《Rise of the Fallen》


 Prologue: the Fallens

    The sun had set yet they sky looked bright. Thunders roared like dragons and huge booming sounds were heard. There were people on the ground staring at the sky with awe and fear in their eyes. Mothers coddled their children while the father urged the wide to hurry and hide in the house. Sparks of fire could be seen in the sky.


    In the sky, two vague silhouettes could be seen. One with a blue colored armor on his chest and the other with a red colored one. Both were injured and their weapons broken, but they still exerted a domineering aura that made one feel like prostrating themselves. A hush fell upon the sky, like the world itself had stopped. It could be seen the battle had reached it''s final stage.


    A blue colored light and a red colored light struck against each other and as they fought to overpower each other, they world beneath them shook with tremors never seen before. It seemed as if the world itself would split apart if this continued. Then it stopped. It stopped so suddenly that people found it difficult to believe that just a breath ago, the world was trying to split apart.


    The sky too changed. Before, there were two radiant lights burning in the sky. Now, the red light had completely disappeared where as the blue light seems to be flickering as if it was about to go out any minute.


    Then a booming sound was heard and the man in blue armor spoke."I must admit, you are strong Grendel. If I didn¡¯t have this heavenly treasure with me, who knows what might have happened?"


    The man in the red armor looked exhausted and miserable yet he didn¡¯t fall. His armor had dents on it and he had lost a Even though he had lost he still had an arrogant look in his eyes and a sneer forming in his mouth. "Don¡¯t get too cocky Mikael. All I needed to do was stall you, until all my clan members escaped. HAHAHA! The lower realm is unlike the upper one. Here are many worlds and dimensions, you will never be able to find them nor hurt them. You and your clan has controlled the fate of the heaven and everything under it for long enough. There will come a day of reckoning, when my clan shall rise once again and devour all of you. AHH! "


    As he was saying this, a sword emerged from his chest. As the man in red named Grendel turned around to find the culprit who stabbed him, he saw a middle aged man wearing a white gown and a crown on his head. It would have been a beautiful sight like lovers embracing each other, if not for the blood and the organs splattering down. The man wearing the crown on his head smiled a benevolent smile and then said" You think that your pathetic clan can fight against us. We are the chosen of the heaven born to rule over everyone else. And besides, your clan has already been cursed. Even though they might have escaped with their lives, they will never be able to amount to anything at all." No-one would have ever believed that such a sweet looking man, with such a pretty face and a benevolent smile could utter such hard and cruel words, until one looked in his eyes. His eyes were peculiar, a gray colored eyes with 3 marks in them. Those who looked at them could feel the iciness radiating from those eyes.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.Finally a trace of despair and hatred could be seen in the eyes of the red armored man. It seemed that he would have liked nothing more than to choke the crowned person. Despite his unwillingness, his mind slowly descended to the darkness and he felt nothing anymore.


    In one of the saddest year in the heaven, one of the strongest clan of the heaven was purged for rebelling. The elders of the clan were publicly executed and the strongest warrior of the clan, Grendel was killed in one of the lower realms. The members of the clan disappeared in thin air. Search for the patriarch still going on.


    The name of the clan was Garuda. A clan cursed to never be able to step to the heavens again. So then heaven aptly named them the Fallen.


    In a different realm, near a forest,


    The day looked bright and the sun was right in the middle of the sky. Birds were chirping and singing their tunes while the animals were feeding on grasses or looking to hunt. Suddenly a yawning black chasm opened right in the middle of the earth and the sky. The first thing to come out of the chasm was a strange looking bird which was then followed by around a hundred human looking peoples which was mostly made up of women and children who were covered in blood along with some exhausted looking men who were carrying broken armors and swords and were bleeding all over their body.


    The strange bird had a black eagle''s head and large black colored wings emerging behind his back, but he clearly had hands and legs that made him stand as a human. On top of that his hand had extremely sharp talons and on his head was a crown as well. He might have cut out a majestic figure if he were not in such a sorry state and vomiting blood out. A sorrowful cry of a bird rang out in the sky


    One of the men worriedly called out "Patriarch¡­"


    The strange bird turned towards the man. Slowly a human shaped face replaced the eagle head and the wings and talons started disappearing. With a hoarse voice he replied "From today on we shall live here in this land accepting it as our new home¡­.."


    Then ad mist the protest and shouting of the crowd the man finally fell into the abyss of darkness and lost consciousness.

 Chapter 1: New Beginning

    In one of the lower realm world,


    This world among many of the lower realm world was known as Terra. In this world there were two types of people found among many other beasts. (NO No no, not male and female J). They were classified as cultivators and non cultivators. The cultivators after cultivating to a certain stage turned to immortals. However those were very less in quality and quantity in the lower realms. Among billions of the population, the amounts of cultivators were counted in thousands. At most there were about 100 thousand cultivators in this world. Though it might seem like much, if counted among the billions it can be said that the ratio of the cultivators among the people were truly low. And the cultivators who turned to immortals were even lower. In the of Terra there were only 12 people who turned to immortals and they were revered as god themselves.


    The world of Terra was divided in three continents. They were The Holy Continent, The Divine Continent and the Eastern Continent. Each of the continents had their own religion and Emperor.


    As such, in the Eastern continent, there was a large village known as Golden Wolf Village. The village was named as golden wolf because the most powerful clan of that area was Golden Wolf which was also the ruler of the nearby areas.


    In the northern part of the golden wolf village, there lived a group of people. There used to be a legend of this particular group. It was said that they thousands of years ago, the sky tore open and they entered in this world. But now no-one remembered this legend. This group of people called themselves the Soaring Clan. There was something peculiar about the Soaring Clan, which was among the many other small sized clans. Unlike many of the other clans where people were in different stages of cultivation, this clan had almost all the people in the Body Tempering Stage. Even the elders and the patriarch of the clan were just of Body Tempering stage. Other clans at least had some of the elders and the Patriarch at the Core Unlocking Stage. Yet this clan was never bothered by the other clans at all. In fact no other clans encroached on their territory at all.


    In the village of the clan, an elder was teaching a group of children who were 10-12 years old.


    "The path for cultivation is a hard one. But none of you should ever give up hope". Usually when the teacher is teaching the class, the children don¡¯t actually pay attention to what the teacher is teaching. The same thing was occurring here as well.


    Still the teacher continued "the most important part in cultivation is the foundation stage. The Foundation stage is divided in three parts. They are Body tempering, Mind Tempering and Soul Tempering. Each of the tempering stages is further divided in five further ranks. After that comes the Core Unlocking Stage and after that comes the core formation stage. For now you little brats should start training for the first stage of the cultivation which is body tempering."


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.   Among those children, there was a 10 year old child who unlike the others was listening and devouring every word of what the elder was saying. With black hair, chubby face and big eyes, this kid looked like a Cherub, especially if one took account of his fat body. The name of this boy was Nicholas Flamus who was called Nik for short. Even though he was fat people rarely called him fatty. This was not because they were scared of him or something. On the contrary Nik was liked well by his peers as well as teachers. It was because there were other children who were a lot fatter than him. He was considered average compared to the others.


    The teacher then started training of the children by making them practice normal punching, kicking and jabbing methods.


    An old man carrying a fisherman pole was watching the children train. Though this man looked a little old, the pressure exerted by him exceeded those exerted by seasoned fighters at their prime. The man looked towards the sky, sighed and said "More than ten thousand years have passed, yet we are still stuck here, our children cursed and our will suppressed. Will we never be able to rise to the heavens again? Looks like the sacrifices of our people were in vain. Grendel, your father has failed you, looks like there is no hope after all. Sigh." After closing his eyes for a while he looked toward the ground where the children were training.


    "Let''s hope there are some among these snooty brats who will be able to break through the body  tempering stage and obtain some face for my clan."


    Saying this, the man walked away whistling a sweet tune. If anyone from the heaven or the upper world saw this man, they would be shocked. He was none other than the Patriarch of the Garuda Clan and also the ancestor of the Soaring Clan, whom the entire heaven was searching for.


    The Soaring Clan. Formed by the remnants of the Garuda Clan. This clan was started for a New Beginning to occur for the people of the clan as to have some measure of peace and flourish amongst themselves so as to take their revenge. However, In the past years no one has been able to break through from the first stage of the Foundation Stage in this clan. No one knows why. Even those that showed great prowess and potential, no one from this clan could ever breakthrough from the body tempering stage. Behind their backs everyone calls them Cursed. After more than a thousand years the one grand Garuda clan has fallen into one of it''s worst time. Even they themselves had for their heritage and strength they once wielded. In these recent centuries they really had become Fallens.

 Chapter 2: The Journey begins

    The first stage of the foundation stage was the body tempering stage. This stage was further divided into 5 stages. Each stage made the body of the cultivator stronger and stronger which differentiated them from the normal humans. When the cultivators entered into the first stage of the body tempering stage he would gain the power equivalent to 10 tigers. Also the body would get purified and the muscles and the bones in the body would get stronger. And the body would get stronger with the rise in cultivation. Of course this was the basic information that every cultivators knew.


    Niklaus or called Nik for short also knew this information as did everyone of his generation. He had just returned home near the village.


    "Hey Nik, how was your day?" A sweet voice asked him.


    He smiled hearing the nostalgic voice and replied "It was fine, mom." His mother Angelina was a cultivator and she was at body tempering 4th stage. His father was a peak body tempering stage expert and worked as a elder of the clan, so he was a busy person.


    "Perhaps they will let you cultivate soon. This age is perfect since your bone and muscles grow at this stage. All you should do is follow the cultivation technique given and cultivate diligently. You will be able to have a body far stronger than the normal cultivators. The body cultivation technique of our clan is one of the best after all." His mother told him proudly. Though it might have been pride talking, she was not wrong in telling that it was one of the best technique. Even the Mountain Wolf Clan''s cultivation body cultivation technique was levels weaker than the one in this clan. Many years ago there had been a great battle to steal this cultivation technique, but those that came to steal this cultivation technique had all been killed by a mysterious expert. Many believed the expert to be the ancestor of the Soaring Clan.


    "Yes mom, I will try my best." Nik resolutely said.


    "All right then, your father''s probably not coming home today, so let''s go eat. I made your favorite food. My strong cultivator son is going to need a lot of food after all. HAHAHA"


    "YAY!"


    A month gradually passed by. At the time in a ground of the village clan,


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on."Today everyone of you will be given the body cultivation technique. All of you will practice the same body cultivation technique and get 2 elixirs as well." The instructor said. Chubby Nik could be seen amongst the line of 30 other children waiting for their turn to get the cultivation technique.


    "Hey Nik, you excited?" a little boy with his mouth puffed with food asked. This boy was Nik''s best friend. Both of them had been best friends since Nik brought his homemade chicken in school and Andrew stole one of them. Since both of them found that they both of them loved food too much, they became best friends.


    "Yeah. Is that corn?" Nik asked. Before his friend could answer him the teacher called his name. he was asked to come forth and take the cultivation method. Then he was led to a huge hall where other children were practicing.


    "Wow, this is huge." Andrew said as soon as he entered the hall, in a loud voice. For that the teacher glared disapprovingly at him.


    "Stupid brats, stop talking trash and start practicing or else.."


    Both boys got so scared that they pushed each other in a hurry to get away from the teacher''s sight.


    Nik then opened the cultivation technique he was given. There were total of 10 pictures in different position. Nik had seen these positions before when his father had cultivated them. He too wanted to be as good as his father someday. The postures in the cultivation looked easy but they were incredibly hard to perform. Some who had good perception took a week while the slower ones took months just to perform the first posture. This was because the internal energy present in the body had to be revolved accordingly as well and most of the time was spent just to generate the internal strength in the body. Elixirs and other drugs could be taken to improve the body condition and provide certain internal strength to the body as well. However the energy from the outside could not be taken in until one broke into the core unlocking stage. Due to this all the students were given 2 elixirs once a month. For each stage breakthrough of the body tempering stage, you had to complete at least two of the given postures.


    Finally, the journey of Nik started in the world of cultivation.

 Chapter 3: Bullies

    A week had passed since Nik got the cultivation technique. He had finally learned the first posture and how to do it properly with the help of his mother and father who had returned home recently.


    "You have to push your body to work harder. Then it might be able to generate internal strength. Or you can take the elixir as well. As you generate internal energy you have to cycle it throughout the body, so it can remove the impurities. For the first stage you might be able to breakthrough just by cycling the energy twice in a day." His father Blake had lectured him, the same way the teacher had.


    During the first few days, he hadn¡¯t been able to generate the internal energy at all. Most of his friends had been able to generate the internal energy during the first week, whereas he was still struggling to generate the internal energy. Even his best friend Andrew who was known to be a one of the laziest guy had been able to generate the internal energy during the first week. However Nik wasn¡¯t depressed due to this. This was because the others were still struggling to perform the postures, whereas he had already comprehended it. The only thing he was now lacking was the internal energy.


    Now as you know, nearly every class has a bully. The same was for Nik''s class as well. The name of the bully was Lionel. Maybe It was because of his name, he thought himself to be the king and thought of everyone else as subordinates who were meant to please him. It didn¡¯t help that his grandfather was one of the top elders who had more power in the village. On top of that, he didn''t like Nik. He didn¡¯t like Nik because he thought Nik never respected him. Nik never gave him his food nor flattered him. On top of that when Lionel was beating Andrew Nik complained to the teacher due to which he was grounded by his grandfather for a week. So when Lionel learned that Nik had yet to generate the internal energy, he decided to teach Nik a lesson.


    Nik was training in one of the clan grounds. He had been practicing to generate the internal energy since the sun had started rising. Now the sun was in the middle of the sky. He found that he had gotten the hang of how to generate the internal energy but still couldn¡¯t produce any. It seemed as if he was missing something. As he was practicing..


    "Oho! I finally found you, you pesky little fatty."


    Nik froze when he heard the voice. He knew it was Lionel''s voice. He slowly turned around. As he expected Lionel was not alone. He had some of his lackeys around him too. All in all they looked like thugs who had found their recent prey. It didn¡¯t help that they were threateningly producing crackling noises from the hand.


    "What do you want Lionel? I don¡¯t have fried chickens on me today. So you cannot take anything from me." Nik asked in a timid voice. Perhaps he thought that this would make Lionel back down. It wasn¡¯t that he feared Lionel. It was just that he still hadn¡¯t generated internal energy whereas Lionel had.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Lionel got red in face and his lackeys stared snickering as well. "Shut up!! Fatty Nik, I''m gonna beat you down." Turning towards his lackeys he said" What are you fools looking at?? Go drag him here."


    As the flustered lackeys started bearing down on Nik, he started panicking. All he could think was what he could do. No matter what he thought he came to the same conclusion: he had to fight. The more he thought about fighting the more excited he got. The panicked reaction started disappearing slowly as well. His blood started boiling but strangely his mind remained calm. He also remembered what his father had told him about pushing his body harder. But he knew his limits. There were total of 4 lackeys and 1 Lionel. He couldn¡¯t take them all at once. So he thought of a clever plan.


    "Well would you look at that geniuses of the clan are ganging upon a weakling like me who hasn¡¯t even got internal energy. I guess I should feel honored. Or maybe you guys are scared of me??"


    At first hearing themselves be called geniuses they were a little flattered with their ego inflated. As soon as they heard all of it, they started showing their disdain towards Nik.


    "Brothers, why should all of us gang up on this trash? I alone will be enough" said lackey No1 who was a tad bit short to the others. Hearing this Nik started giggling to himself. He further added fuel to the fire.


    "Big brother, you are so brave and look strong."


    Hearing this No1 got further carried away and stepped forward.


    "But big brother what if I beat you and all of them start beating me instead. So let''s make this a completion. I will fight with all of you one at a time." Hearing Nik say this all of them laughed until tears started falling from their eyes.


    " Haha.. Huff. Brat you''re funny. All right we will follow your rules. Ok let me start beating you up then." Saying this Lackey No 1 suddenly punched towards Nik. The punch was so sudden that Nik didn¡¯t see it coming until he felt pain in his face and the scenery changed. Lackey No 1 just sneered and tried to kick towards Nick. But Nik had already learned his lesson. As soon as he saw the leg move towards his direction, he dodged it and started his own counterattack.

 Chapter 4: Breakthrough

    No1 thought he had everything in his pocket he felt especially smug when he got the first punch on Nik. He also raised his leg to kick him and started dreaming about how his friends would praise him and maybe Lionel will make him his right hand man. While he was thinking so he found that his leg had connected with empty air. He was badly started and embarrassed. This feeling go even worse when he got kicked in his butt and punched in his face when he turned around. Feeling humiliated, pain, fear and mostly anger he started infusing his punches with his internal energy and started punching Nik. Maybe it was because the lackey had just got his internal energy and not broken through to the first stage of body tempering his punches hurt a lot less than it should have. But Nik didn¡¯t know this, he felt a brutal pain when the internal energy infused punch hit him in his gut. He nearly vomited out the foods he ate. But he bore through the pain and started punching back and dodging the other''s punch. Luckily one of Nik''s  kick landed on No 1''s  temple knocking him unconscious.


    The other lackeys were shocked at first. They thought that maybe Nik too had finally generated internal energy. But after a while they found that it was ridiculous, so they relieved themselves by thinking it was a lucky shot. Thinking this and getting cocky once again another lackey came front. The name of this Lackey was long forgotten by everyone else. Now everyone just called him Piggy. The funny thing was even his parents called him that. Piggy was a big guy with a red face and a nearly nonexistent nose. He was also known as one of the strongest child in the valley. He was a strong guy and could carry 2 children as big as Nik with a single hand. He lumbered towards Nik. But Nik didn¡¯t see this coming. Right then he was too busy feeling something burn inside his body. He felt that he was close to generate the internal energy and even breakthrough to the first stage.


    Just as he felt he could now generate internal energy he was punched so hard that he started seeing stars even though it was daytime. After a while when he stopped seeing stars he found who punched him. His face got pale white when he saw it was Piggy.


    "Litle Fatty Nik, you''ve run out of luck now that your opponent is me." Saying this he started raining punches and kicks on Nik. Nik could do nothing but endure. It was one thing to fight No1 and the others, he felt he could at least hold his own against them. But Piggy was different. he was like a tiger in a herd of gazelles. He was strong if a little dumb and also was the favored disciple that could breakthrough to the 1st stage of tempering the body fastest.


    As he got punched again and again and was beaten black and blue, Nik felt himself go unconscious. Just as he was about to faint, he felt something happening to his body. That was the same time when Piggy stopped punching. Nik felt the pain in his body lessen bit by bit and slowly started getting up. As he fully got up, he started analyzing the changes in his body. Even though his body was still being racked in pain, he found that his heart was pumping loudly. Heart was also the organ in the body that generated internal energy. As he fell internal energy flood through his body he felt really happy, so happy that he giggled out loud. Then without caring about the situation around him, he started doing the first posture of the cultivation technique. He performed in the same way it was shown in the cultivation technique.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.Piggy was just turning back when he heard the muffled groan uttered from behind him. Still he didn¡¯t think about it much until he heard the giggling. Startled he turned around. Seeing the Black and blue Nik grinning smugly he was utterly befuddled. He felt really queer seeing the beaten child stand up on top of that grinning smugly. The feeling got worse when he saw Nik start doing the first posture of the cultivation technique. Other lackeys around him started jeering Nik saying "A trash who hasn¡¯t even developed internal strength thinks he can practice cultivation. What a Joke." But Piggy knew better. His eyes met Lionel. Both he and Lionel too had comprehended the first posture and had already learned it. This was also the reason that the elders had believed that one among the both of them would be the first to reach the first stage of cultivation. Now Nik had joined in the fray. Just as Piggy was thinking of beating Nik into unconsciousness and breaking his legs and hands, his expression took a drastic change as he saw Nik continuing on with the second posture. The same expression could be seen on Lionel''s face as well, only it was a bit more comical with a hint of disbelief.


    Nik knew exactly what to do and how to push the internal energy around his meridians. It felt instinctual to him like it was his heritage and this technique was just meant for him. BOOM! A sound sounded inside his body as soon as he started doing the second posture. As he continued doing the second posture, his meridians got wider and wider. His fat also started decreasing. He got taller and thinner and all the chubbiness started coming out of his body. His body felt like it was floating. On top of that his skins started refining itself and the black and blue skin started getting peeled of his body.


    As the other lackeys saw this they were shocked beyond belief. However after a while their shocked face turned into disgust and revulsion. They looked like they were about to vomit.


    Those of you guys whoever are reading this, I would be very thankful if you comment about this story.


    PS Thank you for reading this.

 Chapter 5: After Breakthrough

    Nik opened his eyes ready to see the terror and fear on the face of his enemies. He knew he had broken though the 1st stage of body tempering faster than anyone of his age. He felt smug. He smiled like a god looking down on everyone else and looked towards where his enemies were trembling in¡­¡­¡­¡­ THEY WERE VOMITTING???


    Nik''s grin slipped of his face watching Lionel and his group with strange face. Some of the lackeys were even vomiting and some were closing off their nose and flailing their hands. All had one thing in common and it was their closed eyes


    "Shouldn¡¯t they be at awe of my awesomeness? Why are they looking at me so strangely.. and why are they vomiting!!!" thought Nik. Beginning to doubt himself he looked downwards towards his body¡­ and froze. His whole body was covered in a yellow and black looking substance!!! On top of that his whole body felt sticky and disgusting, along with the bad stink. And his clothes were all dirtied up as well.


    "WAHHH!!!" Nik cried out loud. Even as he cried out his mouth ended up expelling a pungent smell which made all the people around him gag including himself. Lionel and co. staggered back as their nose got assaulted by the pungent smell and once more started holding their nose and stomach. Nik didn¡¯t know that breaking into the first stage would dirty him up so much. Even his clothes had got messed up. Just as he was about to cry thinking that he would have to rush home in those stinking clothes and get scolded by his mother, he struck upon a brilliant idea.


    Lionel, Piggy and the others had just gotten their mind straightened now that they had gotten used to the sight and the smell and were planning on running away when Piggy felt waves of pain coming from his head. Unable to cope with the pain he fainted. Lionel watched slack jawed as he saw Nik beat Piggy down in a single punch. Terrified he stumbled backward. Out of the four lackeys Piggy and Lackey No1 had already fallen. Only two of the Lackeys remained. Lionel started panicking. He knew he was no longer a match for Nik unless he too broke through the first stage of body tempering. He could no longer run as well since he had seen Nik''s speed had increased as well. The only room left was negotiation.


    "Brother Nik, we were just harmlessly pranking you. Hehehe¡­"


    The remaining Lackeys nodded their head as well.


    "Oh! I didn¡¯t think that Brother Nik would reach the first stage so fast. If you need anything at all brother Nik you can tell us. My father knows quite some people among the resource distributors. Maybe I could help¡­" Just as Lionel was saying this


    "Dammit! My clothes¡­they stink." Saying this Nik started ripping his clothes off. As he was ripped off all his clothes, he suddenly froze. He remembered that he didn¡¯t have a spare cloth to wear. Just as he was thinking of what to wear while returning home, he remembered Lionel''s word.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings."Huh, didn¡¯t you say you would help me get anything."


    As Lionel heard this, his back got filled with cold sweat as he realized what Nik was going to ask. The other 2 lackeys didn¡¯t feel anything amiss and sighed in relief as they thought they would not be beaten after all. Just as they were thinking so they saw Lionel scuttling to Nik''s side and whisper in his ear. They saw Nik nod his head and walk towards the small pond nearby and wash himself. They saw Lionel walk towards them with a strange smile in his face.


    " As expected of Boss, you somehow managed to subdue him. Hehe¡­. ack!!" Just as Lackey No 2 was saying this he felt Lionel catch him from behind.


    "Quickly take his clothes off." Lionel said to the other Lackey( NO 3). No3 started hesitating. Seeing the indecision in his face, Lionel started getting angry.


    " You idiot, do you want us all to get beaten.. huh!! If you don¡¯t take his clothes of I''m gonna take yours off you little piece of shit. Now quickly before that bastard finished washing and comes here to take our clothes off."


    Hearing this No3 no longer hesitated and started taking No2 clothes off who kept on crying and whining the entire time.


    "Here you go Brother Nik. I got new clothes for you." Nik heard Lionel saw as soon as he finished washing himself. Looking at Lionel''s face, Nik really wanted to beat him until his face was black and blue. But Nik knew that he couldn¡¯t offend Lionel''s grandfather. On top of that having a person like Lionel around would make things easier for Nik as well. He might be able to get more resources as well. Just thinking about those pills through which he could get stronger, he could feel his drool coming out from his mouth.


    Thinking like this, Nik crinkled his eyes and smiled and replied. " Thank you Lionel. If I need anything else I hope you can still help me." Nik might have thought that looking like this made him look harmless. Nut to the fear stricken Lackeys, Piggy and Lionel he looked like a intimidating demon. They could do nothing but gulp their saliva and frantically nod their head.


    While they were nodding their head, Nik turned and started walking down the road to return home and tell his parents the good news.

 Chapter 6: Black Mountain

    That day the Flamus house celebrated amongst themselves. Though at first the mother Angelina screeched seeing a strange tall handsome boy instead of her cute cubby son, she sson settled down after realizing it was due to breaking through the 1st stage of the body tempering. Hearing this news his father Blake returned home as fast as his legs could carry him and leaving a mess of work behind.


    As night came, Nik was hungrily devouring all the food he could find so as to regain his chubbiness once again. Though his parents were snickering behind his back, he still didn¡¯t stop eating the beef and other foods he could find. As he was devouring everything in his sight, his father spoke in a serious tone.


    "Son¡­" his father spoke. Nik turned towards his father with a piece of meat hanging from his mouth. With his eyes twitching Blake continued


    "You have made me proud. Today your father can raise his head high and brag about you in front of his friends. However you should be careful."


    "Mmm, why is that? Haven¡¯t I taken care of all the bullies that might disturb me? Besides I''m stronger than anyone of my age in the village you know." Nik innocently replied.


    Sighing his father said" Guess you are still an idiot after all. Listen little brat, as soon as you start training in the stages of the body tempering you will be made to take odd jobs by the village. This is also for your own benefit as you will be able to learn new things around the village. If you are lucky you might find something precious in the forest as well. But due to this reason you should be careful as well. You might meet dangerous beasts and you or some of your friends might get hurt. Do you understand?"


    "Yes, your son understands father." Nik said and just as his father nodded his head Nik added "Mom, can I get some rice and curry. I still feel hungry."


    With a stomach full of frustration Blake sighed, shook his head and started eating as well.


    A week later everyone in Nik''s class were made to assemble. Including Nik there were a total of 23 children in the group. Their teacher stood in front of then along with 3 elders in the front which included Nik''s father Blake.


    Blake cleared his throat which stopped the chattering of the children. He then spoke


    "All of you have now started the journey of cultivation. In this road many of you will face hardships that might dissuade you. But you should never give up hope and continue pushing forward. All of you should know about the situation of our clan. It has been a long while since we have been able to have a cultivator who can break through the body tempering stage. All of us of the new generation have not been able to break through this chain. If we didn¡¯t have the protection of the ancestor and the hidden elders we might have been destroyed by the other clans. However we cannot always keep on depending upon them. So, I hope there will be some among you who can breakthrough from this calamity and help uphold our clan. Our clan has given us happiness, security and most of all has given us an identity which differentiates us from the others. The least we can do is cherish and protect it''s name from being tarnished."


    Sighing emotionally, Blake continued "Ok, now since you have started cultivating, you are to start doing certain jobs that have been separated for you. For now, all of you are to proceed to the Black mountain forest and collect some medicinal herbs from there."


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.The Black mountain was called Black because it was specifically known for having some Black lotuses. Along with that before the Soaring clan took over, man of the cultivator used to go there to take some of the herbs. However, due to this mountain containing many precious herbs, the people started getting greedy and started killing other fellow cultivators for stealing their herbs. Since the darkness inside the people''s heart came out in this mountain, it was called Black mountain.


    Nik along with his generation were guided by 4 of their seniors to the Black mountain. Officially the elders had not followed them since the mountain was under the control of the Soaring Clan, so there was very less danger other than some of the demonic beasts. As Nik and the others entered the Black mountain, the seniors told them to find the medicinal herbs.


    "The herb you are searching for is Green Lotus. It is found in higher altitudes and glows with a green radiance. You will know it''s green Lotus once you see it. The higher the number of lotuses you provide the more resources will be provided to you for cultivating. Put the lotus in the bag given to you. Now, ALL OF YOU MOVE."


    Saying this, the seniors started walking away. Seeing the elders walk away Lionel panicked and said "Esteemed elder brothers, aren¡¯t you here to protect us from the dangers in this mountain. I heard that there are demonic beasts of peak body tempering stage here¡­. OYE, are you even listening to me?"


    Seeing the seniors still walking Lionel turned green in color. Seeing this, Nik sighed and started walking away. As he walked away he felt number of footsteps following him. He turned to look who were following him and was startled to see it was Lionel, Piggy and the other 3 lackeys following him.


    "Boss, wait for us, will you? You are moving to fast." Piggy said. Startled Nik said "Boss?". He didn¡¯t know when he became the boss.


    " How about we go together. We know this place well and seeing a large group will keep the beasts away as well. What say you Boss." Lionel enticingly added. Nik pondered a bit. Seeing Nik hesitate Lionel decided to strike when the iron was hot.


    "Of every 10 green lotuses we find you keep 5 and we will take 1 for each of us. Is that okay boss?"


    Thinking that he was getting a lot of profit, Nik decided to take them along.


    3 hours later, they had climbed really high and had also deviated from the path they were meant to follow. Along with that they had found 55 Green Lotus, among which Nik had taken 25 and the rest had taken 6 each which they had put in a bag they carried. Due to walking so much they were all sweaty and tired. As they walked No2 suddenly heard the sound of water falling. Excitedly he told the same to the others. Nik and the others when heard this ran full speed ahead as they really wanted to drink some water as well as swim a little. Bu they were stunned as they saw the sight in front of them. They saw a forest of Green lotus around a huge waterfall which was producing a sound like a dragon roaring.


    Seeing such a sight, Lionel fell on his knees along with tear and snot on his face and shouted" WE''RE RICH!!"


    Note: Thanks for reading this. Comments would be helpful as well as appreciated.

 Chapter 7: The Golden Lotus

    "WOW, the water''s cold." One of the lackeys shivered and said. After collecting as much Green lotuses as they could, they were now taking a bath to wash the grime off them. They took their time bathing and playing with each other as they were just kids after all. As they were playing, they moved closer and closer to the water descending part of the waterfall. Those children were laughing and playing, when suddenly


    "Ahh!," someone shouted. The children startled were looking to see who shouted and found that they were missing Piggy among them. As they started panicking, and were about to search where he actually went, they heard a voice


    "Hey guys! Check it out. There''s a huge place behind this waterfall."


    Looking at each other for a while they decided to follow Piggy''s voice and enter behind the waterfall.


    The first thing they saw as they entered the waterfall was a sea of blindingly green radiance. The walls were all covered in green plants along with some purple stones that could be seen along. They were stunned when they saw this scenery.  The fragrance coming off those walls smelled great as well. Just by the smell they knew that they had struck fortune of medicinal plants. As they went deeper into the waterfall''s cave they saw that the green plants in the wall had started lessening and they could see the purple colored plant increasing.


    "What is this place" Nik wondered out loud. The rest of them were feeling the same as well. The deeper they went the stranger they found the place. Except the plants there were almost no other sign of living. Suddenly they saw rays of light coming from one of the turns inside the water cave.


    "Huh, seems like there''s a other side to this cave. It looks like we''re going out of this cave." Lionel sighed in relief. However as they went further, they felt something was wrong. The light coming off didn¡¯t feel like the sunlight at all. It gave more of a refreshing feeling as if the body was being nurtured from only the light itself. They felt strong just by being on the light itself. Somehow they knew that they were not going out of the cave from going deeper inside it and into it''s other side. Though the children got a little scared and uncomfortable, curiosity got the better of them and they kept on moving forward. As they crossed a turn they finally found that they were reaching the end of the cave and towards whatever was giving off such a strange light.


    Finally they reached the end of the turn and they were stunned by what they saw. At first all they saw was a golden flower which was giving off a golden radiance. It seemed that the purple and green plants that came to be on the walls were due to being nurtured by the lights of this golden flower. The strange thing about this flower was that it had no visible stalk and just seemed to float above the milky colored water that it was growing in.


    "Golden lotus flower!" Lionel suddenly shouted out loud. Nik along with the others were amazed to see that Lionel knew about the flower and just stared at him. Oblivious to their stare Lionel sagely continued" it is one of the rare type of medicinal lotus plant that grows. It needs strong type of essence liquid to grow which is the milky liquid you are seeing below and needs hundred years to mature. When it is in it''s middle years it helps other types of medicinal plant bloom like the one you saw outside. However this plant itself is only useful after it forms a white milky seed in the middle of it which is only as big as a grain. It increases it''s size only after a hunred years or so. Also since it consumes a lot of time and also wastes lots of the essence liquid it is not grown much. Also the effects shown by it are not properly known. However according to history, all of it''s effect seems to be concentrating on improving the body. Also the golden petals seem to increase the strength of a person by at least 3 fold. Though it seems the golden lotus has not fully matured, we can use the essence liquid and the petals to increase our strength. Boys seems like we are full of luck today. HAHA it seems that we are going to get a lot stronger¡­.and why are you staring at me like that? Guys I know I''m a lot good looking than all of you combined together but could you stop looking at me like that?" it had to be admitted that Lionel knew a lot about everything more that Nik and the others. Being the grandson of one of the top elders, he had learnt a lot about the resources and cultivation from his grandfather. This was also the reason why he was considered one of the geniuses in the village. It was also due to this reason that he got arrogant and became a bully like figure to everyone of his generation. However Nik didn¡¯t know that Lionel had so much information. Not even the lackeys and Piggy knew that Lionel knew so much information. Also Lionel had hidden it really well. He didn¡¯t want everyone to think that he was a bookworm and wanted everyone else to view him as a cool guy.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.Nik had just evaluated this guy highly and was in awe of him. However as soon as Lionel spoke the rest of the words, his reverie fell apart and looked at Lionel with disgust. What handsome.. he looked like a monkey with a tanned face! The other''s felt the same way as well. Sensing the change in the others, Lionel who had been smug for a while suddenly had a change of expression and said" Well, let move ahead shall we? It looks like we are the first ones here." Nik thought the same and then took a step forward.


    "CRUNCH" Suddenly multiple crunching noise came all at once as soon as they stepped forward.  Hearing the noise everyone looked down to see what had caused the noise.


    Looking down they all were petrified. They had been so blinded by the white light that they forgot to check their surrounding. Now that they could see their surrounding, all they saw was a mass of bones everywhere. What terrified them the most was that there were not only bones of the human cultivators but also demonic beasts. And all of their level seemed higher than them as they could feel an oppressive aura from them. Also some of the weapons they saw seemed to be of great quality as well.


    Lionel and his groups felt their legs grow weak from fear. As they were about to move back and leave, they saw Nik transfixed towards the weapons. They suddenly started whispering to Nik to leave.


    " Boss, we should leave this place. They say seeing a disturbing the dead will make their ghost haunt you¡­.."


    Seeing Nik still staring at the weapons some started enticing Nik with food. " Big bro, I just remembered that I brought Beef and Chicken for all of us to eat. Maybe we should leave or it might get stale."


    Nik after a while replied in a low sage like voice "All of you, look at all the riches in front of us. Have you ever seen weapon of such good quality. This is an opportunity provided by fate itself to us. We shouldn¡¯t waste it and instead should benefit from it."


    Lionel and the others who were trying to leave, suddenly felt what Nik said was right. Only by facing adversity and their fear could they get opportunity and fortune. Thinking this and with the same mentality and determined gaze they moved forward towards the graveyard of bones to get their prize.