Eridel was not a bully… Correction, Eridel was not a bully to his own residents. He didn’t create a Tribulation because it was fancy and certainly not because he was scared of them causing some kind of ‘uprising’. Nay, it was much deeper than that.
In the wide universe there existed a Law that was always overlooked but caused one of the highest death rates out of all the Laws. This was the Law of Fortune.
When Fortune looked upon you with grace, you were destined for success. When Fortune looked upon you with disdain, you were destined for doom.
Obviously, a lot of people knew that but rarely did anyone truly believe it. But it was true and Eridel knew it. He also had a small understanding of the mechanisms of the Law of Fortune and its ties with the Law of Fate.
This enabled him to see the dark path that all the champions of his World would have had if he didn’t put a stop to it.
What many people didn’t know was that every Time a Life Form twisted its fate and overcame its life-changing obstacles, their Fortune was used up. Every time they survived their calamities that normally would have killed them… They stole from Fate.
Of course, there were many ways for Fortune to go up and down but that didn’t take away from the fact that ALL heroes eventually faced a miserable ruination. There was a reason why the quote ‘Die a Hero or live long enough to see yourself become a Villain’ existed. The people thought that it was just a funny phrase but… little did they know.
Heroes don’t just become Villains for entertainment, they became villains because of the boundless sorrow that pushed them over the edge.
Someone like Asura who was initially a lowly Ogre but went on to become the Lord of all Monsters had unknowingly sold buckets of Fortune in exchange for Fate. But it was actually more accurate to say that he stole from Fate and Fate took away his Fortune in retaliation.
If things went as it is… Asura was finished. It was actually quite bad, maybe his wife would be r*ped and his children devoured before his eyes after being betrayed by his own subordinates who then decided to burn his soul for a hundred years whilst showing him the enslavement of his few remaining descendants. If Asura by some miracle (which by the way would steal more Fate) managed to escape, how could his soul not be twisted beyond recognition, how could unlimited hatred not consume his thoughts? How could he not… become the villain?
That was how petty and savage Fortune could be when it lost all of its favour for you.
But fear not for Eridel had already cracked the cheat code.
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This is where the Tribulations come in. Eridel had set the Tribulations in place as a means for Fate to set in place a proper punishment for those who take from it. In exchange, it would give the Fortune back and all would be well… if they survived.
The white coloured Soul Tribulation that Asura had received at the end was a manifestation of the gallons of Fate that he had absorbed and what he must properly pay for.
But taking your Fortune back was not all there was to the Tribulations. Not in the slightest.
Not only did the Tribulations give you your Fortune back, but the Tribulation Lights themselves actually benefited the body. They vaporised impurities and purified the Mana (or other substitute) inside the body. They also altered the body to make it more perfect for cultivation, becoming more sensitive and receptive to essence of all kinds.
Just the fact that the Tribulations would give you back your Fortune was enough to cause a ruckus in the Law Worlds. But now they can also help to grant you a body that’s more perfect for cultivation too?! Madness!
Any yet.
That was not all.
Eridel watched as the bodies of the Beasts and Monsters that had entered the 4th Realm began to change.
…
Asura’s body began to softly float as sudden wind currents gathered around him and the Magic Energy in the vicinity rose like a tsunami before flooding straight into his body.
After 5 minutes of soaking up untold amounts of Magic Energy, Asura’s 5 metre tall body began to shrink as the wounds on his body began to simultaneously heal.
After his body was reduced to 2 metres tall, his body started experiencing grand alterations. First, his second pair of arms receded into his body as if they were illusions.
Next was the colour of his skin; the colour had changed into a very light grey that was much paler in comparison to his original skin colour but still remained healthy looking. In fact, it actually looked slightly luminous. On top of that the skin was very, very smooth. There were no imperfections or scars to hide its strangely alien beauty.
After that was the change in his skeletomuscular system. Asura’s body seemed to have been… refined? His muscles were shorter, less bulky and instead more streamlined. His body looked like it was directly configured for combat, making him look like an apex humanoid male. His face had changed, looking much more handsome and containing a devilish charm that would prove to be fatal to females of any humanoid species.
Even his hair had changed; Elongating until it reached the middle of his back and becoming more lustrous and voluminous as if he had never lived in the wild for nearly 130 years.
Last but not least were the extra pair of horns that had appeared on each side of his forehead. Now, Asura had a total of four black, jagged horns that pierced towards the sky with the original ones on the sides of his head being more curled.
Asura had become a Greater Demon. The 4th Realm that all Monsters must reach or die trying.
Asura’s body gracefully floated back to the ground with one foot stepping first as his eyes slowly opened, portraying the elegance of a Greater Demon that his previous form completely lacked.
“Well then… This is interesting. Come out Babunda, let me see your face.”
RUSTLE