!!!!! Pr Credits To Draconis Von BloodTrap & Dragonofsomesort Who Constantly Help With SR chapters, Please take the time to rep them for their work :)
just some notes inside for anyone interested.
Spoiler :
I was going to post a long paragraph about some so called "reader" who criticized me with false points after pretending he read my story, but i honestly cant be bothered to feed any trolls.
That being said, on a positive note, early chapter! also i was quite happy recently when i was writing 139 and 140 because i think i found my pacing plot wise, i'l admit Seleria was a mess but as a new starting amateur web author i was bound to make mistakes and stumble a bit, i hope with v5 i can bring you all a more stable story pacing. what i admire most about Chinese Xianxia novels and Korean light novels is that their pacing seems to make every chapter hit a certain note and end it on a certain note without leaving anything unchecked, i'm still far from that but i'm learning.
Also just a reminder to you all, i am not trying to write a xianxia novel and i'm not trying to write a western novel. I am trying to find my own mix of excitement in literature. That being said i do plan to add some nice jokes referencing puns/slang used in xianxia novels such as "give me face" or "Mt Tai" or my personal favorite "didn't know whether to laugh or cry" i truly think it would add to the comedy aspect for Avrin to react to those accordingly.
Btw i'v been reading over the Pred copies of SR's chapters and going over it im honestly proud to have dedicated readers to pr. Both of those guys are doing a great job especially organizing paragraphs and picking up on minor things but more importantly the grammatical errors and replacing words with things that sound better, you should all know that i always write these notes as i'm about to post a chapter so it is not Pred other then me going over it, so please cut those two some slack.
Important
I'm Looking for a proficient Pr who loves my second story Ethereal Sovereign to Pr what i have completed, i dont have anything special to give in return but you will receive a look at the artwork of spectral regalia early as well as get the raw copies to read before they are pred if you are to eager, also you will have access to the drive folder where i write the raw's for both ES and Sr.
I'm honestly looking for someone reliable and who wont suddenly vanish. Someone who can keep communication and most importantly is good with Grammar
feel free to PM me, please know if i don't reply it means i'v received dozens upon dozens of Pms so in advance i apologize to those i cant reply to on time :(
---------------
The small girl wasn't sure what she saw at first, but when she stepped closer and pushed away some of the shrubbery, her face paled and the small basket she held dropped to the ground. She looked at the resting Avrin with fright and fell to her knees as her little body quivered. The scene of blood was all too etched into her mind.
She remained like this for nearly a minute before she regained some composure. “What do I do!” She said, not too loud nor too quiet. She stood up nervously and carefully approached Avrin, her small legs were shaking with fright. She found a nearby stick and carefully leaned down, picking it up and continuing to walk towards Avrin. She extended the tip of the stick with intention to poke him. “M-Maybe I should get Grandma...” She muttered as the stick got closer.
Right as it was about to touch his side, his eyes snapped open and he reached out on reflex, clutching his hand over the stick before glancing at the girl. Of course, the poor girl hadn’t received such a deep fright for a long time. She jumped back and screamed, tripping over herself and falling on her butt. Fortunately, no one would notice a difference dirt over her already dirty dress.
“I’m sorry, Mister, please don’t hurt me!” She quickly curled up and moved her arms over her face, expecting the worst. She was used to expecting pain, but as she waited, nothing happened. Her closed eyes slowly and cautiously opened, only to see the bloodied Avrin sit up.
Avrin wasn’t focusing on her. He had recovered a little, although his body was hurting all over, he tried to will dark matter over his wounds. He turned to see his right arm was still a stump that was barely being healed, his left arm, of course was still mangled but had healed up enough to have let him grab the stick she tried poking him with.
His legs were still gone, but looking at his current situation, Avrin’s lips curled into a wide grin as a set of veins pressed against the skin of his forehead. “Orphelium, huh. Next time I see you, I’m going to return what you did many over.” Avrin took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
He began to think carefully. Thankfully, he had quite a significant amount of information regarding common things such as what happens when he is gravely injured. In this case, his body enters a regenerative phase which focuses on restoring the vital operation, stabilizing everything. “-It’s been a long time since I felt the need to breathe. Until I recover, I won’t be able to sustain myself with dark matter. How pathetic-” He couldn’t help but force a smile.
It was only when he turned to glance at the small girl who looked at him with an expression of fear did he remember his whereabouts. He looked at her carefully, mainly at her eyes, noting the interesting color. He then glanced past her, noticing the basket with something in it.
“Girl...you wouldn’t happen to have something to eat, would you?” Avrin’s left eye twitched a little as his stomach grumbled. Right now, he had to embrace his weakness until he recovered enough to sustain himself. The feeling was quite nostalgic.
The girl didn’t dare move an inch even after she heard Avrin speak. She was worried. After all, in her mind, if such an individual who looked as if he was near death was still alive and didn’t appear bothered, someone like that was mysterious and not to be trifled with. “Mister....a...aren’t you going to hurt me?..” She spoke with some worry, as if to confirm it.
“Hurt you? For trying to poke me with a stick? Don’t be silly. I’m not that vengeful.” Avrin’s expression eased up. The fight with Orphelium and the latest events had eased his worry, because his people were now going to be taken care of. He felt as if a huge burden holding him back had been removed. He also felt that his dark matter heart had loosened its control. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his weakened state or not.
The small girl looked at avrin for a few more moments before silently nodding and standing up while keeping both her eyes on him. She carefully walked backwards, not daring to show her back to him, and knelt down beside the basket. Though Avrin kept a calm look, he could tell the girl was frightened and, judging by the scars and bruises on her face, she was no stranger to being hit.
Avrin watched as the girl rolled a fruit the size of an orange towards him. The fruit was blue and looked like an overgrown blueberry with somewhat scaly skin. Avrin reached over with his left hand, ignoring the slight pain, as it was not completely healed, and grabbed the fruit, raising it to his mouth and taking a bite. Almost instantly, his sense of taste was invaded by a sweetness almost like he had bitten into an overgrown pomegranate seed surrounded by sweet, tangy juice. His body tingled slightly.
He took one bite, then another, and before he knew it the fruit in his hand had been completely devoured, with not even the core remaining. He frowned a little, because he found as soon as each mouthful entered his stomach, it would instantly be converted to dark matter and used to heal him.
Avrin gave a reluctant, awkward smile to himself. He felt he knew why Asura and Shandian always ate. He assumed it was possibly the same thing for them. He gave a soft sigh and turned to look at the nervous girl who was still kneeling down, watching him almost like a cornered cat waiting for him to move.
“What’s your name?” Avrin spoke softly. He didn’t want to scare her. He was also in need of someone to tell him about where he was. “Ilisia...” She quietly murmured in a barely audible tone. She was trying her best not to shake. She wasn’t sure what to do. “-I should have stayed home today.... Why!! Why did I have to go out to pick fruit today!-” It was then that small tears began to form under her eyes.
Avrin’s expression twisted a little, as he felt wronged. She was going to cry, but he hadn't done anything. “Hey.. Don’t cry. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m sorry if I frightened you. As you can see, I’m not really in a good position, heh.” He wanted to hold himself back from laughing, as he remembered his current situation it was funny for an unknown reason to him. It was only a second later that he saw that she was crying, yet she wasn't the one missing an arm and two legs. Just who was it that had the right to cry and be sad! Though he didn’t express this strange disatisfaction. He watched as the girl slowly wiped her tears. “I’m sorry, Mister.... I’m used to being hit by people i’v annoyed...”
Avrin looked again at the scars and day old or so bruises she had. “Can you help me please?” He didn’t want to involve himself in something too deep, but he also knew he had to return the favor somehow. Right now, he had to use all he could to find somewhere safe. He wasn’t sure what sort of creatures would come out when it got dark.
“Help you?...I, uh....” She remained silent and unsure. Though Avrin was not a fool, he was a former general after all, how could he not understand a bit of tactic and coercion. He decided to put a past skill to use. “Can you tell me about where I am, Ilisia? And, mister makes me feel too old. Just call me Avrin.”
He showed a soft smile, but it seemed a little strange when his handsome face was covered in fresh red blood that had only started to dry. His long hair was also disheveled and bloody and his clothing was disorderly. He looked like a crippled, demonic, homeless person who had met with bad luck. All his smile did was creep Ilisia out a little more, but she felt that if Avrin wanted to kill her, he would have done so already. She felt no harm in answering him.
“Well...this place is the Western forest not too far from my village.... I, ummm, I know there is a city that takes two days to get to from here, and around my village are a lot of big mountains and hills, but my village has a lot of fields.“ She began to speak, detailing a few things in a childish manner. Avrin could see she wasn’t older than ten, though he thought about this place for a moment. It didn’t seem like anything special. He was more so fascinated at why he was able to understand her language.
“-Could the language developed on Seleria have originated from other places? If that is the case, then its no wonder I can understand her-” Avrin felt some relief in this aspect. Clearly, one could tell what he saw in that dream had been forgotten by him, almost as if it were forced to not linger in his mind.
“Ilisia.” Avrin suddenly spoke. Ilisia, who was talking, suddenly straightened her back almost as if she stood to attention, but she kept a nervous look. “Yes!” She spoke soundly, not wanting to stutter any more.
“Is there a place I can recover where people don’t usually go?” This was his first priority, to find a place where he can safely heal and think about the current situation. Ilisia was silent as she thought for a moment. “Well...I live with my grandma next to the forest, away from the villagers because they don’t like us very much and because they pick on me a bit. They don’t come near our home because they think I have dirty blood.”
Avrin was a little confused at her reason and couldn’t help but ask curiously. “What do you mean by dirty blood?” Ilisia looked at Avrin a little confused but then smiled. “I don’t know what it means, Miste- uh!! I mean, Mister Avrin. They just throw stuff at me when they see me and say I look strange and have dirty blood...”
Avrin tilted his head a little before raising his left hand out towards her. The basket began to slowly shake and Avrin felt a little stressed. It was then that Ilisia noticed and she grabbed another fruit that was identical to the one he ate before and rolled it over to him, still not daring to go close. Avrin took the fruit and began to eat it at a slower pace while asking. “I don’t think you’re bad at all. Right now, from what I can tell, you’re quite kind, and just Avrin is fine.“ He spoke with a soft laugh before finishing the fruit in nearly eight bites. His stomach, though, had grumbled again.
“You don’t think I’m evil?...” A look of delight appeared on Ilisia’s face. She felt as if she was more comfortable. “Miste-... Uhhm, Avrin. Who hurt you?..” She finally managed to muster enough courage to ask him a question. Avrin thought for a moment and then smiled. “Someone truly diabolic. But one day, I’m going to return the favor.”
Ilisia’s small mouth opened a little as she tilted her head and then spoke in a solid tone. “That isn’t good! My Grandma says violence isn’t the answer and that those who hurt others are misunderstood and don’t know any better.”
Avrin wasn’t sure what to think of this. It was the answer of a child. How could a Primordial Entity who had been born during the birth of a universe not know any better after having so many years to learn.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“I guess...you’re right.” He spoke, not bothering to argue or refute the child. He was better than that. Avrin suddenly winced in pain as he felt the particles in his body quiver, as if distorting and losing place slightly. He began to cough and it was only until he coughed out some pieces of flesh did he realise that his insides were messed up. He had an even paler look as he sighed softly.
Ilisia saw this and noticed how Avrin seemed in pain and didn’t feel too good. She felt a little bad. Now that she had somewhat relaxed, she wasn’t sure what to do, but she remembered her Grandma said that if there is someone you are able to help, then you need to help them. “Avrin, we can go back to me and my Grandma’s home. I’m sure she can help you.”
Avrin silently looked at her and nodded. In his current situation, somewhere quiet and away from natural danger would be best. After some moments, he had managed to get Ilisia to find him a stick that he could use under his remaining arm to prop himself up while she struggled to hold him up on his other side. The scene was indeed strange, as he was missing his legs and was bloody, but there was little choice in the matter.
Avrin and, after some reassuring, Ilisia, who managed to get close enough to help him, began their slow journey back. Thankfully, after listening to her, it seemed they were only a couple of minutes travel from her home. She also told him the outer part of the forest didn’t have any dangerous creatures.
Avrin continued to take the opportunity to learn more about the situation and the world he was on, but Ilisia’s knowledge was limited because she didn’t get the chance to travel because of the caution her grandmother held towards her safety as well as the dangers on the outside.
Ilisia seemed to slowly ease up even as her adorable face was covered in some sweat from helping carry a side of Avrin. He felt indebted to this young girl for helping him. When they exited the outer forest and into the open, Avrin finally got a good view of the area from atop a small path that led down a split hill. Spanning hundreds of kilometers were clear plains, a somewhat large village and at the end of the horizon a small white blip that Ilisia said was the city.
Avrin was only able to extend his Divine Sense out for two meters before it began to sting his body. His condition really wasn’t good. Ilisia continued to help him down the path towards a split, which lead to a smaller path and at the end was a small stone cottage. The cottage didn’t seem too large. It was at most fifteen meters long and seemed about five meters wide.
Most of all, it seemed roughly made. Though there was smoke bellowing from the chimney, and outside was a pile of wood while the side of the cottage had a small rack where meat was drying. And four meters from the house was a well of sorts that looked aged, as if it could cave in at any moment, but it was home for Ilisia.
“Mister Avrin, this is my home! Isn’t it beautiful!“ Having forgotten about the mister part she felt this home was beautiful. Avrin didn’t bother correcting her. After all, she was still a child. As for the cottage being beautiful, he felt some pity for Ilisia. To a girl that didn’t seem to have anything this could be home.
“It’s wonderful.” Avrin spoke without a forced tone or any sarcasm at all. He was in no position to be picky and for someone who spent years living in small, damp caves for training this really was a better choice.
Around the cottage were small trees and a small hill that seemed to add to the protection of it, but it also helped block it out from the view of others. One could say the location of this cottage was purposely placed here to make it hard to locate.
As Ilisia helped Avrin, who was using a stick to carefully move with some difficulty, the door to the cottage opened. An elderly woman in grey clothes who was quite small, standing at a meter and a half, came out while wearing an apron with a wooden ladle in her left hand. Her face was saggy and full of wrinkles. Avrin looked at her carefully, and when the old lady looked back and saw Ilisia and then Avrin, her hair nearly stood up as she jumped with fright and screamed.
“Ahh!!! Silly child, what have you done!!” She couldn’t help but yell while raising the wooden ladle as if it were some weapon. Not too long after, inside the small cottage, Avrin was being helped by the old woman and Ilisia to a small, crooked bed before he sat himself on it. He could feel it was really hard, almost as if he were sitting on the ground despite there being some straw of sorts to act as a mattress. Not even the ragged sheet helped ease it.
The old woman, after listening to Ilisia explain everything in quick detail, simply said to bring him inside. She then glanced at Ilisia and spoke. “Dear, please go draw some water from the well.” Ilisia nodded before heading off after grabbing a small wooden bucket.
The old woman then looked at Avrin, her eyes carefully focused on him. Avrin noted that her eyes were not similar to Ilisia’s at all and she seemed normal. “Who are you?...” The old woman carefully spoke, as if she didn't believe Avrin had no ill intentions.
“I’m just an injured man. I mean no harm. As soon as I am healed I’ll be off.” Avrin went straight to the point. He had read a few novels during the boring patrols of several sectors where no action occurred. The main character would be injured in a great battle and then would come across a simple place which took him in with caution. He simply skipped all the hassle and gave her a straight answer.
“Is that so?” The old woman raised her left brow to a strangely high angle as she carefully eyed Avrin, as if trying to feel if he had ill intentions. But this made Avrin feel uncomfortable, but in that moment, Avrin began to cough again and even more bits of flesh from his damaged innards came out. This caused the old woman’s doubts to dissipate as she stepped back to avoid being coughed on.
“Hmmm, indeed, you don’t seem to be joking young man… But I’m not sure what help I can be… I’m not one to turn a stranger in need down, but I have no medicine. I can barely afford to buy scraps of meat to preserve for our food. At times I even need to send my poor granddaughter out to forage. I can’t afford a doctor to help you. I apologise.”
Avrin looked at her hands and noticed the many calluses and ragged broken skin. Her hands seemed even more aged than her. “As long as I can rest properly, I can recover. I simply ask that you provide shelter and some fruit for me to eat. After I am healed, I will fully compensate you.”
The old woman seemed to be thinking for a long while, before sighing. “This is fine. In my culture, we don’t refuse those who need help. As long as you have no ill intentions, I will help. I have some ragged bandages made from fabric of thrown out clothing I can use for your wounds.”
Avrin sighed in relief again. He was indeed thankful, and didn’t know that he would be put in such a position. His body wasn’t durable enough and he was not trained enough. He knew later on when he grew stronger and would be put in the same situation his recovery would be quicker, but right now he didn’t have that. He needed to make due with what he had. After Ilisia returned with the bucket of water, Calomia, which was the name of the old woman, boiled the water in a crooked iron pot to a suitable temperature.
She then returned her and Ilisia began to help Avrin clean his wounds. Avrin, though, had removed his top and was cleaning the blood that had finally dried. It was a bit of a messy task, and the water had to be thrown out and replaced after being reheated. As for the bloody cloth, it was an important commodity and was simply washed and reused to continue to clean his wounds.
Avrin’s skin had become quite sensitive and he couldn't move around as freely as he wanted. Even the washing had opened up some wounds on his body. He was frowning a little. He had hoped God would heal him before being on his way, but felt that God was stingy.
Several hours had passed and it was nearing the evening. By then, Avrin’s exposed upper half, which the sight of which had even caused Syrana to be stupefied, was covered in bandages due to some new wounds opening up. Around his rib cage was bandaged as well as his neck and forehead. The stumps of his missing arm and legs were also bandaged.
The old women was quite skeptical after Avrin said he would make a full recovery if he had a place to heal. She didn’t believe him when he told her his limbs would return.
Avrin felt a bit of relief. He felt fresh with the blood gone and his wounds bandaged. He put back his attire which was made by his dark matter. Though he could feel that every moment he was at least alive he was recovering. The speed was a bit slow but it was increasing in speed as every second past.
Avrin carefully shut his eyes and focused to feel around his body with his Divine Sense. He carefully willed every bit of energy to firstly focus on recreating his legs after his body was stabilized. He didn’t want to be useless and watch from the side for too long.
During the evening, when large sun was about to set, causing the horizon to emit an orange yet bloody shine which light was absorbed by the clouds, making them appear as sponges filled with light, Avrin was sitting outside, leaning against the cottage’s stone wall, watching it set silently with a sort of blank stare. He wasn’t sure what step to take next, so he was carefully putting everything in his mind together.
“No matter how many times I see it, I’ll never get bored of it.” Calomia, who looked as if she were in her nineties, walked over with a sort of limp while holding a cup of some strange brew that gave a herbal smell that didn’t seem appealing.
She forced herself to lean down and offer the cracked, hardened clay mug to Avrin, who glanced at her for a moment and reached over with his left hand, clutching onto the mug. It was made so badly that the the mug’s thickness blocked the heat out in some spots, showing whoever made it simply didn’t care about its design, wanting something to simply drink from.
Calomia silently looked at Avrin. She could tell that he was no normal person judging by his handsome appearance. She knew he must be from some special place after helping him clean his wounds. She even felt a little hope that Ilisia may be able to find a better life as a favor for helping Avrin.
“Avrin, may I ask how you were injured? I don’t recall any wars happening in the vicinity of this area. At least, not until beyond Rulias city.” Calomia wondered, as she wanted to find out more about Avrin to be sure that he truly didn’t mean any harm.
“I was in a battle with someone, and simply used magic to teleport here.” His answer was quick. He didn’t speak a word more about it, but from his tone, Calomia could tell it was a topic he wasn’t about to share so easily.
“I see, I see. Well, what’s done is done. Where do you intend to go after you’re healed?” Avrin took a tip from the strange herbal brew and was about to spit it out, but he forced the liquid down. He looked at the stump of his arm and then the stumps of his legs and glanced over at the setting sun over the horizon.
“I’m not really sure. I would like to settle down for a bit and collect my thoughts and find out a bit more about this land.” Avrin wondered just what was out there. This was a new planet and he didn’t know what lurked beyond. He could only hope that after he was healed, his actions and decisions wouldn’t lead him to a dead end. He needed to take things calmly.
He knew right now he had the ability to roam around space and because of this and the fact that his people were safe, he didn’t feel any need to build connections or make a name for himself on this planet. When he wanted to leave, he would leave. If he wanted to stay, he would stay.
“Not from this land, Avrin? Interesting. What strange teleportation you must have used to get here. Taking a runic portal is considered quite expensive, the last time I’ve taken one was several years ago. I wonder just how many lucent crystal it must cost these days.” hearing her speak Avrin showed a little curiosity to her words. “What are lucent crystals?” Calomia hearing Avrin’s words showed a little surprise at how little he knew, even going as far as to ponder for a moment if he was even from this land.
“Lucent crystals are used as a form of currency, they are crystallized mana shards that are mined from areas of great mana concentration” listening to this Avrin began to ponder to himself for a moment. “-Crystallized mana huh, it seems I won't be able to replicate the currency using dark matter. though....-” A soft grin appeared on Avrin’s face before he looked at Calomia again.
“Can you tell me profitable ways of making lucent crystals?”
------------------
(A.N) just a little heads up for you guys, i don't plan on having Avrins advancement in particles to be simply meditation, that would be to boring and Draconis one of my Prs also mentioned this, but its all fine because i'v already thought of how avrin will advance next
P.S the artwork that is promised will be done soon.
P.S.S il be talking later in regards to going over the entirety of spectral regalia for loophole searching and to fix/reword errors
Fun Fact: there are some readers who know a lot more about past spectral regalia chapters then me O.O thats crazy but awesome!
Avrin's Inner Workings Status
][tr]]
Dark Stage Control ParticlesType 12100%Dark Stage ParticlesType 12100%God Essence WeaponsAstaroth-ScytheLimos-VajraGod Essence EquipmentSarcanus-Armor