📖Quick Fact:

Black Veil

The Black Veil is a barrier in the form of mist, which has led many to their demise. It surrounds the village of Ironclave, the last town before the edge of the earth. It restricts people from trespassing on the land further.

In the last chapter, we saw Ember and Mister Ryu traveling to the previous village, Ironclave, before the edge of the earth. They stopped at the village because of a barrier in the form of mist named Black Veil that surrounded the village. They were trying to collect information regarding the mist when they met the village head, who said he would book an appointment for us with an elder of the village who has great knowledge about the mist.

While waiting for the village head to come and call us after he arranged a meeting with the elder of the village, Mister Ryu and Ember were discussing the plan's next step.

“What will we learn from an elder of this backward village?” I said.

“Even the smallest information can help us in many ways, Miss Ember,” Mister Ryu answered.

An hour passed when the village head appeared before Mister Ryu and Ember.

“Hoo..hoo.. did I keep you waiting for long? I guess it was worth the wait because I have managed to arrange a meeting with the elder, but I’ll warn you that once he starts speaking about the village's history, he won’t stop until it is completed,” said the village head.

“That’s fine until we receive the information we require,” said Mister Ryu.

“Then follow me. I will take you to his house,” he said.

We started following the village head in the direction of the outskirts of the village. As we got closer, we saw a small, broken shed that looked abandoned. When we reached the shed, the village head knocked on the door and said,

“Mister Gurusei, I have brought the people who I mentioned want to know about the Black Veil,” said the village head.

“Come in,” said an old crackling voice.

“You guys can go in; I think I have to return to the village to take care of some errands,” said the village head.

“Thank You for everything you did; once we are done here, we will come and meet you at the village,” said Mister Ryu.

“No Problem,” said the village head, turned around, and headed back to the village.

We headed inside the shed to see an old man with reading glasses sitting on an armchair with a book in his hand. As we entered, he looked at us and said, “Please take a seat.” We sat on an old sofa in front of the old man.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“My name is Gurusei, and I am an elder of the village. I heard that you wanted to know the history of Black Veil; is that right?” he said.

“We want to know about the Black Veil and the lands that are beyond it,” Mister Ryu said.

“To know about the Black Veil, you must first know the village's history. It's not that ancient, but it is said that when the villagers were in deep trouble, which might have led them to their extinction, the elders of that time prayed and worshiped the unknown. The prayer led to unforeseen circumstances where the mountains tremored, and iron mines opened up; due to this geographical change, a dangerous fog envelopes the edge of the earth, known as the Black Veil.”

The village elder then started to sing about the achievements of different elders to the point where even the calm Mister Ryu was bored, but after a few minutes of torture...

“It’s not known to this generation, but the older generation sang the songs of the temples of nature where the gods walk through trials.”

Listening to this particular line, Ember noticed that Mister Ryu was waiting for this part, and that was why we were here.

Mister Ryu asked, “Temples of Nature? Trials? What do you mean by that, Mister Gurusei?”

“It is said that there are different temples of nature that help normal humans like us take a trial, which will help us walk god’s path, but no one was able to find the temples of nature because it is said that one has to pass through some dangers to reach the temples from the outside,” he answered.

I knew this was what we wanted to know, so I looked at Mister Ryu to see whether he had heard it.

“Mister Gurusei, is there a way to avoid these dangers and reach the temples,” he asked.

“The dangers that one will face before they reach the temple is a way to know if they are qualified to take the trial of the temple,” he answered.

“I see, then one has to depend on oneself if one wants to cross the dangers. Anyways, Mister Gurusei, I would like to thank you for your help; we learned a lot of new stuff from you today,” said Mister Ryu as he got up.

“That was nothing; very few youngsters like to listen to old stories nowadays,” he said.

“Well then, we will take our leave; we also have to prepare ourselves now,” said Mister Ryu.

“Prepare? What do you have to prepare for?” asked Mister Gurusei.

“Of course, it is to face the dangers that will come our way to the temples of nature,” said Mister Ryu as he left the shed.

Before I followed Mister Ryu outside, I took a glimpse of Mister Gurusei one last time; it was a face of pure shock. He was taken aback when Mister Ryu said that we were going to the temples of nature. I left the shed and followed Mister Ryu back to where we were staying in the village. As soon as we reached, Mister Ryu turned around and said, “Miss Ember, I think we should take a few days to prepare ourselves. I’ll find us some supplies, and you may focus on your cultivation until then because we need to prepare ourselves thoroughly.”

“I believe that is an excellent idea, so how many days until we depart?” I asked.

“I’ll try to finish all the preparations in a week; until then, you can continue cultivating,” said Mister Ryu.

After discussing with me, Mister Ryu went towards the dark forest near the village outskirts; not wasting any time, I started to cultivate the body refinement stage of the body tempering technique to the Perfection level.

After a week of cultivating, I had completed the Body Refinement stage to Perfection and started the second stage of the body tempering technique, which is the Blood Refinement stage. Before I could break through the Beginner level of the stage, I was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. I got up and started walking towards the door. When I opened the door I saw Mister Ryu standing there with the huge backpack he holds.

“Miss Ember, I hope you had enough time to cultivate as I have finished all the preparations from my side,” said Mister Ryu.

“You are right on time, Mister Ryu; I am also done from my side,” I said.

“Great, then let’s start our journey into the Black Veil that is supposed to lead us to our destination,” he said.

…… To be continued