In their time of need, mortals work with what they have. It's the same everywhere, and Allan was no different. He liked to see the improvements within himself, and this training was kind of like that.
He moved on from the climb, clenched his fists, and readied his kicks. Striking the rock with his limbs as if he faced his greatest enemy. He imagined the appearance of the scarred man, but he was no sadist, as the strikes instead hurt his hands.
Yet, it hurt, but only for a small amount of time. it did not hurt him. Adrenaline and strange flow under the wounds restored his flesh and made it clear in a couple of minutes. There was no time for opened wounds to let any blood out.
One question Allan had was why it did not work when they summoned 36? Sarey wounded his palm, which wasn't that different from him hitting the rocks. It made no sense to him, but in truth, Allan wasn't willing to look at the teeth of a gifted horse.
This soul-fire which was living in his being, and since the advantage he now had, he held no malice towards it.
All he could do was believe in Sarey's words and the descriptions she provided. That in itself wasn't hard. Believing it or not was up to him, and the fact was already in the palm of his hand. Literary solved by his own flesh. Though, he still had no idea about the second reappearance of the soul-fire, which Sarey kept secret.
Now, he kept on striking and hitting the innocent rock. He went at for quite a while until he felt finished and satisfied with his progress of strikes. The rock before his feet proved much progress he had made. Considering the current rock, which seemed much bigger than the previous ones. Small cracks were formed at the cost of injuries, which no longer healed.
Allan had already figured it out. The limits, and a few things that can be used with this new ability of his.
There was a diminishing return of the healing factor provided by soul-fire, and the limit wasn't bad, nor small.
He clenched his fist and wondered about the moves and techniques he used. This was a thing he learned to do after many changes he had to do for his sake. He sought out improvement, and what was the best way to do so? After going over the physical training in his mind.
Not far from him, Sarey was left wondering and discovering no strange occurrence. Allan seemed rather strange today, but she couldn't figure out why? Maybe it was something about her, too? She was never so keen on making guesses about herself or over wondering about some problems.
In the last few days, any worries apart from Allan completely disappeared from her head. Be it anything related to her teacher, father, or the surroundings of the war, she paid more attention to the task before her. Although, the bit of information about the potential of the war caused a little bit of careless naivety in her heart. She hoped it would never reach this area, and the Timeless Kingdom wouldn't dare to start anything.
Problems such as these, we're just like a drifting speck of dust in space. The universe and any lifeless rock would be another one in the universe. There would be nothing to it since there would be more that would follow.
There could only be some strange occurrences that would cause any conscious being to be worried. Such as the terrifying emptiness of space. It was indifferent to anything and anyone. One could even be lost in the flow of time, and the sheer pressure of the space, that went for all eternity, and with no end in sight.
Right now, time was relative and manageable to one particular shining star. It drifted into this space, which would be better to call it a comet. A small piece, without any sizable mass. After all, this was no comet, but a way powerful individuals traversed the universe.
Nothing outside indicated the person who was inside. It all seemed like a small comet that flew into unknown locations. Such an occurrence of seeing something so small in the sky was beyond the possibilities of estimation.
Though, nothing mattered to the man who was inside this radiating matter. He had already gone through the universe at unimaginable speed for a long time, and more time would follow.
This was a form of transport he disliked the most. All that he could watch was the flickering light and shining brightness that were all around him. He would rather watch the starry sky of the cosmos than be here any longer.
This was Marshell who accepted the call of his master. At this moment, he sat cross-legged and still half naked in the emptiness of space inside this cocoon of brightest. Even though the immortals should be familiar with the sense of emptiness and patience, he wasn't like that.
It was only his personal opinion and a thing that could differ from person to person. Wisdom went with such people, and when they live long lives, it came as no surprise. To some extent, of course.
This man was like that. A little now, then in the past. His demonic nature was long coming to terms with being consumed by the sense of self. A new light, and the sight he discovered when he became the new "him".
He thought and realized. Even calling it the sense of the universe wasn't that farfetched. Although he never told about it to anyone. Not even his master knew the calling, and he was one of the members of the organization that he used to hate.
Since there was always a way to redo things, revenge and hate could be forged, forgiven, or forgotten in the time of ages.
Marshell led his eyes to different kinds of paths from his previous ones. Only he himself knew the truth about what he wanted.
Secrecy of what occurred by The Ones went hand to hand with his current life. He never felt so peaceful outside of the demonic life.
All he had to do was to act according to their wishes since he was a simple disciple of the official member. Freedom went with it, but unspoken customs between him and his master needed to be done.
Angering anyone would cause displeasure. This was a universal custom that is as long as any Immortal and human civilization. It's about ego, and things about what made a person a person.
As he flew at unimaginable speed, time twisted apart, and wormholes after wormholes appeared. It was his doing, but he couldn't be bothered with looking at this inside light any longer. In such a state, he can't reach out with his senses more than a few dozen meters outside of this cocoon.
This made him very bored, and expectant to end this journey as quickly as possible.
Space ball was long formed in his palm. While he played with it, he formed a connection to his goal. From the inside out, a path was long revealed to his destination that wasn't that far.
A more hours later, he knew the truth. Away from the comet and from the sight of Marshell, space itself twisted apart. Crumbling down, as if the destruction of the universe was happening here for countless years. Even the light would never travel to this part of the universe. Yet, the light which indicated Marshell, never needed to worry about some rules. He flew and disappeared into this twisted space of his own accord.
No one, even if they managed to sense and walk through this twisting space, would notice anything.
It disappeared as if it did not exist.
Like this part of the universe, that shouldn't exist, but it does.
Inside of this strange and weird vortex of space was something that would shake any Immortal. All kinds of destructive shattering spaces were in the area. Twisting space, time, vortexes, and even miniature black holes were constantly destabilizing this space at all times. This was terrible... This space meant no life.
Only destruction was the only constant in this space.
Yet, it all meant nothing to Marshell, as he long stopped his journey and flew outside of the comet.
He appeared as if the vortexes and space-time crack which went against his body meant nothing but the touch of women.
Unhinged and unbreakable was the kind of face on his face at that moment. Half-naked, the cloth that folded around his body wanted to be sucked inside, but it was retrieved by him.
“Oh no. No. No. No. This one is my favorite. I forgot about this mess. How utterly pointless.” He sighed with sadness in his eyes. Unfortunately, no damage was on his cloth, which pleased him very much.
In a few moments of flying, the sight changed into one he found more attractive than dull. Unlike the environment of the comet, he spends long weeks or even months inside.
In this space, far away, yet close to this danger. There was a small, yet partially crumbling planet. There was no core within it any longer. Only vortexes and light were inside. It caused rivers of unknown matter and energy to go from its core into the distance.
It was a tens of thousands of kilometers wide planet.
Though this perspective of size depended on shattered continents. It appeared more destroyed than anything else. Like a planet that was long beyond saving. Yet, Marshell knew there was no destruction on any of this planet. The only ones who were destructive were the Immortals within.
Life was abundant in many parts, which made the continents. The atmosphere and vegetation still lived in them as well. Though some were barren and considered destroyed beyond saving.
By whom?
The owners, of course.
This was the place and main headquarters of The Ones. Outside of the spacetime continuum of the universe, they resided in the pocket, that was undergoing the Shattering. The destructive force of the vortexes wanted to devour this mess for countless years now. So that made this place perfect for the hideout. After all, this space should not exist, yet it thrived on life for countless years already.
Marshell found this sight to be slightly inferior to the cosmos, so he couldn't help but smile.
“Ayayay, How marvelous. I would never guess such a place existed if I would not change my previous life.” He marveled as he floated about 10 thousand kilometers from this planet.
“Time to go, or I will watch this for another century.” He told to himself in a good idea and flew in a few strides of exposition to the surface. Only shimmers of light were in his previous position.
There was no stopping him, as the space here was also free for anyone who knew about it.
He made his entrance known to the many Immortal senses like this. Making the grand entrance, he landed in one lovely space of the modest and supervised forest. As if it was the garden of immortals, small lakes and chirps of exotic-looking birds filled the air.
It looked beautiful to behold, apart from the fact that every animal here was humongous. Some were big as trees, while some bathed in entire lakes. Chirping birds of a few meters in height flew towards the new arrival. Chirping the song of happiness and peace, they saw their new guest.
Pondering whether they saw him before or not, they were unsure if he was worth welcoming.
Marshell already knew this familiar place. Yet, those animals around him felt the previous sense of an oppressive demonic being. They did not recognize him. Only the strong could act as if there was their equal. The majority of animals took their time to meet this guess.
That included the dogs, wolfs, horses, lions, panthers, hedgehogs, and many kinds. There were hundreds of species, while most had multiple of the same species to make a group. Most watched from the back or glanced with their questionable, yet prudent eyes. Not one of them straight-up fled from his appearance.
“Hello there, beautiful creatures. I am rather hungry at the moment. I wonder if there is time for one of you to accompany me to the beautiful last moments.” Marshell talked sweetly as if he wanted to seduce some beauty that he had his eyes on for countless years.
All of a sudden, the air changed, and his demeanor too. A layer of oppressive aura shot from his very being. It fell over every animal present and traveled far and wide. It appeared with utmost intent as he planned, and the force he unleashed alerted every single being over hundreds of kilometers.
No one dared to act upon sensing this aura.
In fact, all the animals fled for their lives, while some of the stronger ones went alert, but remained passive. This was not a call of killing intent.
Marshell couldn't help but hum a happy song while stepping left and right. He walked through the forest as if nothing mattered to him. “I've gotten stronger. I've gotten stronger.”
In no time as the animals became alert, someone appeared from beneath the big leaves of the jungle.
Big smile on her lovely face with some dirt on her as well. This was a rather lovely lady who seemed in their 30s.
Jogging in a small hurry, she stopped right before Marshell's face, who wore a stiff, yet obedient face.
“If it isn't little Marshell. What do you think you are alerting all these beings around you? Have they done any wrongdoings to you?” She talked straight into his face.
She would love to do more, but she can't possibly do any better. She was quite shorter than the tall Marshel who was beyond 2 meters tall.
He still said nothing in return as the face of this smiling woman was more than enough for him.
“Still same as ever, yet better than ever. Come here. Come on!” Women pulled her hands across his cheeks and forced him down. With her palms around his head, she watched him rather close after a long time of their separation.
“Have you been well, master?” He said with a stoic and sober face.
“Of course. Of course.”
She let go of her hold as she was satisfied after this little disciple of his greeted her at last.
“You called?”
“Called? Oh, you are here quite faster than I expected. I guess my words still held some meaning for my disciple at least. Hohohoho.” She laughed and hurried into a distance pathway between the trees and vegetation.
“Join me.”
Marshell sighed upon meeting his master after a brief, yet long time. He walked at a slow pace with his master, who was much further on this path.
Quietly and without hurry, he followed his master for a couple of hours, which left him nothing but patience. He had to, or he would... suffer.
After a couple more, Marshell watched as her master stopped by a cover of trees. The light was at the end of this path, which revealed a massive cliff that went below unit its end. Down there was the end of this planet. The end of this path indicated the cliff which was the borders of the many parts of the destroyed planet.
It revealed the tectonic plates and many layers of matter, materials, and things that a planet could have. Though, the most important core was nowhere, as there was none.
He could only see the shimmering majesty of the self-sustaining core, that was long placed there by the rule of The Ones. Though artificial, the energy was by no means any weaker than the matter of the universe.
Everything was made from this matter one way from another.
In the distance from this border, Marshel saw a majestic palace that was stationed between 4 lakes. It protruded there as if it was a prime place on this planet. Big was a weak word to use in conjunction to satisfy the majesty of this palace. Towers, bridges, and decorations of all kinds filled this sight with magic.
Magnificent greenery and light flew from the biggest tower of all. It had a beaming light that made a small sun that beamed around half of a globe on this part of the planet.
One thing which was true in this space like any other. There was no sun or any other planets in this destructing space. So, The Ones knew that making them was much easier than figuring out another planet like this.
All life had to be managed, served, and cared for by the rules of each owner of the shattered parts of this planet. That means continents that had rules on their own. The owners were the members of The Ones.
Marshell's master was such a person. Her love and care for life held the most value to her, so she managed this place according to her will.
Not everyone was like her, to say the least, but the sight on this part was like any other. Other members of The Ones could hardly compete with her in terms of beauty and nature. Although, some thought little of this place, as their values differed completely from hers.
Watching from afar, Marshell was not bored or excited. If it was the first time again to watch this scenery before him, he would be in awe. However, his previous self was gone, and since the last time he came here, he became different from back then.
Appreciation for beauty was different as well, but the magic of the setting was always something he could fancy. That was a basic emotion that no Immortals lacked, unless they wanted to, of course.