All the nearby ants scattered in fear. They were all very jumpy, especially after having mined constantly with dangers always near.
“What's that!! What the hell did he do?” an ant nervously asked. Several moments later, a pulse of dark matter that made seeing inside impossible engulfed that plot and then condensed. As it condensed, the structure that was within was revealed. When everything was said and done, a perfect stone brick structure with wood and metal also built into it was shown. Compared to the structures near it, it seemed like a beautiful swan in a sea of ugly ducklings.
Avrin was about to speak but the commotion and loud sound of the structure forming drew the attention of two Arch Knights and several Knights. When the Arch Knights appeared and saw Avrin and the ants glancing and whispering around him their faces drew with fear and anger, one of them shouted out. “YOU HALF WITS!!! THIS IS OUR SAVIOR!, ALL OF YOU KNEEL!!! KNEEL NOW!”
The Arch Knights quickly got on their knees and knelt down. The Knights behind them were unsure of what was going on, they had heard rumours of Avrin appearing from overhearing the Arch Knights talk, but weren't sure. Hearing them speak like this and then noticing how Avrin was different from them they didn't speak out and quickly knelt as well.
The Spectral ants who were looking at Avrin strangely a moment ago were shocked back to reality. “N...no wonder he is different!... Then, those rumours of the great one...they are true...dammit...I hope I didn't anger him.” one ant whispers as he quickly dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the ground as he quivered with fear. All the other ants began to kneel around Avrin, quaking with fear and nervousness.
Avrin was left surrounded by his kneeling kin. They had acted like themselves before, but when they realised who he was they were scared out of their wits and acted differently. Avrin’s face darkened with dissatisfaction. He hated this, being worshipped in such a way. It made him realise how inferior he was to what was out there.
Avrin understood that this reaction was normal. He was, after all, someone whose importance had been boasted around quite significantly by their echelon. Avrin was quite unsure as to whether to accept his position as the leader of the Spectral race. In his mind, he would prefer to support it and not deal with such matters. He had an irksome feeling when it came to positions to do with political status or royalty that wasn't earned. He didn't think he had earned this position, in fact, his intention to begin with was to use them for mining but he understood that their change was too much and his attachment to his own kind even higher.
“All of you stand, I do not have a palace nor do I have a crown. I simply have people, and you all also have people. I hope you all understand that what I do is to help us all survive. The demonstration I showed you is to motivate you all to strive and improve. Our race is not one that should be happy with dirty rock homes, you all have astonishing potential.”
Avrin began to speak up to the ants. What better way to boost morale and motivate them to improve than to show them what they were capable of. In fact, his words so far had garnered the interest of many, some standing up when he said so and some glancing with shock and awed eyes. Some began to whisper, others showing worry. Despite this, Avrin continued to speak.
“Currently I am striving to reach higher levels in order to keep you all safe, aswell as reach goals. That being said, I should hope you all make an effort to strive towards higher levels with me so that you can feel the satisfaction of protecting your fellow kin.”
Avrin’s words, although spoken in such a way, made him feel a little sour. He was not used to such speeches and he really did hope that no one would be lazy and not take advantage of being a Spectral.
With his words, many ants began to chatter and talk louder, until one of the Arch Knights wanting to gain favour with Avrin roared out. “May he live for all eternity, our Progenitor!” suddenly the ants followed in suite. “The Great One will keep us all safe!!“ another ant soon followed after, “No one will be able to harm us, we will live comfortable lives!”
Avrin’s expression remained normal with no real changes. He wasn't sure what to make of this, other than the line used was a little corny. “-Progenitor again? I have a few titles now…-” Avrin smiled forcefully before he turned to leave, though he soon had a small horde of curious ants following him, rushing up and nearly hugging him as they bombarded him with questions. “Great One, are you powerful? Can you kill anything?” a young female ant spoke, though her question invoked laughter from a few of her friends that followed as one male one spoke. “Ha! Dummy, of course, the Great One can kill anything!” another set of questions followed immediately.
“Great One, what is the meaning of life?” - “Great One, when can we go to the surface? I want to test my combat ability!” - “Great Progenitor, why did we have to mine?” - “Great One, can you bring back the dead? I lost my best friend to a mining accident…”
Suddenly, the casual questions turned dark, with regards to the mining as well as asking favours to bring people back to life. Avrin’s annoyed expression had slowly toned down to one of regret. He didn't answer any question, especially the last set of questions in regards to the mining. He understood that it was an incredibly big mistake on his behalf. Their lives didn't weigh on Ailirion, it was Avrin’s fault.
“-To think the deaths of a few thousand Spectral ants would weigh harsher on me than the deaths I personally caused of so many humans. What an odd feeling-” Avrin used his Divine Step to vanish from the center of the group that had gotten a bit too large for his liking. Even though the Arch Knights were trying to keep order, it wasn’t enough. When Avrin reappeared, he was on the surface of the barren wasteland sitting on a large boulder as a breeze blew across the surface of the parched ground, causing a misty dust to shoot across the region. The breeze was quite chilly, as it was late evening. The bright moon hung high in the night sky, with the stars that seemed so far away, twinkling as stars do.
Avrin sat flat on the rock with his right hand placed over his knee as he looked up. Recalling everything so far as he glanced at space and saw everything including the shining nebulas and the occasional comet. He had a thought. When he achieved power, what should he do? He was someone that would live forever; and if he had no enemies that could match him and managed to keep the safety of his people, what should he do then?
Thinking of this, he laughed forcefully. “What am I thinking about, that is too far ahead that it shouldn't be anything to worry about...though I can't help feeling something.” at that instant, his mind drifted only for a moment. A set of images flashed by, one of a glistening field of life, and the next moment that very field turned to nothingness, with not even ash remaining. The next was of a village flourishing with life, with children and their parents living happily, and the image after that showed that there was no longer any sky, the village had been cut in half, so clean and precise that it sliced the entire planet in half.
The final set of images were the ones that brought Avrin out of his momentary stupor, a silhouette of a shadowy tyrant with its back turned away, unfathomable energies surged around its humanoid body. The creature suddenly turned around at a quick instant, revealing a familiar look with eyes that glowed. The creature's left hand swung out clumsily, with its index finger skimming across the air, causing the fabric of space to tear like wet tissue paper. This motion had reached a nearby planet that shook for a moment before a line appeared across it. The planet separated into two halves that pushed each other away.
Behind that planet was another few planets and a star behind it that had also been cut in half with the star exploding in a beautiful show of force. Avrin quickly shook his head. These images were quite blurry to him and he was unable to make out anything properly. It was as if these were seemingly forced upon him by someone.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Keep your flashes and pictures to yourself…” he spoke out, wondering if whoever was responsible, if anyone at all, was listening. Avrin frowned a little as things remained quiet, apart from the howling wind blowing against the surface of the parched land. His Divine Sense flickered as he felt Tardiff was searching for him, almost like a lost puppy. He felt some pity for him and soon he spoke out.
“Tardiff, go rest. When the time is right, I will call you.” He felt Tardiff grumble before heading off to do something else. No ant would dare get in his way. In fact, some began to follow him as if they were hoping to learn something.
Avrin sat cross-legged where he was and soon began to think about some things. “-That man’s ability, it comes from my father. From the information I have from God, I only know that God's Soul has to do with balancing positive and negative. That balance ability most likely has something to do with that. It works very effectively, does it have a trick behind it? If I meet him again, I surely want to know a way to counter it. Then again, I need to witness it first hand again. Just what it is that locks me down...-”
Within the Spectral domain, the young man that had fought with Avrin had not replaced his set of cracked armour. He had casually seated in space, keeping himself stable with a light aura around him. Giving off a righteous look, his hands were ceremoniously placed on both the knee parts of his armour. He looked at the spot where Avrin had vanished as if pondering something.
“-Being able to tamper with existence so easily...he is definitely one of them. But this is good, maybe I can retrieve information as to where the location of the fragment God's Heart may be. If I can get that for Elder Sister, she would certainly be euphoric...then again-” at that moment, he looked from the corner of his eye as he saw four figures heading towards him. These figures were of two females, one undesirable individual and a tall male who wore two layers of clothes. One seemed to be somewhat like a well-fitted gi while the underlayer was a tight set of clothing that stuck to his body to show the outline of his muscles.
The male had spiky hair with the sides of his head shaven. He looked almost like a pineapple, which would be Avrin’s first thought if he had seen the man. The robed individual’s body and face were well covered, making them unclear. The two females, however, wore combat outfits, one being well-fitted armour while the other also being a gi-like outfit. One had dreadlocks that reached her lower back while the other had a short ponytail with two twirled drills at the side of her cheeks.
“Oh…? Fourth Imperial Prince, you look worse for wear. What happened?” the female with the short ponytail spoke with a crude smirk on her face. The individual who fought with Avrin ignored her as his eyes focused back onto the spot Avrin had vanished from.
The female with dreadlocks frowned a little and stretched as she moved her hands behind her head. “You're no fun...aren't we supposed to be a team? Don't forget our family’s agreement. We are splitting the defiled ones’ soul fragments between our families.”
The youthful, handsome man felt irritated at this reminder. In fact, when he was travelling with them, he had been reminded on and on in regards to this. It had dragged on so much that he choose to leave, leading to this predicament. He knew it was because they couldn't match up to his strength that they wanted to remind him, almost as if they wanted to secure that fair advantage. “Do not test my honour...I told you I will abide by the agreement. How long are you going to keep barking at me, reminding me about it? If you don't keep quiet, I will shut your mouth for you. Or are you actually crazy enough to want to fight me?” he said. This made the young girl’s eyes narrow as her lips parted, revealing her bared teeth, almost as if she were looking for a fight.
“Good, I was wondering how long it would take to make you snap…took you long enough to understand my intention. Your name resounds all across our universe, I don't think you're a fucking big deal. You just got lucky at birth by being an Enigma user.”
The young man sighed and stood up. He turned to look at her and gave a crude smile. “Very well… I will never back down from a fight. Even if the heavens themselves wage war against me I will not put my head down waiting for it to be chopped off. As for you...you would be lucky if the heavens throw their trash in your direction. Prepare yourself.”
The girl in armour, the tall man and the cloaked individual all floated to the side to give them space. The female with dreadlocks grinned before a surging red Qi engulfed her. Her hair and clothes seemed to shake as her arms and hands were engulfed in Qi that spun around like a vortex.
“Mouthy bastard…your clan is always so traditional…I'm gonna tear you to PIECES!!” she shot towards the young man and zigzagged from side to side. Her steps caused a red pulse of energy to flash from where her feet landed as if she were kicking off from nothing.
When she neared the young man, simply looking at her with expressionless widened eyes, she roared out. “Auger Drive!!” her body spun at a rapid pace, almost like a red typhoon as she used the momentum to kick forward towards the young man, who ignored the surging red aura.
The scene was showing a deity’s might. The energy was wild and uncanny as it sparked about like a flickering inferno “Reverse Moon..” the young man, hands extended forward and precisely, spun in a perfect motion, one under and one over the tip of the energy that shot towards him. The motion was intense as his own Qi pulsed out. The motion was enough to form an artificial shock wave of his own energy. It misdirected her attack, yet his action didn't stop. With a casual flick of his right hand, he punched out once towards the side where it was most vulnerable.
The moment his punch hit, a pained shout sounded out. The girl, who was still spinning and had been stunned by her attack already being misdirected, suddenly felt her mind flare as her right ribs were pummeled by the young man’s punch. Her energy was dispersed and she held her ribs, but not before the punch rattled her organs, causing her to spit blood into space. The blood seemed distorted and rippled somewhat within this strange domain.
She was flung several hundred meters before she was caught by the tall man with one hand. The girl looked at him and broke free from his grip, clearly unthankful. She then glanced at the young man in armour, who looked at her with a twisted smirk. She felt herself flare up with anger.
“Y...you…damned…” her energy pulsed out even more with a wild torrent. Her body suddenly began to shift and change as she grew red flaming fur. Her clothes had ripped yet she was not naked and was not humanoid anymore. She was a gigantic, ape-like creature with flaming red fur and two large, ruby eyes. She had a long spiked tail and two extra arms, each arm formed into a fist that pulsed with red energy.
The young man in armour grinned. “A simple counter and you're already going all out? You dishonour your clan by using their most sacred technique...disgusting.” he couldn't care less about her clan’s technique. After all, in the end, they were rivals, more so him against them as they needed to band together to even have a chance against him.
“YOU!!” clearly she was easily angered, as she roared out in a deepened tone. Her fur suddenly lit up like a flame as she banged the fists onto her chests which caused red ripples that emitted an intense heat. She charged towards him, clearly not intending to hold back. She had been waiting for an opportunity, and if he were to die, she knew the other two would take her side. In fact, she felt if he died here it would be much better, clearly knowing that within this domain even a Cosmic Entity wouldn't be able to freely scan around, as it was not their own.
“Hmm?” suddenly, several hundreds of meters away from them, three surges of ash had appeared from dot-like tears in space. These ash piles began to form into three recognisable figures. Tardiff, Ailirion and Avrin. Tardiff, after reforming, held his mouth and his stomach as he felt queasy. “Mmmm…” Ailirion looked around cautiously, as he felt no change, yet he spotted the group a few moments after getting used to space and this new domain.
“Great One, who are they?” he whispered to Avrin, who glanced at the five of them. Avrin looked at the situation. It was as he expected, but a bit different. He felt the young man would be waiting for him, what he didn't expect was that he would appear when a fight between him and several others was going on.
“--Do you both see the planet engulfed in an aura?--” using his Divine Sense to communicate with them, Tardiff and Ailirion looked around before spotting it. It seemed as if they to could see it. “--Indeed I can, Great One. Is this...where our kin live? A planet of our own? Marvellous--” he felt truly delighted. Tardiff, though, frowned. “--Too small….I want a bigger one. Can we move?--” Avrin’s brows furrowed slightly under his mask. “--Wait a bit for me within that space and don't move until I return. Go quickly--”
Ailirion and Tardiff were right beside that aura, they entered and vanished into thin air. Or at least that’s what it looked like to those five watching them. Avrin looked over towards the young man. He knew that he would most likely be seeing him a bit more than what he hoped due to the fragment he wielded.
Before he arrived, he had taken the time to check on his inner workings and recover 100%. After that, he gathered Ailirion and Tardiff before shifting, which was very similar to Divine Stepping, except he would be engulfing them in a distorted aura and then willing himself and them to shift. It could be said to be much easier on him, as he was only shifting to a domain he was attuned for.
“It’s you…” the young man glanced over to Avrin with an excited look and an intent to fight. “You kept me waiting...are you ready to continue our battle? I still have questions!” Avrin remained silent as he glanced over towards the large, four-armed, flaming ape, and then at him.
“Battle with you? It seems you have quite a freak show over there. I would prefer if you keep away from me, I do not want to involve myself in your squabble.” the girl who was transformed into the flaming ape felt her temper rise as she heard Avrin’s words. “S...squabble…who are you...how dare you speak of this situation as a squabble!!!... Squabble this!!!!” four of her fists formed together before they began to gather Qi in a circular motion. The young man in armour frowned a little as he turned to Avrin.
“You might want to be careful, even I wouldn't get out of this unscathed if taken directly.” with that said, he wanted to see how Avrin would handle the situation. Avrin simply glanced at her with a grin. “-Good...I'll use this as a chance to test out something-” when he finished his thought, the ape creature roared out. The flaming Qi had begun to grow intense, like a forming star. “Heart of Cali’Teish!!” a pulse shot sideways before the sphere of condensed Qi and fire shot towards Avrin in a spiral motion. Firing this off caused the girl to shoot back several dozens of meters before she gained her footing.
Avrin simply glanced at the energy indifferently. “-What in hell is a Cali’Teish?-” he wondered about the interesting name the ability had. Then, he raised his right hand.