A New Beginning?

Step step step, step step step, step step step... step step, step step, step step...

In the end, after just a few hours, with the newly coming out people out of that array's gap, there was a large amount of movement and footsteps sounding as, really, lots of disciples and believers acted as if they haven't had water or food as ordinary people for weeks despite that being possible. Suddenly finding an angel that could bring their previous contract with a devil of their choosing to a null and accept them into paradise instead, nothing could be better than that, and the food and water they so much longer for was soon to come just as an extra.

Ciemnosc had been looking around as everyone else moved forth, ignoring him completely and letting him have some peace, but that was not so for every single person within the crowd. He might have been left alone and in peace from the sides and the front, but as he faced the array’s gap like a treasure, his back was set on with many furious, confused, and hateful eyes trying to skin him alive with the marvelous power of ripping him apart with just their gaze.

That was at least so when it happened, while a great majority of the crowd walked up and just like they had once done with their previous organizations as they painstakingly joined it, they filled up forms and answered the questions they were asked. Slowly but with efficient quickness, more than 60% of the more than half a million disciples and believers… came to form part of the so-called Rocaloi Academy.

There would’ve been more but, when some were being recruited and their facial expressions were fully unease, when they saw the conditions for joining the Rocaloi Academy being that of completely leaving their previous organization and to be ‘refuged’ in this new organization instead - something clicked in their hearts as they simply backed away.

Nobody looked weird on them though. They were too busy trying to find the future they felt they were supposed to have and also suddenly being bombarded inside their heads and hearts with the things they once loved and adored but now deemed unworthy of themselves. Family, a doggy, kitty, any pet, to even a single stupid little thing that they hadn’t seen or tasted in a long time; it all seemed to somehow resurface as they went over to seek all opportunity.

But the rest of that 40% stayed, only. However, to witness so many of them were just unhesitatingly joining this Rocaloi ‘Academy’ that popped out of nowhere. Their mindsets might be strong enough to know how difficult and impossible this all seemed, but it was right in front of their eyes, and it was also quite meaningful.

‘They didn’t expect us to just keep it to ourselves after telling us this much, did they?’ They thought to themselves, as they were practically allowed to walk free without anyone encircling them nor with the Obsidiafying realm cultivators giving them another gaze since the recruitment procedures commenced. And even Ciemnosc was just standing there in the same spot with his swords slowly crumbling to the ground on their own after enduring quite a lot.

Many of those who were in that 40% were just looking on, some hesitating to go back there and register, either because of the desire and not really having much else in their ‘major’ organization as only a few thousand from tens of millions of disciples ever get the chance to perhaps have a master every hundred of years…

Or because they had the idea of acting as spies for their ‘major’ organization. But they, altogether, were either respectively too proud to go back there and go under the recruitment of this ‘Academy’ once more and felt as if they shouldn’t anymore as they were already once accepted by a major organization, after all!

While the others would then be afraid of liking it too much just that simple, and end up turning into a student rather than staying a disciple or believer. It was such an ironic mindset, but they all watched until the recruitment seemed to have finished, the others entering the Rocaloi Academy without caring about their ‘major’ organization.

…And it was quite different for the ones, the 60%, that chose to join on the other hand and with a much larger variety of thoughts, mindsets, and heartfelt emotions for their real future.

Some were ecstatic, silently realizing this was what they had been looking for since they were still ‘mortals’. Some were still doubtful with some of them feeling as if they were spies that just were glad enough to participate, not caring about the work that a spy would have to do when in a job… And others simply had so many more emotions like remembering their ‘mortal’ lives, remembering the friends or even lovers they’ve lost either by death separating them or by a rich another party…

And even as some held the thought of simply coming here and joining this Rocaloi Academy just to experience, then find all the faults and desert and find a way ‘back home’ to ask for forgiveness from their ‘major’ organization… It was all in their heads while their hearts thought differently, while their feet willingly moved forth into that array’s gap, leaving their previous ‘mission target’ behind and not caring one bit about their ‘strict’ orders.

“...” And so, in-between these 2 groups, one stepping west still but with such a difference from just a few hours ago. While the other one was going back towards the west, back to tell their major organizations of the discovery of a strong enemy, one that even dared steal their comrades away by enticing them with trickery and whatever else - or so would they like for the real deal to be like.

But no matter what, with such an obvious appearance of this new academy, the whole world was about to change and that was something even someone like gramma Jing Zhu wouldn’t be able to do anything about. Let alone Ciemnosc, who looked back at the ‘defeated’ fewer for the last time while hugging his shoulders and returning his gaze to the front, where there were a few Obsidiafying realm cultivators already waiting for him with light smiles.

“... I take it that… You’re expecting something from me?” Ciemnosc spoke, his darkest eyes looking up at the people standing right before him. There wasn’t the old man around nor the grandma, as they seemed too busy dealing with the more than 300,000 newly recruited students. Even though for them it might be just a couple of words to have their academy’s staff mobilized, they really seemed to care about these new students.

And what else, it was Ciemnosc himself who realized how dumbly peculiar one’s cultivation could grow in the correct conditions and not just getting a lot of pure energy to be infused into their bodies; refining it, and then making it their Power Energy. It was rather simple, but it seemed to not even be thought about as if the similarity that it had with training like mortals was too humiliating for cultivators to also employ upon their organization’s members and even for those who are rogue, lonely, and/or wandering cultivators.

“Buo- hohoho, haha!” One middle-aged man that looked like a neat man laughed out uncontrollably, restraining himself afterwards as he cleared his throat, then spoke to Ciemnosc with a light smile and a calm tone. “Ciemnosc, this is nothing like that. Uh, but… there might be many things that you’ll be explaining soon. Whatever you want to do afterwards is up to you.”

“Like what?” Ciemnosc asked out loud again, while the Obsidiafying realm cultivators gestured for him to begin walking with them, making way and without trying to encircle him nor to sandwich him between each other. Merely, there were a couple of Obsidiafying realm cultivators at the rear with one of them being that neat middle-aged man.

As Ciemnosc walked to the front, onwards to the array’s gap that supposedly hid an entire academy built around a mountain that wasn’t really that large and definitely not like those surrounding the Moribund Yearning Cult or farther to the northern west of the Region. It was a simple mountain, but this one had a much larger diameter of around 2,000 kilometers even though it didn’t have more than 300 meters in height.

Step, step, step…

Ciemnosc and the 2 Obsidiafying realm cultivators began walking side by side, the latter standing to his right as the boy examined the mountain ahead trying to find its cute little secrets. The neat middle-aged man’s words arrived at his ears at this moment, “Do you see the array? We are actually feeling quite haughty that you weren’t able to discover us even after a few days of analyzing you and those enemies of yours.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Ciemnosc looked at the middle-aged man, giving him just a side glance. The middle-aged man ruefully smiled slightly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put it that. It was just that your Spirit Sense is a lot, Ciemnosc. We are afraid to approach you… when so many things have been reported through the ‘major’ organizations of the Region’s channels. Even a saint would burst with insanity if they were to be cornered afterwards.”

“Let me just tell you, in the name of the Rocaloi Academy, Ciemnosc. That we are looking forward to helping you succeed in bringing… this whole planet to an era in which we are no longer separated from the rest of the world anymore.” The neat middle-aged man said it and his face instantly lost focus as he glanced at the array’s gape, without focus and lost in himself.

With his Spirit Sense, Ciemnosc was also able to see how every other Obsidiafying realm cultivator’s face became more or less of the same kind, there weren’t even a dozen of them behind them for about 50 meters, and following them just to try to give Ciemnosc space.

“Then.” Ciemnosc spat out, darkly and without much emotion… Only, that did not make the neat middle-aged man doubtful or grow to dislike Ciemnosc, and the middle-aged man even continued with a slight nod while alternating his gaze from Ciemnosc to the array’s gap consistently.

“Our academy has been hidden for really a couple hundred thousand years. It’s been a long time since we decided to embark on this path. And the reasons are inexplicable, for all we have to rely on is the records of a pair of eminences that have long been forgotten.” The middle-aged man began to elaborate.

“Our academy’s hopes and aims are not global domination, or of the whole Region like it is with practically any other organization in this world… though that makes us all a bit sad.” The middle-aged man eloquently spoke, “All we are desiring, since the foundation of our academy, is bringing this world to the glory that it once had… To return to such an era of simple marvelous recognition all across the entire world.”

“You, and anyone who isn’t at the best possible seat within the academy, which is quite a lot of people as you can imagine, do not know this, Ciemnosc.” The middle-aged man gently talked to Ciemnosc as if trying to gain his attention but received only lifeless, incredible, and incredibly dark eyes. “Our world, this planet, is just a little rock compared to the past it used to have before with not even the recent visitors having found out about this little place thanks to this array.”

“Then, only from those words alone, how secretive do you think the knowledge we possess, Ciemnosc, really is?”

“!?” Ciemnosc’s head made a turn and directed his face towards the sky, his darkest eyes astoundingly looking into the dark, deep blue sky, and he suddenly felt lost for a second there. As if his whole body had emptied out and he was becoming practically nothingness. But that was a misconception… perhaps.

“What a reaction, boy, ahaha!” The meat middle-aged man chuckled out loud, bringing Ciemnosc back from his stupor as he was waking up, and allowing the latter to sense so many mouths grinning as they witnessed Ciemnosc’s weird reactions.

“Ugh, so… sir, you still are not answering my question,” Ciemnosc said with his eyes rolling downwards. He felt like becoming too lazy to even breathe but held that childish thought in and politely said.

The middle-aged man smiled, nodding slowly at Ciemnosc before facing the front once more, which at this point had already been ‘freed’ of so many people walking into it and looked ultra lonely now. “Our academy cannot achieve this, it has been, as you’ve been told twice already, hundreds of thousands of years and we have still not even achieved the next realm! Let alone taking the first step into bringing this world to its previous glory.”

“Only with you, Ciemnosc, someone with such… powerful battle prowess. Someone with incredible Spirit Sense! Unbelievable cognitive capabilities that are already beyond what any Obsidiafying realm cultivator has ever been capable of, every art that a Craftsperson can become a professional, yet you Ciemnosc are the only one in all of history to not only be capable of learning them and to an advanced degree to an incredibly high level - you are also doing it at the same time and without becoming lacking in another profession of a Craftsperson!”

“Everyone that surrounds you can get to know what you are capable of even if they have a wrong opinion about you, Ciemnosc, it isn’t because of your looks or ‘elegance’ that others train hard to attain. It is because of your unstoppable self you can never stop learning and even advancing where we, the Rocaloi Academy, had never seen in all of history and the ancient records altogether.”

Up to here, the middle-aged man had become so excited and full of activity in his brain that he didn’t notice how crazed his eyes were, veneration, respect, and admiration drowning anyone who saw his pair of eyes.

“You even remind the old, nostalgic old men of the academy believe you are a reincarnation of our 2 eminences who have come back to this putrid world for the sake of raising it up into its past glory. It's past glory!! Ciemnosc! The things you are to accomplish in just a few hundred years could compare to millions of years that the world we are living in has spent reaching up to this point in history where it is all finally going to change!”

“...” Ciemnosc was silent, very silent alright. But even if he didn’t want to believe all of this seemingly nonsense, it was just a truth that he was that incredible. Be it with the flora or fauna, he now seemed to know it all, maybe not the names of those he had somehow not seen up until before he broke through into the Spirit Gathering realm. Maybe recognizing their capabilities, specialties, and even their blood or origin.

And be it in the case of the alchemy, his way of simply understanding what the flora could… feel and could even understand the value of self-sacrificing so selflessly, or the way in which he just seemed to easily get into and through the heart of every Creature he has put his eyes on, sometimes even abusing it to capture a few difficult, small and really fast ones to enjoy their flesh, blood, and nutrition to his own unique body.

Or the manner in which he was just able to flawlessly follow up and improvise the forging of weapons, armor, and tools, enjoying it like a child simply enjoying playing with plastic.

To even the way he could just start inscribing array formations after being taught about them, not even needing more than a few weeks to master the elementary ones. This wasn’t just Ciemnosc having talent, this was Ciemnosc being… so Ciemnosc! It wasn’t just because of his innate capabilities, that would be simply stupid and even outside in the entire world, that might not even be seen; ever!

The middle-aged man’s words awoke a certain train of thought within Ciemnosc’s mind, and that was unbeknownst to the neat middle-aged man himself, let alone anyone else nearby. As the former kept talking, “I am even inclined to believe that you are¡ not that far off from those outside of this, err… ‘dying’ planet of ours. Their talent, which must be already far beyond our knowledge and provided with the rich knowledge of billions of years of living like kings and queens may surpass you - but that is only because you had to be born on this failing planet, Ciemnosc!”

Tap, tap.

The neat middle-aged man softly and lightly planted his palms on Ciemnosc’s shoulders, stopping everyone from walking and making them all turn to look at them. “You are the Rocaloi Academy’s savior, Ciemnosc. You can be this planet’s savior, Ciemnosc. You can bring every single living being on this putrid planet to ascendency, a feat no one but you could ever accomplish, Ciemnosc!!”

“And so?” Ciemnosc was silent as he looked back at this Obsidiafying ream cultivator at the 10th stage, the peak of this world since gramma Jing Zhu self-sacrificed herself just so that he could live on. But his hands were not limiting his movements and instead, he felt extremely light still.

“And so, Ciemnosc, we would be more than glad to pave that road for you.” The neat middle-aged man said, his face recomposing as his eyes glinted with apologetic flashes before becoming determined as they were set on Ciemnosc’s darkest and lifeless eyes.

Ciemnosc’s mind was still ongoing, looking at the middle-aged man’s face, but not looking at the middle-aged man’s face at the same time… He said, quietly, a bit softly too. “I need time to think.”

His words were a bit dragged on, paused, and with different volumes here and there but not too far apart from each other. And that whole set of words was all that those around him needed to feel at peace. Knowing that many things, good things, were indeed coming. And they felt good about that, of course, that there was some pride in being ‘the ones to accept him first’, but they also felt like angels bringing a lost holy son back into the heavens.

Goodwill and pride were mixed in their eyes, hearts, minds, and ‘souls’, as they looked at Ciemnosc, who was currently in need of caring more about his mentality. And such a mix, maybe it wasn’t a good thing; just maybe.

“Of course Ciemnosc, please come in, let me show you into you- into our home and where you can stay and rest.” The neat middle-aged man said, stepping aside and revealing the array’s gap just one meter in front of Ciemnosc’s eyes and feet. With a smile, the middle-aged man gestured to Ciemnosc to go in first and also gave the boy a little pat on his sturdy, strong back - not knowing he almost broke his own left wrist doing that.

“...” Ciemnosc didn’t even nod as those lifeless darkest eyes of his turned to the center, and all around the array’s gap, his mouth fully relaxed, which was quite protruding forwards. His slightly thicker lower lip, and his seemingly small but thin and delicate upper lip; both were slightly pale but contained such rich handsomeness and charm that made him look almost devilishly.

With simple thoughts and with a non-polarized point of view of this world… anymore… Ciemnosc stepped into the Rocaloi Academy.

…