《Lotus Of The Autumn》 Impaired at birth ''''Aaaaah!" The woman screamed as she lay on her bed. She was pregnant with the second heir of Shaodian empire, whose capital city was called Youqin. They had been ruling for fifty years. Theirs was the most prominent empire in the country of Chi. They lacked nothing. But money, fame, power, they''re all good but there are some things money can''t buy. One of which is good health. ''''We inhabit the third dimension. The country of Chi is just one of the many on the planet. No doubt one of the most powerful. The dimensions always are in constant motion around the celestial body called The Fate. Created byThe One before all of existence came to be. Thirteen dimensions circle round The Fate endlessly in a triangular orbit two thousand times a second. It is nearly impossible to jump from one dimension to another. Each dimension is ruled by a monarch they are tasked with defending the dimension from external invaders. They are handpicked by the Guardian of the Zone, master of space-time dubbed The Hollow.His power is said to be muptiversal as he is one of the three main pillars of Faterealm (The existence that circles round The Fate). He.." "Can you just I don''t know shut up" "Oh sorry doctor, one of our kids patients said I should tell him the Myths of our world" "No need to apologize. I''m actually just pissed because of the situation at hand" "I can tell with how you just came and sat lifelessly in the ward'''' "Hmm" "The empress is pregnant ay. Don''t worry Dr Su. You will be fine" "Thanks" "Now back to my story" Dr Su left the room and quietly wished for luck. He had allowed his assistant perform the operation. He entered the medical room in the palace "Congratulations, you did it" "Is it a boy?'''' ''''We will bring him in a few minutes you majesty" This was the third child the emperor was having with her. "Sir, he has refused to cry" the assistant told the doctor as he stepped in "Is he dead?" The doctor briefly performed some examinations on the baby "He lives" the doctor replied "Sadly though ... He has TPC (The painless condition) and he''s blind as well" "No way! They won''t be happy about this news. That''s two tragedies!'''' The doctor sighed "Some things aren''t in our hands" "We need to be tactful, she''s expecting good news" "I know" "Here goes" The doctor knocked on her room door ''''Come in" The baby was brought before the queen, he looked weak and fragile his bright pink eyes shined like the light from a lamp ''''Why what''s the matter he hasn''t shed a tear " ''''My lady" the doctor says boring his head. "Yes?" "The young master, ..he has TPC" The queen cried in agony and the staff bowed their heads "He.. He''s also blind my queen" The queen intensified her mourning breaking all that she could see while screaming at the top of her lungs "Why, why!!" "Why do you cry my queen" the emperor, Shaodian Ching said as he entered the room. He gave one of the staff a wicked stare Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "T.. TPC" The nurse replied fearfully The queen still sobbing Alas the king bowed his head "Your highness I dare make a suggestion'''' Dr Ru who had comforted Dr Su prior to the surgery spoke "Which is?" "A certain harvester, Lady Chu, lives south of the kingdom.." ''''Go on..'''' Ching said sitting on the bed neat his wife "She has the cure to any and every disease, I doubt TPC would be an exception" "And is this information confirmed, does she really possess such power" "Yes your highness, your servant would wager his life, he said as he fell flat before the king "Hua my queen do not shed another tear, we shall set on for this mysterious lady at nightfall'''' he said wiping her tears Shaodian Ching was the emperor of the great SHAODIAN EMPIRE, son of Shaodian Cho husband of Shaodian Hua and father of Shaodian Sun and Shaodian Lily. He was called Ching the Sharp having eliminated all opposing kingdoms in one fell swoop further extending the reach of the Great SHAODIAN EMPIRE. The empire had thirty provinces under it. The palace was located in the capital Youqin. In the staff quarters of the hospital... "You dared offer the emperor such an impractical approach'''' "What shocks me is that he took it seriously'''' "Desperation my friend is a thorn in the butt" "I know it''ll work, I just know" "It has to, you wagered your life no?" "Hmm " NIGHTFALL Servants had tended to the horses in the royal stable per the emperor''s orders. Two of the best horses were to be prepared for the emperor and his general. Ching walked in, impressed with their choice - the servants that is He helped his wife ascend their horse and also followed suit. "He''ll be fine, trust me", he comforted his wife who was sitted next to him in the carriage stroking her hair. "Hee Haw" the horse neighed as the driver set off for the Yu province, south of Youqin.
3 days it took them but according to the map they had received from the nurse they had reached their destination. Turns out it was just a small, old house located in the woods. Ching went with Hua and his son who was wrapped in a pink cloth "Who goes there" an old lady''s voice went "Ching son of Cho" My goodness, forgive my impudence your grace". "What brings his eminence to my home" "The third born of the emperor of infected with The painless condition" "The unfeeling sickness I reckon" "Your judgement is accurate lady Chu" "I am flattered. Let me see him" Hua rushed hurriedly and presented her boy to the old lady who extended her withering hands to touch the boy''s face. But suddenly her head was thrust aback as a red light emanated out of the boys head. "Lady Chu'''' Ching called out Visions flooded her memory, she saw the future, the boy''s future, but not all of it. She saw a man standing at the pinnacle of Mount Wu wearing the emperor''s cloak and holding a mysterious flute, he was surrounded by twelve others whose faces she couldn''t see clearly His neck had the Chain of Balance adorned on it As he, in the vision turned to stare at her with a smile with the crest of a Monarch on his robe and a tattoo on his chest She suddenly snapped out of her vision "Lady Chu!!" one of her servants wanted to assist her. She signalled him not to with a wave of her hand "What I have seen, what this boy carries is far too great a destiny for mere mortals" "Beg your pardon" said Ching "He shall be a great emperor greater than his father in all walks of life" "Did you figure out his plague" Ching daid seemingly ignoring her prophecy "Oh that is but a simple matter to fix" "Long " "Yes , lady Chu'''' "Fetch me my book" The book was brought to her She scribbled down a few words and then beckoned to Hua Ching rose "Not you noble emperor. Only the woman. And Empress Hua bring the boy"
The baby and his mother were taken to a garden at the back of the house. All sorts of herbs and plants were being cultivated. Lady Chu snobbed all those herbs until she got to a line filled with only pink lotuses and plucked one out. She crushed it and uttered a latent mantra into it before placing it on the boy''s chest. Again light glowed, only this time, it was pink. The baby levitated. Lady Chu smiled and proceeded to pluck more lotuses and repeated the same procedure until she had used a hundred lotuses on the boy. Light kept on emanating, then after hundred lotuses the light flowed sharply back into the boy''s body shaking the entire province. As the boy softly landed on the floor, his mother rushed to grab him. "Is he cured now?'''' "Not quite" "What ?!" "That condition is not TPC, it''s an ability, it''s a fruit. His blindness I have cured but he will..." "Isn''t he too young to harvest" "Leave all that nonsense. At twenty he will set out on a journey. Do not stop him, well that is if you can anyway" "What would that mean?" "Only time will tell" "...." "Do not be confused woman" "Alright elder is there anything else" "Yes, one more thing. By all means, name him Lotus" "Lotus?" "Yes, Lotus. And also, do not tell your husband what transpired between us, the naming part I mean" "I will heed your counsel" The province had just recovered from the rumble "Is he alright now" "Yes my lord" replied Hua "But his inability to feel is not TPC rather it''s a combat attribute" lady Chu said Ching ruffled his pockets "I shall not charge you" ''''Why not?" "There is no need my lord, do not feel guilty, you can safely depart" "See you when I do" said Ching
THE PRINCE''S NAMING 5 days after their visit to Chu, the naming ceremony was to hold It was a joyous occasion at noble from far and wide also came to see the prince, bringing all kinds of gifts with them. When the time came: "What shall you name this child your eminence?'''' said the Events master "Let Hua do the honours" Ching said, smiling. Remembering his poor knack for names. "His name shall be called Lotus, for that was what made him whole'''' said Hua "A priceless name" "Priceless indeed!" The kingdom echoed their excitement
Ching walked to where Lotus lay "Shaodian Lotus, I eagerly await your revolution my son" "He''ll be strong won''t he?'''' "Don''t worry Hua, he will" The fall of Fu "Aura is found in everything, all things living and non living possess Aura. It is believed to have been released into existence by the power of The One who is also called Ichyksius after he created The Fate. He bestowed the thirteen realms with the tree called Yksdrasil, the tree that produces aura which permeates all nooks and crannies of the Faterealm. During the event known The Great War, where Ichyksius fought the Dark Races, he appointed The the guardians, The Guardians of Balance, Continuity and of Death, three of the most powerful mortal warriors from the Age Of Heroes and gave them Pure Aura. They fought alongside him and helped him defeat The Dark Races in a battle spanning Four hundred and thirty years. After the defeat of the Dark Races, he established a council of 13 other power mortals from the Age Of Heroes and granted them immortality. They were later dubbed The Council of Vexes, just located below Yksdrasil, they were to handle threats in the Faterealm while the guardians were to handle matters among other realms. After that Ichyksius vanished from the books of history never to be seen again while the guardians and the Council were hidden" " Woah" the class echoed" "Master is there more?" "That is just a brief explanation of the history of the Faterealm, the rest you couldn''t understand" "We want more" "Now is not the time for folk tales, rather it is time to teach you how aura works" This was Youqin''s school of mystics, it was for the children of noblemen only, the man speaking was none other than Shaodian Tong, Ching''s younger brother, who came as a guest lecturer to educate the kids on what Ching deemed most sensitive, Aura techniques. ''''We know that Aura flows from Yksdrasil, but we don''t know where it is" Lotus said "My dear nephew, you couldn''t make it to Vexes" "Why not?'''' "Because you are a mortal" "So only immortals can reach Vexes?" "Yes, can I proceed now?" "Yes master Tong'''' "Aura solidifies as a celestial orb located in the in the chest, the other is called an Essence, Aura is not sure in this Essence, rather it is life force that is, when your life force is depleted, you die. Aura however cannot be exhausted lest Yksdrasil fails, which is well, impossible. Aura is stored in vessels known as Haiqi. Haiqi can be either internal or external. Internal Haiqi can be located anywhere in the body but is at rush of getting destroyed. External Haiqi however can be located anywhere in the Faterealm. Questions? " "Do you get to choose your Haiqi''s location?" "No, your Aura chooses it''s container, it can become external only if you are strong enough" "Is Aura alive?" "Why yes it is" "Can you change it''s location later on" "Yes if you are strong enough" "Alright that''s enough questions, let me continue. Your Aura becomes usable when you unlock your Essence. This typically happens around age five, you guys are no less than 12 now are you?" "That''s the minimum age" the class chorused "Alright, Aura can be used to accomplish superhuman tasks, like flying, high speed and running on water, but more importantly it is manifested fit combat in the firm of an ''Aura Technique'' also known as Jishu you also have a ''''Shadow Aura Technique'' known as Dao Jishu these are also predetermined and are not liable to change unless you have reached a certain plateau of power. Your Jishu and Dao Jishu are tied to your personal characteristics and thus vary from one individual to another. Your aura is also continuously multiplied in your body in a location in the essence called a Soul Farm and the amount of your Jishu is called a fruit it cannot decrease, it only increases. This is why we are called Harvesters.In six years, your Soul Farm will be evaluated" "The Power Rankings" Lotus said "Yes, the Power Rankings. In all nations, based on the number of fruits in your Soul Farm you are given ranks: Special, S+, S, S-, A+, A, A-,B+, B, B-, C, D and F. During the Age Of Heroes however, the elite mortals were graded with ranks from 1-5 - the special ranks. I wish you all good luck on your evaluation.
Lotus was born in 130 PC - 130 years after the death of Chi The Conqueror Present Day: 149 PC Chi is composed of Four empires: Shaodian, Zhi, Fu and Long listed in order of greatest influence The Shaodian empire is not on good terms with any of the other three empires except The Zhi empire. Fu empire declared way on Shaodian empire after Shaodian Tong killed Fu Ming, second in line to the throne of Fu in a bar confrontation in The Northern Shi province of Zhi empire. "We shall go in in four squads, and attack from all four corners. Each squad will be composed of thirty elite soldiers. Avoid needless confrontations, this should be a classic sabotage, Shaodian had been passive enough sitting this war!" Shaodian Tong screamed at the Youqin Armed Forces "Where are our spies?" "Two are dead sir" Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Dammit!, who sold them out" " They let their guard down sir" Great silence followed " The remaining four are on their way sir" "This invasion plan is the most effective way, get in there, kill all their nobles and generals, strike at night if we are sold out, Shaodian may fall" Tong did we he left the preparatory room. " My fellow soldiers" Shaodian Sun started, "Don''t look so down, Shaodian shall emerge out of this prosperous like any other war that we have fought! Look alive people!! " " Shaodian Forever!" the army chorused three times.
"Thank you for addressing them Sun, unlike that useless brother of yours who''s always in one be damned bar or the other" Sun chuckled "You know him better than us uncle. You know he loves Shaodian more than he loves himself." "And I also know he loves a bottle of mijiu more than his own life. He''s probably dead drunk now" "Haha, you are right uncle." Suddenly a red smoke signal was fired into the air. They exchanged glances. "The time has come" said Sun "Yes indeed" Tong replied
Southern Fu province of Yin Ten soldiers of Shaodian carefully and silently sneaked into the castle, all the guards were dead. This was the first division of squad A headed by Shaodian Ti. Where were the other twenty? Keeping watch they were. This was the format in the other three Cardinal points of Fu. But then something seemed off in the South. Apart from the slain guards all other rooms were empty "We''ve been compromised" said Ti "Get the hell out of here" it was too late, arrows were rained down on them. Four men fell "Shit" Ti said "It appears something is interfering with our Aura" said one soldier "This mission will fail" Ti shook his head. "The capital of Fu is in its South, the emperor is here" Whoosh whoosh. Four others fell leaving only Ti and a random soldier. The soldier shot a signal into the air. Smack! He was killed. "Shit we''ve been compromised" said Sun who was in the central province with his uncle "Send backup" Tong screamed. Soon arrows began flying in all regions of Fu. The elite squads were almost completely annihilated. "Why isn''t my Jishu working" Sun thought as he and his uncle fended of some Fu soldiers. "Screw Aura now Sun, your Jishu won''t work. They''re using a device that blocks your Haiqi" "Hell ! Someone betrayed us'''' "Leave all that Sun, fight!" In the southern province, Ti had been bruised from head to toe. He was Tong''s first son "Your father sent you to die" "Screw you Fu Li" "He shouldn''t have killed Ming" ''''Well he did" "And now his son will have to pay for it" "Soldiers are always ready to die, well as for Ming he was no soldier, he was a wimp" "Curse you Shaodian!! Die!!!" Li screamed activating his Jishu (His Jishu was called Air injection. It allowed him to concentrate air and adjust it''s properties to favor his needs. He was a B- rank warrior) Suddenly a dagger spun out of nowhere and kissed the center of his head "Aaaaaaah" he screamed as he fell, dead "A spinning dagger" the soldiers of Fu thought. " It can''t be" they screamed "Well it goddamn is" a young man said, he was dressed in a robe, he wore a nose mask and tied his head inside a red scarf stretching his right arm out, pulling the dagger towards him in the process with nothing other than aura! "Executor of the twin dagger style huh" Ti thought "I mean, I can''t have you killing duke Ti" "You may be the Executor of the twin daggers, but you are outnumbered" "Solid point" he said "But... Even if there were a thousand more, you''re all just small fry" "Why you little! Charge!!" "Hah !!" They screamed as they rushed towards him. "Wait wait wait" he said "What now?" Fu Li asked "I need to free him first" he said loosening the ropes that bound Ti. "Fellow soldier, there''s something interfering with the Aura here" Ti whispered "Never mind brother, my Jishu is working fine." "Really?" "No" the man said winking Ti shook his head in disappointment "Alright dirtbags, come and get it" Lotus said They charged once again. He spun his two daggers and said "Ros¨¦" then his pupils started glowing and spinning then in the blink of an eye, a pink light pierced all parts of the battlefield and returned to stand at the back of Ti. Then heads went up, all the soldiers dead in a second. Ti swallowed a huge lump of saliva. "How the hell did you do that" "Save that for later, is your Jishu working now"?" "Yes, guess the interference is caused by a device the boss is holding" "I''ve heard that the Executor is fast" Ti thought " but this is just inhuman" "Let''s hurry, we need to help the others" "They''re so far" Ti thought. A province was no less than 90 km from the next one. "Stay safe bro, make it to the port, wear a good disguise" he said, adjusting his straw-woven conical hat. Then came the glow in his eyes again Whoosh He was gone without a trace like the wind. Faster than sound! No, faster than light!
Across all four Cardinal points of Fu, a pink light tore through each and every battlefield beheading the leader and restoring the soldiers'' Jishu before reaching the Central province and banging into the hideout keeping the emperor safe. Lotus eradicated every last guard and made sure they screamed in agony. "Emperor Yan" he called out "Who goes there" "Twin daggers" "Oh, the Executor" the man bowed courteously " Shouldn''t you be defiling yourself in some bar now?" " I choose to defy you instead" " Do you want to fight?" " Rightly so" " Alright, but you must not use that monstrous speed of yours, it''s cheating" " All is fair in love and war, but since that''s what you want, I shall grant your wish" He stretched out his daggers as Fu Yan activated his Jishu - Smash "The Smash technique huh, let me see it" "As you wish" Fu Yan charged at him, thrusting his fist at his face, lotus dodged quickly and countered with a palm aimed for his chest, Fu Yan blocked it but was sent flying back by the impact. He wiped the blood off his mouth and this time banged the ground with his left foot, the ground moaned and split up sending rocks flying, Fu Yan jumped from one rock to the other in a zigzag motion before rushing at the man with full strength. They exchanged blows rapidly, but Lotus was the faster of the two, Ros¨¦ or not he could move at supersonic speeds, it was the result of his strange birth. Each and every move Fu Yan managed to dunk out was nullified by the Executor fist for fist, foot for foot, he had actually also kept his dagger aside to prevent a one sided massacre but yet in his own words Fu Yan could not meet his expectations Pah Fu Yan was sent flying once again, all bones in his body broken "You are definitely no ordinary human Executor, but I will still kill you" " Can you really do that if you can''t touch me in base speed? " "Let''s find out" He didn''t like that response Fu Yan controlled his breathing and tapped into his Haiqi, pulling out his last ounce of aura to release his devastating technique, Final Smash! The technique that turned the Five great empires into Four, a nation level attack that could clear everything in an empire! He was rather unimpressed. Fu Yan hated his face and sent a punch straight to the ground, he would lose his empire just to kill him. He wasn''t bothered by that attack no, but he remembered that if that attack hit, the Shaodian soldiers in Fu would die. "Final smash" Fu Yan screamed as his fist approached the ground Whoosh He rushed toward him and as his eyes glowed pink, he met the fist with a rising kick Bang There was a flash of light, as the empire rumbled. Only one man was left standing! It was he, the wind of Shaodian empire, Lotus Shaodian. Fu Yan wasn''t dead no. He was just somewhere very very far from the borders of Chi, and as for Fu empire, the backup soldiers of Shaodian laid it to waste as their flag was hoisted on the top of the Fu castle and all their nobles were slain. Shaodian empire had extended it''s reach yet again. The Singing Drum After Fu empire was conquered by Shaodian empire, Long empire had to walk the safe route to avoid annihilation and kept good relationships with Shaodian and Zhi even if it was only on the surface.
3 days after the fall of Fu Shaodian empire Youqin Shaodian kingdom "We were ratted out to the Fu empire" Shaodian Tong told his brother as he sipped from a cup of water in his room. "Who told on us?" "No one knows" "Any suspicions?" "It was definitely someone in the planning room" " Most definitely " " That''s all we know" " It isn''t enough" " That, we know as well" " Our empire isn''t safe unless we can uproot that bastard " " Hmm" " How did you pull off the siege anyway. Fu Yan wasn''t a weakling. He vanished from the battlefield you say? Defeated?" " By a certain pink flash of light he was" " Lotus??" Tong nodded Sigh "Only you and I know of his power Tong, he should be less flashy. We having an executor vigilante is disturbing enough" " He can''t officially take part in any military expeditions because he hasn''t been assigned a rank, he helped from the shadows." Said Tong "Nevertheless he shall be punished" "You''ve never liked that boy since he was born" " That boy is an abomination" "That boy is your son!" " I refuse to give him that post! My son wouldn''t waste his day either sipping mijiu in some old bar or defiling himself! " "He wouldn''t if you would just gave him a little attention'''' "I think you''ve given him all the love and care he needs even showing him the portal against my orders" " You know what''s coming don''t you" "He cannot be of any difference in the coming war" "He can, you''ve been hating him since we took him to Lady Chu haven''t you" " A boy with his power and character will only destroy the peace of the third dimension which the Shaodian clan has kept for ages! " "Ichyksius said there was nothing such as true peace provided mortals live" " Ignorance is bliss Tong. It''s better if he doesn''t unlock his potential" " Oh yes that''s why you sealed his Jishu! " " Yes! Because he is MY son!" "He is more than just that. Don''t you remember what that Lady Chu said" " I very well do, which is why I will never let him smell true harvestation" " You''re only stalling the inevitable " Ching gave Tong a nasty glance " That boy will fulfil his destiny" Tong continued Ching stood up and stared right at Tong " I would love to see him try" Knock knock " Who might that be?" "Major Yan your honor" "Come in!'''' "Sir the Power Rankings will take place in two days time" "So..?" "We need a go ahead to finish our preperations" "My stamp?" "Yes sir" Yan presented the emperor with a scroll which he carefully read before stamping it "You may go" Ching said The major bowed and walked out. "Is Lotus taking part"?" No one answered ''''Tong?" Tong had exited the room before the major even entered Sigh "Lotus Shaodian. He is too strong, even without unlocking his Jishu, he was able to defeat Fu Yan. He leveled the leveler of an empire. He is definitely attracting too much attention to the third dimension, more than it can handle with it''s current level of harvesters. If I see him at the power rankings, I''ll make my announcement. I''ll make The announcement" Ching said as he sipped from his cup This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "How did this thing go empty? How fast do I sip anyway?"
The Red Lamp Bar, Youqin " Another cup of mi-mi-mijiu" Barf "Young master, you are too drunk" said the bar attendant " Nonsense " replied Lotus. " Another cup I say!" " I''m sorry your majesty, I cannot do that" "Really? No prob___" Barf " I think you need immediate attention " the bar attendant worriedly said " Ah need booze man" "You need first aid" Boom The door was smashed down " It''s General Tong!" "General Tong?" Lotus said still drowsy " I say Lotus, you are not looking most flashy. Now are you?" "Nope " "You''re so uselessly drunk.'''' Tong shook his head " Come on let''s go" "Alright Uncle __" Barf " Whoof, I am definitely not drunk" "Yes yes I know" 3 hours later " Lotus, the power rankings are in 2 days " "Not that again uncle" Lotus said, having sobered up just recently. Now Lotus was a young man aged 19 with light skin, pink eyes and long black hair which he always packed in a ponytail. He had a little facial hair growing already. He was always draped in a robe, wearing trousers of matching colour and with his all too famous slippers. He always wore a conical hat when he went out. That was not to exclude the small brown gourd wrapped with a red ribbon at the centre he always hung on his hip, and the twin daggers that he always carried along with him. "I already know I''m S+ and those military stuff just ain''t my style. Besides I need to find out what exactly the hell is wrong with my Jishu" Lotus said packing his hair upwards " I suspect a seal. And I think you as well know it. I always shout Ros¨¦ and know it gives me some damn awesome speed but I don''t even know what it is. But I''m sure that it''s tied to that blindness- as you guys call it anyway. Cause it wasn''t blindness. I mean I could___" "Woah woah slow down" Tong said chuckling " Yeah, your powers were sealed from birth" "By whom" " Your Father" Lotus was surprised indeed. The shock was written all over his face like the myths of the Faterealm. "Fa-father?" "He says whatever. But in truth, he fears you. And I know it" "But why?" " I don''t know if Hua ever told you. But you were born well, blind and with TPC" " I know" " So on the recommendation of Dr Ru" "Ru Ming" " Yes, on his recommendation we took you to a certain Lady Chu" ''''Okay.." "She saw great power in you, so great that it rumbled the mountain ranges" " Heck! But why are you telling me all this?" " Don''t trust your father Lotus. I believe he wants you dead" "What!?" Lotus was disenchanted " At the Power Rankings, your life will change" " He has something to say. But as I told you, never let your guard down. You may be faster than light, but that Jishu blocking technology is not something the Fu clan should have been able to create" "You''re saying .." " Yes, Ching gave it to them. I''m also very sure that he told them about our plans" " Why would he want Shaodian to fall?" "Lotus, I don''t have the answer to everything" " Whatever, this power ranking thing is becoming more interesting. I might just go" " You''d better" he paused" Lotus, if all goes well, I''ll show you how to jump" "J-jump " " Dimension jump. You certainty possess the speed. But there are beings who are way faster than you. I should know, I''ve been to other dimensions before" Lotus locked his interest " There are good people, bad ones, monsters, Harvesters, Races, Monarchs. Some can be trusted, some can''t. When you jump and I''m sure you will, don''t trust everyone you meet, only and only seek power" " Uncle Tong, I know all this, but the way you''re saying this is quite ominous" "Don''t mind me Lotus, come for the rankings" " Where are they holding it anyway?" "Di province, west of Youqin" " I''ll be there"
Di stadium, named after the province was where all the power rankings were held annually. It had thirty thousand seats and fifty pillars. The royal family always sat on the highest seats, to observe the spectacle below from what they believed to be ''The King''s Angle'' as Ching would always call it. The Power Rankings as explained in the class by Tong is an event conducted to discern the rank of young harvesters in Chi. It was a simple process actually. Every year around three hundred young harvesters with a minimum age of 18 gathered to have their rank assessed. How did they get assessed? They stepped before a device called a Qi drum, activated their Aura and beat the drum with the corresponding drumstick. The lesser the sound made by the drum, the more the drummers Aura and thus the more their rank. The sounds were measured in Beats and the guard who stood by the drum measured the beats with a reader. After each reading,the drummer''s rank was announced. Tong re explained the same to Lotus "Oh, it reminds of the saying" "Which one" " Empty barrels make the most noise" Lotus said coldly " Eesh Lotus. That''s cold" said Tong
Lotus was dead bored now. So many harvesters had come to bang the drum repeatedly. If Lotus hated one thing, it was repetition. And worst above all, they were so noisy, so he thought "How can these rascally children just come and be showing their lack of flair, they should have practised repeatedly rather than coming out here to literally echo out their imperfections" Lotus laughed at the way he used echo in the sentence. Then suddenly, a man dressed in a black cloak went on to bang the drum. The silence that followed was deafening "Zero beats" the guard shook as he spoke " This dude is upper S+" he thought "S+" he announced People were curious as to who this hooded man was, but nevertheless,he had no plan of dilly dallying around. Whoosh He was gone, faster than light "Heck no that''s supersonic" Lotus thought " Who is this curious creature?" He thought licking his lips. " It''s your turn nephew" "Alright", Lotus said as he let himself fall from the top seat and curved out a beautiful arc as he descended, causing a slight chasm. "Its, it can''t be" murmurs started "But why it is!" " Second prince!" " Prince Lotus" Ching wrinkled his nose in an ugly way "Show off" he thought "Your hubris will be crushed soon enough" Lotus courageously and proudly went to grab the drumstick which he wound in his fingers before hanging it over his back. The drumstick in particular was 180cm long in modern measurement and Lotus was 182cm "I shall put you to sleep O Qi drum of Di" Lotus thought But as he swung the drumstick, the echo that filled the air was almost as fascinating as an orchestra Lotus'' face was beet red at the incident "Heck" he thought "How quiet of this drum" he thought self mockingly The laughter that filled the air was as resounding as an explosion. Lotus could not bring himself to understand "How in the world?___" "They say Shaodian Sun''s drumbeat was as quiet as death"murmurs began ''''Yeah, but his brother is really lacking in quality isn''t he?" " Look how ever so eager he was to put his family to shame" they mocked "Yeah didn''t you see his landing" "He''s just a bloody show off" " Didn''t you hear, they say he was impaired at birth'''' "Really" ''''Well he''s so complete now!" Laughter filled the stadium once again Ching rose "Old man Ching has gotten up" he thought " Both Lotus and Tong are fools. The Qi drum measured the intensity of your Jishu. And his Jishu is sealed" he paused" However, as this was a part of my plan, it is time to kill his hopes forever!" "Silence please" Ching said Silence immediately ravaged the entire stadium "In light of the disgrace the second prince had brought to the Shaodian empire, he has relinquished his right to the throne and the next in line to the throne after him will be his younger brother Shaodian Jin. This is to ensure strictness, discipline and good conduct in the house of the emperor" he paused " In light of that, he is still the second prince and any more mockery directed his way will warrant a death penalty in the form of Life Force extraction" Ching sat " Proceed with the ceremony" he announced Hua and Tong wanted to protest but they could not publicly challenge the emperor as it would undermine his authority. "Why was Ching so much in a hurry to punish him. Things would''ve been different but he knows Lotus is the Executor. Is this what he wanted all along? Is this why he sealed his Jishu?" Tong though to himself and see Lotus left the auditorium feeling down. ''''Lotus the of the twin daggers huhn? There is obviously something wrong with that drum or some elaborate scandal because Shaodian Lotus is nothing less than S+ rank" these were the thoughts of the mysterious cloaked man as he watched Lotus vanish from sight as he was a safe distance away from the stadium "That speed just goes to solidify my point. He''s probably landed at some bar now. The red lamp I reckon" he thought once more, grabbing his scabbard "Beware lil flower, I have come to take your life" he said revealing sn evil, twisted grin. Cloak and Dagger Red Lamp Bar, Youqin "Gimme another cup" Lotus said as he banged the cup on the table, still sober "Your majesty, I am afraid I mustn''t let you get drunk in light of the recent events. You might just kill yourself." "Do you think my emotional balance is that weak?" Lotus said as he banged the table, attracting the attention of some other customers "That''s him" "Yeah, they say his drumbeat had the loudest bang" " What a disgrace " " His uncle always comes to pull him outta this bar each time" " Really?" " Uh huhn" " You''d think he''s worth it" " Well he isn''t" " Most definitely " "And they say the emperor''s hated him because of his birth defects" " That''s quite a lot of gist you got there" "If I don''t have the gist no one does" " What else do you know?" " He was born with two defects, one was blindness" " Woah" " They took him to some mountain sage" "Haha" " The other___" " You seem to know quite a lot about this guy" someone else joined the conversation " I thought I already said___ woah who the hell are you" " I thought you had all the gist?" The man in the cloak said, adjusting his sitting position, making himself more comfortable as he crossed both legs on the table "Wait, black cloak. Y-You''re the guy that had z-ze___" " Yeah zero beats. And if you don''t shut up, I can turn that into your heart rate" The man gulped " Take it easy on him lad" the attendant who was formerly speaking to Lotus said. He''s just a gossipping weakling. A runt. Don''t take out your stress on him" he adeed, chuckling " Mr Attendant" said the cloaked guy "Yeah?" " You mind clearing this bar for me, I''ll give you the coins for it" The attendant looked at the cloaked guy for a while. In the next moment "Out! Out! Everybody outta here, take yer money and your drunk bodies and your concubines and scram, were closed for today, cone back tomorrow!" In under five minutes everyone was out of the bar. "Thanks" the cloaked man said, as he dropped a big sack on the table "Eighty gold" At that time, a gold coin was considered luxury, Eighty was just borderline lack of prudence. The man had never seen such a massive sum at once in his life. Save when Lotus dropped a few twenty gold for him every now and then but that was on occasions only "You want anything else?" " A bottle of sake and.. whatever the prince drinks" "Mijiu ?" " Yeah, a bottle, gimme your finest brand" " No hitches there" " Who are you?" Lotus asked " Myself?" the stranger replied "Oh he''s come" the stranger added as the attendant dropped their bottles for them. "Drink" he said again Lotus would never turn down free wine so he sipped from the bottle. The attendant excused them as Lotus beckoned him to do. "Attendant!" the man called out The attendant rushed back over "Leave, run very very far from here, come back tomorrow" The attendant sensing danger, packed his belongings and left one extra bottle for them each, suspecting things would soon get out of hand "Be safe your majesty" he said as he prepared to leave. " Don''t call anyone here dude. It won''t be good for you" the cloaked man said " I understand " the attendant replied as he hurriedly left the bar. Lotus undisturbed kept on sipping his bottle of ''Cheng''s'' the finest mijiu throughout all of Chi. "You seem to be enjoying that" the man said sipping his sake. "Do you want to kill me?" Lotus suddenly asked " Why yes I do" the man replied "We''re about the same age from your voice and height" Lotus said " Yeah, I''m twenty" the man said " That''s one year more than meself" Lotus chipped in " You''re so fast though, why did the drum scream so loudly. You should be less than an S+" If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. " I just figured, the drum measures Jishu" " Can Jishu be measured? I mean it''s a skill after all" " The degree of potency of the Jishu can be measured " " Well if you put it that way, it''s different " " Ching sealed mine" said Lotus " How are you so fast then?" The man asked surprised " It''s got something to do with my eyes" Lotus said " Could this boy here have an Oculo?" The man thought to himself " Since I was born or at least since I can remember, it''s always been with me. My pupils are no ordinary ones" he sipped some Cheng''s " And for some reason, I feel the tendency to scream Ros¨¦ everytime I want to use it" " Do you know what that means?" " I''ve been trying to " The man had stopped sipping sake now. He was more interested in the story. "So, I set out to understand it, I became a vigilante, the Executor. My dad and uncle wouldn''t let me fight in normal battles, they thought I was too weak. So I did it in secret. They think all I can do is run freaky fast and behead some opps. But I know I can do way more than that" he sipped again. " They say you were born blind" "Yeah and I kinda figured it''s because of these eyes." "When you know you''re so strong, why be bothered by the incident of today?" The man was surprised " I''m not here because of the drum, it''s because of my family" " Ooh fractured relationships" The man thought "So sad" albeit apathetically "I try to relate with them but even my uncle, Tong I who I talk to the most he doesn''t really get me. " He was quite emotional now " Even my siblings are really nice, but they''re not quite in my shoes so..." He sipped again " And when I feel no one understands me, I just come to the ol'' Red Lamp Bar and drown my sorrows in a cup or two of some jiu at least that helps it" The man in the cloak was quite surprised "While I would love to sympathize with you, I''ve been sent to kill you and no story''s gonna change that" he finished the sake " I figured, when do we roll " "Now" Whoosh A sword had descended with great speed aiming for Lotus'' neck but was met with a dagger Screech Their blades released sparks due to the pressure "You''re quite fast. I thought you were crying just now?" " I don''t feel pain dude, sorry if I had you worried" " No, not at all" Whoosh whoosh Their blades collided as they slashed at each other repeatedly, still seated Whoosh whoosh swoosh Then suddenly, great silence Boom They separated from each other, creating great space between them. They were at both ends of the bar now. "What''s your name?" Lotus asked "I''ll tell you when you''ve earned my respect" the man said " Fair. Can you at least take the cloak off?" " No problem there" And with that, the stranger visitor threw the cloak off, revealing a handsome young man of around 190 cm. He had short sky blue hair and grey eyes. He wore a sleeveless robe and his arms revealed a series of perfectly organized scars in the form of tally marks. He also wore a bandana on his neck. He had two katana across his right hip and had only yet drawn one, the upper one to fight Lotus "Why do you have so many scars?" Lotus asked " Why do you wear that ring, and why do you wear that earring on your left ear? " " Well one because I''m engaged and two because I feel like it. Your turn" " You''re eng__" the man thought. "Well, they call me the scarred one, and the number of tallies reveals the number of does ive slain" " How many tallies you got now?" Lotus asked " Four ninety nine " " That''s cool, alright, shall we proceed" Lotus said, drawing out the second dagger from his hip. "Yes we may" the man added, equally drawing out the second katana Ding ding, their blades clashed again. The man''s katana allowed him keep distance and inflict damage meanwhile Lotus would always have to step in a bit further giving the man the advantage of safety. Swoosh swoosh The man struck for Lotus'' neck, who bent his head almost immediately to avoid the strike. As the sword completed it''s arc Lotus sprung up like a hare and lunged towards the man aiming for his neck equally Ding Their blades collided once again but instead of gaining distance, Lotus separated his daggers only briefly and managed to scratch the man''s stomach Swoosh Blood flew "This dude is fast" the man thought Pah He kicked Lotus away "First strike landed huh" Lotus said as he landed "You could say so" The man brought his katana back and stretched them out in front of him placing his right hand over his left such that from the opponent''s eyes it looked like an equality sign "Equality style" he said as he bent his knee Zoom An arc of blood rose into the air as the man appeared behind Lotus. Lotus saw his right hip bleed. Zoom The man struck again scratching lotus repeatedly. As Lotus lost his balance, the man kicked his jaw Lotus now hung in mid air and the man was about to slash upwards "Rising moon" he said It was then "Ros¨¦" Lotus said softly Voom An X mark appeared on the man''s chest. Blood soon after Slash slash. Lotus followed up with more strikes to the hip and kicked him away as Lotus landed on the floor, before the man could he charged again once more, clenched his fist and sent him flying with a punch to the stomach Pow! Bang! The man smashed through some tables as he fell The bar, or at least what was left of it was a mess now. Lotus cracked his neck bone as he made a horse stance, put one arm behind him and taunted the man to come by beckoning to him with his fingers The man who was lying with his arms still holding his swords in a pile of rubble slowly got up as he held a pillar for support. Charge His lunge was blocked Pah Lotus sent him flying with yet another kick Swish Lotus'' daggers which now looked like beams of light pierced through the man and struck a wall "Arrgh!" He screamed as he landed As he landed Lotus stretched out his arms and the daggers came flying back. This time he slashed at the path he believed they would take to make up for his la k of speed. The two continued this gor about one minute before Lotus appeared behind him again to send a kick flying straight to his neck Pah The man landed on a wall this time as Lotus'' daggers flew into his hands "I''m waiting" Lotus taunted as the man stood. " You have earned my respect" he said, coughing up blood " My name is Sogesuke Ubuyashiki. Remember it!" With that, he saw the sake bottle on the table, grabbed it and drank the remaining content. Clank He smashed the bottle Again, he readjusted his swords and made an X with his arms, raising his katana and spinning them. He adjusted until they made 90? as he said "Elephan-tusk" Whoosh Like a charging elephant - but faster he dashed at Lotus Lotus'' eyes glowed pink as his pupils spun and he slowly avoided Soge''s attack before stabbing him in the gut. "Hmph" Soge groaned as he coughed up blood Soge also stabbed Lotus in the same area. Blood flowed out. But Lotus did not groan "What?!!" Soge thought "Like I said, I feel no pain" Lotus said as he stepped out of the reach of Soge''s sword. "Around here, we call it TPC" Bang He slapped Soge unconscious
Around two hours later Soge woke up on the floor, blurry eyed and unchained "Is this heaven?" He thought Until he caught a glimpse of Lotus sipping Cheng''s "Shit it''s not" he thought albeit regretfully "You''re awake bro" Lotus said " Why didn''t you use your Jishu? Thought you didn''t need it?" " You said yours was sealed. I fight fair, it''s not your fault that old man Ching sealed your Jishu" Soge paused " Why didn''t you kill me?" "Why would I?" " As if you''re some novice to killing" "Never said I was" " Oh so you wanna torture me, don''t tell me that because I didn''t use Jishu you want to fight me weakened to see my full stren___" " Actually it''s because, I dunno, I just find us kinda similar" "..." " Why did you wanna kill me though?" "I was paid to " " By whom '''' "Never mind that boy" " Are you from around here" " No, I''m from the second dimension" "Why are you here then?" "..." " Tell me about yourself" " Why in Yksdrasil would I open up to a stranger" " No particular reason " " Fine. Around five hundred years ago in the second dimension, there were two great sword families, The Surd clan and the Ubuyashiki clan" he stood up slowly and grabbed a seat "There still sake?" He asked Lotus tossed him the extra bottle that the man brought out. Soge gulped half of it down and continued "They were never on good terms with us. Shinsuke the progenitor knew, so he asked us to be careful around them. He was an overmortal y''know. So around a hundred and fifty years ago, at nightfall'''', all our defences were down, they struck, they murdered the Ubuyashikis. My great grandad escaped though, he tore open a hole to the third dimension and we escaped here. Years passed, they died, they had my dad, they had me. So now I seek strength to put them to an end. But alas I am just, not strong enough" he sipped from his bottle " Soge, I''ve been thinking, I want to do the old DJ y''know, I want to be the strongest in the Faterealm. I wanna see Yksdrasil for myself. Dunno maybe find Ichyksius. Yeah, that kinda stuff" "My dream''s similar" They both finished their bottles " Let''s make a promise" Lotus said "We will see each other again, only at the top or at the road to the top" " We''ll become allies" " And we''ll spar one more time" " Or more if fate permits us" And with that they made a pact with blood "Lotus" "Yeah?" "Never look back. Because, I''ve always got your back. You spared my life. I''ll repay you" " Thanks bro, I think I''ll call you Sosu" " Absolutely not. My name is Sogesuke" "One more thing, stop scarring yourself. Go get a book or something, the scars are so unartistic" "Whatever you say" They took different routes out of the bar. It was the start of a great journey. The journey to Yksdrasil the quest for true power. The First Jump Eastern Du province, Qing Zhi empire Zhi empire was the most beautiful in all of Chi, they favoured gardens and plantations over war and espionage. Their lifestyle was more of trade, less of war. Their castle was an elegant structure, said to compose thirty rooms. Zhi empire had taken over a quarter of the fallen Fu empire and Shaodian kept the remaining three quarters. Sitted on the throne was no e other than Zhi Yi He. The father of Zhi Yi Ling, the medic princess, to whom Lotus was betrothed. "Your grace, your grace" a servant charged into the palace resisting all attempts made by the guards to stop him from proceeding "Hey!" The guards chased after him and we''re about to fling him from the throne room. The emperor raised his hand, signaling them to stop "Your honor, we tried to stop him" a guard said "Do not trouble this man any further" Yi He said calmly " he might have something to share" "Yes, your grace" the guards said as they left the room "Qi Fu, what troubles you?" Yi He asked "Your majesty. The, the young master of Shaodian, singing d-drum, depression, Red-red lamp b-bar, d-dead" the slave said sobbing "Organize your words dammit!" "The young master of Shaodian, was attacked whilst in Red Lamp bar after ___" "Speak no more" he said "Does Ching know about this. How do you know about this" "Your subject had gone to deliver some of our most famed mijiu supply to the bar on an errand. Suddenly master Lotus entered and drank for a while. I wanted to make good ties with him. It was then I heard rumors, they say he failed some Qi drum test. Afterwards a strange man in a cloak came to visit the bar." He stopped "Suddenly, the owner of the bar sent us all out after the mysterious man had a talk with him" Yi He was almost on the edge of the throne out of sheer interest. "After a while even the bar owner left. Your subject was about to leave the empire but came back because he forgot to drop a product. He met the bar in ruins, and he overhead some soldiers saying a battle had taken place, blood was scattered around the place, and broken bottles of Sake and mijiu" "How long ago was this" "Three days sire" "Hmm" "I will pay Ching a visit make sure princess Ling doesn''t get to know this" "I already do Father" a voice called out sobbing "Is he really dead?" "It''s not yet confirmed sweety. He just might be alive" "We were to marry today." She sobbed "You will honey, you will" he said comforting her. Though the emperor himself looked worried.
Lotus was at the Western Shaodian province now. He had been walking for three days as he pondered on what to do with his life now. Lotus had the dream again, the one he''d started having when he sixteen Some strange man he''d never seen before. He had red pupils, it appeared to be the same kind of eye power as his own. The man had burning bright wings on his back and a giant phoenix behind him. The man was quite handsome though, his hair was also on fire so the colour wasn''t certain but he had a fair face with a thick moustache which was well, also on fire. Endeavour vibes. He would have taken it as a fantasy dream, that was until he recognized the setting, Vexes, the place was as described in the myths, but what was more catchy was when he recognized that the man was talking to none other than Ichyksius, they were laughing about something , that was, until they saw The Dark Races, they fought some of them but soon after were separated. Like each time before this one, as the flaming man died and scattered into ashes due to a backstab, he woke up "Oy not again" he lazily thought as he stretched " It''s been three days since I met Soge. Wonder what he''s doing now. Meeting Soge was definitely a turning point in my life" he thought "I look forward to seeing him grow" "Young master of Shaodian" an old voice called "Who goes there" "Chu Meng" "Lady Chu?" "Yes boy" "They called you a mountain sage or something" "That brat''s punishment awaits him'''' ''''Okay..." " She sounded vengeful " he thought "You and I however need to talk" "Where are you even speaking from" "Leave all that boy" "You sound like Soge'''' Lotus said softly "You said?" "Oh nothing in particular" "...." "Meet me at the foot of the mountain you look upon now as you walk"
In the old lady''s house again Lotus sensed an air of familiarity with the place, he felt like something, no, everything about his life had changed here. " Have you been having dreams child?" "The same one every single night for three years" " Follow me" And so they walked to the garden she privately took Hua to "This was the garden. It was in this garden, I gave you the Lotus essence" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Lotus examined the garden thoroughly, taking in the scenery. He couldn''t remember visually as he was, well, ''blind'' but he felt the connection" "What did you actually see, when you were said to be blind I mean." "..." " I wasn''t blind.." " I figured so" she thought " There was this black unending space, I-I couldn''t see a thing but that was__" " Did you see a man, cloaked in black, green eyes?" " Green eyes... Exactly. Uh he held some kinda__" " Some kinda staff" " The hell? Exac- wait, hang on a sec, how do you know so much" " Did you see anyone else there?" She snobbed his question " Well yeah, some doosh with blue hair. Blue h_ wait, was it So..?" " It wasn''t Sogesuke it was F__" ''''You know Soge?!!" "I know all of you" " All o'' who?" "The New generation" "The what?" " Have you ever heard of The Zone?" "The endless black void where the guardian of continuity dwells? The heart of Frag? Yeah I have" " That''s where you were" " The man, he was..." " Yes, Holo Void, Guardian of Continuity" " I thought the guardians disappeared?" " From the history books, not existence. If they had died, Faterealm would have long been invaded" " There are more realms?" Lotus asked as he sat down in the plantation utterly confused " it was after that, that Ros¨¦..." "There is yet a lot that you must know boy. The queen will tell you some of it'''' "..." "Melody Sonoro of the first dimension" " Wait wait wait wait wait. I thought we were born with essences, why did you have to induce mine? '''' "Like your Jishu, your Essence was sealed." " The Lotus essence isn''t mine?" " Well it isn''t an Essence, you aren''t even using an eighth of your essence yet. The Lotus shards I placed in your body are like keys, to your potential. There''s a certain flower, the Nirvana Blossom, the keys are petals of that flower, you have to traverse the realm for more of those keys to understand what is actually going on. With each ''key'' you find, you will understand your true destiny and know that you are not just some disowned prince. You are nineteen now. I lied to your mother that you would set out at twenty. If I hadn''t she would''ve done everything to stop you. Out of love. Foolish love! As for your father, hmph don''t get me started on him, he totally debunked the idea of you being fated for something greater. And that genera___" " Alright old lady, I''m confused now, why is every bloody thing sealed? Why me? What is the new generation? Why was I in Frag? Why do my pupils turn pink and spin? Why did Soge come to...? And why is it all happening at once" " You''ve wasted enough time boy, you must set off now" " To where?" He asked " To the dimensions" " Now, but.." " What? Your marriage. The Faterealm is about to fall into chaos. " " How can I save the realm if I can''t save my marriage? "..." "Three days boy, Nothing more than noon three days from now. Don''t let anyone, any fucking thing, stop you. Not even your mother. A second more and I won''t be able to help you, I also have other young''uns to attend to." She stopped then remembered something " No matter how much you trust anyone, do not speak to them of this conversation we have just had. For your own safety, not for mine" '''' I''ll keep that in mind "
Youqin The castle had a gloomy atmosphere Sobs could be heard. Lotus might''ve been useless physically but he was a most lovable prince "We offer our greatest condolences Ching" Yi He said as he entered. "They were to marry today, Yi Ling is weeping" "The burial, it-it''ll take place in four days time'''' Ching said sadly, "the wedding cannot take place" Tong shook his head in lamentation Sun appeared more dead than the Grim reaper himself And Jin missed his older bro Lily was weeping and Hua had almost run mad remembering Lady Chu " he''s alive" she thought" I know it" " Burials are for the dead father. Your son lives! " Lotus said The palace almost screamed in excitement " Second prince " they murmured Yi Ling jumped on him " Don''t do that again Lolo'''' she said sobbing "It''s alright Ling, when do we marry?" "The wedding hasn''t been called off ya lazy bones, get all the materials" Ching said The palace roared in victory and a certain bar owner was also pleased
Nightfall Lotus'' room Yi Ling lay beside Lotus, who was bare chested. "Lotus" "Yeah" "I heard you have TPC" " True.." " How does it feel to be unable to feel anything" " When you''re fighting, it feels excellent no? But whe__" " You fight? " " Sure do" "..." " I might not look like much, but I''m the Executor" " Are you kidding" " Nope, I ain''t " " That''s so cool, why not tell anyone? " " It''s a long story. Plus, I''ve also got something to tell you" " I''m listening" " I have to travel, somewhere very far " "... " " Alone" he added They locked eyes for a moment. She stood up to take something from her bag "I''m sure you''re going to fight" "Something like that'''' " Take this then" she tossed him a jar containing some kinda balm "I don''t__" "Your friends might get hurt. Aura can be used to heal, but that has many more applications" ''''Thanks then" "Lotus" "Yeah" "Can we still?" Lotus looked at her for a moment trying to understand what she was saying but as he saw the blush on her cheeks he clearly understood "Oooh" he scratched his head "No problem there then"
3 hours later ''''If-if you see a cute lady there. Which I''m very sure you will. I-Im not stopping you but" He put his hand on her lip " Shh. You''ll always be my first love" He hopped up from the bed, took his hat, took his daggers, and replaced the engagement ring on his hand with a marriage one. "If anyone asks, tell them I was kidnapped. But if my dad asks, tell him I''ll be back. Hell understand" She nodded obediently ''''I''ll be waiting for you, be safe" He nodded and with that Ros¨¦ Whoosh " He really was" she thought as she smiled " I just know he''s gonna find someone else" she added albeit regretfully " that''s just the way he is. Free as the wind" she smiled again
" Old wretch I''m back'''' Lotus told her "Even your father wouldn''t dare tell me that" she shook her head. "Where''s the jumper?" "Jumper?" "For the old DJ y''know" "This is not the generic exploration of the dimension your people do, you''re hopping to another dimension entirely" " So? " " You tear open a rift" Lotus remembered Soge''s words about his grandad " Boy, I''ll give you a quick rundown." She paused " Even I don''t know which dimension you''re gonna land in, it depends on how fast you jump. If you enter the tenth dimension don''t fight their monarch, he always wins. Always" " How always is always?" "Always, it''s got something to do with his Jishu. Your main aim is to find the other members of the new generation and the Nirvana Blossom. As long as you don''t have the Final Doh, you''ve not found all of them. " I don''t even know what that is" " You''ll find out trust me" " And when I find them? " " You''ll know what to do". " Okay, so you''re sending me to another dimension without telling me anything about the expedition, and I''m supposed to believe you? " " Faith child, faith" " I''m only going because I want to get stronger and because I want to see Yksdrasil myself, you said the Faterealm is in danger but from what exactly, I don''t know. I''m just supposed to go into other dimensions and risk myself getting killed all because you said so. Why? " " If I wanted to explain to you, you couldn''t grasp it. An eons old ploy is unfolding and I''ve seen the signs, only you can stop it. So please, forget all this and try to find that flower and those monarcs. The shards will guide you." "..." The room was silent for a moment " When do we open the portal" Chu Meng smiled Snap At the snap of her fingers a Gate like structure appeared accompanied with a triangle divided into thirteen unequal parts with a spindle currently pointing at the third part lying on the floor right before the gate Chu Meng poured aura into the structure and the gate opened with the spindle spinning uncontrollably across all divisions "Do I run?" "As fast as you can" "Ro__" "Silly boy" He stopped " Don''t get carried away in that gate. Don''t move at all" Ro__ "You just might meet the man of your dreams." "..." "You''re only going on this adventure because I healed you right?" "Yeah, I figured you wouldn''t have any harmful intentions" " You guessed right. I''ll send Sonoro your way boy. Don''t stop, no matter how many people die. Don''t stop" " What does that mean? " " The portal''s closing" Ros¨¦ Whoosh Lotus charged into the gate, it closed and the spindle rotated wouldn''t before stopping at the 1st compartment. That was until after a while it blinked red and pointed to the fourth one ''''Of all dimensions" she thought shaking her head She drew a circle with her hand and a picture of the first dimension emerged "Sonoro" "You called, Elder Meng" "I sent a brat your way, but the fool accidentally changed course" " What dimension? " " 4th" " Of all dimensions" " He''ll probably be on a tour back to the second in no time" " If he survives" " He will" " What did you tell him to do? " "Find the Nirvana Blossom" " Eight leaved lotus? Its scattered across the dimensions" " He will find it " " Why do you have so much faith in him" Chu Meng smiled " I can feel it, he''s the one Holo saw, plus I had a vision" " If you say so"
Traveling through a gate was like drifting through space, you saw different star systems, nebula and stuff. Unless you couldn''t or rather rather shouldn''t move haphazardly, otherwise you got ported into another one which might not always be as pleasant as the one you were going to. She warned him but he got carried away never having seen it before, that was how he unknowingly set a course for the fourth dimension, unsuspecting. He didn''t know what awaited him there The Gate Of The Shadowless In the gate like structure - which he called a Jumper Lotus kept on twisting and turning during the travel, enjoying the feel like never before, that was when he remembered the old lady''s words : "Don''t get carried away in there. Don''t move at all" Well you couldn''t blame him, drifting through that thing was like going through like I earlier mentioned, outer space, well except, apart from the self stabilization, there was some kind of upbeat rhythm whose pattern changed as he entered deeper and deeper into the portal, plus he could see all the other different dimensions Uh oh Then suddenly the speed accelerated as he stabilized himself "Here comes the landing" he thought Voom He saw another similar vacuus in front of him as he stabilized himself, just the music was surprisingly quite uh ominous. Well for some reason he thought so. Then briefly before he landed, he saw something weird, a random array of characters hovering atop the Jumper in sight which his mind swiftly interpreted as ''Four '', he also saw some gibberish which his mind couldn''t interpret "The hell?" He thought Boom I can tell you, that was not the ending he had wished for a first jump. "Ow" he said as he stood up from the ground. As he looked up. Damn, this place was beautiful. Much to his surprise, the space around him was similar to the ''in his words - Jumper''. Different kinds of life forms could be seen hovering around bright and small stars, while other ones fought around playfully continuously, they was also this place where water ever flowed in the shape of a spring, from the place the jumper dropped him, till down, as in down. He saw no end in sight. "Guess that might not be at pretty as it looks" he thought "besides why was I able to understand that gibberish on the Jumper?" Does this dimension have it''s own language?" he thought before scratching his head "It would be silly to think they didn''t. And plus I probably only understand it because I''m one of the ''New Generation'' " he said with heavy air quotes for that last part. "Or does the language interpret itself automatically when you jump into another dimension? Hmm" He kept on moving for a brief distance Tom he suddenly remembered something. The Jumper showed ''Four'' instead of ''One''. Could he have? Oh yes he did "Heck what have I done?" He thought He was even more depressed when he found out that he had no way to contact the old lady. How could he forget that? He increased his pace, walking deeper and deeper into the fourth dimension till he stumbled upon some gate I might have made it sound a bit underwhelming The gate was, not surprisingly, beautiful. Every twisted thing in this dimension was. Its surface was decorated with stories, probably of the fourth dimension. And he saw one all too familiar tale of '' Ichyksius The One'', looking on expectantly from angle of the gate to another as he moved around. The gate also had a weird, golden crest at the center which was made up of the head of a creature he could all but fathom. Probably what dwelled in there The gate was as tall as the sky. The bottom Lotus imposingly stood before, as for the top, he''d have to be able to fly to know that. Or wait, what if he ran? He could defy gravity anyways. Gravity ''''Why hasn''t gravity begun to take effect yet?" are this dimension''s gravity mechanics similar to the third''s? Plus didn''t this dimension have a name or at least, he couldn''t read the name. "That may have been the second part of those weird characters I saw in the Jumper" he thought ''''maybe I don''t understand it because, I don''t have any idea what it should be called? Or because I''ve never heard of or seen it before?" Screw that, he wanted a peek in the gate. This guy never learned what it meant to have caution The gate started glowing as in shining and more tales were automatically scribbled. Sus, very sus The tale of Ichyksius on the gate scribbled itself down continuously, increasing the more Lotus wanted to see. But Lotus didn''t want the old fable. He was searching desperately for the man, the burning man in his dreams. He looked and looked and looked, but the fable was now at about forty meters atop the gate, his highest jump yet. And he noticed something. The fable was a bit different from what he had been taught back home. How? Well for starters, here, Ichyksius did not create the Faterealm. He was trying to destroy it. Huh? And plus he wasn''t depicted as being all powerful but weaker. And the way it was, he didn''t really think that this dimension was a fan of Ichyksius. "Maybe I should open it?" He thought "Or should I not?" Screw all that, he pushed the gate open What beheld him other than a garden, an uncomparable garden to what he had ever seen before. Well he didn''t recognize the plants bit you can''t blame him for that. Plants of all colors different colors in different bunches. Trees of different shapes and sizes. And for once in this dimension when he gazed at the firmament, he saw it, yes, that sky blue his eyes had longed for. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He suddenly remembered home. Ah home sweet home. "Focus" he snapped out of his daydream as he continued following the fable. This time though, the fable was illustrated on one tree, and continued on the next. He hopped from one tree to another, surprised at the hate this guys had for ''The One''. In their own words, Faterealm was created by Uno, Lord Of Archons - Tall no giant horned creatures with something similar to the face of a man except less detailed with monochrome dark eyes which reflected no light and four legs like that of a lion but with three hands. "Hideous creatures" he thought. Plus weren''t archons part of the dark races? They were. "What is__?" He could suddenly feel the ground rumbling, the trees shaking, the earth beneath his foot shifting as something emerged from the other side of the garden. Something hideous, unthinkable, it turned out to be an Archon. For some reason, he didn''t feel the need to run instead examining the monstrosity from head to toe. It looked like it had been sleeping, but it had been woken up by well um unwanted guests. The monstrosity was over 30 metres tall. Well Lotus couldn''t see his head because of the height. Until he could. The thing had brought down it''s head to peer at him from the aerial angle it had. " ''King''s angle'' " Lotus thought sarcastically ''Who peers at a King from the ''king''s angle'' " he thought again. The monstrosity squinted it''s eyes to observe him from above before smiling wickedly as if thinking: ''What fresh meat'' "#$@&_&&" "Excuse me?" "#$@&_&&" it repeated "I didn''t catch that" The archon looked enraged before smiling, int turned back and Lotus could hear sounds, whether it was cursing him or rehearsing words he couldn''t know "Boy" the archon said after switching languages. Lotus was surprised, this monstrosity was quite intelligent, guessing his dimension in one try "Yeah I heard that" "Do you know where you are?" "The fourth dimension..." "Not what dimension you fool. Where in it?" "..." "You''re in The Gate of The Shadowless, ''Exumbra''. And stop saying the fourth dimension, it''s called Kratocles." "Why is it called gate of the shadowless?" Lotus asked with a look of interest...and mostly worry. The gibberish he had seen before interpreted itself in his mind immediately. His theory was right. But he was more concerned about this Archon. "Because you can''t leave. Light isn''t destined to touch you any more" he said smiling wickedly " Take a look at those guys" he said pointing to the trees " Guys?" Lotus'' horror was increasing rapidly ''''My Jishu turns you into that, trees carrying paintings of the part of the myth I tell you" Lotus was wary now, this dude was evil "Ooh and if you''re thinking of running, don''t. You aren''t fast enough" Lotus scoffed at that last part. Although he wanted to challenge the monstrosity, he wouldn''t. He would lose, he knew it. ''''I''ll use sound speed first, to throw him off his guard and make him complacent and at last I''ll use light speed to break out" he thought as he glanced at the gate behind him Whoosh Lotus ran, on teaching a distance, he saw the Archon in front of him. Was that light speed? No it was teleportation? Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh The cycle continued. The Archon was toying with him unable to hold back his laughter "If I catch you, you die" "That is, IF you catch me" Lotus was no less than 50 km from the gate "A simple home run" he thought switching his speed to Mach 20 Vroom As Lotus appeared at the threshold of the gate he thought "Yes!" That was until, the gates threshold shifted. He kept on trying but the threshold wouldn''t stay put. "For God''s sake" Lotus sighed "You have to be faster than light fool!" The Archon said as he charged at Lotus who the a dagger at him Snap The dagger broke upon impact with the air around him Lotus was mortified. The Archon charged at him and Lotus looked at the gate "90 km" he thought "Lolo, one more time" Ros¨¦ Voom A pink light blinded the monstrosity as Lotus flashed past the gate at unthinkable speed leaving the threshold in his wake. "In the name of Uno. What the fuck is that? Oculo! I underestimated him. The master will be furious" And so he left the Doors of Exumbra and shut them behind him. He tracked Lotus down and teleported in front of him "This is your end" he said slamming his hand as Lotus threw the other dagger at him at lightspeed. Whoosh. It penetrated the archon''s chest but vanished seemingly with no effect "That was it?" Lotus thought disappointedly "Wasted" "Die!" Lotus flashed and dashed until there was no where else to run. His back against a wall. Literally. "You can hide but you cannot run". "Firstly, its you can run but you cannot hide and secondly I don''t hide" "Screw you, it''s different here in Kratocles" "That''s a cool way to lie" "Why you__" "What do you guys have against Ichyksius" "That man is an abomination to the ears of Kratocleans, say that enough and you''ll die early here. I won''t be the one to kill you" "Not that I fear death" "Don''t let him hear you. It won''t be good" "Who? You''ll know when you go pay him a visit now!" The Archon raised his hand to strike. Lotus was every ready to run "How about you pick on someone your own size Sigma?" The Archon froze in his motion his face twisted in horror. Lotus couldn''t understand his face though. For all he could see it was just some young girl prying in their interesting affair. Little did he know, that girl was the monarch of the First dimension, Musica, Melody Sonoro "Queen Sonoro" Sigma said "Yes? Are you ready to die?" The archon gulped "Sigma or whatever they call you, I''m quite uh disappointed, I thought you were almost cool but you''re chickening out in fear of some girl? Who I''m older than?" "Chicken? What''s that?" Melody and Sigma said "Villains" Lotus thought. How could they not know the most tasty animal meat in the world "Never mind" "Lady Chu set you somewhere and you got carried away. Hope you didn''t enter that gate" "Exumbra? I did. But I dashed out" Melody sighed. "Alright Sigma, time up" she said before summoning something Lotus could only recognize a a piano. Except it was taller, had more keys, and had no seat. She just stood in it''s front as she played Doh Doh Doh Re Mi Fa So So So La Ti Doh Lotus could recognize the notes but couldn''t recognize Sigma. The Archon had faded into some kind of stardust. "The hell!" Lotus screamed checking for traces of dust before heaving a sigh of relief "What was that" "Dao Jishu. It''s called ''Tragic Solfa'' " "Emphasis on the Dao there" Lotus thought "She said yours was sealed" Lotus nodded "Ow ow ow" he screamed as she pulled his ear, scolding him like his mother. "The next time you Jump, if you get carried away, we just might not be able to face you. You wimp, what were you thinking" she said releasing his ears "I got carried away. Can a man not explore nowadays?" "You could die " "As if I fear death" Melody have him a grim stare "You''d better not let him get a hold of you" "Who exactly?" "You''ll know later" Lotus rolled his eyes. People withholding info was tiring. "What''ll you do if you die" she asked "I shall fight it. And if I lose, I shall flee from its jaws. Like I always do" Lotus replied with some kind of courage that made her impressed "If you say so brat" "I''m older" Lotus thought "Hop on. Let''s go to Musica" "Whatever happened to that Sigma dude" "He joined the Aura cycle" "What''s that" "What do you even know? I''ll tell you on the way'''' With that she tore open a rift and set a course for the first dimension "I thought you didn''t know where you would land?" Melody laughed "That''s what they always tell noobs" she said mockingly Lotus frowned. And then squinted his eyes to show disapproval Melody dashed into the ''Jumper'' "You''d better come along. And for God''s sake, don''t get carried away otherwise, you''ll end up like Sigma " she said as Lotus hopped into the portal and the rift closed behind them "Musica" Lotus thought "I wonder how it looks"