Kovinth would get angry and respond with a ¡®Shut up you old mutt¡¯, however this time he said something completely different. ¡°Haha my disciple is amazing isn¡¯t he? As expected of the disciple of I, the great Sun Dragon!¡± Kovinth roared as his smile continued to grow on his face. Osena could only roll her eyes, she knew this was going to be the result but she was still surprised to see how manipulative Owen was. Naturally this wasn¡¯t a bad thing, in fact the smarter Owen was the better for his future progress. He was calm by nature, adding that he was sly, his Sky Boundary Block, and his Path was that of softness it was an amazing accomplishment alone. As Osena was reminded of how great Kovinth¡¯s disciple truly was she ended up punching Kovinth lightly on the shoulder to release some of her depression. It wasn¡¯t to say that she was jealous, in fact her own disciple was just as amazing if not even more. However she didn¡¯t like to see Kovinth give his disciple more attention than to her. She was a jealous woman after all. Kovinth seemed to be too happy to notice the light punch and continued to watch the Wave Lake test through a giant crystal placed in the center of the room. On the other hand the White Tiger was slowly hoping the test would end, so he could kick Owen out as fast as possible so he didn¡¯t make the tests even more unbalanced. Usually people would already be arguing and fighting to see who went first, but Owen came up with a plan to solve all of that. It was perfectly executed because he even pretended to sacrifice himself to prove his sincerity. If the White Tiger didn¡¯t end up failing at least half of these people he would be made a laughing stock by the other three Pole Leaders. After all how could he pass over 1000 people in the first Pavilion? There were millions more prepared to come in the next few days and already a few more thousand were patiently waiting outside the Pavilion to be tested. After all one could only enter the Boundary through the Pavilion. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. As for the Rebirth Snake she was sleeping curled up in a circle like fetal position. Although she wasn¡¯t in her in her snake form, she definitely fit the stereotype of a snake by this appearance. ----------------------------------- As Owen stopped moving people started to frown and called out to him. ¡°Why did you stop moving Owen?¡± Rauf looked towards the tall man that spoke, disgust filled his face and he blurted out ¡°What, you expect him to do everything for you?¡± As the tall man heard these words he felt his face warming up even in the freezing cold water, but it wasn¡¯t because he was angry but instead very embarrassed. After all most of these Pathwalkers had yet to understand that Rauf and Owen were manipulating the ripples since the beginning. Only a few rolled their eyes or wore a wry smile, but they definitely weren¡¯t speaking up either. Although Rauf was defending Owen that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t curious as well. He just knew right away that something was wrong with the situation and waited for Owen to speak on his own. Finally Owen woke up from his thoughts, but no matter what, even he couldn¡¯t figure out was going to happen by stepping past this last 100 meter mark. Thus he decided to stay silent and continuously wait until someone else got impatient. After all patience was something Owen had infinite amounts of. Owen sat down in the water and started to practice his breathing technique. If he could only wait, he might as well practice. Chapter 47 At first everyone thought he was going to drown after not coming up back for about 15 minutes. But as time got longer and longer no one cared any longer and started to chat among their own small groups. Many of the woman had already bunched together after seeing the amount of lust from the men. Although they could hold their own in fight if they were ganged on they would undoubtedly lose. Which was why they started to group together to protect themselves. There were a few who stayed by themselves or gathered with a few of their male and female friends. During this silence no one was doing anything, as no one wanted to be the first to experience the horror of the 100 meter mark. If it was to follow the previous 100 meter marks, then that would mean at least 40 people would die. That was under the assumption that this was the same as the previous times. They had already forgotten the warning that this was a test that was meant to specifically trim their numbers down. But after walking through the cold water, being bombarded by the ice Essence ripples, it was hard to think about that any longer. While this was happening Rauf was taking the opportunity to have a nap on the water. It was dangerous to sleep on the water if he didn¡¯t have the breathing technique but luckily all of the gods disciples were given the opportunity to learn the same breathing technique. This was why it wasn¡¯t known with a name, because all of the disciples would learn it equally. It was usually used as a basis to becoming stronger as it allowed for the Essence to fuse with their body easier. As such Rauf didn¡¯t have to worry about drowning any longer. He also made sure to float the away from the ice pillar so he didn¡¯t accidentally start the next pillar. More time passed, and the stalemate continued. No one was willing to be the sacrifice for others, especially when this would potentially be the last 100 meter mark. Some argued with each other and it was to the point where people were about to start fighting one another, but at that moment something happened that no one expected. As well as the fact that no one was paying attention to this person as he was already sleeping and floating around. As Rauf was sleeping and floating he forgot one very important detail, and that was there was a current under water. It wasn¡¯t strong and people would only notice if they paid attention to it. However their muscles were code and their sense of touch was no longer the same, this was also the case for Rauf even with his breathing technique that helped Essence flow throughout his body. Nonetheless if it was a bigger man or even an adult teenager this current wouldn¡¯t have done anything to Rauf. But Rauf was currently in the body of a young child. He was just small enough for the current to catch hold of him and bring him, to the worst possible place for him. Naturally he was sleeping and had no idea, in fact it was like a rocking chair and helped him fall into an even deeper sleep. On the other hand Owen wasn¡¯t paying attention as he felt it would be a lot longer until the situation is resolved. However that was wrong, and this moment Rauf passed the 400 meter mark. As Rauf passed the mark, the ice pillar started to move. Everyone stopped arguing and looked around to see who was the idiot to pass the 400 meter mark. When they saw that Rauf had floated past the 100 meter mark they all sneered, while only a few wore looks of complication. When the ice pillar started to move Owen also felt the change and looked to see what happened. Although he could only see an impure coloured Pathwalker, from the fact that he was floating around the water¡¯s surface Owen knew it was Rauf. Without hesitation Owen yelled at him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Rauf!¡± ¡°Hm.. Huh? When¡­ oh sweet mother of¡­ Owen wanna trade spots?¡± Rauf woke up with a startle, and soon realized his situation. But even while in this predicament he was able to crack a joke. Owen could only answer bluntly while wearing a serious face. ¡°As if that would help you at this moment. If you live let¡¯s have a nice feast together.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t?¡± Rauf looked as if he didn¡¯t want to know the answer but he still asked anyways. ¡°Well don¡¯t expect me to join you on the other side.¡± As expected Rauf didn¡¯t want to hear those words. He was hoping that his new friend would say some words of true friendship like ¡®Let¡¯s go together friend¡¯. However he knew that even he wouldn¡¯t say those words in this situation. As the pillar rose even higher than the previous times everyone was able to realize why Owen had stopped. They were finally able to see the giant iceberg portion underneath the water. The pillar had risen already a few hundred meters in the air and if Rauf wasn¡¯t the only one to cross the water that would be scared beyond belief. Although they would have to hold themselves against the wave itself, there would be no Essence past 100 meters of the pillar. This was something they all knew after many trials of running past 10 meter and 100 meter marks. The ice pillar reached its peak and slammed downwards causing a giant wave at least 10 meters high to spread out. Rauf had an ugly expression but there was only one thing to do at this moment and that was to block it. Would he be able too? This is a question that everyone including Owen and Rauf answered no. But that didn¡¯t stop Rauf from trying, as he wanted to live more than anyone. After all he couldn¡¯t be free if he was dead! Owen only watched as the giant wave was about to crash down upon Rauf. There were no words of encouragement. There were no sappy feelings of regret. There was the simple truth of being a witness to Rauf¡¯s end if that was the result. If Rauf lived, he would definitely be surprised, if he died, Owen would be left with a bitter taste in his mouth. But because of these reasons, Owen had to watch every single moment. -------------------------- If you voted for the poll, I just want to let you know YOU''RE ALL WRONG MUAHHAHAHAHAHAH. So stay tuned to see what weapon Owen gets to use in the future. Chapter 48 Boom! The wave crashed down onto Rauf who had already retreated behind the 400 meter mark. Although it wouldn¡¯t prevent the wave from hitting him, he noticed that there was no lake bed after the 400 meter mark. Thus he moved back to have a proper footing against the wave. As the wave slammed into Rauf with the power many times greater than the Little Light Rock he was picked up by the wave and sucked under the current. It was impossible for him to hold himself against a wave over 10 meters high. All of Pathwalkers were only Low Opal stages, this was simply the weakest existence as a Pathwalker. The strength of the wave still held unimaginable force as it collided into all of the Pathwalkers sweeping them up as well. Owen was included, but he didn¡¯t try to resist instead he tried to swim with the wave, to go along with the power. His goal wasn¡¯t to pass the 400 meter point at this time, his goal was to see watch what would happen to Rauf. The ice cold Essence came right after throwing Rauf underneath the water, but Rauf continued to hold his flow of Essence against the invading ice Essence. At first it looked like Rauf was holding his own, but soon after the ice started to appear at the weaker points of Rauf¡¯s shield. With a weakness exploited, the ice was able to grow a considerable rate. Soon even Rauf was unable to hold back the ice and it fully covered his body. His final moments didn¡¯t hold any regret. But he definitely wasn¡¯t smiling in the end. Rauf only closed his eyes and wore an expression of pain as the ice completely froze his body. In the end Owen continued to follow the frozen Rauf as the wave soon calmed down leaving only Rauf frozen sticking out of the water¡¯s surface. He was seen by everyone, his last moments as he stood against the most powerful wave all by himself. All the Pathwalkers were inwardly happy that they someone else had been sacrificed, but they didn¡¯t wish to be seen as those type of people who find joy in someone else¡¯s death. They could only move back to the 400 meter mark. Now that someone had already taken on the 100 meter mark wave it was only weak waves from here on out. As they all continued to rush towards the final goal. The ice pillar! On the other hand Owen continued to watch the ice sculpture. ----------------------- ¡°Damn, first it was Lord Sun Dragon¡¯s disciple who ruined the Desire test, and now it¡¯s the Rebirth Snake¡¯s disciple who ruined it by sleeping! By sleeping! Who the hell sleeps during a test that can take their lives! The worst part is that god damn boy won¡¯t even die because he will just heal if his body is intact! This is a disaster what are you guys going to do about this!¡± The White Tiger wasn¡¯t able to hold in his rage any longer as he looked at the three others, who looked like they were on a picnic. Osena was carefully pouring tea for Kovinth, while Kovinth was nodding everytime Owen did something worthy of praise. The Rebirth snake didn¡¯t pay attention until the 400 meter mark when she instinctively felt that Rauf was in danger. But when she saw that it was only the ice Essence she went back to sleep like it wasn¡¯t worthy of her attention. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Being ignored the White Tiger Lord was losing his mind. He then promised himself that after this test that both Rauf and Owen were going to be thrown out and never allowed to re enter the outer Pavilion. Not that anyone would want to move backwards when the goal was moving inwards. However for these two, new rules would have to be made. ------------------ As Owen noticed that the impure Essence within Rauf to continue to flow. Owen knew that Rauf hadn¡¯t died even though he was frozen. Because for all the others, they had lost their impure colour and turned into the blue colour of Ocean Essence. For Ruaf his impure colourful essence was only flowing a bit slower nothing else had changed about it though. ¡®Should I break this open? I don¡¯t know what will happen if I do¡­.. Well Rauf should understand right?¡¯ As Owen was thinking he had already swung his hand into the ice. His fist collided with the ice, and when it did Owen could feel the sheer amount of cold. The ice started to run up his own arm trying to freeze it as well, but Owen already had his arm protected with his Essence and he pressed slammed his fist into the ice again. This time the ice cracked just a tiny bit, but shattered into millions of pieces turning into a cold moist mist leaving only Rauf slipping into the water. Owen caught onto Rauf, and threw some water onto his face to wake him up. ¡°Hmm¡­ no mom just a little longer.¡± Owen smirked. ¡®Always at his own pace. Oh maybe I shouldn¡¯t be talking either. Oh well.¡¯ This time Owen smacked him across the face and Rauf immediately stood up. ¡°Ouch! What was.. Huh¡­. oh right. Am I dead?¡± Rauf looked to Owen for confirmation. Owen rolled his eyes under his eyelids and answered with his usual calm attitude. ¡°Would I join you in the afterlife?¡± ¡°Yeah, because obviously you¡¯re a good friend.¡± Owen shrugged and walked towards the ice pillar. ¡®Although the difficulty is still going to be higher, the worst has already passed. It¡¯s time to finish this!¡¯ ----------------------- If you voted on the poll HEHEHEHEHHE MUAHAHHA RARARARAHHAHAHAHARHAHRHRAR I tricked you again :3 Stay tuned to find out more~!~ Chapter 49 It was the last little bit towards ice pillar and everyone thought that the hardest part was already finished so they raced towards the center. Why were they racing towards the center? Because they could all tell that there was massive amounts of Essence that they could channel to become stronger. This was the perfect chance for them to boost their strengths and create more blocks for their Path. As for Rauf he was shivering a bit from the after effects from the ice, however when he managed to regain some composure he soon called out to Owen. ¡°Hey Owen!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not carrying you even if you are cold and weak.¡± Rauf snorted, but he didn¡¯t feel like arguing with Owen. He had already learn that Owen no matter the circumstances would be able to argue him to his death bed. So he continued. ¡°I broke through to the Intermediate Opal!¡± ¡°What?¡± Owen slightly raised his voice when he heard this and immediately looked back. ¡®Sure enough, the amount of impurity has gone down a bit. Rauf is truly learning an interesting cultivating technique.¡¯ He inwardly sighed in admiration. To be able to break through from healing alone was quite ridiculous. At least this was the conclusion Owen came to at that moment. With Rauf¡¯s healing abilities and they fact that he would get younger when he healed, had an effect on his cultivation. Rauf had already told Owen, that the more he healed the weaker he became during the stage. For the purposes of cultivation, this didn¡¯t really make any sense though. So both of them put their heads together and thought what its purpose was. With the two of them thinking together they came up with some weird conclusions such as the Rebirth Snake did it to motivate Rauf, but at the same time that didn¡¯t follow up why he would get weaker. At first when they came up wit the idea that it would allow him to get stronger in the long run they both laughed. However it sounded plausible when they thought that the amount of Essence would forcefully be taken away from him to store later for a potential breakthrough at the last moment. Naturally they had no way to prove this hypothesis, so when Owen saw the proof in front of him he thought it was indeed unique. During this time, all the majority of Pathwalkers had quickly already pasted around 15 meters. They passed this distance so fast that the 10 meter ripple hadn¡¯t even met with them yet It seemed like there was no ripple effect after the 10 meter mark and because of this everyone started to get excited thinking they were would be no more ripples. But in fact they were truly wrong. Once they hit the 20 meter mark this was when the ice pillar finally acted out. For Owen was well he was questioning why the ripples had stopped, but as he saw the folds of Essence gathering around the ice pillar he realized what it was. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡®20 meters, 20 ripples? There is going to be a ripple very meter?¡¯ Owen frowned as he saw this. Originally he only thought that the 400 meter mark was going to be exceedingly difficult but luckily Rauf, and probably only Rauf, was able to fix that problem. However with only 80 meters left until the ice pillar, there were going to be 20 ripples every 20 meters? Not to mention the people who crossed those marks first, just withstanding 20 ripples back to back would be hard enough. But it was something they had to do nonetheless. Once you passed the 400 meter mark there was no going back, as everyone was swimming across when they found that there was no bottom. They wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to run away and even if they did the ripples would follow them until the lake shore. The only thing left was to block it! Owen attempted to condense his Essence flow even more. His control of his Essence wasn¡¯t perfect but it was definitely a tier about everyone else. As for Rauf he too had better control than everyone else. Although he was already an Intermediate Opal Pathwalker that didn¡¯t mean that his ability to shield was significantly greater. His Essence was only slightly more pure, but this wasn¡¯t a huge difference. Only through complete ranks was there a large difference. Finally the ripples started to crash into the first set of people freezing them instantly as the fifth or sixth ripples hit them. As for some they were able to block the ripples while others managed to block most of them and sustain some injuries. Owen and Rauf were lucky as they had more time to prepare the sudden ripples and weren¡¯t affected much by it. But the next time would be different they had already caught up to the front of the Pathwalkers, and now with the increased amount of ripples this test just got exponentially more dangerous. But Owen was calm, and he was also fearless. He had already used the other Pathwalkers before as a shield, but that plan wouldn¡¯t work past this point. Because he noticed that no longer were the first people effect and it was equally shared among all the Pathwalkers. So this last stretch was a race to the finish. Now that he knew that he swam as fast as he could towards the ice pillar followed right after by Rauf. Chapter 50: Absorbing the Ice Essence Hey guys~!~ As most of you have noticed I don''t usually post much on this story. Chapters are short yes, however for some reason I find it easier to dish them out this way. So really I think its a fair trade right? Anyways this note isn''t actually about me. It''s about a friend I have on the NUF. Without this person I woulnd''t even be writing this wonderful story. So I just wanted to take this moment to thank that person. His/her support for this story was what allowed it come to life. Most readers don''t realize the effect they can have on their authors, and I''m not here to say what you should do. I''m only here to thank that person and I hope that all of my fans as well give a small thanks to that person. Thanks for reading, and I always hope to meet your expectations. ---- Owen swam with all his heart out. Although he didn¡¯t need to channel Essence, this ice pillar was similar to the Essence crystal he got from the cougar he killed. However the difference was this was a natural Essence deposit. It meant that it was extremely pure. Kovinth had told that Owen was to absorb Sky Essence crystals from now on, but he made it specifically clear that was only for crystals. Owen¡¯s master mentioned to him if there was ever a chance to absorb a natural Essence reservoir he was to take it as long as he wasn¡¯t preparing to break through into the Topaz or Ruby stage. So for Owen to find use and natural Essence source like this was definitely a blessing for him. All the other Pathwalkers at this moment noticed that Owen hadn¡¯t cared about being first and was already passing onto the 40 meter mark preparing for the next 20 ripples to stack onto one another. They all knew he wasn¡¯t stupid so if he was rushing to the center it was because he knew he wouldn¡¯t get hurt. ¡°Damnit! Let¡¯s go! ¡°Hurry!¡± Everyone screamed as they continued to swim, but it was too late. Owen was had already passed the 40 meter mark and bombarded by the ripples. They barely even slowed him a bit, as for the others he momentarily stunned a few of them while more died and sunk to the bottom of the lake. Eventually becoming one with the ice pillar that would collect the Essence within the bodies of the Pathwalkers. Even though people were screaming behind Owen and Rauf, they both continued to swim. The ripples were becoming stronger and the waves were higher. But this still didn¡¯t hinder them in the least. They knew that it was no longer an issue any more. They had the confidence to deal with the ice cold essence no matter how many more times it bombarded into them. After all the risk was worth it. It didn¡¯t take a genius to tell that by killing Devourers you would get stronger. However this meant directly risking your life to do so. Wasn¡¯t this ice pillar just a easier way? Why shouldn¡¯t they take full advantage of this situation to grab a huge amount of Essence. Even more so for Rauf, because he had already broke through to the Intermediate stage and had condensed more of his Path blocks, if he was able to reach the Jade stages soon after entering the Boundary he would be practically invincible. Balan from afar spoke softly to the two people who entered the this small world. ¡°It¡¯s done, your little friend is going to arrive first with Lord Rebirth Snake¡¯s disciple.¡± He gave a large smile as if he had already anticipated such a result. Alesia and Iohanne covered their mouths as they spoke. ¡°Oh my, I seem to remember that someone thought it was just luck at first!¡± ¡°Hahah! That¡¯s because you cheeky girls didn¡¯t tell me that that boy was Lord Sun Dragon¡¯s disciple. I know you did it on purpose too, don¡¯t think you won one over me because of that. Had I known that I would rather die that choose someone else.¡± The two sisters laughed a little from this. It was after all true, there weren¡¯t many people who didn¡¯t know of the Sun Dragon. Iohanne then regained herself and spoke with her sweet beautiful voice that with sing within one¡¯s ear. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Well, let¡¯s prepare to congratulate the passing Pathwalkers.¡± She flicked her wrist and the few Keepers who were behind her immediately run back towards to the main hall to prepare. ------------------- ¡°Aren¡¯t you glad your disciple came in first.¡± Osena spoke softly with a tinge of excitement in her voice. She was clearly happy for Owen as well. After all if she managed to bring Owen on her side she would definitely be able to convince Owen to speak a few good words for her. If Owen spoke even his master who she hadn¡¯t been able to move, would agree to marrying her. At least this was what she had hoped. But it wasn¡¯t too far off from seeing how Kovinth grinned ear to ear as he laughed happily. The White Tiger didn¡¯t even care and more and was trying to set up preparations for the next group of Pathwalkers. He had to make sure there were no monsters in this batch otherwise he would start to rip off his chest hair! And he loved his chest hair! That was how diligent he was checking so he could prevent such an outcome. The old Rebirth Snake opened one as she was curled up and smirked on one side of her mouth. She was happy to see her disciple break through, and she was also happy to see him gain second place. Well it was basically first along with Owen, but if she said that then Kovinth would definitely protest and there would be a huge argument back and forth. But to begin with she was too lazy for that. Unlike Kovinth who was lazy, he was extremely protective and diligent when it came to his disciple. ----------- Owen and Rauf at this moment were sitting on the edge of the ice pillar. There was a portion just enough for them to sit just underneath the water so they could sit and freely channel the Essence. They didn¡¯t even hesitate for a second,as they sat down and put their palms against the ice absorbing as fast as they could. ¡°This sure is cold.¡± Rauf blurted out. Owen nodded, but didn¡¯t answer as he soon started to concentrate diving deep within his subconsciousness. He arrived to his Path, high in the sky above and just above an endless blanket of clouds. There ontop of one of the clouds Owen could see a red, transparent, elastic block. This was his first Path block, it was something he was extremely proud in, but even if he was he knew that time was incredibly important. He led the flow of Essence from his palms as it ran through his arteries and veins all their way to his brain. The coldness turned his skin blue, but he didn¡¯t mind that. It wasn¡¯t to the point of injuring him it was just cold. How could he be bothered by such a thing. Then as the ice Essence arrived, Owen started to break it apart removing the ice particles from the Essence. Although he could use the ice itself, he wanted his Path to be as pure as possible. He wished to follow his Master¡¯s teachings as much as possible. Although it wouldn¡¯t have the Sky Essence within it, he could still condense the block into a red colour. This alone would help in the future. Maybe because he had already experienced the first block, but the moment he closed his eyes and pictured the scent of the lilies tickling his nostrils, and the soft feeling of the petals, a red translucent block immediately appeared. Like before Owen didn¡¯t actually use an image and only pictured the smell of the flowers and the touch of it. He didn¡¯t know why this was amazing but his teacher told him to repeat what he did for every single block he made for his Path. The best part was that he still hadn¡¯t used all of the Essence up, and after condensing more, he continued to create more blocks for his Path. Now his Path was no longer that single block but there was instead a few dozen with at least 5 blocks wide and 10 blocks long it could now be called a true Path. And at this moment Owen felt a surge of power flow through his veins. His muscles tightened, his bones became heavier, and blood purer and finally the purity of his Essence increased. He could only say a few words, but they were definitely filled with excitement. ¡°The Intermediate Opal stage!¡± Chapter 51: Meeting The Four Gods Later that night Owen and Rauf had already ate their fill. This included them getting slightly intoxicated. Even though this was a strange sight with Rauf getting intoxicated in his younger boy form. The funny part for Owen was that when Rauf broke past his limit and tried to hit on all the ladies all they ended up doing was thinking he was cute, patting his head and force feeding him some food. All attempts to flirt was obviously blocked by his physical looks. Rauf was left with no choice but to come back, but when he did he slammed his head hard into the table and started to make hiccup/crying noises. It was quite pitiful from Owen¡¯s perspective. Owen on the other hand was fully enjoying himself. He had broken through, so there was no need from him to stay in the Pavilion any longer. As you either had to pass 3 tests or break through to the Intermediate level before leaving. This was the bare minimum for surviving within the Boundary. Although Owen got lucky with killing the cougar, that was mainly because it was a weak Devourer. It had broken through to the Peak Omega stage but it was relying on eating regular beasts to absorb their energy. As such it was difficult to call that a very strong beast. However for the beasts within the Boundaries, they were all beasts who were surviving day by day. They would kill the other Devourers, and now they would start to dig their fangs into humans as well. But before he could continue to enjoy the banquet any longer, he was called over by a soft voice. It wasn¡¯t loud enough for others to hear, but it wasn¡¯t quiet enough to call it a whisper. Yet when Owen heard it felt like it was right beside his ear. ¡®Oh looks like I¡¯m not the only one who was called.¡¯ As Owen looked over to a few other Pathwalkers and Rauf. They too got up after the message and walked towards the back entrance. At the back entrance was Alesia who called them, and when everyone arrived she wore a beautiful smile to greet them. ¡°Welcome fellow, Pathwalkers, the Lords shall see you now.¡± ¡®Lord White Tiger? Who else is here?¡¯ Owen thought. As he was already unconscious when Kovinth jumped down, Owen had no idea his master was watching him this whole time. So when he entered with the few others, he was momentarily surprised to see four people lined up together. On the far left was an old woman who Owen had never met before. But because of a certain someone''s gasp Owen soon realized that this was the master of Rauf. Rauf¡¯s face contorted as it looked like he wanted to run away. The Rebirth Snake on the other hand, smiled mysterious. Who knows why, but Rauf straightened up after that and looked like a perfect little student. To the left of her there was the White Tiger Lord. He was already holding his chin with this arm as if saying ¡®Let¡¯s get this over with¡¯. Next was Osena, and clearly she had no interest in any of the Pathwalkers here and was only staring at the man beside her. It was Kovinth smiling happily. He had been watching Owen this whole time was more than happy with his results. Actually as long as Owen stayed alive that was really all Kovinth cared about. Kovinth already knew how diligent and hardworking Owen was. But he also knew that was Owen¡¯s weakness. Even if Owen wasn¡¯t required to get something, as long as it helped it on his Path Owen would strive to accomplish it. Owen noticing the faint smell of his master grinned and bowed slightly towards his direction. Kovinth responded with a nod waiting for the main topic to be brought up. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. When Owen was looking through his Blind Motion technique, he had already learned from Kovinth, that gods would only show up as the colour white for him. He didn¡¯t explain exactly why, however he made clear that some Keepers themselves were gods as well. But when Owen wished to know about the ranks of gods and what was after the body refinement stage Kovinth shook his head and replied ¡®it is way too early for that¡¯. Without any other choice Owen could only nod unwillingly. ¡°Well then, because of circumstances the two tests seemed to have failed both times.¡± The White Tiger Lord sighed as he blurted out the words unwillingly. However it was still his job, and with his leader here right beside him, albeit she was entirely focused on something else, she was still here. ¡°The top five of you will get a Essence crystal of your choice. With that, you may leave.¡± The three other Pathwalkers, Owen and Rauf were momentarily surprised and one couldn¡¯t help but speak his mind. ¡°That¡¯s all you wanted us for?¡± ¡°Yes. So leave.¡± But when he said that a voice appeared within Owen¡¯s mind ¡®except you little boy I have to talk to you.¡¯ Osena looked towards Owen and said calmly within his mind. Owen nodded and didn¡¯t move. As for Rauf he also didn¡¯t move apparently he was also told not to move. But Rauf only felt this was troublesome as he clearly wanted to get away from the Rebirth Snake. With the other three Pathwalkers leaving, they naturally saw that Owen and Rauf had remained and couldn¡¯t help but feel it was slightly unfair. But that didn¡¯t voice their thoughts in front of the gods. ¡°Hmm, Owen how have you been?¡± ¡°I have been doing well, thank you for asking Lady Osena.¡± Owen replied to Osena¡¯s caring voice with a bow. Osena nodded with a happy smile and then spoke which surprised everyone here. ¡°You can open your eyes, I will hold back the Essence.¡± Chapter 52: Tying the Knot Kovinth looked over towards Osena with suspicion. He knew that he was no longer allowed to hold back the Essence in Owen¡¯s eyes because this was within the jurisdiction of the Keepers, Pole Masters and Overseer. And only the Overseer, Osena, would be allowed to do this. It sounds weird because it¡¯s only giving Owen the ability to see again. However the rules of the gods are picky. No matter the case they do not wish to involve themselves more than what is required. Even the masters of these disciples knew better than to help their disciples past the Pavilions and within the Boundaries. If they did no matter who they were they would be hunted down for breaking the rules. But Osena didn''t look worried because she had an excuse for allowing this to happen. She spoke up while covering his mouth, her eyes carrying a mischievous look. ¡°Oh you old lizard, do you think I¡¯d harm your precious disciple? I¡¯m here to give him the reward for being first. As the Overseer I naturally can give him the right to see what he¡¯s receiving can¡¯t I?¡± At first Kovinth, wanted to retort and roar out ¡®You old mutt¡¯ but when he heard Osean was giving Owen a gift, his heart turned pure and his face held a giggling laughter like a foolish old man. Osena laughed at this result, her shoulders shook up and down. ¡®Truly, winning over this stubborn man¡¯s disciple will definitely allow me to succeed.¡¯ Naturally Owen during this point had already opened his eyes and he was watching the talk between Kovinth and Osena. The other two gods didn¡¯t even care, while Rauf was the only one left in the dark as to what was happening. He naturally knew that Owen was the disciple of this burly man, but that was about it. When Kovinth saw what Osena brought out, he jumped up and roared. ¡°You old mutt what are you doing?! How could you give him something like that?!¡± Osena rolled her eyes and spoke bluntly. ¡°Oh my, I seem to remember you giving him a World Artifact as well did you not?¡± Kovinth looked towards Osena as if she was an idiot. ¡®That¡¯s obviously because he¡¯s my disciple. Besides you¡¯re the Overseer how could you give him ANOTHER World Artifact?¡¯ He wanted to retort, but he knew that Osena was always the one who got the upper hand in arguments. This had already been proven in their millions of years of knowing one another. The other two god¡¯s eyes widened as they couldn''t believe their eyes. They rubbed them a few times and then looked over again refusing to believe it, but the item was definitely in Osena¡¯s hands. As for Osena she was already walking over towards Owen and only when she was right in front of Owen did she speak again. ¡°Little Owen, someone like you will need a way to protect himself in the future. And as someone who already has the other piece of this two piece artifact. How could I not give it to you? It¡¯s a shame though I wish to give this to Kovinth¡¯s and my child.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Who is going to have your child!? Kovinth quickly yelled with flustered. He was being led on too much and he couldn¡¯t handle the the rise in his blood pressure. Owen ignored everything else and stared at the beautiful sash in front of him. It was embroidered with a twin sun and moon, as for the meaning anyone could make a guess. The sash was a light blue to represent a fusion of sun and moon. It was truly too beautiful. But even still Owen ignored that part and rose his hand to caress the sash. He felt that the it was the softest thing he had ever touched in his entire life. He on impulse closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the feeling. He wanted to continuously enjoy this feeling. At this moment breaking him from his own world Osena spoke up. ¡°This is the Tiny Thin Sash. It was found in the Wall of Abyss along with the Little Light Rock. The silk is made from a Celestial silkworm, and is unbreakable. No matter what weapon touches this silk it will be stopped assuming you have the strength. But by itself it could be used as a defensive weapon at most. However, you¡¯re already lucky enough to have the other piece of this set item.¡± ¡®The Little Light Rock?¡¯ Owen thought to himself, and before he could respond Osena nodded and continued. ¡°Indeed the Little Light Rock was originally the weight for the Tiny Thin Sash. When the two combine only then will you be able to see its true power. But naturally it is not a killing weapon but a defensive weapon. Now then, with this because I can no longer give this to my future child, you just have to fulfill that role right?¡± ¡®.....This was her real plan all along!¡¯ Everyone except Kovinth thought at the same time. He was a little too thick skinned to figure out Osena¡¯s masterful plan, but that didn¡¯t mean everyone here was as thick skinned as Kovinth. No instead they immediately came to the conclusion with those words. On the other hand Owen thought a few more words. ¡®....what to do¡­. I¡­. well master¡¯s at the age of marrying anyways.¡¯ Owen shrugged in his mind and responded to Osena¡¯s deeper meaning words. ¡°I thank mother for this gift, father aren¡¯t you happy to have such a wife.¡± ¡°Huh? What.. Owen¡­ What are you saying, Did you just call me father! Ah this is the true meaning of being a disciple and master.¡± Everyone rolled their eyes. Kovinth had originally heard the words of mother, but the moment father was heard, it took over. He was nearly tearing up in the sides of his eyes. He was just that happy. Little did he know, that from that point on he became the husband to Osena in front of everyone and no matter what he said, he would forever be unable to refute it because two other gods were witnesses. Osena could only grin wildly. ¡®This was easier than I thought.¡¯ Chapter 53: The Next Task Hey guys Arcares here~!~ So anyways I just wanted to take this little bit of time to thank those people rating a reviewing the story. Although there are those who rate it unfairly *cough 0.5 cough*, the people who take the time to Review the story still deserve a thanks as well. So if you enjoy the story give them a little time to read. So with that I thank you, Sedactive, Claws, Evolve, and Zyst for your wonderful reviews. I appreciate you taking the time to write those even if you weren''t required too. I hope to see more in the future as well~!~ --------------------- Soon the 8th day staying at the Pavilion had arrived. It was now time to enter the Omega Boundary. During the remaining days Owen had left, he was diligently practicing with the Tiny thin Sash and Little Light Rock as the weight. He immediately realized how amazing difficult it was to comprehend and use. In fact at first the only thing he was able to do was twirl it around in hopes that the centrifugal force to apply any lasting damage. The next thing he was able to do was to kick the Little Light Rock as it passed him to launch it outwards. The most terrifying part was when he kicked the rock towards the trunk of a tree, the moment the rock arrived just a few centimeters away from the trunk it suddenly exploded in speed and shot straight through the tree. Naturally Owen who had the Tiny Thin Sash wrapped around he was launched with the force of the Little Light Rock. The result left him slamming into the trunk of the tree. After many trials and errors, Owen¡¯s body was becoming bruised and turning purple. But he had to practise with the Sash if he wished to use it in battle. Although that the two of these were World Artifacts, they were indeed more strange than anything else. No matter what Owen wouldn¡¯t be able to utilize the entire strength of the Sash and Rock. But that didn¡¯t matter to Owen in fact he was more than happy to have such a weapon. Especially when he was told by his master that a Soft Weapon was in fact the best weapon for him because of his elastic block. Kovinth didn¡¯t tell him that he had a Sky Boundary block mixed with the Path of Softness because it was simply too early for him to learn of these things. Kovinth wanted nothing more than for Owen to learn about the world himself and to become stronger on his own. Although Kovinth taught him a lot, including the masterful skill of cooking, it still was only the bare minimum. As the days went by Owen threw himself into comprehending the Art of the Sash and finally just on the 7th day of staying at the Pavilion to succeed a little. He wasn¡¯t incredible, it couldn¡¯t be said to be at the level of an art. But at the very least Owen was able to wrap the Sash around him and fling the Rock out any direction he wanted and how he wanted. Because the Sash itself was 12 feet Owen¡¯s range could be anywhere inside of that. Not only that, but the Sash could be used as a perfect defensive weapon. As he sparred a few times with Rauf¡¯s new snake sword, who he managed to get from the Rebirth Snake for breaking into the Intermediate Opal stage first, Owen was able to catch the sword and no matter what Rauf did he couldn¡¯t retrieve it. It left any foe unarmed if their weapon was caught by Owen. Then own could choose hand-to-hand combat with the Sash or he could use the Little Light Rock from a distance. Truly the amount of option Owen had available using the Tiny Thin Sash was immense. Although it wasn¡¯t noticeable deep within Owen¡¯s Path blocks was the shape of a sash slowly manifesting within his Path. However it was simply too small for it to be noticed at this time. Finally as Owen, Rauf and the remaining few hundred who passed the remaining two tests were able to leave and explore the world of the Boundaries. But as they were walking to the final door that would give them their freedom, of the three Keepers in charge, Iohanne sweetly spoke up. ¡°Now then. The world within the Boundaries is going to be different than usual. All the towns within have already been deserted and replaced with Keepers. These Keepers¡¯ services can be bought with money. But we are Keepers will not take copper, silver, gold or any other type of currency. We will only take Essence crystals.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Iohanne stopped as she heard the crowd start to yell in protest. Naturally she didn¡¯t mind, as she let them yell freely and only spoke after they calmed down a bit. However they only calmed down after Balan roared at them threatening to kick them out of the Pavilion without teaching them anything. Seeing this Iohanne smiled and continued. ¡°Now then, as many of you know you need to use Essence Crystals to breakthrough. However using Essence crystals of previous stages are in fact something that will be more harmful to you. If you absorb impure Essence when you are at a purer stage you will end up destroying your Path forever. But at the same time it¡¯s only natural that Devourers will attack you at any given moment.¡± Iohanne took another deep breath and continued. ¡°Naturally you will be left with an excessive amount. Now here is the rates at which you can trade them for. A Land Devourer will be the base amount, Ocean Devourers will give 10x the amount and Sky Devourers will give 50 times the amount.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t all Devourers Essence crystals impure in colour?¡± Someone called out with curiosity. Owen during this whole time was patiently listening. He felt that this system was actually quite fair. After all Land was the most numerous, while Ocean could only be found in the Ocean but they were still numerous just harder to catch. As for the Sky Devourers now those they''re incredibly difficult. Kovinth had already told him that with the Essence filling the World, all the landscape within the Boundaries would chance. Trees would grow 10 times their heights and mountains would shift. Volcanoes would erupt on a regular basis, and the Sky Devourers always lived in these extreme areas. It was natural for Sky Devourers to leave their nests to hunt, but unless you could capture them while in flight it was next to impossible to capture a Sky Devourer. ¡®Master truly gave me a hard requirement of only using Sky Essence crystals to break through.¡¯ Owen could only sigh to himself, as he continued to listen to Iohanne. ¡°No, in fact all Keepers have the ability to judge which of the three elements they belong too. So there is no need to worry about that. Anyways I have explained the basic monetary system, Balan will explain your task within the Boundary.¡± Everyone¡¯s ears perked in anticipation. Balan puffed out his chest and gave a serious gaze to everyone, only shortly resting his eyes on Owen and Rauf for a bit longer. ¡°Now then, your goal is to acquire one of each Essence crystals, and to acquire the tokens from the other Poles. After collecting 2 tokens, or before, you will move towards the Pole island of your choice. Naturally I don¡¯t recommend going all the way to the Eastern Pole from here. But that¡¯s up to you.¡± As he spoke the subordinate Keepers all handed the Pathwalkers a token. It had was the picture of a compass but they West was given a tiger imprint to show they were from the Western Pole. When all of the Pathwalkers acquired a token he continued. ¡°If you group up you must an exponential amount. For example, a person by themselves only needs to acquire two. But if they have a friend they wish to travel with they need 4. If they find a third person they will need 8. This number gets increasingly larger to offset the advantages of being in a group. That is all we will tell you, Shall your Walk lead you to the Pinnacle, My fellow Pathwalkers.¡± Chapter 54: The Journey Begins Hey guys the donation buttons up, so that also means the sponsor queue is also up and running. So I will GUARANTEE 3 chapters a week. However I will also write as many as I wish in that week as well. This is only set at 3 in case other stuff happens. Anyways as for sponsored chapters I am willing to do as many as donations I get. However if I get a billion I obviously have to cut it off. So lets throw the number of 20-40 a week of sponsored. Not that it will ever get that high anyways. As for the price it will be $10 a chapter. I will update the fiction page and you will be able to find out the amount in the queue from there. Anyways thanks for your time. ----------------- Some of the Pathwalkers wanted to retort, but from the look of Balan they could tell his stance on not speaking any longer was obvious at a glance. As such they could only reluctantly walk out of the Pavilion unwillingly. Rauf and Owen followed after and Balan followed by Alesia and Iohanne spoke into his ear so only he could hear. ¡°Good luck little friend. I expect many things of you.¡± ¡°Good luck Owen! Don¡¯t die on me okay?¡± ¡°Tread carefully, and strive to be the strongest you can Owen.¡± Owen spoke with actions instead of words and be gave a deep bow towards them . As he wasn¡¯t sure when he would meet these people, as they treated him with respect he would naturally show how grateful he was to them. The three of them nodded while smirking. And then Owen finally walked through the door. On the other side was an entirely new world for Owen. Although there shouldn¡¯t be much of a difference between this side of the Boundary and the other, in fact from the vibrant colours of green and red it was already enough to say that the Essence here was incredibly thick. Not to mention the moment that Owen stepped outside he felt his lungs were sinking from the amount of Essence within the air. He knew exactly why it was so beneficial to know the breathing technique. He would never have to channel forcefully on his own and just by living he could get stronger. He could focus all of his attention on the Art of the Sash and concentrate on fighting Devourers and finding tokens from other Pathwalkers from the other Pole Islands. At this moment though Rauf stood beside him. He had grown back to his previous state when Owen first met him. Actually Rauf was able to turn back into his older form when he broke through but because he made the ¡®I get to slack off more as a child¡¯ he stayed looking like a kid. That was the only reason and Owen wanted to retort but both he and Rauf were people that did things they way they wanted. It wasn¡¯t a bad thing, it just meant agreeing with one another was very difficult. But meeting a friend doesn¡¯t mean grouping up, as both the Kovinth and the Rebirth Snake made it clear that they would have to split ways from here on out. In the final moments, Owen stretched out his hand towards Rauf. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Good luck. Don¡¯t go looking for the afterlife too early alright?¡± Owen spoke with some slight reluctance in his voice. He did after all think of Rauf as a friend. Rauf returned his handshake while wearing a heavy smile. ¡°Yeah. Take care Owen, Let¡¯s make sure to meet again alright?¡± Owen nodded in response, and started to walk away. His forced his heart beat to remain calm as left. Rauf on the other hand stood there for a few moments watching Owen¡¯s back as he left. ¡®Well, we will meet again.¡¯ With a nod he too, started to walk in the opposite direction. ----------------- The day passed like that, and Owen was travelling quickly through the Boundaries. The Boundaries themselves were quite large and it would take months to even reach the outer edges of the continents. Time was also not a major factor for Owen. He would patiently find some intense green plants and stop to investigate them. After the Essence arrived many new herbs and plants were growing in this new world. Owen realized after smelling the sweet fragrance from the flower that it was clearly some sort of herbal medicine. It was called the Honey Flower, and it could be used to heal injuries as the honey would prevent blood loss. On the other hand if one drank the honey pollen from the flower they could heal most injuries in half the time! This was something Owen already had an amazing ability in, and with the help of Kovinth he learned most of the herbs by scent. This one in particular had a honey like smell as a liquefied pollen was created from the middle of the flower. As Owen was investigating the flower he heard the tiny flaps of bees fly over carrying the pollen over to other flowers. Because this sap was filled with instence Essence it allowed other plants to grow like crazy. When Owen felt he learnt enough to plucked the flower and prepared to turn it into a paste. Although he didn''t have a mortar he had the next best thing, the Little Light Rock. As he used it to grind the flower into paste, he shoved it onto a large leaf wrapping it up for use later. The Pathwalkers weren¡¯t allowed to bring anything other than weapons, and knowledge with them to the Boundaries. Anything they wished to acquire had to be bought from the Keepers in villages or made themselves. After wrapping up the flower, Owen started to gather firewood and create a lean-to for the night. Chapter 55: Watching From A far Chapter Sponsored by buddy12127 TY~!~ ------------ That night Owen spent it by practising his breathing. When Owen left the cave to join the Pavilion, Kovinth had told him that when one reaches the pinnacle of the breathing technique they can even breath underground with no problems. Although Owen couldn¡¯t believe it, at the same time he fully trusted his master¡¯s words. And naturally his master¡¯s words were more believable. His breathing was calm, and with every breathe Essence within a few meters disappeared. Because the Essence was so thick Owen, would sometimes think he was inside of the Water Crater again. Luckily Owen wasn¡¯t breathing in the water within the Boundaries or he would likely have already drowned again. Yet this time his master wouldn¡¯t be there to save him. ¡®No matter how much I breathe in, I can¡¯t help but think Essence is amazing.¡¯ As the Essence within his body flowed through his veins and arteries he was able to be feel rejuvenated. It didn¡¯t matter how fatigued his muscles were, after a few breathes time the Essence with flow within the muscles and revitalize them. It was truly a unique feeling. He wore a happy expression as he made a fist and punched the tree in front of him. A loud crash was heard and the tree caved in. Although the cave in wasn¡¯t large, it easily fit Owen¡¯s entire fist. ¡®Even though I broke through I didn¡¯t have a chance to get to see how strong I was.¡¯ When Owen was still at the Low Opal stage he had known that he could easily dent the trunk of a normal tree. It wasn¡¯t to say that was impressive, but considering that it was at the very beginning after creating his first block it was still something to be happy about. Now he was able to make a hole in the tree trunk. It was said that in the Jade stage that being able to shatter a tree with a fist was more than possible. At least that was how Kovinth described it too Owen. As for the other stages there were too many details and small things that restricted strength. And because of this one¡¯s strength was instead measured by the hardness of one¡¯s skin. Eventually Pathwalkers would reach the stage that only diamonds could scratch them. But this wasn¡¯t to say that other things couldn¡¯t hurt them. It was only a rough approximation. This was to say that many factors came into play when fighting. If a Jade Pathwalker was careless a Opal rank could kill them. However if they shielded themselves with Essence, the other was required to break it with Essence. It was something like a magic shield but at the same time it was the most common use of Essence. Though when they reached the Topaz stage they would be able to be feel the elements and eventually begin to control them with fusing them with their Essence. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As Owen was thinking about all of these details, he got up and finally decided to get some rest. Slowly but surely, he walked into the lean-to, laying his down on his hands, with his already shut eyes, he subconsciously stopped the Blind Motion technique. He listened to the beat of his calm heart, and slowly fell asleep. ----------------------- The next day Owen continued to travel. He hadn¡¯t found any Devourers as of yet because he still still overly close to the Pavilion. After being forcefully thrown in here by the Keepers it was no wonder they didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near them. As for a village Owen had still yet to find one. He was only walking step by step with a meter long distance made with every step. Even when the ground was uneven this didn¡¯t hinder his meticulous walking ability. As Owen continued to walk around aimlessly he saw a mountain. As he stared at the mountain he noticed a peculiar thing about this mountain. Although most mountains were green, and that didn¡¯t change for this mountain either, however there was a red gaseous cloud rising from a point on the mountain. Full of curiosity Owen made for this destination. He wasn¡¯t sure what he would find here, but none the less he was more than interested to find out. After all Sky Essence was what he needed most, and from the looks of the red cloud there was definitely some sort of Sky Essence forming over there. Owen wrapped the Tiny Thin Sash around his waist and put the Little Light Rock into his pocket. With that he set off. -------------------- Meanwhile, from a certain distance away was a familiar distortion in space, invisible to the surroundings, was watching Owen very carefully. This distortion only continued to watch Owen as he left for the mountains. Surprising the form spoke and what came out was a loveable sound that even birds would be jealous of. ¡°Where is he going?¡± Chapter 56: A Chance Hey guys so a lot of people don''t really know what I''m talking about by Sash. Or Art of the Sash for that matter. You''re having trouble picturing that it can be destructive and well practical right? Well for one it is indeed impractical, HOWEVER it it not to say that it is weak. So I prepared a video showing exactly what I mean by the Art of the Sash here take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY1Woo4aUYI Ps: How many of you went into withdrawal for waiting so long for a chapter ;) Well enjoy it~!~ Also feel free to write a review or rate this series. As we have already finished the first arc, I''m curious to see what many of think of this series so far. Thanks~!~ ------------ As Owen arrived at the foot of the mountain he realized something was wrong. While walking on the upslope he could feel the vibrations under his feet and the roars of animals. To be more accurate they were Devourers. But there was also another sound that Owen picked up. Although these low grunts were muffled, with Owen¡¯s sense of hearing he was able to pick up the sounds just barely. These other sounds were Ferals. This made Owen confused, though the relationship between Pathwalkers, Ferals, and Devourers was a three way battle, for the most part Ferals and Devourers relied on instinct. They would rather fight Pathwalkers then each other. Naturally Devourers would still attack Ferals to become stronger and likewise Ferals would do the same thing. But Pathwalkers were still the purest of the three and usually the weakest. Devourers could rely on their overwhelming strength or their beastial abilties, while Ferals could rely on their miraculous regeneration speed and incredibly strong bodies. As for Pathwalkers, they usually had to rely on weapons of some sorts in order to compete with the other two. It was an undisputed fact that Pathwalkers were able to fight on par with the innate abilities of Devourers and Ferals because of their wisdom. But what would happen if that was no long their benefit? As Devourers and Ferals get stronger they become smarter as well. Eventually they will have a consciousness that will be on par with Pathwalkers. Although the three paths are different, their end goal is the same. They all wish to strive to be gods. However when they become gods, their goals change. They become different beings entirely and the laws that wrap around them also change. So what does this mean for Sin of Anger that changed the Ferals? Although the sins usually end up breaking the Path for the evil, the heavens themselves are also fair. The Ferals get thrown on a similar Path as the Devourers and the strongest will live and become a god. Everything in front of the heavens is treated with equality. Whether they be beasts, sinners, monks, warriors, kings, or even the gods. Now that Owen knew what the noises were from, he became curious and thought to himself. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡®They must have gathered because of that red gas. Master said that sometimes with the rebirth of the world, sometimes miraculous objects are born as well.¡¯ They noises were still coming from quite a distance away but because Owen could tell something was going on where the red cloud was coming from he decided to run over to check it out. Although it can¡¯t be said to be a fortunate thing that Owen was blind, without him being blind he would never be able to use the Blind Motion technique. Although truthfully the way to describe it was that the user had to have their eyes closed. This meant not only did they have to be used to not having their vision it almost meant their other senses had to be adequate. If not other users of the Blind Motion technique would have a hard time adjusting to two different types of perspectives. It was definitely not something that people could make light of. As having two different types of visions would take a huge toll on one¡¯s mind. As such it was hard to say whether Owen was fortunate at all. And if it wasn¡¯t for the Blind Motion technique Owen wouldn¡¯t be able to see the red gas at all. Nor would he be able to hear the Devourers and prepare before hand. ¡°This might be a good chance to get a good head start on other people. I don¡¯t know what is there but it should be good if there are that many Devourers and Ferals gathered.¡± Owen spoke out with a slight smile. His inhaled deeply, allowing the Essence to flow through his body giving himself some extra energy. He then continued up the mountain. He also looked back and noticed the distortion in space following him. He hadn¡¯t noticed it in the Pavilion because there was too many people but now he did. It was a impure colour similar to his own. Clearly this person following him was also a Low Opal stage Pathwalker. But what he couldn¡¯t understand was if the person was an idiot or not. ¡°That person who just been watching me from around 50 meters. Does he think I can¡¯t see him or something? Like he¡¯s in the open. Shall I lose him before I find this red gas?¡± Owen mumbled under his breathe, but what Owen actually didn¡¯t realize at all was the person in question was invisible. If it was anyone else, or at least any other Pathwalker from this planet, they wouldn¡¯t be able to detect this person at all. Only because Owen was using the Blind Motion technique could he see this person, which was why Owen couldn¡¯t understand. But it was still true he had to lose this person, after all he had no intentions on sharing this object with them if he could acquire it. Also Owen didn¡¯t want to endanger them by bringing them into a group of Ferals and Devourers, after all that person was only following him. They never made a move on him while he was sleeping and continued to watch him. If the person wish to harm him he would just leave them alone. Questions and Answers First, there will be no more chapters for this week (luckily I wrote like 7 on sunday). Not until things get cleared up on this site. So, I''ll take this chance to answer any questions you might have about the story. It can be about current characters, or future plans as such. Maybe you want to know what the three factions are, maybe you want to know what the wall of abyss is? All these questions will be answered if you want them to be. Keep in mind that that spoilers will potentially pop up so read at your own risk~!~ Chapter 57: Awakened Cinder So for those who didn''t read. There are some questions about the romance in this story: Q. Is there romance? A. Yes Q. Is there a harem? A. No. Anyways enjoy I''m out. This is the first chapter for the week. (it''s a bit early but I can''t post later so whatevs) ------------------- When Owen arrived at the top of a valley. It was a small valley big enough for a few hundred people to fit in with comfortable room. The plant life was burnt and left charred black. The trees were void of their bark and leaves as the edges of the tree were crumbling. It was like the atmosphere turned into a desert as the humidity was non existent. But as Owen looked in the valley with his Blind Motion technique, he was able to confirm that indeed there were Ferals and Devourers on the mountain. The few dozen black humanoid shapes filled one side of his vision. He could smell the musty dirt stuck to their bodies and could hear the heavy breathing with no rhythm. All of the Ferals were staring towards the other side of the valley. On the other side was a group of Devourers. They weren¡¯t as numerous as the Ferals, but they were much more organized. As Owen looked at the differing impure colours of Essence flowing through their bodies, he could tell that the majority of them were Low Omega Devourers. However there was one Peak Omega. ¡°That must be the pack leader. There are so many different types of Devourers it¡¯s a surprise to see them all work together.¡± Mainly the Devourers would focus on eating one another to get stronger. But sometimes an odd Devourer would gain from intelligence and use the lower Devourers they defeated to bolster their numbers. As their pack would increase their ability to find more prey. This especially applied when hunting Ferals or Pathwalkers. If the Devourers focused on hunting Pathwalkers, they could have a purer form of Essence and absorb some of the Pathwalkers subconscious along with their Path to become more intelligent. From this Owen could tell that the Devourer leader was one who managed to find an early Pathwalker before being captured by the Keepers. The reasoning being was that the earliest Pathwalkers that arrived in the Boundaries should be his group. And there would be no way for the other Pole Pathwalkers to arrive on their island yet. As such this was the only possibility. ¡®Luckily I didn¡¯t meet this Devourer under different circumstances.¡± As Owen barely cracked a smile, he looked at the contour lines of the beast. Owen wasn¡¯t sure what type of beast it was exactly, as he could only make out that it had the build of a similar to the long legged bear that Owen fought. He only knew of that because he had eaten the seen the bear himself when Kovinth bought it for them to eat. The main differences were something that Owen couldn¡¯t see with his low mastery in the Blind Motion technique. The creature had hairs on its body that were thick and overlapped, giving the impression of a single hair. It¡¯s claws were elongated to the point that even one claw was longer than Owen¡¯s whole hand. They were digging straight into the black soil as the Devourer continued to crushed it within its grip. The snout of the beast was similar to a crocodile but it had no scaly feeling of a lizard. The beast¡¯s hair still covered most of the snout other than the nose. It was a beast that had probably eaten many types of animals to have this type of transformation but the scariest of all was the human like eyes where one could feel they were full of emotions, particularly hatred. Naturally Owen wasn¡¯t able to tell these fine details, but nonetheless he could tell that this leader had already eaten a human to command these Devourers in formation. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Owen looked back and forth, finally resting his closed eyes in the middle of the two groups. There was the reason for Owen coming in the first place. In the middle was a small cinder. This cinder was glowing multiple shades of red through Owen¡¯s vision. Sometimes it was as bright as the sun, and others it was as dark as blood. But nonetheless, Owen could see the sheer amount of Essence pouring out from the cinder. When he looked at it for a brief moment he began to ponder the things that Kovinth had taught him. Only when he managed to come to a certain conclusion did he let out a breath of stale air. ¡°This¡­ this must be an Awakening Flame.¡± As Owen looked on with a slight doubt of his own words. In fact he knew he was right but he still couldn¡¯t believe it. As he was remembered some special advice his master once gave him. ¡°Owen, there is one important advantage you have other all others on this planet. Other than you and I, we are the only ones who care see the Essence as a colour. Others will only be able to feel it and manipulate their own Essence.¡± Owen looked towards his master and gave some serious thought. When he thought about it enough he spoke up. ¡°But Master why is this an advantage for us?¡± Kovinth looked around, trying to hold an air of mysteriousness around him, while Owen used his blindness as an excuse to roll his eyes without him knowing. As holding back long enough, Kovinth couldn¡¯t hold back his own excitement and continued. ¡°We can see the miraculous objects that are created through a planets rebirth. There might be some differences between these objects but the highest tier are called the Awakenings. They are unique in the entire universe as only the planet during its rebirth phase can create these, and only one of them will be created.¡± Owen¡¯s serious expression gave a look of anticipation towards finding these objects and naturally Kovinth, caught it and gave a smug look. He knew his disciple, was diligent in his Path. If Owen was this diligent, it would be impossible for him to want to find these items. Even if he hadn¡¯t even learn what they could do yet, it was enough to be able to find such unique objects. Kovinth continued to explain the importance of an Awakened object. ¡°You must realize that these Awakened items are the purest for of Essence. They can be used to gain incredible strength, and even grant special abilities. They can also be used to strengthen previous techniques. For example your Solar Eyes, if you ever find a flame based Awakened object, you must do all that you can to seize it.¡± Owen only nodded, as it was already quite clear how serious the topic was. There was no need for Owen to show his understanding. ---------------------- ¡°Well, it looks like I might have lucked out.¡± Owen gave a lit smirk as he watched the fight between the two forces begin. Chapter 58: Rushing to Acquire Ones Effort Owen didn¡¯t want to waste anymore time than necessary. Time wasn¡¯t something Owen rushed ever. However he knew the importance of time as well. If the situation called for it he would rush. If it didn¡¯t his steps would be perfectly distanced apart from one another. He was a person who could easily adapted to the environment. As for right now, was also the time needed for him to change. The reasoning being was that moment he Owen had scouted out the forces below the Devourer leader had got the fight started. It was apparent that both sides wanted the Cinder. But only one side would be able to get it. This was also a reason why Owen rushed in towards the fight. If he didn¡¯t join now while the Devourer¡¯s forces were focused on the Ferals he would never get a chance to join. Even though it can be said that both sides have their advantages and disadvantages making it hard to kill one another. When a leader appears on one side that changes everything. As such the Devourer¡¯s will win and quite fast as well. Owen could only take this chance to quickly jump in and grab the Awakening Cinder. If he didn¡¯t in only a few moments the Devourer leader would be able to acquire it. ¡°I have no doubts that it will take no time at all for that Devourer to get the cinder. The only problem is how I should jump in.¡± As Owen was rushing down he was contemplating when he should join in. He had already lost the person stalking him. But Owen still felt that that person could find him easily. If they had followed him to this point, they were definitely skilled in tracking. So it was only a matter of time before they came back. Although he didn¡¯t know why they were following him, Owen wasn¡¯t sure how to tell the person following him to stop. Wouldn¡¯t it be awkward to walk up to your stalker and ask them to stop? This was a strong reason why Owen left it alone. He was blunt, but that was only when people spoke out to him first. Finally as Owen rushed down he untied the bluish silk sash around his waist. He took out the harmless looking Little Light Rock and put it inside the sash. As he did he had the thoughts of using the rock to create a crater. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡®If I do that, while the damage is great, I can¡¯t control it. The Cinder may be destroyed if I use it. Not to mention it might not even hurt the Ferals and Devourers. Instead it might just make them fight me instead.¡¯ With these thoughts Owen decided to used the Tiny Thin Sash instead. He was no expert but with the Blind Motion technique, he could utilize it barely enough to defend himself without being harmed. Although it was incredibly difficult style, it was indeed an amazing weapon for medium distance and hand-to-hand combat. He could attack over 10 feet and launch enemies afar. He could also sweep all around him. It was simple to get surrounded in this type of world. Both Osena and Kovinth didn¡¯t wish to see Owen die and gave him items that would be more helpful towards saving his life and not killing others. Although Owen can be said to be well off from others he still had a general disability. Him receiving these objects was due to his lifestyle of 17 years. Every single day of his life he would meticulously complete every duty he was given. Whether fighting, or learning about the medicinal herbs brought from the monks. Owen would put all his effort into learning. He would play with the children when he could. All the fights between villagers were generally solved by Owen. He was this type of person and during all of this he didn¡¯t ask for a single thing in return. To his name Owen owned a small shack of a house and used shortsword. For one to say things were handed to him without any effort didn¡¯t realize how much time and effort Owen put into practice for all these years. While training with Kovinth, Owen would sleep less than 3 hours a day to make sure to absorb all the knowledge he could. And when Kovinth was cooking, instead of resting Owen was instead utilizing the Water Crater to perfect his breathing technique. And now all of his life¡¯s work, all of the time and effort he had worked for. To Owen who had nothing, it was time for him to get something. On his own with his own effort. This was his Path. The Path that he could walk endlessly on. The Path of an immortal. Chapter 59: The First Bout This is your third and final guaranteed chapter of the week. I might focus on my other story for the remainder. Who knows, depends on how I''m feeling. I don''t think I said this either, but sponsored chapters will come within 24 hours. Within reason of course. Anyways time to enjoy the chapter ciao~!~ ------------ With no other choice but to join the fight, Owen wrapped the sash around his forearm a few times in a spiral that covered his entire arm. If he wanted to use the sash, he would need to allow it to move freely up and down his arm. As such the sash was tightly wrapped, and because a silk material, it was able to flow down his arm when shot out. Unexpectedly to the two forces as they clashed, Owen rushed towards the side. He moved just where the clash began and started to swing his sash with the Little Light Rock towards a Feral. As he sash swung, it approached the side of the Ferals head, and just millimeters before impact, the sash instantly gained speed many times faster than it previously was. As the speed exploded so did the side of the Ferals head. As the Feral was struck in the side, the momentum carried the Ferals head along with the weight of the sash. As the two continued to in a diagonal movement downwards the Ferals¡¯ head eventually reached towards the ground. Unfortunately for the Feral, the Little Light Rock was still increasing speed as it chased the head relentlessly towards the ground. But as the hard head of the Feral smashed into the ground a incredible speeds, without even the chance for the dirt to rise up the Little Light Rock smashed into the skull again. This left the Feral with two choices, it had to take on the Little Light Rock, or succumb to its fate. Unfortunately for the Feral, it had lost all its previous intelligence, it had no way of getting out of this predicament. There was only the inevitable destruction of his skull, as the head could no longer be chased the combination of the Tiny Thin Sash and Little Light Rock destroyed the Ferals entire skull. Blood flowed out of the skull of the Feral. It¡¯s black colour was full of impure Essence, although Owen could see the black liquid through his Blind Motion technique, his attention was more focused on the incredible foul smell that invaded his nostrils soon after. But he had no time to worry about the scent of blood. However, there was one point that Owen couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge. ¡°How is this not destructive?¡± Owen muttered on accident. He had yet to use it on an actual enemy before, but the results were much better than he expected. Although the head of the Feral wasn¡¯t turned into mush the side of the skull was still indented. But that was taking into account that Ferals were incredible durable. If a Pathwalker received the blow, his entire head would have popped off. Yet Owen didn¡¯t think much of it, and continued onto the next target. Because he interrupted the fight between a Feral and a Devourer, the Devourer was no free. Without any hesitation Owen moved to fight with the 4 legged Devourer. To him they were shapes, they surely had their differences, and he could see most of their traits, but Owen didn¡¯t care. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. To him there was life in death in this fight, paying attention to the minor differences such as colour of hair wasn¡¯t something he needed to notice. Luckily the first collision he took part in was a one on one Feral and Devourer fight. Because there were more Ferals, they were teaming up against the Devourers. This was partially the reason started on these two because he could clean them up fast. Or at least he assumed that if everything went well it would be easy. Luckily, the Devourer was just as easy as taking out the Feral as Owen hovered the weight of the sash just above his foot, he kicked it launching it straight into the face of the Devourer. Like before the rock instantly gained speed as it approached infinitely close towards the Devourers face. The snout of the beast was entirely destroyed as it was launched backwards a few dozen feet. The Devourer whimpered in pain as it rolled a few more meters when it landed. It wasn¡¯t dead but it was in so much pain it wasn¡¯t able to get up in the slightest. The reason why this time the rock didn¡¯t follow after was because it shot in an upwards motion it continued to follow the direction and because the Devourer had to come back down, the rock lost its target and lost all of its remaining force. The sash was then wrapped perfectly without any ridges in the sash around his arm. Owen stared at the remaining enemies in front of him, and likewise they all stared at him as well. Although the first bout was easy, there are still well over 50 enemies still present. And the first bout was a surprise attack, but now that all of the Ferals could smell the sudden scent of blood. Likewise the Devourers turned at the sound of the whimpers of their comrade. This happened suddenly and even the leader of the Devourers gave a low growl in surprise. Owen calmly stood there and prepared himself for the next set of actions. After all the fight for the Awakening Cinder was just beginning. Even during this silence, Owen remembered the words of his master. ¡°Owen, you can walk the Path and never meet an enemy. However your Path will be frail and easily Broken. Only Blocks that have weathered all types of disasters can they become stronger through that experience. If you want to grow strong. If you want to reach the pinnacle. You must first acknowledge that your Path was right. That every block you created came with effort of blood. Only then can you stand equally with me.¡± Owen slightly smiled upon remembering these words. His heartbeat¡¯s movement flickered. IT started to speed up as Owen was feeling excited. And then he muttered while thinking of his future. ¡°This is my Path. And these before me, are my steps. Watch me Master, as I will not disappoint you!¡± Chapter 60: The Two Sides Move As I know that this novel doesn''t cater to everyone, I respect that people do not enjoy it. However, please do not take our your frustration on your reviews... As I know my work isn''t perfect, simply bashing my grammar and making other claims that I don''t "care" for my story, is something that really pisses me off. Yes it pisses me off, and hurts the people who like the story as I enjoy having conversations about my story. So for those who are positive, I thank you. For those negative, grow up please. Well that''s my rant, enjoy this chapter. I will be carefully deciding about the future of this novel if the negativity continues. -------------------- The sounds of the wind being cut surrounded the area. Only a bit of bluish colour was visible and the next moment, that formless blue would slam into another foe without any chance of dodging. Owen who had been utilizing the sash was completely dominating the battlefield. It was strongly because he was a third party member and didn¡¯t have to worry about hitting any allies. Not to mention that the Ferals and the Devourers had to keep each other apart, because once one force decided to forgo the fight and go after Owen, the other side would easily crash them from behind. This led to an incredibly difficult situation for both the Devourers and the Ferals. The only difference between the two was that the Ferals didn¡¯t care much as they didn¡¯t have anyone organizing them. The Ferals were attacking anyone who was closest to them. Although it would seem that because Ferals prefer to hunt down Pathwalkers they would go for Owen first, this was not the case. The reason being was because they were strictly instinctual beings, and their survival was their top concern. If a great opponent was in front of them they would fight or flee, but their fleeing wouldn¡¯t be to another person to fight, it would be to run away from the area. As for the Devourers this wasn¡¯t the case. Instead they were organized but because Owen was trapped in between the two forces and was making sure to always stay away from danger, the leader of the Devourers wasn¡¯t able to do anything. However both Owen and the Devourer knew that this wouldn¡¯t last for long. As the numbers of the two forces continued to drop, with each sides losing their comrades it would become easier to target Owen. This was why Owen was walking deeper into the battle even at the risk of his own life. The blood had already been drank by the burnt dirt. The scent was causing the eyes of the Ferals and Devourers to become even more ferocious. The beasts and Ferals may rely on instincts, but that didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t care about their friends, or kin. Although at first it became a fight against each other but slowly as Owen walked deeper into the fight. The fights became less with one another. This was exactly what Owen had expected to happen. When he saw the problem come to reality he sighed to himself recovered the sash, wrapping it a few times around his arm. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I knew this was going to happen. But still, it¡¯s not like I can back away now.¡± Woosh! Just as Owen was thinking to himself a sudden green figure came flying at Owen, because OWen was able to see it just barely through his peripherals of his Blind Motion technique he successfully dodged. ¡®I might have to be more careful.¡¯ Even though Owen was already serious and wasn¡¯t taking this situation for granted, he still came to parts where he couldn¡¯t see through the entire field. When he was on the edges of the fight he was able to stand back and view everything. But as he got deeper inside he became surrounded. Although one would call this stupidity by getting himself surrounded it wasn¡¯t like he had much choice. If he wanted this Awakened Cinder, he needed to work for it. The first few bouts were nothing compared to now. When the leader of the Devourers felt it was time it roared and moved into action himself. Owen slightly tilting his head in pain from the noise that made his body momentarily shiver, faced towards the monstrosity in front of him. Though the leader was moving, the rest of the Devourers were also moving towards Owen. Owen steeled himself, he didn¡¯t have time to think and he wasn¡¯t much to spend time thinking or talking during a fight anyways. A few words here and there during calm moments was fine but as for the rest, it would require his full attention. The distance between him and the forces was short and Owen himself wasn¡¯t strong enough nor skilled enough to fight multiple enemies with their full focus on him. Although he could find two at a time, it was only do to owning the Tiny Thin Sash and Little Light Rock. Finally a strike came towards Owen from the Feral who had rushed towards Owen¡¯s back. Even though Owen was facing towards the Devourer¡¯s his focus was spread throughout the battlefield. This was his strongest point, and there was no way he would ever let go of it. With his ears, he could hear the stomps of the Ferals and as the blow came crushing towards his spine, Owen turned. Owen had already slightly moved to the side dodging the strike completely, but as Owen turned, he had a piece of the sash grabbed with both hands, using the slack of the sash he quickly tied it onto the Ferals arm. As the Ferals arm was locked Owen utilized the forward momentum of the Feral and flung him into the charging mob of Devourer¡¯s. As the Feral was thrown Owen charged after it, using the Feral as a shield. Chapter 61: The Leader joins The Fight Please do me a favour and not allow that that review to be the top review. I know a lot of you are leechers, but still help the story you enjoy by rating and up voting things you think to be true. As for the bad review that trash talks me as an author. People also take the time to write reviews and deserve to be respected. However I feel it''s only the haters who usually even vote on reviews. So do me and your fellow fans a favour and help them out. ------------------ The Feral soon collided with the stampede of Devourers, at this time the rest of the Ferals had yet to arrive to Owen. As the Devourers were closer, Owen ran straight after the Feral he threw for cover. A loud crash was heard as the Feral hit a few Devourers. The first deer like beast to be hit was slammed by the heavy hard body of the Feral, falling over without any ability to take on the collision. As the deer fell, the Devourers behind it also fell. ¡®Chance!¡¯ Owen swung the sash down immediately as he saw the tumbling monsters in front of him. His face wore no expression, but deep inside there was an excitement that could only be felt in a near death situation. And right now the battle was at it¡¯s peak, it would definitely cause anyone to become a nervous wreck. As for Owen? He was the type who would stare death in the eyes if he could. But maybe it was because he didn¡¯t have the ability to use those eyes, that he was able to approach death so fearlessly. A disability can never be treated the same for everyone, just like an ability to some would be useless. Owen was naturally smart, he took everything seriously and thought out his decisions thoroughly. Even if he regretted it afterwards, he would carry through to the end. That was how determined he was to get the Awakened Cinder. If he died, it was the end. If he lived, his Path would continue. And this sheer resolve was shown as he swung the sash straight onto the body of the deer like Devourer. The Little Light Rock without fail accelerated as it arrived infinitely close to the deer¡¯s body. The body of the deer collapsed inwards, as even with its tough hide wasn¡¯t able to stop the combination of the sash and rock for even a second. As the body was crushed between the ground and the rock, a crater instantly formed. The shattered dirt turned into dust particles, scattering it around. It wasn¡¯t enough to affect visibility, but the dust definitely caused the breathing of the living to become heavier. That was with the exception of Owen. As he had the breathing technique as long as it was a solid chunk invading his lungs he could still breathe. With the first Devourer of the stampede down, Owen didn¡¯t dwaddle and faced the a giant lizard coming towards him. Although the Feral worked as stopper, it wasn¡¯t able to cover the entire hole. A few on the edges were still able to move around and approach Owen. But this didn¡¯t cause Owen to be worried. Before when he was with his master, he lacked any means of attacking Devourers, but that wasn¡¯t the case any longer. He jolted the sash back as it came rushing towards Owen. At the same time the lizard jumped forth opening its giant mouth that could easily swallow a man whole in one bite. Owen stood there unmoving, as the mouth came closer. Even he wasn¡¯t sure if the weight of the rock would approach first or not. But Owen didn¡¯t decide to use the sash to block. He didn¡¯t have time for that. Every single movement he made would affect the outcome of the battle. Every movement he made, needed to be a killing blow. The lizard¡¯s mouth was so close that Owen felt nauseous from the smell alone. The rotten meat and bones were still stuck within the lizard¡¯s mouth. But close was only close, as the weight of the sash finally returned Owen immediately punched the weight. No matter what the Little Light Rock was owned by Owen. It would not hurt him not matter how hard he struck it. Only the effects of the rock would harm Owen, but that was only if Owen chose to be within the Little Light Rock¡¯s effective range. As Owen punched the rock inside of the sash at the same time, his arm entered inside of the lizard¡¯s mouth. The lizard was already thinking that Owen would lose his arm. It saw the destructive ability of the sash but even if it died it was going to take Owen¡¯s arm for its comrades. The lizard prepared to chomp down onto Owen, but Owen was unfazed and continue to swing through. The rock was already launched through the and because as the lizard closed its mouth the area around the rock became inclosed, it erupted like never before. It felt like the rock was an excited little fish that had anywhere in the world to go but couldn¡¯t pick a direction. All this pent up energy wasn¡¯t able to be contained and finally the rock chose the original direction that Owen punched it towards. Flying straight in the back of the throat the rock continued to carry along without losing any force. The lizard was dragged back and just as it chomped down Owen¡¯s arm was back outside. Although the lizard failed, the rock forced itself through the throat of the lizard. Effectively severing the spine from the brain of the lizard killing it instantly. As the lizard collapsed, Owen quickly kicked the mouth of the lizard open and retrieved the rest of the sash. It was covered the sash in red blood, although for Owen he was only able to see the green Essence of the blood. But the blood didn¡¯t stain the sash in the slightest and only dripped off showing its beautiful light blue once again. Naturally Owen didn¡¯t time to worry about the lizard, as the next monster had already arrived, and at the same time so did the Ferals. Now that both forces arrived Owen had to somehow get out of the middle. The Ferals themselves weren¡¯t exactly targeting Owen, but at the moment he was the closest. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. -------------------- ¡°What is he doing?¡± A tender voice came out of the thin air. Although for Owen he would think it was someone standing there. But for anyone else they would feel that the wind was talking to them and that they were going crazy. This was the invisible girl that was chasing Owen this whole time. Although Owen wasn¡¯t sure of the sex of the person following him. After all, he relied more heavily on hearing for that type of thing. When he looked at the impure colours of the person following him, he wasn¡¯t checking the curvature of the body. Why would he? To him everyone was walking the Path, whether they be female or male, such things weren¡¯t important. This wasn¡¯t say that Owen wasn¡¯t interested in the opposite sex. It was just that he wouldn¡¯t go out of his way to find one either. As for the girl who was chasing Owen, she had lost him for a good portion of time. But when she heard the sounds of roaring Devourer¡¯s and the screams of Ferals, she decided to check it out. She was someone who was led by her curiosity. She was like a cat who had to find out about everything. But she herself knew that this might lead to her death, but luckily she met her master. If she didn¡¯t, she would probably already been caught by Owen and potentially killed by him. Little did she know he already knew about her existence, but simply didn¡¯t care. It was a misunderstanding from both sides. The girl thought Owen knew nothing of her, even though she knew he had heightened hearing and smell, she already blended herself with dirt. For a woman to dirty herself willingly, was already enough to show how far her curiosity led her. As for Owen, he knew someone was there but couldn¡¯t figure out what they wanted. Because they didn¡¯t harm him so he just left them alone. And now the girl was staring at the scene in front of her. The person she once lost was in the middle fighting a group of Devourers and Ferals. She looked at Owen, looked at the head Devourer, back to the Ferals, and finally back to Owen. Although only herself would know she was nodding many times as she understood the situation she mumbled at the same time. ¡°Hmmm.. I knew it, this guy is an idiot. Finally after chasing him so long I know why I couldn¡¯t let him go! An idiot is always the most interesting to meet.¡± She slightly bit her lip in excitement. Playing with it back and forth as if she found a new ball of yarn to play with. Then she skipped off towards the battlefield without any worry of being caught. --------------------------------- As the fight was becoming more destructive, as Owen had already ran into the group of Ferals for cover. Although this would cause the Ferals to target him, they were unorganized and easy to dodge. Their high pitched screams rushed into the ears of Owen as it slightly caused him a headache. Luckily the figures of green would only attack one at a time as they felt it was enough. As for the Devourers, their rage was increasing without bounds. Time and time again Owen was getting the best of them and causing their blood to drank by the land. All of this fight was for a simple little Cinder. ¡°ROOOOOOOAR!¡± A loud noise erupted throughout the area. Owen, the Ferals looked towards the source of the sound. As for the Devourers they bent their heads down in fear and back away, opening up a path of the leader of the Devourers to come through. When one of the Devourers didn¡¯t step back in time the beast with its crocodile like snout instantly tore its neck apart. The beast crunched on the Essence crystal that was lodged into the neck of the beast. Owen frowned as he saw this. The Ferals, instead felt instinctive fear and rushed towards the beast without a care for their lives. ¡®This isn¡¯t good. I was hoping to dwindle down their numbers a bit more.¡¯ Owen was unsatisfied by the the Devourer¡¯s move. Because he figured it was a tyrant like beast, it wouldn¡¯t move until the end of the fight. As a tyrant wouldn¡¯t care about its subjects it could just get more. Although it was obvious it still didn¡¯t care from that fact that ripped apart on of the Devourers in front of all of them. It was probably only because Owen pissed it off so much that it wanted to rip Owen more than it wanted to stay back and act like a king. As Owen watched the least impure beast jump into the pile of Ferals ferociously biting and clawing at their bodies. At first it was only light wounds and caused slight injuries,and the Ferlas roared in returned. But as the Ferals were continuously stumbled from its actions, the crocodile snouted Devourer chomped onto their necks snapping them. The helpless Feral¡¯s screamed in their last moments. As the Ferals were killed off one by one, Owen was soon left by himself against 15 or so Devourer¡¯s. ¡®Hopefully this leader is impulsive and wants to attack me.¡¯ At this point Owen¡¯s only hope was to fight one on one with leader of the Devourers. So he did what anyone would do in such a situation, he taunted it. As Owen swung his sash into the ground and for the first time in his life, he rose his voice and yelled at the top of his lungs. ¡°Let¡¯s fight!¡± It might have been a bit awkward, but Owen wasn¡¯t sure what else to do in order to taunt the beast in front of him. Luckily for him, his tiny attempt worked as the beast stared viciously at Owen, steadily moving closer to him. Chapter 62: Baptism Hello! Here I am and I have a few things to say. First of all I want to thank all of the overwhelming support from you, the fans. As lots of the behind the scene negativity can''t be seen I greatly appreciate all of your support. And I''m not just here to say my thanks, I''m here to show it with this chapter! Also I am now blessed with an editor~!~ So please give a warm welcome to Neshi! You guys might not know this but I have a hard time asking people to become an editor for me. It''s a lot of work just to volunteer their times for this story. I greatly appreciate it and because of that I would never ask for one. Simply because I know that my grammar is anything but good. Anyways I''m thankful for Neshi to spend his time working together with me to create an even better story that we can all enjoy together. And because of that I made the chapter even longer. So with both the thanks from the fans and thanks from Neshi this chapter is 4000 words. Yup, enjoy it! ---------------------- With the Devourer standing only a few meters away, Owen could smell the repulsive smell of the Feral¡¯s blood. All of them had been killed in with their necks snapped in half. Through the bite wounds, blood was leaking out. It was thick black blood that looked gave an eerie feeling towards it. It was the same for Owen as well. Specially because the Sin had taken over the Essence of the body that included the colour of blood as well. Although Owen couldn¡¯t be sure if the actual colour was black, at the very least he felt it was grotesque as well. But that wasn¡¯t even the worst of it. Although the blood of the Devourer¡¯s had already been spilt, the scent was immediately taken over by the repulsive stench of the Feral¡¯s blood. Even if Owen wanted to, he wasn¡¯t able to hold back from rubbing his nose attempting to get rid of the scent stuck within his nostrils. Unfortunately the smell was too strong, and not only that it seemed that the blood covered Devourer in front of him had already lost all of its patience. But before Owen could even think, or react for that matter, the beast leader dove straight for him. Although the distance was close it wasn¡¯t close enough for Owen to be worried about sudden movements. At least this was what he thought. So when the Devourer exploded towards Owen it was much faster than he expected. After all the beast was still at least 2 meters high and 4 meters long. For it to have such speed was not something Owen could comprehend. It wasn¡¯t a matter of underestimating it. It was simply too powerful! The only action Owen was able to do in the nick of time was raise the his arm wrapped by the sash to block the incoming claw. The long fingers slashed towards Owen¡¯s arm completely picking up Owen with its strength and launching him backwards 10 meters. ¡°Urgh.¡± Owen groaned as he rolled on the ground, completely covered in dirt. The only thing that could be considered lucky was that he was launched outside where all the blood was. Otherwise he would be drenched in blood as well. As Owen tried to pick himself up he felt a sharp pain run through his right arm that blocked the beasts strike. From the pain alone Owen could tell it was a detrimental injury to the fight. As he forced himself up, he rubbed his remaining hand on his arm. ¡°This isn¡¯t good. It¡¯s at least broken. There isn¡¯t anyway I can fight this Tyrant Devourer with just one arm.¡± Because of the sudden action, he felt a tinge of anger deep within. It wasn¡¯t anything serious, and in fact it wasn¡¯t that he was angry at the beast for hurting him either. He chose to do this, and because of that he was a little angry on himself. Before anyone else he would blame himself. After all it wasn¡¯t like fighting was the only option available to him. He could have waited to see how the fight turned out, he also could have completely forsaken the Awakened Cinder. But because he knew of its importance, Owen didn¡¯t want to leave it behind. Now however, that option was no longer available to him. And it was also impossible to acquire it with his injuries. Even with the chances being impossible Owen didn¡¯t run away. He needed this Cinder. It would help him tremendously. There wasn¡¯t much that Owen knew about the progress of his Solar Eyes or even the rest of his techniques for that matter. It was all a mystery to him, but his master already explained that these things needed to be figured out by him alone. His master could only show him the direction of the Path. Everyone was to walk their own Path. And because Owen didn¡¯t know what result would come if he used the Cinder, he wanted it even more. The anticipation of the unknown was something that Owen could not simply let go. This was why even though he was injured, even though it should be impossible and the only result would be his death, that he continued to face towards the monster in front of him. ¡°Fear? Me? I will not cower in front of you. If I die that shall be my destiny. However to me, fate is nothing more than what I choose it to be!¡± Owen remained motionless as he spoke with no hint of pain shown on his face. He refused to show his shaking body in front of his enemy. Owen wasn¡¯t scared but he was in pain. And the that struck him had shaken his entire body and he felt uneasy. But through sheer determination alone he kept steady. He tensed all his muscles equally to stand straight. The blood flowed down his arm onto the Tiny Thin Sash, and soon onto the Little Light Rock. Although Owen spoke to the Devourer, it didn¡¯t take any heed to the insignificant bug in front of it. It was angered at first by Owen¡¯s disturbance to its rule. But now that it already injured Owen, it could just allow for the other beasts to rip him apart. Owen wasn¡¯t worth its time and because of that it turned its back on Owen. However this was a huge mistake! ¡°Don¡¯t. You. Dare!¡± Owen spoke three words although it felt calm. It caused a chilly shiver to crawl down the Devourer¡¯s back. Previously it felt Owen was no threat. But now was an entire different story. It belittled Owen. To Owen this was worse than death. To him to wanted to earn people¡¯s respect through his actions it was a disgrace! Owen¡¯s calm heart pumped the blood through his entire body. His Essence flowed crazily through out his muscles causing them to contract and expand. The blood that was leaking from his arm started to become lighter and purer. It was the first time since Owen had ever felt disgraced by someone else. He was someone who tried his best to be acknowledged. He did everything to the best of his ability. Even when fighting all of the warriors, or collecting herbs. Not one person would say that Owen was weak or that he wasn¡¯t worth being acknowledged! And because Owen usually remained calm, his blood flow was slow and just the bare minimum needed to perfectly complete all of his tasks in a day. For a person to control himself to such a degree what would happen when that limit was broken? Furthermore it was under the conditions of being a Pathwalker. For his blood to flow this fast for the first time, it was something his body had never experienced before. The Essence filled blood gushed through his arteries. Then the veins sucked back all the drained blood. Giving his muscles, his bones, and every other inch a level of energy like it never felt before. The sheer amount of Essence that had been stagnant and not used was completely sucked back at this moment. Solidifying his body, this wasn¡¯t a subconscious increase in strength where his Path was strengthened. Instead this was the pure acceptance of Essence throughout his body. This was the first step of body refinement. Although solidifying Path Blocks would strengthen the body, that was only to a point. Only when the Essence baptised the entire body could one truly join the ranks of a Pathwalker. This was reason why the Devourer was so strong. It had already completely accepted the Essence baptism and could be said to have on a completely different level, not just including being a Peak Omega Devourer. The Path was deep and immeasurable. There was simply too many things that could affect one¡¯s cultivation. And now Owen stared at the Devourer in front of him. His anger was no longer pointed towards himself but directly to the Tyrant Devourer! He was angry but he still kept control of it. It was only that his heartbeat that failed to listen to him. Other than that no one would be able to tell he was angry. His eyelids closed, his nose was straight and pointed, his face wasn¡¯t contorted in the slightest. The dust covering his brown hair, all of this was shown fully to the Tyrant Devourer. And finally Owen showed a slight curl of the lips as he felt an intense increase in power. ¡°Come back here. If you want me to die, you better do it yourself.¡± Owen spoke calmly once again as he pointed with his injured arm. The blood dripped from his fingertips, but anyone would think it was only a light injury seeing how easily Owen moved his arm. And before the Devourer could fully react Owen made his move first. It was the same situation all over again, only the difference was that Owen was the one moving and the Devourer was left there to stand still. There was a completely stage difference between them, but luckily the long snouted Devourer had severely underestimated Owen after the first clash. Thinking that was the limit of Owen¡¯s strength, it had no idea because of it¡¯s kingly attitude it would cause Owen to have an explosive increase in strength. Unable to react to Owen¡¯s sudden movements, the Devourer stood still as Owen grabbed onto the Little Light Rock portion of the sash and slammed it straight into its chest. The now blood stained Little Light Rock trembled as it felt the anger through Owen¡¯s grip. As the collision was made, it helped its master and increased the force of the punch exponentially. Although this would likely damage Owen as well, he didn¡¯t care. He was using his already broken arm to swing this punch. Why would he use an already injured arm? It was to send a message. A message to the Devourer to never look down on him. As he would fight to the best of his abilities at all times. A broken arm could heal, specially with the herbs Owen had been picking, but even without them a broken bone would only take a week to heal. So Owen did this without any regrets and saw through it to the end. Because sometimes proving yourself meant more than the damage you would take from it. As such the force finally started to move back the Devourer. The Devourer no longer felt smug, as soon as it noticed Owen¡¯s speed it attempted to protect itself, but it was not nimble like Owen. It was fast but that relied on burst movement of its hind legs. It could not keep up with subtle movements like blocking. Without any resistance the force of Owen¡¯s punch swung through, caving in the Devourer¡¯s body as it roared in pain. But at the same time Owen¡¯s hand was being shattered without fail. Clearly his body was still weaker than the Devourers. But Owen held the pain deep inside of him without letting a tiny bit leak onto his face. Along with his punch Owen was flung forward as the Devourer staggered back. Owen fell onto the ground while the Devourer breathed heavily while blood dropped thickly from its chest. It looked like a fatal injury it was just a minor injury. Nonetheless its pride had been shattered by Owen¡¯s punch. It was smart enough to know what Owen did. It also knew that Owen¡¯s arm was injured quite heavily but even still he used it to hurt it. One could imagine that the state of Owen¡¯s arm after this punch. Not to mention half of the strength was not his own. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But at the very least, with Owen¡¯s increase in strength and resolve, he was able to make the tyrant Devourer look at him equally. As long as the race had a shred of intelligence to them Owen would try his best to earn respect. Towards his enemies or allies it didn¡¯t matter, and because of his actions he had earned that right. Now the Devourer¡¯s glare rested on Owen with eyes full of anger. As this was anger directed towards Owen for injuring it, Owen was definitely worthy of its attention. In fact the Tyrant Devourer wanted nothing more than to eat Owen at this very moment. If it did it could only imagine what benefits it would receive! -------------------- ¡°Hmm. To think this boy would be baptised simply because he was looked down by a Devourer. I couldn¡¯t believe it when Iohanne said I was lucky to get assigned to watch over this boy. But seriously to pass the hidden test just a few days after entering the Boundary? Truly this disciple of the Sun-Dragon is a monster! Haha!¡± A deep voice spoke out to himself. Although no one was close enough to hear him he didn¡¯t mind. He was more interested in hearing himself talk more than anything. His giant round body shook with each exhale of laughter. His double chin gave the impression of a jolly person, but although he was laughing heartily, his eyes denied any hint of laughter. And soon after his laughter died down he made a serious look as he spoke for the sake of hearing himself once again. ¡°Although he¡¯s a monster he¡¯s also being watched by the Fallen. Why would they be here? This planet is only just going under the Rebirth stage. Is there something bigger happening? No wonder Lord Lunar Wolf asked me to look after him. Ah! If only he died by this stupid, ugly ass Devourer.¡± The fat man was impressed by Owen, but being impressed was simply that. He wished to sit down and cultivate while eating a hot meal in front of him. Now he was required to follow Owen in case something happened. This wasn¡¯t to say he would protect him from harm. That was absolutely not the case. All Pathwalkers were assigned a Keeper to watch over them. Only when the Pathwalkers were baptised along with the Tokens would they be able to move to the next Pavilion. As for the Awakened Cinder, it was amazing and unique. But it was useless to the fat Keeper. His eyes only rested on it for a few moments before looking away again. It was the complete opposite element of his and would only harm instead of doing good. However that didn¡¯t apply to the other one watching Owen as well. This was mainly the reason why the fat Keeper was in a bad mood. But nonetheless seeing Owen¡¯s determination he still gain a light nod of approval. Owen¡¯s resolve to be acknowledged by even a monster was not something seen very often. Surely the Devourers could also walk the Path, but that was only if they made it through their natural selection of the best. Unless they were Alpha Devourers they could be nothing but trash. With another look towards the distance the fat Keeper shook his head and spoke again. ¡°Well, it¡¯s unfortunate but it seems that this fight won¡¯t be that peaceful any longer. It¡¯s time for work.¡± He stretched out his belly resting his thick hands onto his belly. Instantly after he disappeared, towards Owen¡¯s direction. ---------------------- During this time Owen and the Tyrant Devourer had had already clashed a few more times. Although it was clashing Owen was dodging every blow. His speed had immensely increased after being baptised. As for the Tyrant Devourer, it was being harmed but it reacted quickly enough so that only little bruises were formed. The Little Light Rock was powerful but without a surface for it to accelerate towards it would just be a small rock. The beast learend pretty quickly after being watching and experiencing the damage itself. As for Owen he wasn¡¯t bothered by the fact the fight had turned into a stalemate. Every second that passed by Owen was becoming more skilled in using his new increase in strength. Furthermore he was utilizing the sash in ways he had never before. Because his right arm had lost all of its feeling, it was only dangling there. However with his remaining arm he was skillfully using the Tiny Thin Sash with sweeping motions to gain speed as it came whipping around. Owen had to twirl his body in order for it to move the opposite direction. He was definitely becoming more fluent and stronger as the battled continued. Even though this strategy was obvious Owen was able to utilize this distance to keep the Tyrant Devourer in front of him at a distance. Which made it easily possible for Owen to dodge when the Devourer came in for a strike. At this point even though the Tyrant Devourer was a stage higher than him, Owen had the breathing technique. His stamina far surpassed anyone within the same realm that was required to channel. As for Devourers they didn¡¯t even have the ability to channel and this could be said to be their only downside about their Path. They had one option in their Path and that was to keep eating their prey. Even though the Tyrant knew that a drawn out fight for it was bad, it wasn¡¯t able to dash towards Owen now that he was baptised. Furthermore it was hurt in the chest area that caused it to be slower than normal. Even still, because there was destruction of the earth every time the Devourer striked it was an ugly fight from its side. As for Owen he was dodging meticulously as he sweated profusely. His concentration was simply at the point where he couldn¡¯t even see anything but the Tyrant Devourer through his Blind Motion technique. However it was at this moment when the battle was reaching its conclusion that two explosions right after one another was heard. It was so loud and earth shaking that Owen was shaken out of his concentration where he instantly stopped to his knees. He instantly vomited as he body couldn¡¯t handle the intense stress he put it under. ¡°Urgh. I didn¡¯t even notice how much strain I put my body under to fight equally with that Tyrant Devourer.¡± His words were mumbled out with each exhale while he breathed heavily inwards to allow his flow of Essence to return to normal. As he was doing from the dust particles, a dark and slow voice was heard as Owen faced towards the source of the sound. ¡°Hmm.. The Water Bull. What are you doing here?¡± The Devourer¡¯s hearing this voice immediately fled, including the Tyrant Devourer. It had never felt so much fear in its entire life from just a voice and decided not to stay a second longer. Such was the instinctive abilities of animals to sense immense danger. The Awakened Cinder? What did that matter if it was dead. So the Tyrant Devourer even with all its injuries fled like nothing had happened to it previously. In return from the other dust explosion a deep laugh was heard. ¡°Haha! You should know very well what I¡¯m doing here Fallen. I don¡¯t know you so you shouldn¡¯t be too famous. But in case you are what is your name and purpose here?¡± As the dust settled, and the two figures walked out of the craters they created Owen was able to see the two figure¡¯s colours. One was a pure white even more pure than Iohanne¡¯s and Alesia¡¯s Essence. It looked like it was on the verge of breaking through to something. But as to what Owen had no idea. As for the other figure it was a pure black. It gave the impression that it was darker than night. Much like the Ferals that had just passed away, yet even more sinister. Yet unlike the Ferals, there was a spark of colour intertwining near the figure¡¯s head. From this alone Owen was able to see that there was a difference between this man and the Ferals around. Not to mention that he was even speaking. Even though Owen didn¡¯t understand, he wasn¡¯t worried as he knew there was much he still didn¡¯t know. Maybe the only thing Owen was worried about would be losing the Awakened Cinder, as he already knew that this two men were many folds stronger than him. But both figures didn¡¯t look at the Cinder once and continued to stare at one another. One was a fat man that would take a few Owens to wrap around him completely. The other was a frail skinny man, and on this man were thousands of small scars. He wasn¡¯t ugly but he was indeed terrifying from this appearance. After a few moments the skinny man answered the one he called the Water Bull. ¡°Well truthfully, I¡¯m here to ask for this boy to join us. But on second thought, I¡¯ll just take this Cinder away so I can tempt him later.¡± With a diabolical smile the man laughed unevenly. He clearly said these words to try and anger the other man. But his words were instead directed to Owen even though he wasn¡¯t look at Owen. It was a direct invitation. As to what? Owen had no idea but he was sure whatever it was it wasn¡¯t a good thing. Owen instead chose to stay kneeling on the ground recovering his breath incase he had to run. He knew it was hopeless to try and escape from them. But nonetheless he would try in case he needed to. As for the Water Bull he spoke out with a voice showing his emotions. ¡°You know the rules. Must you anger me? You should know you are not my opponent.¡± The skinny man¡¯s smile turned into a frown and nodded after a bit of thought. ¡°While this is true, that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t kill that boy.¡± The Water Bull could no longer hold in his anger. From his pores water droplets were rain rising as opposed to falling. It was mysterious sight but Owen saw the pure colour of blue Essence fill the air around the Water Bull. As the water continued to be drawn from his pores, his body was shrinking at a rate in which the eyes could easily perceive. Seeing this the skinny man frowned even more as he spoke in retaliation. ¡°Indeed, the innate abilities of a Water Bull is indeed quite scary. Adding the water from your own body is much stronger than utilizing the water in the air. This might be a dangerous fight, but even still Water Bull, let me taste how strong you truly are!¡± Owen was slowing recovering but as he was he was thinking thoroughly as to why this situation was developing this way. It seemed like they wanted to the Awakened Cinder, which was obvious it was an important object born only once during the Rebirth of the planet. However as to why he was important this was more than confusing to him. Why was he waned by this skinny man? No matter how hard he tried to figure out he couldn¡¯t. None the less he was able to finally stand up as the last bit of droplets formed into a stream dancing around the now toned Water Bull. On the other side the skinny man had a dark black gaseous mist appearing in his hands. As to what it was Owen had no idea but he could see the immense amount of Essence within it. The situation turned from his personal clash into a clash between Keepers, but Owen stayed where he was. After all it was a chance to see what powers like Keepers could use! --------------------- A lot of development and questions. If you have any feel free to ask and I can tell you. But don''t worry everything will be explained eventually. IMO as it is still a Xianxia story these things need to develop slowly and naturally. I hope that you can wait patiently for this world to open up naturally. It''s slow but it''s slow because I want to show you guys this wonderful story as best as I can! Chapter 63: The Thief The air pressure suddenly felt like it became heavy. Owen¡¯s breathing rate increased in order to compensate. His thoughts were confused about the two figures in front of him. Neither of them had given him a look. They only continued to stare at one another in a stalemate. The once fat Water Bull man had water dancing around him, nearly covering his body, at times Owen could see glimpses of white through the intense blue Essence. There was at least 20 individual streams wrapped around him. The water sparkled beautiful as it reflected the light off the sun. In fact for the skinny man it was even more stunning. Not because it was simply beautiful but instead that the danger radiating off of the water caused his body to shiver in ecstasy. He hugged himself tightly rubbed his arms basking in the feeling of having a cold shiver. The Water Bull gaze was full of detest towards this man but even still it was a job that he had to complete and reluctant or not, he would do what was required of him. He stretched is now skinny belly out and jumped straight towards the skinny man. In return the skinny man stopped holding himself. He held his hands outwards with his palms facing the ground. As he did this, the black gas started to rushed and wiggle on his palms looking to rise into the air. It looked like a the skinny man was holding a snake down as it tried to slighter to freedom. But before the snake could escape the Water Bull arrived first. The WAter Bull rose swung his fist out, but awkwardly enough his fist wasn¡¯t close enough to the skinny man, instead the water itself formed into a giant fist and struck out! The skinny man retaliated with a slight twitch of his palm. The trapped snaked immediately wiggled free towards the oncoming water fist. As it came free it turned into a giant black gaseous snaked! Owen watched on as these two intense colours collided into one another. Boom! The Essence scattered into particles that were solidified in the air. Even though Owen inwardly wanted to praise how beautiful the combination of blue and black particles that filled his vision, it was simply too destructive. The particles blew past Owen and flung his body outwards. It was only a single exchange of blows and Owen who was at least a dozen meters away was swept off his knees and flung around! As the particles blew past him some struck into him as well shredding his skin off. He inwardly groaned as some pain was leaked through his voice. After a few moments Owen landed on his back, throwing up all the air deep within his lungs. He wasn¡¯t able to properly stabilize himself in the air as he was mentally and physically exhausted. But even though he was tired, the fight in front of him didn¡¯t stop. Their first exchange was slow but in the next moment the Water Bull wa retaliating with strikes hitting air left and right. Soon after, his actions was followed by the movements of the streams turning into blades, fists or even a shield to block the black gas. Likewise the skinny man was only slightly turning his palms to allow the snake to roam free. If needed it turned into a 3 headed python or even a giant coiled cobra waiting to strike. All of these strikes caused the air to shudder. Below their feet the earth was running away as they dug deeper and deeper. During this Owen stared in awe towards their strength. ¡°Even though it¡¯s right in front of me I can¡¯t believe how powerful it is.¡± Although Owen was far enough to not be flung back any farther, bits of black and blue particles that solidified after clashing still flew past him. As they slashed into his skin Owen remained still, he was simply too surprised to be worried about a weak wound would like that. Even his broken arm didn¡¯t mean anything to him at the moment. ¡°You¡¯re pretty good! It looks like I can stretch out a bit more don¡¯t you think Fallen?¡± The Water Bull rubbed his belly slightly as he gave a faint smile. The Skinny black man didn¡¯t speak, he was already sweating, but even still he welcomed the increase in intensity. For them to increase in power fighting like this was definitely a great benefit. As the skinny man responded by facing his palms towards themselves. The two black gases excitedly intertwined with one another. With nothing to stop it¡¯s escape after intertwining it rose into the air expanding at a frightening rate. It then turned into a giant 9 headed Hydra! Though it was only the heads of a hydra as the body was still the source of the black gas that came from skinny man¡¯s palms. When the last bit of gas was leaving his palms the skinny man slammed his palms together like praying as he controlled the Hydra to attack the Water Bull! Even seeing this ferocious and deadly gas Hydra in front of him the Water Bull smiled even stronger than before. He was filled with a satisfaction to destroy the opponent''s attack right in front of him. As for the Water Bull he enjoyed nothing more than destroying his opponent¡¯s strongest attacks. Now because he wished to belittle his opponent, but instead because he wish to test this limits of his strength. This was why even if he complained, he would put all his effort into a fight. It didn¡¯t matter if he was reluctant towards the job. He would utilize all of his strength to accomplish his task. The only thing was he had a hard time fighting at full strength from the beginning. After all if he did the fight would end to early. Although it sounded contradictory these things came in steps for the Water Bull. It was his respect towards his opponent to give them time to fight a bit before he demolished them. Especially that he loved to yell out his moves. ¡°Tetra Flowing Current!¡± As the Water Bull roared he smacked his skinny belly with both of his hands. His actions were pointless but to him it was more a signature move. He wasn¡¯t required to do it but it made it seem cooler. Just like shouting out the skill name made him sound cooler. At least that¡¯s what he thought. After he did these redundant actions the 20 or so small streams started to flow into one another. As they danced in the air, all connected at a single point. This single point was directly in front of the Water Bull¡¯s stomach. As the streams turned into a giant ball of water on the outside flowed 4 more streams. But these streams were not calm like the previously ones. They were filled with a strong white rapid that spun infinitely fast within itself. These four streams crawled out of the water ball slowly at fast but when it felt a sudden danger from the 9 headed Hydra that was already striking towards the Water Bull, they immediately responded by meeting them. Owen once again was in awe. The fight was simply too incredible. As someone who could actually see the Essence forming as these attacks were formed he was able to see at the very least a glimpse of their pure power. Even though he could only comprehend a tiny fraction of this power, that alone was enough to tell how powerful these figures in front of him were. It was also a reminder that he had a long way to go on his Path. He was just at the starting point. And to truly gain his vision he had to keep walking. His thoughts ranged from underestimating the Tyrant Devourer, to all the things his master had taught him. They all converged into a single point that would later help him in the future. This was experience. Something he lacked much of, but luckily he was learning slowly. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. During this fraction of a second Owen had already thought many things. But this fraction of a second was enough to watch the collision of these two forces. Through the Blind Motion technique, Owen watched the black 9 headed Hydra attack the 4 blue streams. But unlike the previous encounters the collision didn¡¯t disperse, instead the 4 blue streams pierced through the 9 headed Hydra! They then bore their way through and went straight to the next target, the skinny man! ¡°Fuck!¡± The Skinny man roared with unhappiness. Although previously he was excited, it all disappeared in the face of death. He clearly knew if he stayed here any longer he would die. But as the attack was too fast he couldn¡¯t help dodge. Although reluctant he would watch his how his own life would disperse into nothingness. He wasn¡¯t a coward, as no one who reached their level was. He didn¡¯t want to die but he wasn¡¯t afraid of it. As the Water Bull saw that the skinny man made no more attempts to block the strike he release his control of the Tetra Flowing Current. As he did the Essence was sucked back and the currents turned into harmless water slamming straight into the skinny man with incredible force. But even though this force was strong, it wasn¡¯t something that could harm him. The skinny man looked back towards the Water Bull in confusion. As he did the Water bull snickered as he knew what he was thinking. ¡°If I kill everyone I beat, I¡¯ll have no opponents in the future to get revenge. But that is that. And now you¡¯re going to tell me the true reason you¡¯re here!¡± The Water Bull grabbed onto the skinny man not letting him go in the slightest. During this time Owen was catching his breath as the tension in the air dispersed. But as he was getting up, he saw a similar figure he had seen many times already. It was the impure Essence figure that had been following him since he entered the Boundary. It was actually walking towards the two experts. ¡°What is that person doing?¡± Owen¡¯s couldn¡¯t understand what it was doing, but as he watched more carefully he realized that the figure wasn¡¯t walking towards the two experts but instead towards the Cinder! Although water had flung everywhere an drenched the earth, only this spot was completely dry. It hadn¡¯t been affected by the scatter of Essence in the least. Owen looked at the figure and back towards the two figures. He could clearly see this figure, but why weren¡¯t the two experts reacting? ¡®Do they just not care?¡¯ But as he thought that he shook his head. ¡®No, that isn¡¯t possible. Is he hiding somehow? Why can I see him then?¡¯ Just then as Owen was trying to figure out the mystery the figure picked up the Cinder and immediately left in the same direction it came! Although Owen was curious as to how the figure went unnoticed, as it stole the Cinder, that without a doubt didn¡¯t escape his attention. Even though his body was exhausted he dragged it after the figure who stole the Cinder. ¡°Tell me Fallen. What are you doing here?¡± The Water Bull asked with his deep voice. The water that was wrapped around him, was currently entering through his pores once again. His body became fatter at a visible rate and returned to its glorious appearance. He smacked his belly as it shook his entire body. His double chin had a smug look of victory to it. Still though his eyes glared towards the skinny man as he spoke. The skinny man didn¡¯t meet the Water Bull¡¯s gaze as he turned his head towards a different direction. And as he did this, he noticed a problem. The Cinder was gone! He immediately changed the subject as he looked towards the Water Bull and spoke. ¡°Hey you buffoon! The Cinder is gone!¡± The Water Bull titled his head and replied without thinking. ¡°Huh? Who cares¡­ wait did you actually think I would be fooled by that?¡± The Skinny man rolled his eyes. ¡®Do I need to lie to you?¡¯ Instead he only answered simply. ¡°Want to make a bet?¡± The Water Bull rose his eyebrows at this. ¡°Sure I bet it¡¯s still there if I win you tell me what you¡¯re doing here. If I lose I¡¯ll let you go.¡± The skinny man nodded happily as he pointed to the location where the Cinder once was. Following the direction the finger, the Water Bull immediately realized he had been too eager to finish this job. Had he just thought about it, if he carefully sensed the Cinder he could tell it was no longer there. He rubbed his temple as he let go the skinny man who ran away immediately after without looking back. On the other hand the Water Bull sighed as he happily patted his belly in comfort. ¡°I fucked up.¡± ----------------------------- As for the Skinny man the moment he left the area he heaved a sigh of relief. At that same moment a voice echoed throughout the forest, but yet the sound was only heard by the skinny man. It was neither deep nor high pitched as it was slow paced. ¡°You who has failed. Shall become a Fallen who never rises again.¡± ¡°No wait! I can¡¯t be blamed that it was the Water Bull! If it was anyone else I could hav¡­¡± Before the skinny man could finish his entire body was wrapped in a silver dust. The dust came from nowhere but at the same time came from somewhere. As the dust dispersed there was no sign of the skinny man, and there was no sign of the silver dust. As if it had never existed in the first place. Chapter 64: The Birth Of a Thief The distorted figure ran back up the steep hill of the valley. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure what was special about the Cinder, but it was clear that it was the center of everyone¡¯s attention when they made sudden glances at it. Although the invisible figure didn¡¯t see the Tyrant Devourer or Owen look at it, she could see the shine in the Feral¡¯s eyes for this treasure. As she held the fist size Cinder that didn¡¯t feel hot to the touch whatsoever she ran back to where she arrived from not to be caught by the Keepers. She knew that she wouldn¡¯t be caught, and it was this confidence that led her to take the Cinder for herself. Originally she was only going to pick it up cause she noticed everyone else wanted it, but when she stood immediately over it, it felt like it was calling her. For Dimia who knew very little of the Pathwalker world, she was unable to hold back her urge from grabbing the Cinder. After all she was someone who only knew the breathing technique. She was someone better off than most but compared to the God¡¯s children she was nothing. This was very clear to her as her master spoke of it many times. ¡°Dimia never walk the Path without knowing where you¡¯re going to step. Your Path must be one that you know.¡± Dimia was carefully listening to her master. Her master was a skinny frail looking woman. She wore a dress that covered her entire neck all the way down to her ankles. There was a slit on the side of her thighs only enough to give an ease of movement. Her straight brunette air was spread out in two tails. Her eyes were sharp and vigilant of everything around her. Only the blue colour in his eyes allowed for a calming effect even while being carefully watched. As for Dimia herself she was wearing a simple black shirt and trousers. Her soft raven-coloured hair rested on her shoulders without any weight to them. Her black eyes held a flash of ambition. Together they were two women, beauties that would cause the entire world to shake when seeing their appearances. This even more the case for the elder women. Her beauty itself was something to be feared. As for Dimia she was a beauty was well hidden. It was usually covered by her bangs as her hair was messy and not well maintained. But there was a certain charm to this plain beauty. Dimia had a curiosity that led her to the point she was today. At the time she was carrying the Cinder away she was also reminded about her first memories of her master and the Rebirth of the planet. ---------------- For Dimia It was this peculiar curiosity that allowed her to meet her master. Dimia met her master after the words of the gods. It was when the Keepers were visiting her city. Her master was the one in charge to visit and teach the Path to her city. Instead of learning the Path, Dimia ended up stalking her master in curiosity. A main reason why Dimia was unable to sit still when her master Yuvril came, was that Yuvril showed them an exit. Not only was this an exit out of death for the nobles. But it was an exit out of slavery. Dimia couldn¡¯t exactly fit in either of those categories, but at the very least she was one who wanted out. When Dimia heard that following the Path would change her destiny she was forced to stalk her master in secret. It was because Dimia was unable to hold back her need for a change in her lifestyle that she followed the Keeper, her master, Yuvril. Not only that Dimia was someone who was controlled by her curiosity. A combination of need and curiosity was something that couldn¡¯t be stopped by anyone and that was including Yuvril herself. Her duty had only been to teach channeling and the general rules of the Path. But she soon realized she was being followed by a certain mortal. She herself was just before the state of immortality, however even still she was able to sense the clumsy motions of a mortal. Immediately reacting she captured the stalking Dimia. At this point Dimia was bitter from being spotted so easily. This led to an at first awkward stare between the two as Yuvril who wanted to at first dispose of the person following her, saw the glint of curiosity of the girl in front of her. This curiosity was deep, immeasurable even. It wasn¡¯t something that could be described by mere words. This was a feeling that caused her to feel like it was meant to be. Although if any knew of Yovril¡¯s thoughts they wouldn¡¯t definitely laugh at her for being a fool. Yet strangely enough Yovril still wanted to talk to this girl. To learn her life before making a decision and this was the story she heard from Dimia and this was her life. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. --------------------------------- Dimia had always looked at the clay pots made by her mother. Without her father who had passed away at an early age, their pottery business that was owned by a noble faction required someone to run. This faction without fail would come and collect its taxes from her mother. Left with no choice, Dimia¡¯s mother took on the duties of working. Even with her mother¡¯s attempt it led to a decline in quality of the pots. Every day she would question if this was path she wanted to follow in. Everyday Dimia would walk the same street over and over again. Only to see Nobles in her city be carried like kings. Only for the slaves to carry the Nobles around for a small amount of copper to keep them going. This was life for them. At the same time it was the life that Dimia didn¡¯t want to live. With this fact alone Dimia decided to become a thief. After many attempts of the neighbours she learned the hard way that stealing much more difficult than normal jobs. Nonetheless Dimia didn¡¯t give up. Without fail would continue to steal and if she was caught she would pay an extra fee to not be handed into the authorities. Although sometimes she would end up losing more than she gained. Dimia believed absolutely every second she practiced more would lead to her success. Finally it led to successful thief, that could steal anything without being caught. To stalk out a treasure without being found. Between this curiosity and her nature as a thief, Dimia wasn¡¯t able to leave Yuvril alone and led to her being a disciple of Yuvril. After everything was done Dimia was able to learn some information not shared at the regular teachings. Such as God¡¯s Children and the breathing technique. This was enough for Dimia as a start. Time and time again she thanked her master for her teachings to allow Dimia to change her fate. A fate that would continue to steal only petty things to keep her family going. A job that was long finished as Dimia became a better and better thief. Her mother would no longer need help, and it was time for Dimia to move on to a different stage. For Dimia she would only steal things that she was curious about. Which led her to follow Owen. Simply because curious about him. After all Dimia learn another important part about her master. ¡°Those who are God¡¯s Children will always stand above others. If you follow and steal from them you may benefit greatly from it.¡± Yuvvril would always smile greatly when she taught her disciple. And Dimia herself was smiling just thinking about the lessons she got from Yuvril. After all, likes attract as Yuvril only taught Dimia because she soon realized her attraction was that of thieves. Chapter 65: Losing Strength Well not much to say other than I should be back now. I relaxed a bit and tried to motivate myself after all of the negativity I''ve had to deal with lately. Anyways, although many of you don''t read the reviews or look at the ratings, as the author I do. So it definitely hurts when people give 2/5 stars when they read 10k words. Anyways I''m not here to bitch and complain I''m just here to write and here I am with a chapter for you guys. Enjoy~ ------------ The distorted figure ran up the small valley and disappeared from Owen¡¯s vision. The worst part was that Owen was completely and entirely unable to follow the distorted figures pace. His body was in pain. His muscles were spasming as Owen tried to regain control of his body. The fluids in his stomach gathered and wished to erupted out of his body with every step he took. His control of the Blind Motion technique was becoming hazy and the colours started to lose their shine and become darker. It wasn¡¯t the dark of a sin, instead it was the loss of his vision instead. The black spots became larger as all of his Essence within his body was flowing towards recovering his body. ¡®I can¡¯t!¡¯ Owen didn¡¯t even have the energy to deny his own body¡¯s condition. He didn¡¯t want to stop! He needed the Cinder! It was to help him, regain his vision! What person didn¡¯t want to drive their body to their limits? But the problem wasn¡¯t that Owen was unable to drive himself further, it was because he already lept passed his limits. He has just finished being baptised by the Essence, but this didn¡¯t mean he would fully be able to control this sudden power. He did this because he had to! It was for his survival! Although the Tiny Thin Sash and Little Light Rock could potentially block him from harm, or create a giant crater, with the tough body of the Tyrant Devourer it would be impossible to do enough damage for Owen to escape unharmed. As for using the Solar Eyes, that was even worse a decision! As he was only in the Intermediate Opal stage, it was practically the same as committing suicide if he used it in this rank. Even if he didn''t die there was a huge chance of him becoming a cripple. This was stressed to him many times by his master Kovinth. Luckily, in the last few moments he was baptised due to his anger. However because of that he was tired. He was weak, and walking was already his limit. Chasing after the distorted figure? Impossible! But who was Owen? He was a person who would stand up and face death time and time again. He was water the flowers perfectly and without stop every single day. For his entire life he did everything perfectly. Every day he walked with each step perfectly apart from one another, and even while being injured the spacing of his steps were equal, even though he could fall over at any moment. Owen¡¯s eyes were closed, yes but his Blind Motion technique was not, instead Owen concentrated all of his remaining Essence into right eye. Blinded from one side Owen stole the Essence trying to recover the rest of his body to keep his Blind Motion technique working. He was shivering all over, but he eventually made his way of the valley as well. All of this was unnoticed by the fighting Water Bull and the Black Mist man. He no longer cared about watching their fight. He was determined to find the distorted figured and chase after. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Where is she?!¡± Owen was still attempting to be calm, but his voice still rose in pitch. Although Owen attempted to remain calm and perfectly control his emotions, he was not emotionless. He still reacted to many things. It was just a lot more difficult to show them. But at the same time, this just made Owen a lot more stubborn to giving up. As he looked around with his strained neck, he had to fully rotate his head with only vision coming through his right eye. ¡®There!¡¯ Owen found the Cinder brightly glimmering as it was held by the impure distorted figure. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Owen knew that the distorted figure was an Opal stage he might have given up. But as he thought this, he started to walk back down the mountain chasing after figure, as he did he lightly smirked and shook his head. ¡®Who am I kidding? I¡¯d rather die than give up this chance.¡¯ As his determination was once ignited, he forgot all about his pain. He forgot about his tense muscles, and he forgot about the non existent energy within his body, and with sheer will alone, he let his broken arm go. His walked slowly turned into a jog which with the momentum of running downwards turned into a uncontrollable sprint. The chance of falling was something guaranteed, and if he fell Owen knew there was a huge chance that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get up again, but even still, he let his body run faster, after the figure who held onto the Cinder. ----------------- ¡°Huh?!¡± Dimia looked back as she felt a tinge of fear from behind her. As she did she noticed the near death state of Owen. She was immensely surprised that Owen was even able to move at this point. She was clear at Owen¡¯s state was she saw him fighting the Tyrant Devourer. The was reason was because she had already been watching for some time it was easy to tell the current situation. She was no doctor but she knew what it meant to fight a Devourer like what Owen did. ¡°His body should have already collapsed?! How is it he is still running like that? Hmm¡­..I was bored of him at first, I only thought of him as a stubborn idiot, but it seems there is more to him than meets the eye.¡± Dimia spoke out with a small voice to herself. A tinge of curiosity filled her non-visible face as she continued to run. But instead of running faster to get away from her pursuer she slowed down as to not lose him. ¡°Show me how stubborn you are!¡± As her figure ran through the rock forest a small giggle could be heard. Chapter 66: What Is Lost In Order To Gain Another chapter for you gys to enjoy. Chapter size from now on will be varying, it could very well be 500 words, or 5000 but I seriously don''t want to hear "that was short" ever again. Also there is redundant information because there seems to be a misunderstanding about Demia and why she became a thief. So I wrote it in once again hoping people would read it for what it is and understand where she''s coming from. Anyways although people hate her right now that''s to be honest perfectly understandable cause ''Bitch stole Owen''s Cinder how rude'' amright? So the way I look at it is you, the fans, really like Owen and want him to succeed. This obviously doesn''t apply to everyone and are enjoying that Demia so far as a character. Now for a little information about the characters I''m hoping to create. Please for the love of god, get rid of the cliches trapped in your minds. Take the characters for what they are in MY story, and not others. These characters are quite original so applying stereotypes to them is the last thing I want for you guys to do. Anyways I hope this chapter clears some misunderstandings or changes the way you look at my characters in depth. People have said that I rushed the interactions with Owen, Rauf, and Kovinth. Although I feel the subtle actions of Owen is what makes him so approachable and easy to get along with. Like Owen giving his master to Osena for marriag (which might I add was quite funny) or the caressing of the tree to make Rauf feel bad when he kicked it. These were attempts to greatly shorten the distance of character interactions, and for some it didn''t quite get there. But this is why I need those opinions that directly speak about those things. Not rage typing~ Anyways this was only to ask for your guys opinions and clear up misunderstandings of some things. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story!~ There might be another chapter tonight, but should be daily here again depending on the days~ PS: Thanks for reading that long authors note but I felt it was important to clear up some stuff Ciao~ ----------------- ¡°Urgh, I better hurry¡­ I can¡¯t keep this up for much longer..¡± Even though Owen would always stand back up during his spars with his fellow warriors, the damage was never life threatening. Nor was he in such a serious state as he was now. If he was to stop for just a few minutes he could apply some herbs to his broken arm and maybe eat the honey he obtained earlier. But now wasn¡¯t the time to stop moving. Once he did it was possible he would forever lose sight of the distorted figure. The only thing he could be glad about was that the figure wasn¡¯t outrunning him. He could only think it was due to the fact that the figure had already thought it was going to escape and never looked back once in their arrogance. Even though this wasn¡¯t the truth as Dimia had clearly known about Owen following her and was purposely letting Owen follow her, he didn¡¯t know such things. He didn¡¯t even notice when she turned back to look at him. For Owen who always noticed the finer details of things, that alone was enough to show how tired he was. How much pain he was going through. Yet even through all of this he was willing to take the pain, to overcome the loss of Essence with every step. The amount of Essence that was stored within the body changed depending on how much was channeled before hand. In the case for Pathwalkers with the breathing technique they could continuously have Essence to utilize, but what if the Essence they used was more than they could breathe back in? Naturally the result would be that Owen wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the usage. Because Owen was always utilizing the Blind Motion technique, even if it was only for a single eye, it was still using his Essence. Not to mention his Essence was also flowing through his body to heal it at the same time. With these two things alone was already equal to the amount he could breathe in at once. And now he needed to use more Essence just to keep his body from falling. Whether it was lucky or not, Owen had one thing that could allow him to gain a sudden boost of Essence. Although under normal circumstances this was something that Owen would never use until he was making a breakthrough into the next rank. It was the Sky Essence Crystal he received from the Pavilion by being the first arrive to the Ice Pillar. Owen fidgeted roughly into his pocket as his arm twitched, failing to move how he wished. ¡°I really didn¡¯t want to use this¡­¡± Owen gave a wry smile. He was in pain not only physically but now he was mentally in pain. Losing a Sky Essence Crystal to gain an Awakened Artifact was still something Owen felt a tinge of pain thinking about. But he understood the value of the Cinder greatly more than any other Pathwalker from this planet. Although the distorted figure obviously knew of its importance due to the fight and following Owen. He knew much more. And with some ¡°persuasive¡± actions it might be possible to reclaim it. To dull his hesitation Owen bit his lip which caused a trickle of blood to flow how his chin. At this moment he quite unhappy at the development. But Owen knew better to believe that everything would go his way, and sometimes sacrifices needed to be made for the greater good. As his hesitation disappiated with the new pain in his lip, he clenched the slightly red crystal with a bunch of impure colours twirling inside. Suddenly as if a path was opening from the crystal to Owen, the Essence immediately rushed into Owen¡¯s arteries and veins, which travelled throughout his body giving him a sudden boost in energy. The amount that could go to healing him, using for his Blind Motion technique, and finally to move forward exponentially rose. Unfortunately this Essence was fully being used by these three actions and only a miniscule amount was left to rush into his subconscious to be used for his Path Blocks. As the Essence started to rejuvenate his body, Owen stared straight forward at the figure off in the distance. His face was calm, his heartbeat was back to normal, but his feelings at the moment were filled with determination to regain what he believed to be his. Even though he knew the distorted figure claimed it first, and was technically theirs by the laws of the world. This didn¡¯t matter to Owen. He needed to have that Cinder. It wasn¡¯t a want, it wasn¡¯t something that his greed caused him to stop chasing after it. It was for his goal of gaining his vision. Owen wanted to become strong but, the defining reason was to gain his vision back. And he knew more than anyone that this Cinder was a huge step to gaining his vision. How could he let anyone else get it before him?! If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Owen¡¯s steps became stronger, faster, harder, and eventually his speed accelerated. And for Dimia who who hadn¡¯t turned back to look again and was snickering to herself happily seeing how this would play out never once thought Owen would use the Essence Crystal for such a thing. This wasn¡¯t because she underestimated his resolve. Instead she was directly doing this to test that so called resolve he had. At the same time she also didn¡¯t know how important the Cinder in her hands was. If she did, who knows how the situation would change, maybe she would even kill Owen to defend the Cinder from Owen getting it. At the end of everything these were all situations that could have came to be. The truth however was much different from those and without noticing it, Dimia finally heard a sound that startled her. ¡°Wait!¡± Owen stared at the distorted figure, when the figure heard Owen calmly call out to her, her steps immediately turned into a walk which led to her slowly stopping. As she turned around, both of them stared towards one another. Neither of them made a sound and as a gust of wind blew the dust around their heels. In fact Dimia was shocked that soon after she allowed Owen to chase after her he had already caught up to her. Likewise Owen was surprised by the sudden development of the Cinder being taken away by the figure who had followed him previously. ¡®Even though I should have lost her earlier. This can only be said that I was too easy going. But even still I wouldn¡¯t change my mind if I could do it again. After all even now she holds not hostility towards me.¡¯ Regret? How could someone like Owen have regret? He made all his decisions fully supporting them regardless of what came next. And because he made them, he would back them up. If he ever did, it would only mean that his determination to follow things out was not enough. And that was something Owen never wanted to see happen. After a few moments of silence, Owen didn¡¯t take the initiative to speak again. He had only been thinking about how he knew of Demia''s presence before hand. As for Dimia, because she was only interested in Owen¡¯s resolve she never thought back to when she was following him previously and spoke up. ¡°How did you suddenly get faster? More so, aren¡¯t you blind? How can you see me?!¡± A small voice echoed in the air, which surprised Owen so much because originally he had no idea the figure was a girl. And now he was being bombarded by questions when he was the one who wanted to confront the girl, he felt like he was being confronted instead. This shook his balance and he looked blankly in front of him. His Blind Motion technique already recovered. His bleeding had stopped, and his body was no longer exhausted to the point of falling. He was startled by the sudden events that he momentarily forgot the reason he chased after her. Yet, with a few more seconds he calmly breathed in a fresh body of air. As he did he calmly returned another question to the young invisible girl in front of him. ¡°If I answer will you give me that?¡± Owen pointed towards the Cinder in her hand and without hesitation the girl answered. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No, at least think about it I mean you don¡¯t¡­ Wait.¡± Owen was once again startled. And thought to himself. ¡®This is too easy. What is she planning? Is she trying to confuse me?¡¯ Owen¡¯s imagination ran wild, as Owen knew nothing about Dimia how could he know that Dimia¡¯s decisions were greatly determined by her curiosity of things. Naturally she would keep the Cinder if Owen never caught her, and only if he managed to prove that his resolve was enough would she stop and speak to him. Even if his resolve was enough to pique her interest there was no guarantee that she would return the Cinder she grabbed. But now, instead of having to be chased for who knows how long she was caught soon after she slowed down just to match his pace. ¡®How did he do that?¡¯ Dimia herself hand no idea how Owen managed to do this, and she playfully bit her lip in anticipation to Owen¡¯s answer. It was true she had every intention on returning the Cinder if he answered willingly. Because what led to becoming a thief was partially for survival but it was also true she did it out of curiosity. She would only steal things that sparked her interest. Was it right? Of course not, but why did she care? She was curious and needed to live some how. But now within the Boundary? She could live easily by trapping animals with his increase in strength. After being trained by her master it was no longer required of her to steal things and she left her mother with enough money to last a lifetime. With that she only took things she was curious about. Even though she felt there was something strange about the Cinder, that was because originally she was bored with Owen, but now she her interest had ignited again. And finally it looked like Owen was about to answer her, she waited anxiously. Chapter 67: *Title Is Hidden* I''ve been noticing the concern of "Owen''s a super observant and vigilant person" and wanted to say a few things. Yes he''s observant and vigilant. He''s also an easy going person and does only what''s necessary. He doesn''t go out of his way to make trouble. These slight personality traits were explained through his actions in the story and not actually written directly. For example, when Owen touyched the tree to calm Rauf down by making him feel bad, or stopp arguments between the warriors in the village. Not to mention that Owen was in a life and death fight with the Devourer, he would not have the time to be like "hey I hear a few rocks moving" while Demia is climbing down to observe the fight. Anyways I''m pretty sure I made it clear during the fight that he was exhausted and fighting beyond his limits but if you notice key parts that kinda throw you off that point let me know. But all I can say if I hope that clears the confusion some are concerned with and maybe read slower. As the story is short some rush through it. But because the story is slow some get bored. I''m telling you it''s important these small details and if you miss it you''ll be mistaken about a lot of things. As for Demia, I hope this chapter changes your opinion of her. I''m not saying its a bad thing to hate her, as long as you understand her character and why she makes those decisions. I know this has been long and to some drawn out, but it''s because I want to strongly stress her character as I said before hand. As I don''t want an exact repeat of the above note. PS: No rage typing please. Respect where the story is going, as not everyone will want what''s going to happen to happen. Just take a deep breathe and have a normal conversation with me. I will answer all the questions you want to know, and because I know where the story is going I understand a lot more. Just keep that in mind! Anyways enjoy!~ Chapter title at the bottom~!~ ---------------- ¡°...I used the crystal gained from taking first place during the tests at the Pavilion.¡± Owen answered as he resettled his breathing rate. Because Demia quickly stopped, so did he, and even though he absorbed the Sky Essence Crystal he was still exhausted and unable to control his body as much as he wanted too. So his response to Demia was still slower than normal, but as each word was enunciated properly she had no trouble understanding him. Yet she herself couldn¡¯t understand Owen¡¯s words. ¡°You¡­. used such an important item for this?!¡± Demia look confused as she brought out the Cinder in front of her. She clearly knew how much Owen wanted the Cinder now, although to him it was more of a need than a want. However she couldn¡¯t read his mind and could only see the desperation from fighting the Devourers, chasing after her even to the point of using a Sky Devourer Crystal which could be said to be the hardest normal thing to find in the Boundary. If Owen was willing to use such a thing for the Essence alone, it was clear how rare this Awakened Cinder was to her now. Though she didn¡¯t move a step and continued to wait for Owen¡¯s response. ¡°Yes, although it might not be as important to others, it is something I need greatly for my Path.¡± Owen spoke, but this time his voice was spoken fluidly as his chest was no longer moving excessively with every breathe. Instead his expression was full of seriousness where Demia herself could tell. Owen could only think towards himself as he spoke these words out. ¡®As if I¡¯ll tell you how important it actual is. Although you might not have any hostility towards me, you would be a fool to not take this after knowing how unique it truly is.¡¯ Demia pondered for a few moments playfully moving her lip around and tapping her foot. She moved the Cinder around trying to observe it for any particular details, but other than a small ¡®feeling¡¯ that she couldn¡¯t describe she was unable to see anything special about the Cinder itself. ¡®It¡¯s warm and still hasn¡¯t lost its heat even after all this time, but what else could be so special about it? Clearly something is up. Let¡¯s see how much I can find out from him.¡¯ After stealing many objects Demia had a knack for finding truly rare items, like with the Cinder it was a feeling she couldn¡¯t describe. Calling it a sixth sense wasn¡¯t far off, but for the Cinder anyone who grabbed onto would feel a slight tingle that it was a special object. Luckily for Demia it was bit stronger and she could feel that it was special just be being near it. But that was as far as it went for being special and she continued to remind Owen about her other questions. If she asked Owen straight out he would be more inclined to start a fight over it. Even though he was injured she could feel the determination from Owen. ¡°How can you see me if you¡¯re blind?¡± Owen moved his hand to lightly flick the bells on his ears. As the soft soft echoed throughout the mountain he rose his hands and pointed to a few rocks. ¡°There is a rock about knee height there.¡± Owen continued to ring the bells on his ears with his one good arm and point out at certain objects that could be viewable. Although Owen couldn¡¯t see himself he was sure that Demia would believe him, unfortunately it was hard to see the expression Demia was making just with the Blind Motion technique, and because he only continued to point out objects she didn¡¯t speak out. Finally Owen stopped pointing out obvious objects as if it was second nature to him and answered the question properly. ¡°See? With my heightened sense of hear-¡± ¡°Has anyone told you, you¡¯re absolutely suck at lying?¡± Owen who was sure he would be able to convince Demia was momentarily shocked when he was interrupted. Not because of the interruption itself, but the fact that she knew he was lying! At the same time he suddenly remembered about his acting during the Wave Lake test, and how Rauf how to step up and continue the lie for him. He could only bring his hand to his chin and think deeply. ¡®Is this¡­. My weakpoint? Hmmm¡­ I might have to ask master to teach me how to lie next time I see him. After all he¡¯s been lying about his feelings for Osena this entire time. I should be able to learn something from him.¡¯ Because Owen was shocked by his sudden weak point he was unable to answer Demia at the moment and went deep into thought. Demia on the other hand put her hands on his hips and acted with a pride knowing that he was shocked from her easily finding out. However although he was shocked it much different than what she was thinking. After a few moments Owen finally nodded after seriously acknowledging his weakpoint. It would be something he worked on in the future but for now he had more important things to achieve. ¡°It¡¯s true that my hearing is heightened. And if you were within 15 meters, I could hear you easily. But as to how I truly knew about you, it is actually because of this blindness that I can ¡®see¡¯ you.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Owen spoke in a slight riddle which confused Demia, she slightly tilted her head as she took a few moments before she could speak up. ¡°Then are you truly not blind?¡± Demia asked curiously, trying to hide her anxiousness as she waited for the answer. Owen didn¡¯t purposefully put her in suspense and was only technically telling the truth, but he didn¡¯t know she was holding herself back from jumping up and down to know how he could do it. Although it might be childish for Demia this was normal as long as interest was piqued. Owen wasn¡¯t annoyed the more he could talk with her, the more likely he could obtain the Cinder. As he felt she was more interested in him than the Cinder for some reason. At least that was what he could tell from the slight changes of pitch when she asked him questions. Although he didn¡¯t really understand the young lady in front of him, and even though she took something he was seeking, he wasn¡¯t rude. This was something that Owen would give to everyone regardless of how rude they were to him. Owen truly believed if one continued to respect others he would also receive their respect. Whether it was fighting, or talking. This was also the reason he was so angered by the Tyrant Devourer who belittled him previously. ¡°I can see because of a technique that My Master bestowed upon me.¡± Demia gave a ¡°hmm¡± in response, towards Owen who spoke out his words calmly. With a few more voiced out thoughts of nodding, the distorted figure once again asked a question. ¡°Then¡­. Why do you want this ember? If you can already see what¡¯s so important about this?¡± Demia was confused, but her interest in this was still strong. She felt there was more to his ¡®sight¡¯ then what was just explained. Thus she couldn¡¯t help but want more details. Owen gave a light sigh as he faced Demia properly. ¡°Although I can see it¡¯s hard to say what I see is adequate, It¡¯s also hard to say that I am blind now. My Master bestowed upon me the Solar Eyes technique. It is a vision where I can only see the Essence of the World. Before this I had never known what it was like to see. But now I do. Before, I didn¡¯t miss what I didn¡¯t have. I loved the world through my own point of view. I loved feeling the water flowing along my finger tips. I loved hearing the droplets of water hit the petals of the flowers as I water them. But even still, I love the view of a sunset. As the sky is lit aflame, as the trees sway as a breeze hits them.¡± As his emotions started to stir as he spoke every word. His true feelings during the time he could see was starting to resurface. He was standing still, no emotion could be seen on his face from Demia¡¯s point of view, but even though she couldn¡¯t truly understand his blight she felt from the way he strongly spoke every word it was convincing enough for her to relate to him. He only momentarily paused before he continued. ¡°And now that I know what it means to look at the world. I am walking the Path to gain my sight. Eventually if I continued to increase my Solar Eyes technique with Flame Essence, I will be able to see once again. Even though I am not strong to control it currently. My eyes are simply too weak to be used right now. So I have to gather Flame Essence and learn how to control them. Now, do you understand why I have chased you? Why I have used a Sky Essence Crystal? Finally, do you understand that even though I tell you this, I am fully prepared to put my life on the line to acquire it?¡± After Owen said these words, his face was showing his determination behind his words. It was showing his pain of walking a Path without being able to see. He never thought of his loss of vision as a disability. But even still he loved the feeling of seeing. It was a strong enough feeling to overcome the need for immortality or any of the other benefits of becoming a God. To Owen, there was nothing more important than the Cinder in front of him currently. He slowly grabbed the Little Light Rock from his pocket and clenched it tightly. If he had to he would without a doubt kill this young lady without a moment of hesitation. If words didn¡¯t work he would use force. If force didn¡¯t work he would use his determination. And finally if that didn¡¯t work he would rather die than let her go with it. Demia on the other hand felt a tug in her heart as she listened to his words. ¡®From that one lie alone I can tell he¡¯s a shitty liar, so even if he wanted to he couldn¡¯t make up this up. But why should I pity him? A god¡¯s child? Someone who could be said to be a chosen? Given everything? Even still, was he really given everything? I can¡¯t help but think he¡¯s an idiot who will do anything for...¡± After she thought the last few words, she giggled to herself. This caught Owen surprised, as he had turned serious, from the sudden giggle he couldn¡¯t help but relax a bit. He was confused by her sudden giggle but he could hear the soft feeling it gave off, it was a cute laugh from the bottom of her heart. But what happened next surprised Owen even more. Suddenly after she started giggling Demia threw the Cinder towards Owen. Although he caught it naturally with his one hand she still had a puzzled expression in his face. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look. Anyways, just think of it as you owe me. The next thing I take will be mine for good.¡± As she said this she started to run in the direction she had previously gone before stopping. As her backed faced Owen, she happily called out once again. ¡°My name is Demia, let¡¯s meet again Owen. And let me warn you, if you falter in your determination, I will be the first to kill you.¡± Owen was still confused by the sudden turn of events. But he still managed to hear what she said as she ran away. He muttered out in confusion as she disappeared from his Blind Motion technique. ¡°Did I gain an ally or foe?¡± ---------------- ¡°Hehe¡­ I feel like I found someone I can relate to after so long. Well Owen, don¡¯t die.¡± Demia chuckled as she smiled with her eyes and covered her white teeth. Although no one could see her true appearance at the moment, she still felt a tinge of happiness when she found someone she could relate too. ¡®An idiot who chases after that one thing regardless of the consequences huh?¡¯ After she tried to calm herself she only leaked out a smile as she ran away again. Anticipating when she could meet up with Owen again. Of course she was hoping to steal something from him then. As for what, only she herself would know. --------------------- Chapter 67: Obtaining The Cinder! End of the Cinder Arc Chapter 68: The Conquerors Son Hey guys~!~ New arc comes with a fast change in pace here. The foundation is set, so other than introductions of characters and the beginning of the prologue it should be mainly action. Anyways if you could do me a favour have antoher go around with the reviews. Thumbs up or down for things that are well you know cancerous... I hope you guys like what I have in store for you. Although a lot of people were quite shocked from the fact that Owen obtained such a rare object, it''s not as OP as one might think. POV change with the new arc an introduction of the antagonist of the story let me know what you think! PS: I wasn''t planning on putting anything of Owen in this chapter, but I wanted to spoil you guys a bit... <3 ------------------------------- Arc 3: The Conqueror¡¯s Son Northern Palace. -------------------------- In the middle of a throne room, there was barely any decorations to given it a feeling of warmth. Instead all the black stones and pillars were only lip up with a few lamps. With the stones already being so dark it was even harder to find a shadow with all the figures around. There was a group of organized soldiers standing at attention on either side of a man sitting on the throne. The man on the throne wore a simple dark yellow-golden crown, his chin rested on his fist as if bored. A cloak wrapped around his body hiding the fierce muscles deep within. Yet although the king looked like he would rather be somewhere else, there was a glint of sharpness in his eyes. He was staring straight ahead of him, yet even those on the sides could feel the atmosphere that wrapped around the king. It was a gaze that caused all to unconsciously slump their shoulders. It wasn¡¯t hard to feel beneath his greatness with a stare that saw through one¡¯s soul. Yet there was one person who was locked in eye contact with the king. Both the king and this man had been staring at one another for a few minutes. All of the other figures around felt perspiration run down their backs giving them a chill that was only increased by the cold feeling within the throne room. But after some time the man finally lightly bowed his head and called out to the king. ¡°Father, it is time.¡± The king still resting his face on his chin gave a great smile. One full of pride and expectations, but though his smile showed this, no one would believe it to be true from the king. The next moment the king suddenly stood up and walked towards his son. The son of the king wasn¡¯t tall. He wasn¡¯t particularly handsome. His build was average but it looked nimble. His hands were full of callous, much unlike a regular prince or any other kingdom. His glare was a copy of the king¡¯s and because of this gaze alone, the king had his son learn many things. ¡°Yes, indeed it is. I remember what you had to go through.¡± The King started to nod as he thought about all the things his son had to go through to come to this point. From tactics in warfare, to teaching languages, all the way to martial arts. Nothing was left out from his son¡¯s curriculum. But as a boy he felt the sheer weight of expectations from his father. Time and time again he would fail under the many professional teachers hired to teach him. Against all odds he managed to master everything he was taught. Was he a genius? Although many would think this, it also had to do with the amount of effort the boy put in. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he wished to meet his father¡¯s expectations every single day, he would have long given up. There was nothing worse for the boy than imagining his father¡¯s eyes lose their shine and show their disapproval. Night upon night he would have nightmares of this.And now it was finally the moment to take everything and prove to his father, the king, that he could make him proud. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Father, I will show you that my efforts were not in vain. There is no meaning of failure to me. I will die, or I will become a conqueror like you!¡± As the son said this he walked up to his father to receive him as he came done. It wasn¡¯t because the king was old infact he was still at the peak of his life. He did it cause he truly respected his father. After all his father alone created a empire by himself. Constant warfare with numerous kingdoms, all to be united under a single empire¡­ The Huntis empire! After hearing the words of his son, the king hid his smile and nodded. The king gave him a hug, a hug that was full of the love he carried for his son. A hug that carried the expectations he held for his son. The hug that would let go of his son to the world. As the two parted after their muscles became sore from tensing, the king spoke out. ¡°Raine, my son. Do you know what I named you this?¡± Raine shook his head as he hadn¡¯t heard the reason from his father before, but he was apparently excited and showed it on his face. The guards around even moved their eyes in anticipation. To hear a reason that a king would have for naming their child, who wouldn¡¯t want to know the reason behind it? And now the king was about to speak the origin of his son¡¯s name. Without waiting for his son to urge him the king continued. ¡°You will be the cloud that stretches over the sky. You will be the the rain that covers the land. You will become the droplet that will unify all others into an ocean. You will become a conqueror even greater than I! You, as my son, Raine, will unite this world!¡± Raine thought for a few seconds, as he knew that the origin was naturally behind the fact that the gods have all decided onto their world. But maybe it was for this reason that Raine was going out to become a Pathwalker. His father was telling him his origin so that he could after becoming an Immortal, or even a God, unite this world under their banner. As Raine clearly knew his father¡¯s intentions by telling him this, he nodded. Without speaking the king gave a look of farewell. Receiving the look, Raine turned around and walked out of the throne room. To prepare for his story, his path, and his conquest! As Raine left, the king turned to look at the knight closest to him. As he spoke his deep voice echoed throughout the the throne room. ¡°Prepare 1000 knights and 2000 slaves that are going out to become Pathwalkers for my son to command. If they follow my son, their families will be given enough food to last them ten years.¡± ¡°.....It will be done your majesty.¡± Though the knight had wanted to protest, just from the glare alone the knight felt his throat being sliced open infinitely slow yet all within a short period of time¡­ ---------------------- A week had gone by since the fight with the Tyrant Devourer. The moment Owen received the Cinder, he was struck stupid for a long time. Demia had put him a position he wasn¡¯t able to react towards. Even now he was still thinking how she gave it up so easily. If it was him he would have to fought to the death for it. It was clear by his actions throughout the entire situation how important he saw it was. The only thing, Owen managed to remember of what Demia spoke at the end was her name. As he was only paying attention to the the single call of her name caused him to remember it forever. He was feeling that strangely enough it was becoming harder and harder to remain calm with events like this happening one after another. But Owen shook it off and left the mountain. He had no idea what happened with fight between the Keeper and Fallen, but as he had the Cinder the most important thing for him was to find a spot to absorb the energy with his Solar Eyes technique. Luckily for him during this week of travel he found the first village of that was full of Keepers¡­ Chapter 69: A New Friend A new fresh chapter, might be another tonight. Anyways enjoy it~!~ ------------------ ¡°Master, can you explain more about the Sins?¡± Owen looked towards Kovinth with a small glint of curiosity in his eyes. Although he was given the short explanation about the Sins, he wasn¡¯t exactly how important it would be to pay attention to. He saw the result of the Keepers instigating their emotions and desires, and while it led to their downfalls, this was only because it was instigated in the first place. Other than that Owen wasn¡¯t too sure what to make of the Sins while he would be walking down his Path. Kovinth gave a look of understanding to his little disciple. All Kovinth wished to do was take Owen and personally teach him everything and watch him grow, but even he as a mighty god still had to follow rules. If he didn¡¯t there would be no doubt that the Seraphim would come to remove him for the universe forever. This was something he knew, and because he knew of the rules he could only allow himself to tell Owen the necessary information. With a smile Kovinth started his explanation. ¡°Owen, although the Sins seem like they are absolute this is actually not the case. The Sins only apply to those who know they are sinning.¡± As Kovinth said this Owen turned his head as if the very idea was something he couldn¡¯t understand. Kovinth calmly raised his hand as if knowing Owen would ask for a clearer explanation. As he did he continued as to not allow his disciple to be anxious. ¡°For example, for those who are greedy. If you seek out one of the Awakened Artifacts in the world, for others it might seem like greed. But what about yourself? If I was to say that the artifact you were seeking was one that could strengthen your eyes to let you see, would you think of it as greed?¡± ¡°No.¡± Owen answered firmly as he shook his head. He was sure that if it was something to gain his vision he would undoubtedly chase it until his death if needed. When Owen said this however he sort of understood his master¡¯s intentions. ¡°There you go. This is infact the same thing with all the other Sins as well. One must eat because you need to eat to survive. One must gather riches in order to trade for services. One must mate in order to expand their species. One must be jealous to better themselves. One must be proud of their achievements and one must always relax when needed. Finally, everyone will feel anger to relieve their stress.¡± Kovinth walked over to Owen and rested his hand on Owen¡¯s shoulder slightly bending over so he was eye level with Owen. ¡°The Heavens made these laws, so that one day¡­Hmm better yet, Let¡¯s speak of this another time. It is simply too early for you to find out.¡± Owen opened his mouth as he clearly wished to find out more, but when he saw Kovinth¡¯s eyes which seemed to be thinking of something entirely different Owen didn¡¯t wish to bring it up anymore¡­¡­. --------------------- ¡°Hm? A dream?¡± Owen woke up on a soft comfy bed, as his sleep schedule was perfected he always woke up sound and coherent to everything around him. The moment he woke up he perfectly remembered his dream and looked towards the Cinder he had put down. Owen had wrapped it the hide of a Devourer he had killed on the way here as to try and control the heat radiating off of it as much as possible. Because it was wrapped in the hide Owen could only see the green hide and none of the red gas that would normally be escaping. The reason it was still wrapped was because he was already warned by Kovinth, that Owen would be unable to control his Solar Eyes unless he was at the Jade level of body refinement. Maybe it was partly because he still held on to it, Owen remembered the words his master told him about the Sins, he thought it was indeed true that it was hard to say that a necessity was a Sin. It was different depending on the point of view, but for the Sins it was never dependent on how others thought of you, and only how you thought of yourself. Owen had a greater understanding of the Sins the moment he was directly put in a situation where he was the one deciding if it was greed or necessity, and as this cleared up the question he had always kept in the back of his head, with a clear mind he got up and cleaned himself up for a new day. ------------------- After arriving at Kincardine, he was surprised to see how ¡®normal¡¯ it was. The first thing Owen had done was grabbed a room from one of the inns in town. It was just like any other common town that he had visited as a monk before the Rebirth of the planet. Instead of using gold, silver or copper the currency was Essence Crystals. With arm still in pain he needed a place to relax and recover, even with the herbs he applied it was still sore but at the very least it was no longer broken. On the way he was able to find and kill a few weaker Land Devourers. As he wasn¡¯t lucky enough to find any Sky Devourer¡¯s, he was still very poor along with having used his Sky Essence Crystal and having no intention on selling the Cinder. During the time he was resting his mind had gone over the past events numerous times, and although he wa confused about the sudden appearance of the Keeper and Fallen, the actions of Demia, he could no longer dwell on them further as it could potentially harm his Path. And because the most important thing was his Path and gaining his vision he was easily able to put the events behind him. ¡°Now then, this will be the first time I actually look around the village with a clear mind.¡± Owen set off with the Tiny Thin Sash wrapped around his waist, the light blue gave a truly unique appearance to his dark brown robe that felt almost too old to be worn. His Little Light Rock was tucked in his pocket, and his body had fully recovered. As Owen walked down the hard wooden floors of the inn, he saw the dining room of the inn with a few customers inside eating their breakfast and waiters handing out food. The mood was lively and people were talking naturally to one another about the previous day¡¯s hunt or the ridiculous actions of their friends being drunk the night before hand. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡®To think that all of these people are Keepers.¡¯ With the Blind Motion technique he could already tell that every person who was happily talking around the tables were Keepers. Only those in the corner of the room was a single regular Pathwalkers. Although Owen wasn¡¯t able to tell the facial expression of the figure, from his erratic breathing he could tell he wasn¡¯t exactly in the best of moods. After hearing the sounds Owen felt it an urge to find out what was bothering the person in the corner alone. And thus he walked over being a busy body but full of good intentions. ¡°Damnit! They ditched me once again. Is it my fault that I like my sleep? Can¡¯t you guys at least wake me up.¡± The man that Owen was walking towards mumbled his words under his breath, normally one wouldn¡¯t be able to hear these words, but Owen wasn¡¯t exactly normal when it came to his hearing. Without thinking much about the mumble Owen sat down in the chair opposite of the man. When the man saw this, his already sour mood got worse as he looked towards Owen with a cautious look and then spoke. ¡°Hey, asshole are you blind? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m already sitting here?¡± Owen gave his best fake surprised look he could muster and answered casually back. ¡°Actually I am blind, how observant for you to know that at our first meeting!¡± Although Owen had wanted to add the words ¡®I didn¡¯t see or hear anyone was here sorry about that¡¯, it was already hard enough for Owen to put on a fake expression. If he added anymore it would be easy to see through his lie. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m so sorry, feel free to join me, actually let me buy you breakfast to make it up to you. I¡¯m so sensitive these days don¡¯t let it bother you!¡± Owen nodded, of course he wasn¡¯t bothered by the man¡¯s comment, but he was actually pleased to get a free meal. Whether it was intentional or not, even Owen didn¡¯t know at this point. He had only wanted to know more about the other Pathwalkers staying in the same town as him. Without meeting them how could he figure out anything? But the first person he met was originally cautious towards Owen but after ¡®offending¡¯ Owen his attitude took a complete turn and he was even offering to pay for Owen¡¯s meal! ¡®Is he actually a good guy?¡¯ Owen momentarily thought as they both started to chatter back and forth. ¡°I¡¯m Addie, you can call me Add. Truthfully, my group of friends had already left me to go explore the town a bit more. We only just arrived how about yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Owen, I arrived a few days ago myself, but because of an injury I had no choice other than to stay inside and recover.¡± Owen gave a light response as they introduced themselves to one another. As they kept talking Owen found out that Add had come with the people he met during the test of the Pavilion. Add had also mentioned that they were in the second test after Owen, so it was natural for Add to not recognize Owen. There was 4 others with Add making a group of five people. It was a good number allowing them to easily gang up on weaker Devourers for money. Although like Owen they had yet to meet any Northern Pole Pathwalkers, but because it was still much too early, the chances of meeting one at this point was truly a bit difficult. Owen was finding himself to like Add more and more. It was clear that Add was a tad bit lazy, but he took everything that came to his friends quite seriously. As Add explained their hunting, Owen could feel that in each dangerous role was always taken by Add. Whether the others knew about this or not, Owen wasn¡¯t sure. Just then after they finished their bread, soup, and eggs breakfast Add suddenly came to a realisation. He hurriedly spoke as if it was something to rush. ¡°Hey Owen, you want to explore the town with me?¡± Owen smirked as he heard the rushed words flow out from Add¡¯s mouth. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve been wanting to explore this place for some time!¡± Add immediately got up, picked out a Land Essence Crystal and called out to the owner. ¡°Owner, my group of five will be staying another night!¡± ¡°Sure thing kiddo!¡± A quick response came from a man sitting chatting with the other Keepers, Owen too had paid a single Land Essence Crystal, but because a single crystal could allow one to stay for five days, he didn¡¯t need to worry about paying again for sometime. Naturally the meals were included and after eating breakfast one would have to decide whether they wanted to stay again. With Add leaving the crystal on the table there was no worries of the other Keepers stealing the money. To them, stealing was way beneath them and could acquire the crystals with their own efforts if need be. After all to them, a single Land Essence Crystal was insignificant. After paying, Add got up and started to walk out, Owen in turn followed after bowing, giving a light thanks to the owner of the inn then left with Add. ¡°The boys got some respect to him don¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Would you shut up with that terrible way of speaking. I get you want to play your role, but if your wife saw you she would bash your skull destroying this inn once and for all.¡± The Keeper across from the inn owner spoke with a slight tease in his words. Although there was some rude words spoken, behind it they were friends for ages. They both laughed happily as they both agreed that Owen was indeed someone to respect because without fail Owen would bow lightly thanking the inn owner for the food and shelter. Chapter 70: Sundra of Sol Add together with Owen, who still was walking in his set pace, walked out of the inn. As Owen looked around with his Blind Motion technique he could see the numerous amount of Keepers walking down the streets. As he saw this before he was able to notice anything else he spoke to himself slightly impressed. ¡®If one town has this many keepers what about the rest of the world?¡¯ The question spun around Owen¡¯s mind. The amount of manpower to have such a project was something that completely baffled him even if he didn¡¯t show it. However before more thoughts could rush into his mind, Add turned his head towards Owen. Seeing the subtle actions through the Blind Motion technique, Owen faced towards him prepared for Add to speak. As the two nearly moved at the same time, Add was somewhat surprised by the sudden coincidence and thought to himself. ¡®Wow, if I didn¡¯t know better I might think he had a good pair of eyes on him.¡¯ Showing a smile, Add momentarily forgot the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He was eager to speak with Owen but at the sudden face to face contact he was unable to speak like he wanted to. The following split second of silence between the two was broken by the ring of bells from Owen¡¯s ears. As they jiggled a soft tune, Add¡¯s expression turned softer and gave a somewhat pleasant look as he was about to say something about the timing, but upon seeing the straight face Owen he couldn¡¯t help but shrug inwardly to himself. Instead Add opened his mouth to speak an entirely different topic. ¡°So? What shall we look at first?¡± With a pause eyed towards the town waiting for Owen¡¯s reaction. A brief moment was all Add needed to tell that Owen was interested in everything. Add had only known Owen for a brief moment but he was able to tell that Owen only left signals showing his emotions at any given time. But instead of waiting for Owen¡¯s answer Add rushed off to one of the vendor¡¯s enthusiastically yelling out his wares. ¡°Comere m¡¯fellow friends! Ova here we have a few little tidbits that ya might like to see ere!¡± (Come here my fellow friends! Over here we have a few little things that you might like to see here) With the town growing with the Pathwalkers everyday the vendors were starting to get into the spirit of seeling what they owned. Because of this Owen had yet to hear the sounds of a buslting town of trades and services. As for Add he had seen the town itself get more and more busy but because he was only able to give a slight glance due to his pockets being empty, he was required to rush out to hunt some Devourers for money. As Add quickly arrived with Owen slowly but surely arriving afterwards, Add had already engaged in conversation with the vendor. ¡°Aye lil Lad. I have some good wares from the a solar system far off into the a distant galaxy.¡± Add quickly grew interested and started ask about the confusing words he had heard for the first time. ¡°Mister, why is it you speak really funny?¡± As Owen listened in interest as he too couldn¡¯t understand some of the things the vendor was saying. However at the very least both Add and Owen were able to make out the sentence enough to get the general idea. But still curiousity holding onto Add much more clearly than Owen but yet at the same time Owen was just was curious about such a foreign language. ¡°Hahaha! Aye, Aye indeed, m¡¯fellow friends. This¡¯ere is ta way aye talk. Aye hope tis not a problem? But instead lads, comere. Look a¡¯tis beaut new exo-skeleton suit!¡± (Yes, yes indeed my fellow friends. This here is the way I talk. I hope this is not a problem? But instead lads, come here. Look at this beautiful new exo-skeleton suit!) The vendor waved his hands over a strange looking metal device. It was coloured with a cold looking grey. It stood there lifeless as Add¡¯s eye¡¯s were immediately drawn to it. Owen saw through it in his own way, but he was unable to get enough details through his vision he opted to slowly reach out for the strange device. As the owen saw this he nodded his head and became to explain more about the suit. ¡°Aye, ye lads have probably figured it out. But ye ain¡¯t the only ones in tis universe. Tis a big place out there in a black sea of nothingness. Wit¡¯ many secrets that not even the True Gods can explain to us! Tis here is a exoskeleton from a planet tat focused on science ye hear?¡± ¡°Science?¡± As the vendor finished Add spoke up in a curious tone. On the other hand Owen was drawn in by the cold feeling of the metal of the exoskeleton. ¡®This device. It is so strange? What use is it? It doesn¡¯t feel or look like any weapon I have ever seen before.¡± Owen thought to himself, but luckily the vendor immediately figured something out upon Add¡¯s question. ¡°Aye lads, I furgot ye don¡¯t know anyting bout science being o¡¯ the Essence Class Planet. See ere lads. Ya know it by Essence, but tat¡¯s not how evryting is. Not ta bore ya lads, with the details, but there be three different kinds o¡¯ planet¡¯s Rebirth. One being the science you ave ere. There tey meld metals to form tis armour you see ere. Tey also use wat tey call Energy ye see. Tey use Energy for their weapons and wat not. Ta other is what tey call Magic. Tey harness their Essence and change it using it for their own use. Unlike ye lads who mainly use the Essence inside ye selves. Nuff bout those fire starters. Tis device ere ye latch onta ye self and it strengthens ye body ye hear? Ye can be as strong as a Quartz Pathwalker! Course ye lads can get ev¡¯n better gear if ye ave money!¡± (I forgot you don¡¯t know anything about science being of the Essence Class Planet. See Here Lads. You know it by Essence, but that isn¡¯t how everything is. Not to bore you lads with the details, but there are three different kinds of planet Rebirths. One being the science you have here. There they meld metals to form this armour you see here. They also use what they call Energy. They use Energy for their weapons and what not. The other is what they call Magic. They harness their Essence and change it using for their own use. Unlike you lads who mainly use the Essence inside your bodies. Enough about those fire starters. This device here you latch onto yourself and it strengthens your body you hear? You can be as strong as aQuartz Pathwalker Of course you lads can get even better gear if you have the money!¡±) The salesman explained slowly while waving his hands left and right trying to show his wares off in a splendid light for Add and Owen. Behind the accent he was full of an energy that Owen nor Add could explain but they still tried their hardest to follow along as they were baffled by the short introduction. Add was unable to hide his excitement upon learning more while ushering the vendor to explain more. Owen was currently fixated on the exoskeleton as he patiently waited for each word as if each one was maturing his knowledge about the world beyond his. ¡®This small looking device can make me so strong?¡¯ Owen couldn¡¯t help but find the vendor untrustworthy but maybe it was because Owen had never known the man, or because of his enthusiastic style, Owen was unable to forsure tell if the man was lying. After all, even if Owen was able to tell the slight differences in tones, that was only when Owen knew the person well enough to make that judgement. But that too was dependent on the circumstances, after all if he met someone as bad as lying as he was he would be all too easy to find out the truth. ¡°So mister how much is this then? I think my friends would love to try this guy out!¡± Add asked the price as he picked up the device, when he was suddenly grabbed by the vendor. The vendor eyed him and gave a huge smile while putting up five fingers with his other hand. ¡°Only five greens?!¡± Add had almost grabbed his pouch of Essence Crystals when he was immediately cut off by the vendor right away. ¡°Nay lad. Tis ere costs ye 500 Reds!¡± As Owen heard this he grabbed onto Add and started to walk away reluctantly. He was curious, but he wasn¡¯t that curious. Instead it looked like Add was curious enough to stay as he pouted and looked into his pouch hoping somehow 500 Sky Essence Crystals would slip in it. The vendor gave a smirk as if he knew that Add would be back in the future, which was left unnoticed by Owen who hadn¡¯t turned around at all and Add looking at his money pouch. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ------------------------------------------ After venturing around a bit, Owen and Add had learned of the many odd and strange things that were brought to their planet for their potential use. Although the only thing it required of them for the most part was money. However the sheer amount of goods ranged from wands, staves to poisons to guns. All of which Owen and Add listened to their descriptions with some excitement and disappointment. ¡®The cheapest thing is already 10 Sky Essence Crystals and that is a tiny wooden stick¡­¡¯ Owen sighed inwardly to himself as to not allow Add to see his disappointment. Of course Owen had no idea what he would even do with any of those extravagant objects but nonetheless they were rather quite interesting. Add at the same time was void of energy after looking so many times into his pouch that naturally still didn¡¯t have a single red crystal from him to use, he was somewhat getting depressed. It wasn¡¯t like he expected any different, but as a poor guy he couldn¡¯t help but hope for a miracle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it Add. You¡¯ll make enough sooner or later.¡± Owen had said these words on numerous occasions already which would brighten Add up again. To Owen it seemed that Add was more of a person easily swayed by the current circumstances. Whatever he was reminded of or found at any given time was what developed his mood. Such a strange person almost reminded Owen of Rauf who was a bit of a ¡®in the moment¡¯ person as well. Yet there were still differences, as Add never turned his emotions onto anyone or trees for that matter, but showed them only through his facial expressions. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Thanks. Why don¡¯t we go see if we meet my friends, I¡¯d like to introduce them to you Owen.¡± Owen gave a moment of thought. But now that he was able to take it a bit easy he didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with meeting new people. Afterall traveling alone wasn¡¯t a good or a bad thing. But it definitely was always a good thing to have more friends. Owen responded with a nod, and as he did he started to hear some words in the distance. Add was about to leave for the town¡¯s exit when he noticed that Owen was staring in a different direction. He was about to speak up when Owen started to walk towards the voice. ¡°A tale¡­¡­ A tale of a mighty hero in the Dark Sea beyond. What does it take to be such a hero in a never ending darkness? Hear me and I shall tell you the story!¡± The words fluttered in the wind softly as Owen arrived in front of a old man sitting on a bench. There were a few other Pathwalkers standing off to the side, even Keepers were whispering to themselves. Some were mentioning about how the old man was speaking about such an old story, others were getting excited to hear it again. Yet for Owen he was simply drawn by the old man¡¯s voice. Add was only a few steps behind and noticed the situation but decided to listen in as well. The old man suddenly stood up from his seat and spoke out loudly flinging his arms into the air. ¡°Gods? Humans? Dragons? Titans? Devouvers? HA! Nothing was able to stand against this man in front of his dream. In front of his revenge, his just revenge against the beginning of time. He was the man I admired most in this world. Do you wish to know how it started? Do you wish to hear it young lads?¡± The old man looked back and forth eying everyone not forgetting a single person before he started into a monologue where everyone listened. ---------------------------- Since the beginning of time. Since the bang that created all. The light that shone in the darkness for a brief but brilliant moment. It was the breath of air that gave life to the empty void. But even that life was only but two things. During the beginning there were two beings that care forth from that light. One was the creator of the nonliving, the Overgod. To this day he still rules over all. But yet, he is not the true ruler of the Dark Sea and beyond, and at the same time he is. Simply because the other being created at the same time is the creator of all life, The Empty Throne. A throne without its king is only an empty seat and during the beginning the Overgod tried and tried again but no matter how many times he could not become the owner of the throne. The Throne only created the simple life at the beginning and from there it stayed motionless as if waiting for its true owner to finally rest on its seat. With no other choice the Overgod searched and searched for millions and billions and trillions of years in order to become the true ruler of the Dark Sea. He long trapped himself with the Throne in the middle of the Dark Sea, so others were unable to attempt to become rules. But even if they did it was unlikely they were fit to rule either. Finally ages passed, and the Overgod found what was needed for to become the true king. But it was only through an odd circumstance that he found out. It only happened for a single fraction of a second, but the Throne shook. Usually the Overgod would not even dare to look at the Throne because he feared that it would cause him to go mad with anger. But instead during this one time he chose to look. And during this one sudden movement from the Throne, he was able to feel, the connection it had with another. Another that was born this moment in a far far away place¡­.. This far away place, a single star was born. It wasn¡¯t particularly a bright star. It wasn¡¯t a very large star either. It was yellow and orange and burned like any other star. But this what seemed like a normal star was undergoing a huge change. It happened not because others had decided to interfere with the star¡¯s life, but instead because the star willed itself to become¡­¡­ something else. During this star¡¯s Rebirth, a single life form was created. A being that was soon known as Sundra of Sol. Sundra grew, and watched over the few planets under his control. Although there was only one particular planet that he needed to overlook in particular. It was a blue planet full of life much like any other planet full of life. There was water everywhere, and people of many differing races enjoying in trades and drinking. Sundra loved this planet so much he would often disguise himself as a burly man and happily drink with his friendly companions on the planet. They were all normal people and held no real power. But that was what had drawn Sundra to this beautiful blue planet. But at last, the happy memories could not last forever, not with the passing of time but instead because of an incident. One day, a group of angels decided onto the blue planet with a message. A message from the Overgod telling them they their one true God had come and that they were looking for someone. Someone of strength that defied the planet¡¯s knowledge. Knowing none of the information the angels required they were greatly confused. They tried their best to explain the circumstances to these messengers of their one true God. But as fate would have it, the planet was destroyed for hiding the suspect. Rage. Grief. Shock. These emotions ran through Sundra¡¯s veins as he cried in the Dark Sea when he saw his own planet being destroyed. He quickly arrived but it was all for naught. As the angels soon realized it was he they were looking for, they soon engaged with the rage driven Sundra. The battle last many days and many nights. But in end the victor was the mighty Sundra. His rage hadn¡¯t dulled a single bit and instead it only sharpened it as Sundra had learned of his true enemy. Although he knew he was too weak to face off against such a opponent. Thus he gathered friends of many different places, and one day he was strong enough. One day his eyes lit up the entire Dark sea. This was the beginning of the fight with the Overgod. The Throne shook in excitement as Sundra arrived closer and closer to it. Which only led for the Overgod to be even more angry. Their battle destroyed worlds, and galaxies and even ripped apart the Dark Sea never to be repaired again. Yet even with revenge backing him, Sundra was never able to give the peace for the people of the blue planet. Sundra¡¯s shining golden eyes were dimmed of their light. Never to rekindle again. Yet luckily, his gathered companions were able to save this weakened Sundra in hopes that one day, Sundra would rekindle his eyes to fight for the Throne, for his people, for his friends once again. And from then on the Throne never moved again, nor did the Overgod leave his domain. Some think he was truly weakened to the point he had to enter a deep sleep. Others think he went mad trying being the one true king. But there was one thing everyone in the Dark Sea knew. That was one day, Sundra would come back. With an army or himself. That Sundra of Sol would fight for his revenge again¡­¡­¡­.. Chapter 71: Rage under the heavens When the old man finished his story, the crowd was left silent for a time. They were strong words that left a lingering impression on them. Whether it was the feeling sorry for Sundra who fought for his vengeance against his friends and people. Or the fact that The Empty Throne was still vacant till this point in time. As Owen thought about the story once more he was left speechless. ¡®Fighting for revenge¡­ huh¡­¡¯ The idea wasn¡¯t a clear one for him. Yet he tried to understand the feelings of Sundra at the time. Perhaps it was because Owen was more calm than others naturally are, he was unable to figure out what Sundra could possibly be feeling at the moment. As the story concluded and a the brief silence ended, everyone started to naturally go their own ways. As for Add when he snapped out of it, he called out to Owen right after. ¡°Well, that was quite interesting don¡¯t you think Owen?¡± Owen faced towards Add and recalled the story once more. ¡°Yes, but I wasn¡¯t really able to understand how Sundra felt. Maybe it was the lack of details or the fact that I never truly experienced such feelings for myself that I can¡¯t seem to understand how heart breaking of an event it would be.¡± Answering simply, Add only nodded in agreement and finished it off with his own words as he casually wrapped his arm around Owen¡¯s shoulder and gave a deep look towards Owen, though Owen wasn¡¯t able to see the meaning behind the look he soon found out as Add wasn¡¯t worried about hiding his opinion towards Owen in the slightest. ¡°You¡¯re right Owen. If we were able to understand the feelings of a person who lost an entire planet''s worth of living beings, we could only be called scum. But Owen, the point of the story wasn¡¯t whether or not you could sympathize with him or not.¡± As Add said this he twirled his finger, showing a smirk on the corner of his lips. He paused himself as he forced Owen to wait on him to continue. Owen didn¡¯t force Add to continue but he still waited for him to continue. ¡°The point of the story my friend, is that he became strong because of his emotions. Not because he wanted too. Not because he was able to. But because he had too. He had to fight in order to live. He had to fight in order to get his revenge, to live. But in the end what happened? He lost. He was not strong enough. Do you know why that man told us that? Because if we aren¡¯t strong enough. If our determination isn¡¯t strong enough. We will become stepping stones for those who are.¡± As he said that he walked ahead of Owen at a faster pace. He didn¡¯t turn around and he didn¡¯t wait for Owen to answer, as if knowing Owen wasn¡¯t going to answer him. Instead he spoke once more but in a slow and firm tone. ¡°Owen. I do not know why you walk this Path. But even I can tell that you¡¯re quite distant with your emotions. If you follow me, I can show you those who are on the path to becoming strong. Deep down in the bottom of our hearts, we wish to gain strength because we need it.¡± Once Add finished speaking he continued to walk. He didn¡¯t turn around to see if Owen was following him or not. Nor did Owen force himself to follow after him. Yet at the same time Owen¡¯s pace continued to walk forward following Add nonetheless. ¡®A reason for becoming strong? Do I need one other than to see again? Is that not enough? Does Add truly have a reason for needing to be stronger?¡¯¡¯ These thoughts ran through his head, as he did he opened and closed his fist. As if he was trying to grab onto something within the area of his palm. He had learnt so much through his life but there was always one thing he was never taught even by his master. How to truly want something¡­ ---------------------- Some time passed by and the silence between Owen and Add had long passed and as they walked through the town. Although there were hints of the previous conversation it was something that was left for Owen to think of on his own and Add knew that. Add also knew he only knew Owen for such a short time and by making such a claim it was already over his boundaries as a new acquaintance. But after watching Owen and his dull reactions through the town as they looked at the wares of the vendors or how Owen was unable to understand anything about how Sundra felt, he was able to tell that Owen wasn¡¯t able to relate to the emotions of others or even himself for that matter. This bothered Add as he walked together with Owen, till the point where Add became frustrated enough over it that he could only speak about it. He was simply to blunt for his own good sometimes. ¡®Luckily, it seems he took what I said at face value and is thinking about it seriously. Though it was somewhat expected coming from him.¡¯ ¡°Hey Add! You¡¯re late!¡± Just as Add had finished thinking to himself he heard a voice call him from the side. As he and Owen looked towards the source of the sound, Add responded before he even saw who was talking. ¡°Ah Selwyn! You said you would wake me up!¡± As Add waved his hands trying to express his anger more deeply. But instead feeling bad the girl named Selwyn frowned while crossing her arms opting to not speak. She had dark brunette hair that was naturally curly and rested on her shoulders. While her battle garments were snuggly pressed against her. It was gear for a warrior yet at the same time it was pleasing to the eyes. With it being a soft yellow it matched her hazel eyes nicely. She was at a glance perfectly average, yet with her strong personality her friends never could take their eyes off of her. ¡°Ah, Add you know it¡¯s impossible to wake you up after drinking. Don¡¯t blame us for your faults.¡± Another person with a much more clearly annoyed voice voice answered in Selwyns stead. It was man with a sharp glare and a pointed nose. Yet this odd combination gave a subtle attraction himself. He also had brunette hair but was lighter than Selwyns. His cold blue eyes wondered onto Owen and unsheathed his twin swords under attached to his leather armor on the back. ¡°Add, who is this.¡± Add patted Owen¡¯s back and forced him forward after which he quickly explained for his quick acting friend. ¡°No worries, this is Owen. I asked him to join us. I hope you won¡¯t mind him watching us for a bit will you, Ardgnar?¡± Yet, Ardgnar fully knew that he wasn¡¯t asking for his permission which almost led him to attacking Add when he was stopped by another. ¡°Now now, no need for this so early in the day save it for the Devourer¡¯s later Gnar.¡± The woman was the tallest out of the bunch and carried a long spear on her back. She wore leather armour similar to Selywn and Ardgnar. Her face was a little bit puffed from big cheeks, but not as excess fat but instead naturally gave her a cuter look. It was something that didn¡¯t match her height nor her easy going attitude. Her dark brown eyes gave Owen a look before quickly eying Add to get ready to leave already. ¡°By the way, my name is Fraeswys, nice to meet you.¡± She grabbed onto Owen¡¯s hand with her large hand and tightly shook it as a or of courtesy. Owen was surprised by the strength of her grip but didn¡¯t make it noticeable through his facial expressions, instead he was thinking something else. ¡®So this is the group that Add wants to get strong with¡­¡¯ At first glance Owen didn¡¯t see anything that stood out from the group other than that Ardgnar has had a fast hand at unsheathed his blades. But it was clear that this group all knew each other and not just recently. Although Owen couldn¡¯t see their particular colours of armor he was able to tell that they were all similar in design. When the group suddenly started to leave without word, Owen got the impression they were missing the introduction of someone. As Owen looked at the fifth member of Add¡¯s party that had yet to stand out in any way, he too stared at Owen. The man that Owen was looking at through the Blind Motion technique didn¡¯t linger and continued to walk instead, pretending nothing had just happened. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about Boyd. He¡¯s a special case in our group and he¡¯s similar to you.¡± Owen felt this sort of strange and quickly asked back towards Add who came to his side. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Add crossed his arms and tried to find an explanation that would fit perfectly but when it came to a few dozen seconds he gave up and shrugged his shoulders. Tilting his head to the side to answer Owen. ¡°Boyd can¡¯t speak. And because of that, he¡¯s never really been one to show emotions¡­¡± Add¡¯s explanation wasn¡¯t long but it got straight to the point as Owen looking back at the clouded Essence soul that was Boyd. A deep and thoughtful look would be seen if one could see Owen¡¯s eyes but luckily no one was able to tell what Owen was thinking at this exact moment. ¡®Similar to me¡­ That explains Add¡¯s actions earlier.¡¯ Owen thought back but it didn¡¯t bother him too much. Once again thoughts of having a reason to fight were visible in his mind. Deep down in his subconscious he stared towards his Sky Pathway. His translucent bricks were sitting still waiting patiently to be fed more Essence. Though slowly they were still growing even now through Owen¡¯s breathing technique. But despite growing stronger at this very second Owen was unable to shake off the feeling of being weak. He was already looked down upon by the Tyrant Devourer. He had never won a single battle at the the Temple, and those words matched up against those reasons. ¡®Is it because only wanting to have my vision is not enough? Do I only think it¡¯s natural that I will be able to see?¡¯ While confused, Owen walked into the forest with Add and his companions. ------------------------ ¡®Truly that are strong.¡¯ Owen thought to himself as he watched the five man party take out a Land Devourer easily without a sweat. Although a Devourer is stronger than a Pathwalker in a straight on clash, Pathwalkers had their tactics that allowed them to out maneuver Devourers. Not to mention at the first wall, only the weakest of the weak were basically left. All the potential strong Devourers had long been transferred to other areas. Other than the Tyrant Devourer that Owen faced for the most part Owen would find it hard to find another that strong. Owen continued to watch the party fight from the sidelines. He was already told by Ardgnar and Add that he wasn¡¯t allowed to join. Although for two different reasons. Ardgnar¡¯s reason was because he didn¡¯t like Owen. Add¡¯s was because if Owen joined that would mean splitting the profit. As they already had to hunt a minimum of five Devourers a day they didn¡¯t really feel like adding another to split the money with. Also their party was already efficient as possible. This was something Owen noticed. A few more Devourers were finished off as Owen would either hear the unsheathing of Ardgnar¡¯s twin blades and soon after the cry of the Devourer before it¡¯s last breath. The other was the sound of an arrow piercing through the air. The main difference between the two was the arrow would cause instant death for the Devourer itself. Add¡¯s responsibility was as Owen figured. Add was always had the attention of the Devourer whether it was screaming loudly to get it''s attention of striking it first with many blows to anger it as much as possible. As for Selywn and Fraeswys, they would always strike from the side with Selwyns longsword or Fraeswys¡¯ lance. Either way it would take less than a minute to dispose of one Devourer. Yet the stress level with each kill was always at peak level. Specially at the beginning when starting out all of their Paths were relatively weak and being hit once could mean the difference between life and death. ¡°Hey let¡¯s take a quick break before the nex¡­¡± ¡°Add there¡¯s something coming!¡± Owen spoke out with a slightly raised voice just enough for Add to hear him. As Add was interrupted by Owen a Devourer similar to a deer rushed out of the shrubbery nearby. It¡¯s antlers were incredibly sharp looking, but it was clear that it wa severely injured from the way it limped while running. As the group was about to relax from Add¡¯s words and set up a short camp, they were brought into action at the sudden occurrence of a Devourer. Although injured, infact because it was injured already they were more on guard. It was because anyone knew that a cornered beast was more likely to be crazy with its attacks. Before Boyd and Ardgnar would always make their strikes would kill their targets, soon after if not instantly after striking them. That was the safest way to hunt for them. An efficient method only possible because of the trust the five had for one another. Not to mention that their individual strengths were already incredible to begin with. Even Owen was unsure whether he could compete with anyone of these members in a fight. Although he had some sort of vision that acted as a helping hand to his fights, it was until not his main reliant on fighting. He was too used to fighting with his hearing to simply give up that advantage. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Boyd, Ardgnar get ready! Selwyn, Fraeswys stay back and prepare for any unexpected situations. ARGHH!¡± Add rushed off quickly to engage with the Devourer after he called out for for the decisive members to land a killing blow, while he had the two females prepares for anything that could happen. Swoosh! A another air pierced through the eye of the deer. After the deer twitched a few times, its heavy body slammed into the ground with a force that was felt by Owen¡¯s feet. He had no complaints about the way that the fight was handled in fact he thought it was brilliantly done. Add was both an outstanding leader and a great fight, while he had members in his team that were able to help decisively at any time if need be. As Add quickly cut out the Essence crystal from the deer¡¯s body he spoke softly. ¡°Well, although unexpected we still made profit in the end.¡± But then suddenly once again Owen heard the shaking of shrubbery in the distance. This time it was much more than just a simple break of a twig of the disturbance of a few leaves. This time it was a large amount of footsteps that was nearing closer every second. As he heard it, Owen once again spoke up for everyone to hear. ¡°Everyone, there¡¯s a large group of people headed this way. I¡¯d guess there¡¯s at least thirty.¡± Just as he finished, a few figures appeared from the bushes. Although it wasn¡¯t the numbers that Owen had mentioned, it was clear that they too were on guard against Add¡¯s party. Ardgnar looked over towards Owen and then back to Boyd who remained expressionless. ¡®He was able to hear someone coming before Boyd?!¡¯ This didn¡¯t sit well with Ardgnar but as this wasn¡¯t the time and place he put it behind himself for the time and looked forward at the group walking forward. At first however Add and his companions were on guard but upon seeing the big burly man leading the pack they lessened their guards, but only slightly. In fact this was just to show goodwill but instead they all knew that a real enemy may have appeared. When the big burly man saw Add he roared out with laughter and called out to him. ¡°Well, well, well look at what we have here boys. It¡¯s Add and his group of young friends. Not to mention out game that we tried to kill is also here.¡± When the voice carried over to Owen, he was immediately struck speechless and he faced towards the man immediately. As he was about to call out to the man, instead Add called out first. ¡°Gerboud. What are you doing here? I thought you were going south?¡± Add gave an look that tried to look as pleasant as possible but failing to hide his bluntness he showed a frown that made it clear that he was not happy to see him. Although Owen was feeling a different emotion as he was surprised to have met up with Gerboud, and what would seem like the rest of the Temple followers. He was about to say something again when Gerboud responded towards Add. ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about that boy. It got passed us so it¡¯s only natural that the one who struck it lasts gets to keep it. But as to answer your question, I always wanted to fight against the Conqueror country so my brothers in arms decided to follow me and give a name for our Temple.¡± Owen felt confused. There was something about the current Gerboud that he couldn¡¯t quite make out that seemed different. But the feeling gave a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. He still wanted to say something but the conversation continued and as Owen was off to the side and Gerboud was too focused on Add they had yet to notice Owen, including the few that showed up with Gerboud. ¡°If you don¡¯t want this then why don¡¯t we save our reminiscence for another time?¡± Add lifted up his hand with the Essence crystal as he showed it off to Gerboud who shrugged in turn. ¡°You¡¯re right Add, while I do want it. It¡¯s not mine. So what do you say we play for it?¡± Gerboud gave a smirk while he crossed his arms as he chuckled to himself. While Ardgnar who had heard enough roared out. ¡°You fucking piece of donkey shit!¡± Gerboud quickly ignored the vulgar words after a quick look at Add. Add in turn looked at Selwyn and Fraeswys to calm down Ardgnar. Boyd was left standing in the same spot as the other three retreated. At the same time he had an arrowed carefully knocked the moment the group had entered this visible range. He had continued to hold it knocked in case anything happened. Owen once against was confused by the attitude of Gerboud and this time he was unable to remain quiet upon hearing the laughter of Gerboud and his men at the idea of fighting for it. ¡°Master Gerboud¡­.. What is the meaning of this?¡± With a hint of confusion visibly noticeable behind Owen¡¯s words that he found hard to speak out as if throwing it up, Gerboud looked towards the source of the speaker. At this time he finally noticed Owen off to the side. Surprise was an understatement but yet right after that he roared with laughter again and called out to Owen. ¡°Owen? The blind boy? You aren¡¯t fucking dead yet you worthless welp?¡± ¡°What?¡± Unconsciously, Owen responded back towards Gerboud harsh words. Without a moment''s rest Owen was put into a situation he had no idea what to make of it. He clearly knew that this was the First Warrior Gerboud from the Temple. The one who stood at the top of all the warriors at the temple, who even though knew that Owen was weak never spoke ill of him. But now, all of a sudden it was like Gerboud was a completely different person. Shocked. The words no longer came out and Owen stood there still. Gerboud on the other hand was not shocked but he slapped his face covering his eyes laughing hysterically as he did. ¡°Brat, you all this time¡­. You¡¯re still the naive little welp knew nothing.¡± ¡®Is that why I felt such a distasteful feeling behind Gerboud¡¯s words? Because he no longer is the same person I once knew? How can this be the First Warrior?¡¯ Thoughts of confusion ran through Owen¡¯s mind. A possibly of Gerboud turning into a Feral even crossed Owen¡¯s mind but still it didn¡¯t add up because the Ferals that Owen knew of weren¡¯t able to talk. Not to mention the colour through Owen¡¯s sight would be pure black, but instead it was like every other person here. But the one to question this wasn¡¯t Owen but instead Add. ¡°Gerboud, what is the meaning of this?¡± Putting his attention on Owen to the side for a moment Gerboud stared back and Add and spoke. ¡°Well, you see this blind brat was once part of my Warrior division. But the useless shit couldn¡¯t even win a single battle in all the years he was raised under us. Completely useless, less than dirt.¡± ¡°...What?¡± The confusion piled up so much that it was clearly visible on Owen¡¯s face. When Gerboud heard Owen and saw his expression once again and this time including everyone that came together laughed at Owen. After the first bout of laughter the rest of the Warriors and Monks were attracted and came out just in time to hear Gerboud speak ill of Owen. Which naturally gave the evidence that not only Gerboud had thought ill of Owen. Owen¡¯s emotions were left all over the place without any hopes of being stilled. It was such a shock that before he even had a chance to calm himself they were already moving about. ¡°You look confused Owen?¡± Gerboud smiled large enough that it was even easily visible with Owen¡¯s Blind Motion technique. Then he slowly spoke his next few words. ¡°Surely¡­ You didn¡¯t think everyone actually liked you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°What? Not possible?¡± The quick exchange of words left no time for his emotions to regain composure as Gerboud continued to pile more confusion onto one another. As for Add and his companions although they knew Owen, it was only for a short while they felt it wasn¡¯t their place to speak, only Add had wanted to interfere but even he wasn¡¯t going to act out impulsively with so many on Gerboud¡¯s side. ¡°Owen¡­ Let me tell you why you¡¯re so confused. For the very beginning, we spoke with detest behind our words. We simply didn¡¯t use the right words.¡± ¡°You! What do you mean!¡± Owen at this point was no longer calmly speakly, his voice was raising unconsciously as it once did when he fought against the Tyrant. Those who remain calm under most circumstances have the tendency to become even more ferocious when upset. Now was a time that Owen was simply unable to hold himself in check. But once again Gerboud through words at him that left him speechless. ¡°What? Did you really think that we could care for a shit that was deserted by his own mother?! HAH! I spit on naivety boy!¡± As Gerboud spit on the ground the rest of the warriors gave unpleasant looks. Before Owen was able to respond Gerboud continued. ¡°You think, that we, the Temple, should care about a boy who was blind by his own mother and dropped to our own doorstep? HAH! DON¡¯T LOOK DOWN ON ME YOU SHIT! WE, raised you and that was all you were deserving of. If even your own mother was detested by that sight of you staring at her. I could only imagine how much I would want to kill if you if you opened your eyes right this moment.¡± ¡®What¡­. What is he saying? I don¡¯t understand anything but my eyes¡­. They hurt¡­. Urgh¡­ they hurt so much. This pain why¡­¡¯ Even though Owen was usually able to bear the pain, now the pain was so inexplicably painful he was weak in his legs, as he fell down onto his knees. He was left speechless, and couldn¡¯t respond even a little bit. The words felt so foreign but at the same time they felt incredibly real. It was the first time that Owen had felt so betrayed, felt so anger, felt so much pain. It engulfed his body and forced his way through his every being. Shredding everything apart and destroying him from the inside. Bits of black Essence formed and intertwined with every being. ¡®I was blinded by my own mother? Hated every day of my life?¡¯ These were the only thoughts running through Owen¡¯s mind. Just as he was losing control Add screamed towards Owen. ¡°Owen! Get ahold of yourself! You¡¯ll turn into a Feral!!¡± The moment Gerboud heard these words his laughter turned into that one of happiness. He spread out his arms and continued to edge Owen on. ¡°Yes! That¡¯s right Owen! Let yourself be engulfed by your emotions! You who no one cared for! You who thought everything was always for you! Realize that you are nothing more than a insect in my opinion! You who even you mother deserted!¡± ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!¡± At the being reminded once more that his mother who he once thought had perished in unknown circumstances had abandoned him and took his vision away, he snapped. As he screamed towards the heavens, Owen¡­.. Opened his eyes. ---------------------------- Shocked? Surprised? If you are well that was the plan. Now some of you might like it some of you might have hated it. WEll all I have to say is that every little bit of change that Owen has gone through is leading up to a certain point. That include this as well. Anyways I haven''t said anything what 3 months? Anyways I''m not here to talk about that. As you guys can see the pace has taken a huge turn and will continue to do so until I end the book. Yes that''s right. I plan to end this book (the first out fo the series) at the very least before chapter 100. I had originally planned on doing much more, but oh well this way you guys will be at the edge of your seats for the entire time. Hope you enjoyed it let me know what you think with a comment. Chapter 72: If Not I, Who Else Will? Kovinth was currently enjoying himself while cooking a meal in his cave. The cave he had been living in for the past 17 years. It was the time of of Owen¡¯s birth that Kovinth arrived shortly after. It was a certain calling that attracted Kovinth¡¯s attention, it was a scene that reminded him of his own past. He had watched Owen lose the colour in his eyes as Owen¡¯s mother stood pierced his eyes with needles. Such a thing was done to a baby no more than a few months old. And at the final moments, Kovinth could never forget the words she spoke as the blood spilled in the form of tears. ¡°You! You, vile spawn, took everything away from me! If if wasn¡¯t for you¡­ if you didn¡¯t exist I would be a queen!¡± The words were deeply etched into Kovinth¡¯s very being. As he watched from afar, the calling he heard deep within his soul became that much stronger. Only when Kovinth arrived did the calling calm down and from there on he watched Owen until the time of the planet¡¯s Rebirth. He would never interfere with Owen¡¯s life, whether he died, whether he was lied to for his entire life. He would not interfere until the time was right, but after finally meeting Owen and enjoying his short but wonderful memories of becoming his master, the black scaled dragon was no longer as ferocious as the Dark Sea once knew him as. Instead he was just a burly man who loved his disciple very much. ¡°Kovinth!¡± Osena called out to Kovinth who was currently in a daze. When he finally had heard her calling he shook his head and curiously looked towards Osena wondering as to why she was currently in his home. When Osena saw the look on Kovinth¡¯s face she rolled her eyes and answered the question he was asking with his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m here to eat your food, so hurry up already. Aren¡¯t you my husband?¡± ¡°Who is your husband?!¡± Is what Kovinth wanted to retort but he had long given up as Osena clearly took the victory with this topic. Whether it was true marriage or not, he didn¡¯t care one way or another. He was too busy thinking about his disciple to care about other things. But for some reason he had a bad feeling and maybe this bad feeling was what caused him to remember the moment Kovinth saw Owen¡¯s mother take his eyes. As Kovinth clearly knew the truth, he also had seen the condition of Owen¡¯s scared eyes. The reason the Solar Eyes technique was so painful for Owen was mainly because all the scarred tissue had to be burnt off before Kovinth could restore them. But these were things that Kovinth had never told Owen. And even now Kovinth had no intentions on telling him. Yet at the same time it caused him to feel pain deep within his heart. ¡®Why do I have such a bad feeling¡­¡¯ He kept thinking to himself as he once again ignored the ramblings of Osena in the background. But suddenly Kovinth felt another feeling. One all too familiar, to him. And just as he felt this feeling, he saw it from the entrance of his cave. A giant bright pillar of solar light rise into the sky meeting up with the intense star in the sky. He fumbled over his words as he tried to understand what was going on. Although he was confused he immediately knew what he had to do. ¡°Owen!¡± But immediately after saying this, Osena also sat up and stood in front of Kovinth blocking his way. She gave a deep meaningful look with no words to follow. A tinge of anger appeared within his glare. He could only speak calmly and slowly to get his words across to Osena. ¡°Move. I know what you¡¯re going to say. But I don¡¯t care. Move Osena.¡± Osena¡¯s hair swayed in the air as the calm words had so much force behind then it caused a sudden breeze of wind to pass her. But even still she remained motionless while responding to him. ¡°You can not go. I know exactly what it means for that light to appear. After all how could I not? I¡¯ve seen it all too many times from you. If Owen is using his eyes now, it must be something that may cause his death, or hurt him just as much. I can¡¯t see either of those being possible just after the first wall. But it¡¯s clear something happened!¡± Her voice started to tremble as she also started to shiver. Though she didn¡¯t budge and inch and lifted up her arms showing her resolve to stop Kovinth as she spoke once more. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I like him too! But I will not allow you to break the laws for him! I like him, but I love you! If you break the law now. They will find you!¡± Kovinth looked at the pillar of light in the sky and then back to Osena. His anger was completely hidden but he that it was obvious to Osena that he was angry. Even while knowing that, she still stood in front of him. ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen if I break the laws. I don¡¯t know who will come after me. But I do know that if I don¡¯t save my disciple. I will experience a pain like that day so many years ago. Osena! Move! I refuse to let that happen to me ever again!¡± Kovinth rose his voice with each passing word. Each word caused Osena to shiver just a bit more. With all her strength she continued to argue with Kovinth. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that? I was there! I watched as we lost the place we loved the most! I watched as your own star was destroyed! Do you think I wish for you to experience that pain again?!¡± Tears started to form in Osena¡¯s eyes, but she couldn¡¯t stop herself from speaking. The words came out all by themself. ¡°Do you seriously mean to live as Sundra again? You who lives without Sol?!¡± Kovinth tried his best to relax himself. He dropped his arms and slowly walked towards Osena. When he arrived in front of her, just a single step away, enough to see the clear tears reflect his own self within them. He carefully wiped her tears and embraced her. Surprised by the sudden grab, Osena gave out a little squeal and fumbling over words that made no sense, she was silenced by Kovinth¡¯s voice. ¡°Luna¡­. We can not stay in the past. Terra was the reason for our existence and it¡¯s gone. I fought for that and lost. But now, I have another reason to fight. One that I will make sure to protect with my every being. That boy will die if I don¡¯t help him. I refuse to allow that to happen. After all, I am his master, if not I, who else will save him?¡± Osena shook her head as she was filled with sadness. She slammed her tiny weak fists into Kovinth¡¯s chest as he held onto her. She tried to use all her strength but all that came out was a pathetic attempt to ease her own pain. Her eyes turned red as she wanted everything to work out, but instead everything was falling apart. ¡°Why! Why can¡¯t you just be happy with me¡­ Why do you have to go through all this suffering again? Tell me!¡± Kovinth gave a small smirk towards Osena and softly spoke as his eyes started to change into a raging flame. ¡°Osena, if I live through this. Let¡¯s get married for real¡­. Okay?¡± ¡°Wha¡­.? Wh...y¡­¡± Shocked from the sudden proposal, Kovinth struck her in the stomach which knocked the wind out of her. The only air left in her lungs was just enough to squeeze out the painful cries of why. She had wanted to say so much more. She wanted to stop him that much harder. But she was unable to. As her eyes became heavy she knew that she may never her loved one again and then she lost consciousness. The next moment Kovinth disappeared into nothing towards the pillar in the sky. Towards his one and only disciple. ---------------------------- ¡°So¡­..it has finally begun? Well, after all the time and effort I put into this¡­ it is of little surprise...¡± A rough voice was heard whistling in the darkness like a passing breeze. And like a breeze it soon disappeared as if it never happened to begin with. --------------------------- Things are getting seriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiious. Well anyways if you didn''t think last chapter wasn''t a surprise that''s fine. There''s more to come. The ending is fast approaching we have about two fights left, a few dramatic scenes the reappearance of a character people don''t seem to really like xD and well a lot of dead people. Yeah, shits about to get real. Well stay tune, if you have any questions feel free to ask I''ll answer them to the best of my ability. Until next time!