Ever since my parents died I've been alone, I'm not sure how my father died... but I know how my mother died. As far as I know my father did something wrong which caused the villagers to hate us, so much so that one day a group of teenagers surrounded us and started beating my mother. I was only 4 at the time. She shielded me with her body, I still remember them laughing while they continue beating her. They skin on my face, arms, and legs were chafed off as we were kicked over and over again causing as to slide on the paving. While I was screaming and crying an adult finally came over only to laugh and say "That is probably enough... for today anyway."
After another couple of kicks and one spitting on us they left. I crawled out from underneath my mother only to be struck with terror as I saw her not moving at all. I tried to get an adult to come help but... they just kicked me and yelled at me to leave, the nice ones did only that. I sat with my mother's corpse for hours... until the village chief suddenly appeared, staring at me with an odd face, he wasn't glad that my mother was dead and that I was in pain like all the other people. Thinking about it now he was probably feeling guilty.
He cast a fire spell on my mother's corpse turning her to ash, waving his hand the ash blew away, and disappeared from my view. He bent down and picked me up by clutching my throat. He took a step forward and we appeared in front of my house.
When we arrived at my house he just threw me into the yard surrounded by a small wooden fence, he placed his hand on the soil at the entrance of the fence after which his hand starting glowing blue, he then used his finger to draw some shapes in the soil then he placed his hand on the shapes again, after which a blue-ish bubble similar to the one surrounding the entire village appeared enclosing the yard completely he then stood up and looked very tired. Thinking back now this was probably also done out of guilt.
I could still enter and exit as if the bubble wasn't there but if any of the villagers tried to enter they would be stopped by the bubble. Inside it was completely silent, no voices from the teenagers outside, no noise, nothing. As time went on as it does I adapted, the villagers started ignoring me instead of chasing me away. It could be because I simply stopped interacting with anyone from that day on, when they approached me I would run back to the bubble. It could also be that the chief placed the bubble around the house indicated he was protecting me in a way that required as little effort on his part as possible... or he avoided me out of guilt. Since that day once a week a basket full of food would be placed just outside of the bubble, by whom? I don't know.
Life went on, I was never trained how to be strong, to cultivate, like the other kids but I did learn how to be silent and how to be unseen. It hurt whenever I caught someone looking at me; it pulled me out of my own world and into theirs, where I am the rejected. In my world I am the shadow that observes, their lives and my life was unrelated as far as I was concerned.
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Today I was once again sitting on the roof of my house peering at the life outside my bubble of peace. In front, to my left and to my right are simple stone houses surrounded by wooden fences. All built on the side of a mountain. The higher up the larger the houses are, at the very top of the mountain is the chiefs mansion. Behind me is the edge of the bigger bubble surrounding the entire village, from where I am looking I can see the entire village. In the distance I see the forest that surrounds the entire village bubble which covers the entire mountain.
There are only about 1000 people in the entire village, and 300 houses all together, but the houses just below the chief’s house are 20 times the size small houses at the bottom. They only consist of 2 rooms. All the homes were built in the same style, all the roads look the same, everything is the same... as if someone planned the entire town in 5 minutes.
At the base of the mountain is a field which is currently occupied by all the children in the village except for me. It is the training field where lectures are given on how to cultivate. I've tried going but the teenagers always chase me away. I can essentially go anywhere in the village except the top of the mountain and the training field. I don't know what is at the top of the mountain other than the chief’s mansion but I do know that the lectures given at the training field teaches you how to cultivate...
I can only come to the conclusion that the chief ordered the teenagers to chase me away from the training field for some reason. The top of the mountain is only accessible to the chief and his family members though, is it always guarded, I have checked.
I know that they teach the children how to cultivate because I read about it in the books that my parents had. Problem is that the entire collection of books only consist of a couple of books that teach you how to read, a dictionary translating to some language no one here ever talks, a thesaurus in the other language, and cultivation notes from my ancestors. It seems that all the books assume you attend the village's cultivation lectures. Thus I have some notes about breaking through from a 3 star apprentice warrior to a 1 star journeyman warrior, how to make mana regeneration potions and stuff like that... but there is nothing about how to actually cultivate, how to get started, how to get strong. I think the chief doesn't want me to cultivate for some reason.
As I stare in the direction of the training field with nothing but yearning in my heart a figure appears about 50m into the air.
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"Home sweet home, it has been too long." I muse to myself as reach the nexus point in Gold hearth city. A nexus point is where an immortal made the connection between the alpha world and his microcosm. An anchoring point of sorts. Once one gains a sufficient amount of power and breaks free from the ravages of time you gain the power to make a microcosm, a miniature world, well miniature compared to the alpha world. The alpha world is the origin world, where everyone came from, it is endless. I've been alive a long time and I've never met anyone didn't agree with me on that point.
We immortals tend to place our nexus points in large cities. We have absolute control over entry and exit into the microcosms thus safety isn't really a problem, so the more the merrier.
I appear in the air above the training field, a little over 300 years and everything is still the same. It is good to be home.
I peer down and look at the young-ins who are busy practicing body reinforcement, none of them are any good though... doesn't look like there are any good seeds this generation either. 'Someone is looking at me?' I look in the direction I feel the gaze from only to see something odd.
Sitting on a rooftop is a boy probably about 8 years old. Purple hair and purple eyes? Could it be?
I move to the boy as fast as possible, barely feeling as the protection formation placed around his house shatters as I speed through it. As I appear in front of the boy he simply raises an eyebrow as if watching everything as an observer?
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
I place my hand on his head, scanning his body and soul. 'Space affinity! not just space affinity, water and wind affinities as well? no, it is an ice affinity!'
"Marvellous! You have affinities for space and ice! What is your name boy? why aren't you training?" he didn't have any cultivation, he should never have trained...
"Robert and they would not let me to train." he answers curtly, as if getting bored with me he looks in the direction of the forest. Odd though, I gave Dirk the order to train all the children, all of them.
I send out my consciousness and tell him to immediately come here. I remember a protection formation shattering, was it placed around this child's house? was he imprisoned?
Dirk rushes from his mansion at the top of mountain down here, an ecstatic look evident on his face until he notices the child? now he seems flustered, uncomfortable, guilty?
"Master, disciple pays a visit!" he bows to me only to once again glance at the child when he stands up straight. He hovers in the air a couple of meters away from the boy. An ability a warrior gains when he gains a sufficient level power.
"What is going on here Dirk!" I ask him with a raised voice, which echoes throughout the village.
"I...I...I...can explain... his father killed a dragonling and was promptly killed by the rest of the hunting group, my grandson was the one that struck him down. He didn't want to waste the dragon corpse and considering that the dragonling core's affinity matched my grandson's he consumed it and managed to breakthrough, becoming a 1 star champion! He is very talented."
The warrior rankings are 1-3 star apprentice, 1-3 star journeyman, and 1-3 star champion. Once one breaks through 3-star champion rank you achieve immortality.
What sets magical beasts apart from sentient races is that they have magical cores instead of dantians. When they die cultivators can harvest the cores and use it in various ways, one way is to directly consume it increasing your chances of breaking through... at the cost of making future progress more difficult.
I growl as I listen to this obvious bullshit, "I wanted to know why this child hasn't been afforded the opportunity to cultivate but since you want to delve into past matters I shall oblige, SHEN!" he pales upon hearing the final word I called out...
Why did he mention his grandson's potential?
In the distance I can see a radiant blue 30 meter long dragon rise into the air. Gigantic wings, long slender body like a snake and 4 claws, in a flash accompanied by a clap of thunder the dragon is only meters away from me, shrunken to only a few meters. The boy perks up at the presence of the dragon, observing it with interest.
"Big brother, it has been too long!" my magical beast companion, whom I personally hatched when I was in my early 100's. He achieved immortality before me but chose to stay with me, such a good brother. Suddenly Shen looks at Dirk and starts releasing his mana and pushes down on him.
"Brother, this man's descendant killed one of my offspring..." he talks slowly, enunciating every single syllable. I think he might be enraged.
"He claims it was this child's father that killed your descendant, he says his grandson only consumed the dragonling's core because it happened to be have the same affinity as he does... After he killed this child's father for apparently killing the dragonling."
"Truly? When my descendants reported to me what occurred it sounded a bit different, it was more along the lines of a this man's grandson wanted to hunt the dragonling only to be stopped by whom I assume to this child's father. He was then killed by the combined effort of the hunters after which this man's grandson slaughtered my descendant and consumed his core. A few days later this man appeared before trying to negotiate something; I decided it was better to wait for you. Especially since I remember you making a rule that no one was allowed to slay my descendants."
At this point Dirk is pale as snow, visibly shaking. The boy, Robert, on the other hand has perked up a bit and is staring at Dirk as if he gained some understanding... he probably didn't know, the villagers on the other hand... they probably knew from the start and went along with the lie for some reason, has Dirk and his family been acting rampantly in my absence? But where is the child's mother? grandparents?
"Boy, where is your mother? Grandparents?" I ask out of curiosity, his father was killed, but his mother should be alive. This is my descendant village, it is safe. At the same time I tell Shen "Little brother, call some of your descendants to sniff out dirks descendants and bring them all here." He simply nods and growls in the direction where he came from.
I flick my finger in the direction of Dirk's dantian, shooting out a lightning bolt. His dantian is instantly shattered, he drops like a stone into the ground, he is uninjured considering the strength of his body, he dropped to about 3 star journeyman rank? I ignore is his wails, he must be having a mental breakdown considering he was 1 step away from immortality. Most people wait till the end of their natural life spans before trying to break through to the immortal realm since the chance of success is so low, the extra time can only increase your chances.
The boy looks away from Dirk to face me with surprise evident on his face, "They killed her, the teenagers. We were walking down the street, they then surrounded us and started beating her. She shielded me with her body. They didn't stop until an adult said 'That is probably enough... for today anyway' if I remember correctly. She was dead. Chief burnt her corpse, brought me back here and made the shiny bubble. I don't know about my grandparents, never had any?"
Rage starts boiling up in me... what has happened to my peaceful home... what has Dirk and his descendants DONE! Did he think I would be gone for far longer, giving him time to do as he pleases and then by the time I get back he would either be dead or be an immortal? I don't know what he was planning but I owe a debt to this child and his family. Letting trash like this into my microcosm, I will have to visit Dirk's family in Gold Hearth city after this, collect some debt.
At this time all manner of dragons fly over here from the direction of the top of the mountain, each carrying one of Dirk's descendants. Some of whom look worse for where... they thought they could fight Shen's descendants?
Magical beasts life spans are tens of times longer than humans, this is especially true for dragons. Their top ranked experts tend to build up over time... it comes at a cost though, when the world's order gives with one hand it takes with another. Magical beasts that reach immortality do not gain the ability to make their own microcosms. This is probably why Shen stayed with me ever after he achieved immortality before me, though I would never say it out loud.
This is getting too complicated, and this child's mentality is odd to say the least. "HA! I Know!" I have a brilliant idea of how to solve all these problems in one fell swoop. I just have to cut my losses and start over.
Flashing around the entire village I place composite formations directly onto every single resident's soul except for the boy and those under the age of 10 and are not descendants of Dirk. Teleporting all of them out into Gold Hearth city, but not before shattering the dantians of all of the Champions with Dirk's blood in them. This earns a slight nod from Shen.
Shen seems to have guessed what I'm planning and motions for his descendants to depart with their now empty claws. He knows me this well? Well it isn't as if something like this hasn't happened before. I do feel better knowing none of those scum are in my microcosm anymore and I can spend my time fixing the children.
I look back at the boy who has been staring at everything with a certain degree of detachment. I take out of a transparent orb I picked up a couple of millennia ago, some crafty mage developed it. Still holding it in my hand I press it against his forehead while he is still just curiously staring at me.
The moment the orb comes in contact with his forehead purple stars explode forth. Looking around in a diameter of at least a hundred meters the air is filled with purple stars interspersed with a far smaller number of ice shards. Well this is a surprise...
He is a mage? If the purple stars and ice shards were on the inside of the orb he would be a warrior, the brightness of the light would have indicated the level of his affinities but since it is on the outside he is a mage where the diameter and concentration determines the level of his affinities. The difference between warriors and wages are that warriors have a lower dantian in their abdomen and mages have an upper dantian in their forehead. The simplest difference would be that warriors use skills with their body and mages use spells with their consciousness. Mages can use skills and warriors can cast spells but... the power of a warrior's spell would be a mere tenth as strong as a mages spell of the same rank.
This is problematic, I could probably train a mage with an ice affinity but a mage with a space affinity... it would be detrimental to his future if I were to try and teach him.
"Good news, bad news, and good news boy. You have a supreme space affinity and an exceptional ice affinity, I couldn't possibly be your master as I don't know enough about space element spells, but I know a guy that does, who just so happens to owe me a favour! Lucky right?" This little bastard is just staring at me again, still the same detached curiosity.
"Shen!" I take out one of my inter-spatial rings from my necklace around my neck which is filled with them, place a tracking formation on it, take out everything, fill it up with superior mana crystals, from what I understand the materials needed to help a mage gain a greater understand of the space element are quite expensive... Shen arrives with his characteristic flash and bang.
"Take the boy to Leeroy and tell him teach him everything he knows." Shen nods. I toss the ring at Shen. "Give the ring to Leeroy and tell him that once the boy has some mana he has to give him the ring." Shen catches the ring with one of his claws.
"Boy once you have learnt everything from Leeroy you can come back here for the tracking signature of all those that I kicked out, you can then take your revenge as you please." Finally I see a spark in his eyes but it disappears instantaneously. "I placed a composite formation on all of them that will halt their cultivation. You don't have to rush, train patiently. I will be waiting."
Shen motions with his claw at the boy who floats up onto his back. Shen then teleports out of my microcosm, I gave him free reign to enter and exit as he pleases ages ago. Literal ages.
I look down at the now near empty village except for the 20 or so children who are clearly panicking. The population is a bit small; I'll have to go catch a couple of talented children again...
I should start enforcing the rule that no one above journeyman rank is allowed in here again, unless this mess repeats itself.
It is time to go visit Dirk's family as well as go capture some children.