“STOP!! You are not allowed to leave this place. I need to see the boy, right now, Chen Guo!”, shouted a young man, who was wearing a blackened hooded robe decorated with the insignia of a golden sword at its center. Pointing his finger at the boy, the young man slowly walked out of the darkness of the booth. His face had a distinctive black mark on his left cheek. The mark of a traitor. A mark that was only given to those, who dared to defy the orders of the Heavens. Years of yielding a sword had left his hands rough. Cuts and bruises could be seen littering his worn-down body. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a mop of crimson hair and heavy, solemn brows that were offset by a boyish grin. A pair of eyes the color of amber exuded a distinctive aura of wildness beneath them. Walking towards the bearded man, his ghastly complexion coupled with his devilish aura made the young man seem like a demon in the eyes of the boy.
Seeing his son shaken by the appearance of the young man, the bearded man, although scared, slowly asked, “What do you want, Clearstance?”. The young man’s gaze turned towards him. Looking at the young man’s eyes, the bearded man felt as if his soul had been pierced by a stack of swords. He knew that it was futile to resist an expert of this caliber.
“You dare to talk back to me? Well good, I always admired someone with a backbone. I will tell you what I want. I desire to see the boy. He came to me and I want to understand why he did. Nobody except him and strangely also you could see this place!”, shouted the young man, while pointing at them. Qi flew out of his finger as it struck Chen Guo freezing him in place. Looking at the bewildered appearance of the bearded man, the young man sighed as he, once again, exclaimed, “Boy, come here, right now! I will not harm him as long as you come to me!”. Hearing the demon’s words, the boy’s throat tightened. He did not want to go to him, but he knew that he needed to do so. Clenching his fists, he tried to suppress his shivers in vain. He had to be strong for his father. His life depended on him. Slowly, the boy slid down his father’s arms and carefully made his way towards the young man. Each step that he took, made his legs wobble in fear. As he arrived in front of him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He did not dare to move. Fear had completely overpowered his body. Feeling the young man’s fingers touching his cheeks, the boy was overwhelmed by a feeling of calmness. A torrent of energy washed his body, slowly gnawing on the fears of the boy. Seeing the boy’s fluctuating emotions as he tried to adjust to his qi, the young man smiled and ask him, in a soft yet firm tone, "Boy, do you know why you came here?”.
“No, I do not know. Can you please let me and my father go?”, replied the boy, whose crippling fears had disappeared.
“Your father? Boy, do you know that he is not your real father! He is your grandfather Chen Guo and I know that he is way too old to you know...have you as his biological son...You know what I mean, don’t you?”, stated the young man in a sarcastic tone. He eyed the frozen Chen Guo as he slowly swayed his head from side to side. He did not approve of the bearded man’s actions. To him lying was a taboo.
Looking at the boy, who was unwilling to reply to his question, the young man snickered as he said, “Boy, I do not care if you believe me or not, I am just stating facts. Anyways, you will find out the truth once you ask your presume father about this. Now that you are here, I will look at your fate to understand why you came here!”.
Hearing the young man’s words, the boy stated, “My fate, why my fate? I do not care about my fate! I do not want to be constraints by it! In the future, I will find a way to make my own path and defy the fate that this cursed world gave to me!”.
“Boy, aren’t you scared of angering the Heavens?”, asked the young man, who was surprised by the boy’s resolute words, his face revealing a look of anticipation directed towards the boy.
“No!”, resolutely shouted the boy, as he looked at the young man with defiance.
“Good, this is what I expected from someone like you!”, happily stated the young man.
“What?”, said the boy with a puzzled expression.
“As I said before, I expected this from someone like you. Why do you ask? Well to put it simply, your very existence is the definition of defiance to the Heavens! Your fate is so obscure to the point that I can only say with confidence that you have no fate whatsoever.”, calmly stated the young man as he turned his gaze towards the sky. Hearing the boy’s reply, reminded him of his past self. Arrogant yet adventurous. He wanted to see what would become of the boy. Laughing at this thought, he sternly added, “Do not rejoice, boy! This is not good, not good at all for you or anybody that is linked to you! The Heavens are not merciful, they hate anything that could go against them and their rule! All I know is that you are not the only one without a fate. There are other worlds besides this one and there are people like you in them as well. Not only that but in this very world, there have been individuals without a fate, throughout history. Some of these individuals grew to be the strongest experts in their respective worlds, others died young without ever laying down their name in history. All of them, however, had two things in common, a huge amount of tragedies and loneliness followed them throughout their lives. Interestingly, they all died before they reached the age of thirty. How old are you, boy?”.
“I am eight years old. Does that mean I will also die when I reach the age of thirty?”, curiously pondered the boy as he came to understand what the young man was telling him about his ‘fate’.
“It does not mean you will die at that age. You may die at an even younger age or if you are lucky enough at a much older age than thirty. However, the odds are stacked against you living passed that age...”, said the young man in an exasperated voice, while pitying the boy’s cruel ‘fate’. A fate that they both shared. He knew that it would be impossible for the Heavens to not know about their meeting. Thinking of this, he shivered. The treatment dealt to him by them had scarred him both physically and emotionally. Not wanting the boy to experience the same trauma as he did, he began to think of ways to help him. Drawing a breath, he concluded that he could not help him with his condition. Cursing the Heavens under his breath, he turned his gaze towards the boy, who seemed to be deep in thought.
Hearing the words of the young man regarding the possibility of him living past the age of thirty, the boy quickly replied, “If you say it like this then why did these experts die before they reached thirty?”
“Simple, the Heavens did not tolerate their existence. They were about to reach the Spectral level. For now, you do not need to know what this level is! I am not your teacher nor do I have the time to explain all of this to you! Anyways, as I was saying, if they reached that level, they could have gone against heaven's rule and will. The Heavens made it almost impossible for them to reach this level and they died in their futile attempt.”, hurriedly said the young man as he began walking along the dirt road that led his stall. Turning his back to the boy, he noticed a ripple in his surroundings. A faint hum could be heard coming from that direction. Looking attentively at it, he understood that his time was almost up. The entities of this place or as he called them, Skirners, have started to chip away at his force field. He had to go back to his stall before they could catch him. Knowing that the boy and his ‘father’ were still in this place, he called out to the boy, “Come here, boy! Do not worry about your grandfather...”.
The boy not daring to look at the young man began looking at the stall in from of them as he slowly followed the young man. Seeing the faint luster of the bracelet that he so desperately wanted, he sighed. He did not want all of this. This encounter, ‘fate’, or revelation of his death. He hated it all. His thoughts were a mess as he knew that he was powerless in escaping from the young man’s grasp. Wishing that he was stronger to get out of this ordeal, he, once again, questioned the young man regarding his ‘death’, “Am I going to die at the age of thirty? Also, what if I don’t want to reach the Spectral level, is it possible for me to live a simple life and die of old age without ever reaching that...level?”
“Why are you asking the same question!?!... Well, it all depends on you. You have no fate, so you can make your own path! Didn’t you say that you wanted to experience life without constraint, well now that you have your wish, experience it all you want! As for your second question, well no, I am sorry. It is not possible to live a peaceful life if you are one without fate! The Heavens will hunt you down no matter what you do! You will need to learn how to hide, boy! Moreover, you can’t stall your cultivation, if you do you will die! A huge amount of qi will constantly be gathering towards you thus your body will accumulate this qi without you needing to do anything. Of course, this does not mean you are going to be some kind of genius, it is just a curse that the Heavens gave to people like you! This curse is meant for you to reach your death sooner rather than later!”, exclaimed the young man as he stopped to look at the boy. He could not believe that the boy remained unmoved at the prospect of his death. Even he would have been scared about such an event occurring in his life.
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“Don't be sad, boy! I will help you! Anyways, I noticed you have started to cultivate! Not bad, boy! Your will is yet to awaken...When your Will awakens, the curse will start taking its effects...For now, don't worry too much, just make sure you start making preparations for that day...Now, I noticed that you wanted to pick an item here...Pick one, any one of them that you fancy will do...I will let you have it for free!” quickly said the young man as he continued walking towards his stall. His pace quickened as he realized that he could no longer control his force field. His face darkened. An unrestrained yet controlled aura formed around him. Not noticing this change, the young man cursed the Heavens that weakened him to such an extent. With his past strength, these measly beasts would not have caused him to go to use his precious artifacts as they attacked his barrier, but now it was a whole different story.
“When did I feel sad? And for free? Why are lying? I know that nothing is for free in this world and everything has its price and consequences. Tell me what do you want to take away from this deal?”, exclaimed the young boy, while anxiously hoping that the young man wouldn’t want something related to his body, soul, or his family. The young man seeing the young boy’s anxious looks, laughed as he blurted out, “Boy, you never cease to amaze me with either your brilliance or your sheer stupidity. Yes, I want something from this. I hope that you can help me get out of this dead planet, once you reach a certain level. As for this level do not worry, for now, I will let a bit of my consciousness into yours. It will help you, in times of need, and allow you to know when you will need to rescue me from this place.”.
“Consciousness? Are you trying to possess me? I am not that stupid you know! I read books about this.” screamed the boy, who pointed at the young man with his bony finger. His arm was shaking uncontrollably. Fear seemed to have engulfed the boy. The young man looked at the boy’s reaction with a surprised expression. Why is he scared now? Was his previous brave front a ruse to deceive me? Thinking that the boy would never be satisfied with his answer, the young man decided to change the tone of his voice. He wanted to sound a bit more menacing. With his eyes glaring at the boy, the young man spread his arm far above his head as he said, “Oh, look at you, all knowledgeable about the world! Well, let me tell you one thing, I can't possess you, not with my current strength. If I was at my peak, I could have done it very easily, but now it is different. The Heavens took away my strength and banished me, here! Do you understand now?”.
“Yes...I understand. Can I pick my item, now?”, quietly said the red-faced boy, who became embarrassed about this ordeal and his lack of knowledge. Looking at the boy’s expression, the young man felt a bit ashamed of his actions, but he knew that this was the only way to get rid of the boy before the coming of the Skirners. With a renewed sense of amusement and hope, the young man smirked at his slyness as he said, while carefully examining the boy picking his item, “Of course, go ahead...”.
“Interesting...You choose this one...”, whispered the young man, who became both excited and relieved at the choice made by the boy.
“What so interesting about this one?”, asked the boy, who was confused by the young man’s rapid change of emotions.
“Well, it has quite a history...It was forged by someone like you and it’s use was to store the souls of the departed. Whoever forged it, was a being of great power. However, you know that possessing or even creating an item like goes against the cycle of life, which is again governed by the Heavens. Thus, creating an item like this led to this person’s demise. Don’t worry, boy, I made sure to put some invisibility spells on this item. The Heavens will have a hard time finding this bracelet...”, proudly mentioned the young man as he picked up the item from the boy’s hand and began admiring it while describing its features to the boy. Unbeknown to young man, he seemed to have entered a trance as he held the item. The boy, who understood this, said to the young man, “Could it be that you are the one, who made this item?”. Hearing the boy’s words, the young man woke up from his stupor. Without wasting a breath, he threw the item back at the boy, who caught it and began looking at the artifacts that were emitting the force field. As he looked at these items, he started to panic. The red sphere-like artifacts, which once emitted a bright red light, were now slowly disintegrating. This meant only one thing that they were destroyed, not by the Skirners as they were too weak, but by something far more powerful. Turning to face the boy, he quickly said in a voice filled with fear, “Boy...How did you know? Yes, it was me, who created this...Now, I know you want to ask more questions, but we do not have much time left. My force field’s weakening and I do not have the power to maintain it. Once, it is completely gone, the Heavens will find out about your existence! We have to go!”.
“What about my father?”, replied the boy, who did not seem to notice the urgency of the situation that they were both in. Although he was seeing the artifacts slowly disintegrating in front of him, he knew that it was not him that was trapped in here, but the young man. The young man needed him to stay alive and he would send him and his father back to their world to achieve this. Strangely, he did not seem to feel any sort of empathy towards the young man. Maybe it was due to him forcefully bringing him and his father here to this accursed place. As he was trying to understand his thoughts, the boy heard the young man loudly stating with a calm yet shivering voice, “Still calling him your ‘father’? He is fine, I just froze him. Once, I send both you and your grandfather back to the bazaar, he will have forgotten everything about this encounter! Do not mention anything about this to him or anyone else! If you do, you will be responsible for their death as the Heavens will hunt them down for information of your whereabouts!”
“Thank you...Wait how should I call you?”, slowly asked the boy.
“Boy, you spoke rudely to a master of my stature, but I do not care about silly things like that. You may call me master Clearstance, as I could consider you as my disciple.”, calmly said the young man, his face full of sweat as he eyed the boy, who dumbly stood still. Quietly, he pondered about what awaited him once the boy and his 'father' left this place while frequently looking at the rapidly disintegrating artifacts that stood behind him. Slowly, he made up his mind to face whatever the Heavens threw at him. As he, once again, turned his head towards his artifacts, he could no longer see them. At this moment, he truly knew that his time was up.
“Okay, master Clearstance, thank you for this! I will find a way to rescue you from this place!”, exclaimed the boy as he scratched his disheveled hair covered in dust. He understood that although he did not particularly like this young man, he was still indebted to him for giving him the golden draconic bracelet and telling him about his cursed ‘fate’.
Noticing the boy’s conviction, the young man was content. He knew that the boy would not betray him, at least for now. He took the boy’s hand and quickly brought him back down the road towards the boy’s ‘father’. As soon as they arrived, he lifted his hands and conjured a spiraling blue sphere that emitted a bright blue light. He then let it go. It slowly floated towards the ground and morphed into a bright blue spherical portal that showed the image of the bazaar within it. Looking at his surrounding, he rapidly stated, as he pushed both the boy and his grandfather into the bright blue light, “I expect that you as my disciple, you will not go back on your promise! Remember your promise means everything to the ones that you have promised not only in this world but in all of them! It will cost you everything in your life if you betray those that you have given your word to! Now… Become stronger to defy the Heavens! Do not fear them, keep your head held high, my boy!”.
Looking at their departing figures as the spiraling blue sphere disappeared, the young man coughed. Blood was oozing down his fair yet ghastly face. He no longer looked devilish, but sickly. Feeling his strength gradually draining, he nervously smiled. Taking a deep breath, he could smell the lingering scent of that creature in the air. The creature that had inflicted him these wounds. He knew that it was toying with him. Why did the Heavens send it? Did they know that he had brought them in here? As he pondered, he noticed a pair of bright yellow eyes eyeing him from the undergrove. The sky had turned pitch-black. He could no longer see. All he could see was the ever-expanding darkness in front of him. Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps. The creature had come. His legs buckled as he fell to the muddy ground. He lost his composure. He could not bear to see him or those eyes. The eyes that had silently yet ruthlessly taken away from him, his wife along with their unborn son on that howling night all those years ago. Although he knew in his heart that they were dead, he could not let go of that small strand of hope that they could still be alive somewhere, anywhere. Reliving that horrific scene of that night in his mind, he tearfully whispered under his breath, “My boy, I hope you stay alive… You are my only hope in finding them..."