《Fire Star Mars》


 Chapter 1 - The Beginning

    Hello, guys, this is my very first fiction, please be gentle towads lil ol me.


    Chapter 1


    In the known universe, there is an immeasurable amount of planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae. Speaking of the unimaginable vastness of space, one could say that to travel from one corner of the other would require the life travel of every single person to ever have been born multiplied by a terrifyingly inconceivable number. Essentially, you could say that to be a true traveller within the sea of space would be basically impossible - aside from travel within a given solar system - even then; it would be only to the moon or maybe to the nearest planet.


    In an insignificant galaxy floating with the many trillions just like it, in a tiny little solar system with only a mid-sized star, on a minute planet of green and blue ¨C laid a youngster of about 6-7 years of age.


    It was deep in the night, but instead of it being pitch-black, a silvery moon was hanging in the inky black midnight sky, beaming down in all its shimmering glory upon the boy and the field he was resting his back on. The long grass - dark green in the night ¨C swayed in the night-time breeze, and as it was illuminated by the moonlight, each individual blade of grass seemed like the willowy fingers of a nymph as they tickled the immature face of the youth.


    The young boy had wavy, jet-black hair, which contrasted with his almost shockingly white face. He had thick, noir, sword-like brows that cut across from his temples; giving him a severe look that was many years above his age, however his somewhat plump cheeks betrayed his age. The boy had his hands interlocked behind his head like a make-shift pillow as he gazed at the stars in the sky.


    His deep, dark, onyx eyes glittered with a depth that was bursting with wisdom as they flickered through the countless stars in the sky.


    His lips were moving as quick as his eyes were jumping from star to star, as he whispered the name of each constellation and each twinkle in the sky that night. If an astronomer had been strolling past by chance at that moment, their eyes would be bulging out of their heads at the sheer amount of constellations and stars the boy could name.


    It was a clear night that night ¨C the sky was devoid of a wisp of cloud, and like most nights like this, the boy had quietly snuck out of the church he had been living in for all of his life. After five minutes of his mouth rapidly moving, it abruptly stopped and the profound gaze in the boy¡¯s eyes changed to one filled with a deep yearning and a hint of despair.


    A small sigh crept out of the boy¡¯s small, red mouth as he pushed himself off of the ground and stared at the heavens above him.


    ¡°Sister Margaret said that reading every single book that even mentioned stars and space in the church would at least quench my thirst for what lies beyond the seventh level of heaven, but it hasn¡¯t killed my curiosity but instead has fanned the flames of my desire!¡± The youth stretched his right hand up and clenched his fist so tight as if he wanted to grab a star and wrench it out of the sky.


    His hand trembled and he released his fist and let his arm fall back down dejectedly. He let out another melancholy sigh and his black eyes cringed in pain; his hands were scratching his chest as if they were trying to rip it open, so his soul could feverishly explode like a rocket towards the stratosphere, abandoning his body which was bound by gravity so it could traverse the endless ocean of space with profound ecstasy.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯ll never be possible for me to experience true freedom, and know the real truth of this universe that I live in.¡± The boy dragged his feet up the hill he was resting on and slowly started walking towards the church.


    The boy heard a noise, as if someone was calling towards something, but he stubbornly kept his head down as he counted each individual blade of grass under his feet.


    ¡°78... 79,¡± the boy muttered under his breath as he ignored the faint yells that were gradually growing louder in his ear.


    ¡°Ner.....¡± The voice that was being carried in the wind towards him was clearer but the full word that was being screamed faded in the wind but despite that, it was getting louder and more irritating. In response, the boy gritted his teeth and raised his voice,


    ¡°86... 87... 88... 89...¡± The boy¡¯s counting kept getting louder until it reached a crescendo and he couldn¡¯t shout any louder at all. However, the person who was obviously a boy at this point yells got more and more piercing until the word that had been screamed all this time was able to be distinguished.


    ¡°Nergal! Nergal!¡± A figure walked towards the boy in the distance, and upon seeing the boy, rushed towards him. He continued yelling into the boy¡¯s ear, until the boy couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and finally raised his head from the pleasures of counting individual blades of grass.


    ¡°WHAT, JIN?¡± He roared at the boy of the same age. The boy, who was named Jin, was as tall as Nergal, but he looked completely opposite to Nergal. Jin had shoulder-length, luscious blonde hair and bright azure eyes, and where Nergal had a cold attraction; Jin had a boyish, cheeky charm that was not one whit inferior to Nergal.


    Jin had pain flash for an instant across his face as he covered his ears, before he recovered and stared solemnly at the black-haired boy named Nergal with his bright blue eyes. His voice trembled as he said in dismay,


    ¡°Head Sister woke up!¡±


    Upon hearing Jin¡¯s words, Nergal¡¯s delicate face immediately turned pale. He lifted his hands, grasped Jin¡¯s shoulders and squeezed. His eyes squinted in disbelief and shock.


    ¡°But she¡¯s normally sleeping like a dead log at this time of night, are you sure she¡¯s really awake? Remember what that old wretch said she would do to me last time she caught me sneaking out to the fields at this time of night? She can¡¯t be awake. Yes, your mind must be playing tricks on you! Haha there¡¯s no way she would be awake at this time of night. Nice joke Jin, you almost had me there.¡± Nergal¡¯s face became more and more frightening as incoherent mutters flowed out of his mouth. His eyes were filled with an intense fear as he clutched onto Jin¡¯s shoulders ¨C hands squeezing tighter and tighter as he tried to deny the news that Jin had brought him.


    Jin¡¯s adorable face grimaced in pain as he backed away from Nergal who was more and more starting to resemble an insane man.


    ¡°It¡¯s true! I saw her with my own eyes! She woke up because Thomas puked all over the dorm again, so the other sisters woke her up so she could give him the rod.¡± Jin winced as he imagined the state of Thomas¡¯ bottom after the head sister had been done with him.


    Nergal at this point was visibly shaking with fear and he was practically chomping his thumbnail to the bone. He stroked his own bottom in remembrance of the utter devastation that had been imparted onto him by that old sack of bones. For such a small woman, the terrifying power her wrist displayed as it swung the rod was truly demonic.


    His hand was on his derriere, as if soothing it to reassure that it would never have to endure such backbreaking pain ever again. Nergal suddenly stopped tearing his poor thumbnail to shreds as his eyes swung to Jin and a cold light entered his eyes.


    ¡°Thanks, Jin, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Nergal slapped Jin¡¯s small back in gratitude and started strolling towards the orphanage with a calm gait. Jin ran to catch up to Nergal and asked,


    ¡°What¡¯re you going to do, how are you going to sneak back into the orphanage without Head Sister finding out? She really has eyes in the back of her head. You could only do it when she was sleeping, but now she¡¯s awake so it¡¯s impossible.¡±


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    Jin was confused as to why Nergal was so calm ¨C given his fear towards the Head Sister and her black rod, which she had affectionately named ¡®Anna-Mae¡¯, he should have been freaking out at that moment. Jin saw a drop fall from Nergal¡¯s face and onto the grass they were walking on. He frowned, and squinted at Nergal. He saw that there were two fat streams of liquid pouring from Nergal¡¯s eyes as he had a calm look on his face. It was truly strange. He was so stoic, yet there were tears soundlessly dropping from the corner of his eyes.


    It seemed as if his fear towards the Head Sister had reached such a point of unimaginable terror that his mature 6 year old mind couldn¡¯t handle it and he crossed over to a new realm of fear ¨C one where one fully accepts one¡¯s fate and all of their bodily functions shut down in response.


    Jin was truly gobsmacked at this point. He had never experienced the wrath of the Head Sister and her tool of divine punishment before, but in imagining how unbearable the egregiousness of that punishment must have been to reduce Nergal, the most intelligent, mature 6 year old he had ever met to that state, he shuddered in horror and felt a hint of admiration towards the Head Sister¡¯s tyranny.


    He forcefully grabbed his best friend¡¯s ice-cold wrist and pulled Nergal out of his stupor. Nergal turned his head to look at Jin with his eyes which were now covered in a cloudy film of incontinence. Jin shook his head sadly. He sighed and then said,


    ¡°Did you really think I would have come out to warn you if I didn¡¯t have some way of getting back to our room undetected? Do you really think I was so noble as to take one of Head Sister¡¯s beatings for you?¡± Jin flashed a cheeky grin that was full of holes at Nergal and dragged him towards a path that led to the rear gardens of the church that served as both a nunnery and a home for abandoned young boys.


    At hearing this, Nergal shook himself out of his advanced state of fear and his deep black eyes glimmered with a trace of hope.


    ¡°Well, what are we waiting for?¡± With a voice filled with joy he shouted, then beamed a rare smile at Jin and ran onto the path leading to the vast rear gardens.


    As the two boys ran towards the church with a quickened pace, the large manor house loomed in the horizon.


    Although it was dark, the elaborate stonework and the stained glass could clearly be seen from a distance. The converted mansion house that was now the church had formerly been used as the country house of an old noble family that were the lords of the land of about a 500 km locus with the manor right in the deep centre.


    The manor was 1000km west of the capital city of the Cyan province, which is one of seven provinces that are part of the illustrious, ancient Purple Jade Empire. The empire is one of four empires on the Divine Shi Huang continent.


    The continent is a place where one could say ¨C power rules ¨C and it is a place where martial cultivators are counted by the thousands. It truly could be said that a person of considerable strength is merely a drop in the ocean.


    The church had been remodelled a few centuries ago, so it was starting to show signs of being decrepit, but the convent couldn¡¯t afford to regularly pay for the manor¡¯s upkeep, so it much of the original sculpture and stonework of the church had deteriorated.


    As the duo crept through the grounds of the church like thieves in the night, they finally got to their destination; the rear gardens. Nergal breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Jin with gratitude.


    The rear gardens had flowers planted by the children under the supervision of the sisters, so it was quite beautiful under the shine of the moon. Tiptoeing through the rose-bushes, they came to a stop underneath a second floor window that was open.


    ¡°Normally, there are a few nuns in silent prayer on the outskirts of the grounds, but this time, the heavens are truly on our side! They truly care for the state of my butt!¡± Nergal gushed as he stroked his bottom affectionately. He was so filled with glee at the prospect of not getting a beating from the head sister that his butt was actually tingling with joy.


    Jin almost facepalmed as he glanced at Nergal, marvelling at the disparity between his normal, cool, icy, mature self and the him right now who was concerned for the safety of his gluteal muscles. He sighed, but he didn¡¯t share in Nergal¡¯s relief. For some reason, he had a really bad feeling, but he shook it off and looked at the window of the second floor of the church that he had left open.


    There was a mechanical pulley system that he had built from tied together sheets and a dusty hamster wheel left behind by the previous owner of his room. Jin had built it previously, just in case of times like these because of Nergal¡¯s frequent disappearances. It wasn¡¯t very safe, in fact it could be said to be a death trap, but Jin hadn¡¯t been formally educated yet, and it was honestly quite the stroke of genius for a 6 year old to have designed.


    Nergal tentatively went to stand in a bucket that was tied to one side of the makeshift rope and Jin hoisted him up to the second floor window. Upon reaching the room they shared with two others, Nergal immediately jumped out of the bucket filled it with rocks and threw it back out of the window.


    ¡°Be careful, Jin!¡± Nergal¡¯s eyes were fixed on Jin as he worried if Jin would be able to get to their room safely.


    At this point, Jin had still been holding on to the knotted bedsheets, so was yanked upwards by the weight of the falling bucket. Jin felt a sense of vertigo at being yanked up so high so fast, and turned a deep shade of green, but Nergal threw his arms out of the window and caught Jin safely.


    At this moment, they both let out huge sighs of relief, as if they had been holding them in the whole time, and collapsed into the room in a cold sweat. They looked at each other, onyx eyes into sapphire, and they both laughed while stifling their laughter, because they had pulled it off.


    ¡°Ahem!¡±


    A cough rang out in the silence of the room that had four beds on the floor, and the two boys looked around the room. Nergal and Jin saw four empty beds instead of the two it should have been ¨C as Jin had told the other two occupants of the room to cover for them should a nun had ever come in during the night.


    Their eyes continued to sweep across the small room as the trepidation in their hearts grew bigger and bigger. Finally it rested upon a scene that shook their hearts and turned their blood ice-cold. There, on a wooden chair, sat an old woman with deep wrinkles spattered across her face, wearing a black robe with a sweet demeanour as if she was your grandmother that had just finished baking cookies for you and your siblings.


    However, under this sweetness was almost a poisonous aura, like she was just waiting to strike. In front of the old woman lay two small forms, with their butts raised high in the air, and deep gouges in the section of wood flooring that were near their fingers.


    It was a brutal scene, especially for Nergal as his eyes filled with a bottomless despair and he collapsed onto his knees from fear. Upon seeing this, the elderly woman chuckled and immediately flashed her falcon-like eyes at Jin, who buckled under the might of her gaze. Seeing this, the woman¡¯s eyes twinkled in joy, as she rubbed a long, black stick that was lying on her lap.


    A loving gaze filled her eyes as she looked at the rod and crooned as if she were talking to her first-born child,


    ¡°So, Anna-Mae, which one do you want first?¡±

 Chapter 2 - Volcanic Region of Dragons and Draconic Beasts

    Region of Dragons and draconic beasts


    In the dormitory that next morning, there was a funk in the air. In the eyes of everyone who walked past a certain room, there was a trace of pity and fear. The room seemed to be cloaked in darkness, and wails floated through the door, as if ghosts were being tortured unceasingly.


    The sounds chilled the blood, and the boys in the dormitory power-walked past the room in avoidance of it. The room itself had an absence of light - despite it being just past dawn ¨C as the curtains had been tightly drawn shut to keep out the peaceful light of the morning. There were four beds on the floor of the small room, and four forms were seen under the blankets; the shape seemed as if it were children lying down with their butts held high in the air.


    These blurry forms were the source of the sounds that were travelling through the entirety of the boys¡¯ dormitory. Suddenly, one of the forms started shifting around, threw the blanket off of itself and opened the curtains. Light flooded into the room like a blaze of glory, hitting the other three organisms under the bed, which then started wailing louder and louder until they too threw their blankets off and stood there, glaring at the one who opened the curtains.


    ¡°Jin, what are you doing? Pull the curtains back!¡± A chubby boy with red cheeks and a head full of golden curls somewhat groggily said as he rubbed his eyes which were full of sleep. He glared at Jin who was standing in front of the window.


    ¡°Yeah Jin, why have you woke us up like this, don¡¯t you remember that we don¡¯t have to go to class today?¡± a small, adorable boy, with chocolate brown eyes frowned at Jin with his soft brown eyebrows. His small, red lips were pulled into a pout as he was confused as to why Jin had pulled the curtains open.


    Nergal was standing next to the other two who had complained, but he still glanced at Jin with a somewhat perplexed expression.


    The chubby kid with an indignant expression across his cheeks opened his mouth,


    ¡°Did something happen to you last night? Did that old bitch hit your ass so hard your brain flew out of your mouth? Did you forget the torture we went through last night? Terminus¡¯ ass is so ravaged that Terminus won¡¯t be able to poop right for a month!¡±


    He looked at the small, brown-haired boy with a trace of compassion in his jade eyes.


    ¡°Just because she thought his ass was the wrong shade of white! She said something like ¡®a white butt isn¡¯t good for strong men, let grandma change the colour for you¡¯! She even beat him until he said thank you! What¡¯s more, she even gave us all an extra twenty lashes because she just felt like it! Are you really going to give up the week off of lessons she gave us because she felt refreshed after the ¡®good ol beating¡¯ she gave us? Huh? Huh?¡±


    The plump boy looked at Jin like he was insane.


    Jin¡¯s face paled as he remembered the wicked torment they as a four had been placed under that dark, dark night. That night, truly, the carpet could not soak up the rivers of ass-blood that were carved out by the demon-rod of darkness, ¡®Anna-Mae¡¯.


    Jin shuddered, but looked to the orange-red glow of the sunrise, composed himself, and grinned,


    ¡°Gentlemen, what is the meaning of life?¡± Jin¡¯s clever eyes darted between the three lads who were stood in front of him. Terminus and the golden-headed boy exchanged a knowing glance while Nergal rolled his eyes in irritation. He had heard all of this countless times. He could even state ¨C word for word ¨C what words Jin was going to use next in his speech.


    Seeing that nobody was going to answer his obviously rhetoric question, Jin lifted a leg onto a chair and posed;


    ¡°It is to be rich! Gentlemen, boys, men, friends, I wish to be so rich that gold pours like waterfalls for me! I want to be so wealthy that women form queues miles long just to be with a chance of seeing my face! I wish to have mansions the width of continents and jewels as rocks beneath my feet!¡±


    Jin paused to take a breath, his little chest rising up and down quickly as he panted for air, his eyes filled with excitement towards his fantasies for the future. He took his leg off the chair and looked at the boys in front of him.


    ¡°So, we must attend every lesson, soak in all the knowledge we can so we can go to the city and get a chance to work for the church or an auction house or a merchant¡¯s!¡± Jin grabbed his little hand into a fist.


    The chubby kid turned his head in disregard away from Jin and said to Nergal and Terminus in a groggy and tired voice,


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to bed, the wounds on my butt are about to reopen from all this standing.¡± The three then walked away to go back to sleep in the uncomfortable positions of having their bottoms held high in the air.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Jin flashed a wry smile and in a somewhat seductive voice said,


    ¡°I heard that Sister Margaret was going to be coming out of silent reflection today, and would be back to teaching her art class,¡±


    Immediately, Nergal¡¯s ears pricked. He glanced at the two boys who were currently futilely trying to get into bed without having their butts touch their mattresses and looked at them helplessly. He then started to get himself ready for going to class.


    When Jin saw this he rejoiced inside. Nergal was so easy to manipulate. The only things he cared about were the stars, art and Sister Margaret. Sister Margaret was the art teacher sent by the branch of the Church in the nearest city, and Nergal had always looked at her with a strange gaze in his eyes from the first day he saw her.


    She was a beauty, and a lot of the boys in the orphanage had child-like fantasies toward her, but Nergal seemed to be infatuated with her. She had previously gone into a scheduled silent reflection, so Nergal hadn¡¯t seen her for months.


    Jin¡¯s face was filled with happiness as he then shifted his gaze to the other two. Terminus shook his head as he saw Nergal brushing his teeth frantically while looking at the sun outside.


    ¡°Who cares about Sister Margaret? She¡¯s pretty of course, but I care more about the state of my ass than beauty.¡± The two boys snorted, and then pulled the blankets over back over their heads as their bodies resembled camels¡¯ humps. Jin sighed, but snickered as he called out innocently,


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    ¡°The cultivation class starts today...¡± The humps twitched a little, but didn¡¯t move. Jin then walked to his bed and started getting ready for class.


    ¡°Ouch,¡± he said, as he pulled his grey robe on and it lightly brushed against his bottom. His grimace changed to a mocking look as he playfully laughed,


    ¡°I heard that we were going to be shown magical techniques from someone in the 6th level of Qi Condensation,¡±


    Jin glanced over at the humps and it almost seemed as though they were trembling slightly. His voice changed to one of helplessness,


    ¡°but I guess you don¡¯t want to see the might of magical techniques. I guess I really misjudged you guys.¡± With a disdainful smirk, he finished getting changed and nodded to Nergal as they both prepared to leave.


    Suddenly, two flashes came out from under the blankets and Terminus and the chubby kid stood there with bright red faces. The chubby kid was somehow fully changed and as if oblivious to what had happened previously, he said, while opening the door,


    ¡°Well what are you all waiting for, let¡¯s go!¡±


    The church that functioned as an orphanage and a nunnery was one of many scattered across the Divine Shi Huang continent and was one of the orphanages belonging to the Heavenly Light Church of the Purple Jade Empire.


    Orphanages like these were quite important to the Church as they were places where future workers were educated, and some children may even grow up to be part of the armies of the Church or even bishops and cardinals. In the case that the child wanted to work for someone else, the Church would get 10% of their salary over the first ten years, so it was quite profitable for the Church.


    If anything went wrong, it may be a bit cold-hearted, but the general view was that they were only orphans so it didn¡¯t matter much. It was mostly win-win for the Church and the orphans because one, the orphans had a place to stay and a somewhat bright future, and two, the Church had no shortage of future workers, and some may grow up to be geniuses in art, war or scholarly studies.


    The classes started at 5:30 in the morning, so the quartet dashed to the mess hall to eat a quick breakfast and ran to their first ¡®lesson¡¯ which was Mass. Mass was given in the manor¡¯s rear gardens where there were stone benches set up and mostly consisted of the Head Sister reading a few passages from the Holy Book of Heavenly Light. The four were quite late and limped towards the rear gardens.


    Panting, and all clutching their asses like they were about to fall off, they walked to the stone benches until they stopped. Collectively their faces paled, and they started whispering,


    ¡°What are we going to do? We can¡¯t sit down!¡± the chubby kid glared at Jin and looked at fear towards the supposedly harmless stone bench. It was evil. Jin looked helpless as he said,


    ¡°We stand, Beans, we stand¡± Jin looked noble as he stood and faced the dastardly Head Sister with a defiant look on his face to hide the fear he was feeling in the depths of his soul.


    ¡°But it¡¯s a 4 hour service, our legs and asses will burn! The pain will be unimaginable! One time, Oliver tried standing after a beating from Head Sister, but they had to pick him off the ground after twenty minutes! He was wasted!¡± Beans¡¯ chubby face lit up the horror as he recalled what had happened that day. Two nuns had to carry him off in a stretcher. He still remembered the scarlet hue Oliver¡¯s calves had turned as a result of standing during the long-winded Mass. He shuddered. It was as if the words out of the book contained a special power that made your legs unable to bear your own weight.


    Jin stood his ground and said,


    ¡°We endure!¡±


    After a long four hours, countless gazes from other young boys filled with horror, fear, admiration and pity, as well as crushing heavenly torment, with knees shaking, the boys walked towards their first lesson.


    ¡°Phew, I can¡¯t believe we got through that,¡± Terminus wiped beads of sweat off of his brow.


    ¡°Yeah, I thought I was going to die there. After about an hour of standing, I was calling to the sovereign to take my life as I stood!¡± Beans panted. He resembled an old man as he trembled towards the church and their classroom.


    ¡°Thank goodness the next lesson had cushions on the seats, or we would have had our souls taken today.¡± Jin sighed in relief. Even the passive Nergal had a bead of sweat on his forehead and his teeth were clenched as he endured the pain their legs were in.


    The next lesson was Geography, taught by the second eldest nun in the nunnery. There were about thirty children in the class. The four entered, and took seats at the very back of the class. The cushions were the most comfortable there. The teacher looked at them with sympathy and pity and then started the class.


    Jin was by far the most studious out of the four, and frequently raised his hand to answer questions in class. The other three had various stages of disinterest, culminating in Nergal who was staring out of the window toward the sky as if his gaze penetrated to the stars.


    ¡°So children, we live in the Cyan province, the easternmost province of the Purple Jade Empire. We are on the border of the empire, and the volcanic region of Dragons and draconic beasts. There are a lot of active volcanoes, but the most dangerous one, that swept through the lands countless millennia ago, had been dormant ever since, and the other volcanoes rarely erupt strongly enough for any harm to come to anything outside of the volcanic region.¡±


    The old woman looked around and asked, ¡°In what year did the last volcano erupt?¡±


    Jin¡¯s hand flew toward the ceiling of the room. The elderly woman sighed, and then looked toward the other students in the class. After a few minutes of students avoiding her gaze, she reluctantly picked on Jin.


    ¡°The last recorded eruption was six years ago, in the year of our sovereign, 12982 when the lesser volcano, codenamed, Gyvarra erupted. No lives were lost, but it could have been seen as a major eruption for that volcano, and it immediately went dormant as a result.¡±