(Author: Well Duren sure paid a price. This chapter will go into detail of how the Divine Ritual changed the MC. If you want an OP main character, its not here. That's all I can reveal. When I start the Martial Arts School Arc at around Chapter 7 (depending on trail of thought)...well you can read it than. Haha sorry for the tease. Enjoy my last release for the day. Was going to post it tomorrow but a lot of people commented on the chapter and I felt obliged to give it today. Enjoy.)

Chapter 5: Gain and Loss

Five months passed after the Divine Ritual. Over the course of the five days, his prosthetic arm was implanted. The arm was made of materials of a primordial golem. Primordial golems could adjust themselves in size in accordance to whoever controlled the golem. As Duren aged in the future, his golem arm will adjust itself.

But the arm was not made of flesh and bone. There were limitations. The hand of the golem could only open and close to a fist. He could not do any intricate motions like flex his fingers, flick people off, and could not use qi techniques . Duren would only be able to enhance his new arm with qi. He could not do the Thunder Lion's Claw technique with his left hand if he wanted to. He had to change his main hand into his left as he could not hold his new two-handed sword with both hands unless he just wanted it the size of a regular sword or a dagger.

Then came the psychological impact of losing an arm. Duren would break down mentally for the first few weeks whenever he found out a new activity he could not do with his prosthetic arm. He would howl in grief and anger and break anything in sight until he fainted from the shock. Knights would stand guard near the door and only his father and mother were allowed in to stop Duren from hurting himself.

The loss of his arm brought back all the pain and grief Duren kept inside from dying once and being stuck in a new body. The loss of his arm was his breaking point. The only benefit he received was gaining access to wind, thunder, and destruction qi and being able to use his new techniques with the rest of his body.

Duren spent the last few months in rehab to adjust to being ambidextrous enough to be as good with his left hand as he was with his right. He had the strength of a golem with his left arm and could wield Blightfang at the size of a greatsword to his eight year old body. His right hand would use the qi techniques.

The concentrated qi from the ritual allowed Duren to break through to the ninth rank of Spirit Shadow, but he had not been able to use half the qi he was able to use before the ritual. His dantian was shaken from the backlash it seemed as if a barrier surrounded his qi energy. At the ninth rank, his globe of ice qi emanated more powerful wisps of ice than before, but it could not break through the barrier completely.

His father and various experts on the Divine Ritual said that it was a result of preserving his life that his dantian manifested a barrier to contain most of his qi.

"I am broken," Duren said, gazing at the heavens. "I was become more powerful than geniuses but instead I am even weaker than average humans."

Duren tried concentrating qi into his left and right hand. A claw of ice appeared on the fingers of his right hand bit did not extend to his forearm like before. His left hand only felt more powerful but the Yin energy did not emit an ice signatures and appeared as physical qi energy. He tried moving one of his fingers but none of them moved. He tried moving two and three later but they remained immobile. His fingers only moved if he wanted to open and close his hand.

"WHY!" Duren roared to the heavens. "First you strike me down to the Mortal Realm and now you royally screw me over by giving me this gods forsaken backlash! What did I do to deserve this! Tell me! TELL ME!!!"

His father and mother could hear Duren from their room as Duren screamed from the balcony of his bedroom almost adjacently below their own balcony. They could feel his pain in their heart and it wounded them. Gustav remained outside the bedroom while the knights barred him from access. They shifted nervously as their charge kept screaming in defiance.

Another month passed and merchants and nobles were finally allowed access into the palace to do trade and resolve national affairs. Duren never showed up to any of the meetings and remained in self-isolation, cultivating his qi and practicing the qi techniques he gained. It was his only consolation for his pain.

Nobles and merchants found out what transpired by bribing knights or overhearing gossip from the servants and news of the Divine Ritual spread. Most martial experts would have flocked to the palace upon hearing of the legendary Divine Rituals if it was not for the news of the backlash.

The prince was once the pride of the family and was now useless in the public eyes. Many nobles who planned to gain Duren's favor decided to wait for the twins to grow older. Most of the famous magic academies and martial schools heard of the backlash and decided to deny applications for entrance for Duren by feigning over-capacity..

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

The twins were the only ones who thought that the new state Duren was in was an improvement. Before the ritual, Duren did not care at all about his siblings and had minimal interactions with them. Since the incident, he started acting differently with them if they asked him to help them use qi. They would happily sit in front of him and learn more about qi and see his eyes moisten occasionally as he tried to demonstrate a qi technique. To Drax and Dylana, the backlash gave them an elder brother who loved them.

A royal order had also passed not to mention the Divine Ritual around Duren. The backlash had brought out the bestial instincts of his former life and he attacked any offenders like an animal and repeatedly beat them until they died or he was stopped. Repairs on doors, walls, and the floor had to be made whenever he went berserk.

Duren was even given the nickname of the Golem Fiend for his actions. He could crush steel and punch holes through walls with his new arm. His bestial attacks made him seem like a monster as he would tear limbs or create claws of ice and rip open his offenders. Water mages were employed to get rid of the blood and scented candles were bought in bulk to get rid of the smell of blood and death. Rumors even spread that he fed on the blood and flesh of his victims.

Duren gained and lost some aspects of his humanity and only his position as the son of the Count prevented his execution for his crimes. Assassins were sent by wronged families, but they were also killed by Duren. Duren would even beat the assassins and only killed them when he was told who hired them. Duren would sneak out of the palace and slaughter those who hired the assassins.

After two weeks passed would he stop and manage to control his rage. By then, nine whole months had passed. He had broken through to Spirit Knight rank one after all the killing and forced concentration of qi by the barrier. Upon reaching Spirit Knight was the barrier broken.

He was as strong as the average martial artist now but not above them. No matter what he did, he could only use qi to enforce his left arm. He had to learn how to use hidden weapons to balance his lack of power now if he had to fight people stronger than him. Instead of overpowering his opponents as he did as Malverok, he had to outwit and out strategize his enemies as Duren.

Duren had found a dimensional storage bag, a bag used by all magus and martial experts to store items, and would store various herbs and materials he found. He asked his parents to buy various materials from spirit beasts and stored them in his bag. He also bought seven identical daggers from a black market merchant which would be used as flying daggers. He would be able to manipulate them using qi from his left hand as he realized he could use the daggers as an extension from his arm. His golem arm was hollow and he asked Gustav to modify his primordial golem arm to open and close on the forearm and used it as a storage for the daggers.

He could only control one dagger within three feet of his body which was useless against experts but could work against those weaker than him like Spirit Shadows. He had a new path now. He would use materials from spirit beast and herbs for alchemy and sell potions. He might not become the most powerful but he could train himself to be an immortal and not worry for his life. Alchemists were rare and protected like international treasures. Power was not the only way to survive. Being smart was another path. Unorthodox to the martial world, but even average talent could become immortal.

"Alchemy," Duren smiled upon his revelation. "This is my new path. Screw heaven's fate for me. I will be an immortal. I will find out who killed me and get my revenge. Let the whole world scorn and mock my new state. They will all beg to have my potions. They will bow. They won't have a choice."

(Author's note: First time putting a note in the end of a chapter. This will be the only time. I will only post notes in the beginning of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and realized what it was like for those who do have prosthetics. I appreciate you guys for reading my story. It means a lot to me to write my own version of a wuxia/magic mix novel. I appreciate any feedbacks and will work hard to close any loose ends you might feel unless I intentionally left it.)

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PS: the dialogue picks up after this chapter as well as the action. Like I stated before, this arc was mainly to make a foundation for the character.