A millennium ago, the very first dungeon had appeared in the center of the continent of Azara. It was a dungeon tower with an unknown number of floors, piercing straight to the sky. Clouds had gathered around the tower and rain fell. Some touched by the rain received the very first branding of Gods. The rain continued to fall for a month. When it stopped, the skies cleared except for the clouds that had gathered around the tower.

This tower was called Heaven’s Gate.

The people who received the branding of Gods gained abilities beyond that of a normal human. They felt a calling from within Heaven’s Gate. They entered the tower and when they came out, they brought with them treasures and stories of monsters, traps, and adventures. Still, they were unable to reach the very top, even up to this day.

Since then, many dungeons appeared all over the world. The branding ceremony was established along with the Adventurer’s Guild.

People then hoped to become Adventurers to explore and conquer dungeons, encounter monsters, traps, and treasures, then gain glory, riches, and fame.

“The people of the west are such fools,” Zhang XiuYing sighed as she read one of the western books her father had bought from the previous month’s trade. She was sitting on the floor by the table while eating rice from a bowl using chopsticks. Despite her improper eating conduct, reading while having breakfast, she was sitting properly with her legs folded beneath her thighs and her back ramrod straight.

“What glory, riches, and fame? They’ll just die pitiful deaths in there!” She closed the book and heaved a sigh. Looking out of the room’s window, she could see a tower at a distance. This was the dungeon ShiMu. It meant Ten Tombs.

It was called that because it had ten levels based on its external appearance, and the very first people who entered had all died inside. Since then, only few people dared to try enter that dungeon.

Zhang XiuYing finished her food and quickly gulped down a cup of tea. She then carried the utensils to the kitchen and left them in the sink. Her younger brother who always woke up late would be the one to wash all the dishes. This was punishment for his bad habit. It was one of the house rules that who ever ate last would be the one to do the cleanup.

She then picked up the book and placed it in a hidden pocket inside her robe. There were more than one hidden pocket, and as the one who sew them in, she felt proud whenever she pulls something out and people would get surprised.

It was already eight in the morning, and she could hear the sound of shouting and yelling from the nearby dojo. She made her way to that place and entered without permission. The guarding disciple did not bother with her. She was already a familiar face.

She quickly made her way past the lobby and into the training grounds. There, a group of about twenty young men whose ages ranged from fifteen to twenty were either performing sparring matches or were seated on the ground and watching. They were the junior disciples.

XiuYing saw a familiar face and quickly made her way to him. The man, seeing her approach, only shook his head and sighed. The seated disciples watched curiously as this young lady walked around them. They all had seen her before and knew why she was here. Still, in this group of young male disciples, seeing a young lady was a sight to enjoy.

“XiuYing, I told you not to come here,” the man said. He was a bit tall with a well-toned build. His slightly long black hair was tied into a beautiful tight braid which hung loosely on his back.

“Elder brother Jie,” she only said while performing a greeting with her fist and palm. “I came to watch and learn.” Zhang Jie was a senior disciple at this dojo. He had been training here since he was five, and now he was twenty-seven years old. The owner of this dojo was, of course, his father, who was also XiuYing’s uncle. That was also one of the reasons why she can come and go as she pleased.

“So you say, but all you actually do is bother me,” he said with a harrumph.

“Oh, elder brother, how could you say such harsh words to me?” she said while pretending to be distressed. Her actions caused the young junior disciples to feel a little embarrassed.

“Stop your acting. Have some shame! You’re not a little girl anymore.”

“Hoho… Then you have to promise me, elder brother. Tomorrow, take me to Xiaocheng!”

Xiaocheng was the closest port town across the sea from Tadao, the island village where they are in right now.

“You know I can’t, XiuYing. Tomorrow, we’ll be going to ShiMu.”

“I know…” she muttered, then bit her lip. Suddenly she grabbed the sleeve of Jie’s robe and whispered, “Why must you go?”

“My father and I, as well as all the disciples of the Zhang Dojo, have been training for a long time for this.”

“Why?! You know why it’s called ShiMu! Why must you walk to your own grave? Why can’t you just leave that place alone?” She had grown a bit hysteric. All the sparring disciples halted their actions upon hearing her outburst.

“It’s because of this.” Jie pulled his arm free from XiuYing’s grasp, then opened the front of his robe revealing a well-muscled chest. Despite that majestic masculine figure, what caught the eyes of everyone was the mark branded on his right breast. He was a Yingxiong, the equivalent of the westerner’s Adventurers.

“Father, too, have this mark. As people referred to as heroes, we must do what we can to eradicate the evil inside that tower. It is an evil place, and it is our duty to make it so it ceases to exist. And for that, we have been preparing for the day we enter that place. And that day is tomorrow.”

XiuYing understood, but her heart did not want to accept the facts laid before her. Tears fell from her eyes as she turned and ran out of the dojo.

“I hate you, elder brother Jie!” she yelled as she left. Zhang Jie could only smile bitterly and shake his head as he watched her leave.

Zhang XiuYing ran until she reached the eastern shoreline. She then sat on the sand and hugged her knees, burying her head between them.

She was turning eighteen this year. When she was younger, she had always looked up and adored her elder cousin. Among her relatives, he was the one she was closest with. Even though he was always busy training in the dojo, he would always spare time for her.

Nine years ago, Zhang Jie’s father brought him to a branding ceremony in Xiaocheng and successfully received the brand of the God of Seas, the same God that branded his father. This enhanced their martial arts that focused on the manipulation of the flow of movements and internal energy.

After that, they started rigorous training in preparation for their attack on ShiMu Tower. Zhang Jie who always spared time for her had become too busy with his training. She accepted this at first, but as she grew older and understood the dangers of the tower, she started to fear for the wellbeing of her older cousin. She was afraid that once he went inside, he would never make it back alive, and that ShiMu will be his grave.

“Stupid elder brother Jie… Why are you so dense?”

As she raised her head, she noticed a group of sails in the distance. This was the fishing group that had set out early in the morning. Her father, Zhang Wei, had also participated today. The sails were headed to the southern shore which meant that they were returning.

She waited for the sails to disappear from her view before deciding to return home.

“Father’s back, elder sister,” a fifteen year-old young man said as XiuYing entered their yard. He was carrying a pail of water which he had taken from the well. His name was Zhang Mo, her younger brother. Suddenly, he titled his head and asked, “Were you crying?”

“No, I was not.”

“Did you finally confess to bro Jie and turned you down?”

“When I said no, that means no!” she said while delivering a roundhouse kick to his head. He quickly dodged, but spilled the water as a result. He groaned and ran back to the well to fetch water again.

“What’s the water for? Don’t tell me you still haven’t washed the dishes?”

“Shut up, stupid sister!”

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She decided to ignore him and went to the house.

“You’re back,” a middle-aged man said while kneeling in front of a gray object placed on the living room floor.

“Father,” XiuYing greeted by clasping her fist with her palm. Zhang Wei responded with a nod without looking at her. His gaze was focused solely on the gray object on the floor.

“What is that?” she asked while keeping a distance to avoid disturbing her father. Finally, he turned to look at her. He then signaled with his hand for her to come closer.

“Take a look for yourself and tell me what you see. We found it in the eastern sea and got stuck on one of our nets,” he said with his usual coarse voice.

“Hmm…” XiuYing did as told and walked to her father’s side, then sat down with a formal posture. As she laid her eyes on the object, she couldn’t help but let out a gasp. The gray object she first thought to be just some lump of rock was actually a statue of a young human boy. It was strangely lifelike, and was in a position as if it was lying down on its side. “A statue?”

“Not quite,” her father said as he placed his hand on the statue’s forehead. “There’s Ki flowing in the same path as a human’s, except that it’s extremely slow.”

“It’s… alive?” She stared at it closely. It doesn’t seem to be breathing, and it’s gray coloration was just like that of a stone statue. Well, it was extremely detailed. Now that she paid a closer attention, she could see individual hair strands on its head.

“I don’t know what happened, but we can find out if we ask,” Zhang Wei said in a matter-of-fact tone. He pressed his left palm on its forehead, then with the two fingers on his right hand, he pressed different points all over its body repeatedly. This went on for an hour, and XiuYing noticed that the gray coloration seemed to have lightened. She could now make out the dark brown color of the hair.

“Pretty cool,” a voice came from behind and startled her. Her father remained unperturbed and continued with what he was doing. Looking back, she saw her younger brother leaning over behind them while watching. She had been too absorbed with the ‘statue’ to noticed that Zhang Mo had already stood behind them.

“Are you done with the dishes?”

“Of course,” he said with a smug. “I even already prepared lunch.”

“What?” She knew that he could only cook one type of food.

“Fish congee.”

As expected.

An hour passed and Zhang Wei finally halted his hands and took a deep breath. Taking a break, he joined his two children for lunch. After having his fill, he immediately went back to the ‘statue’.

It was time for dinner when the ‘statue’ was finally cleared of it’s gray coloration. Right before their eyes, the gray ‘statue’ had turned into a living human boy. He had dark brown hair and features similar to that of the westerners. What was surprising was that he was missing a left hand, and when the gray coloration disappeared, he started bleeding profusely. Zhang Wei easily halted the bleeding with his mysterious acupuncture technique and bound the wound with bandages.

The boy was unconscious through all that.

“When do you think he’ll wake up?” Zhang Mo asked.

“It’s hard to tell. Since you’re always around the house, it’s your duty to keep an eye on him,” their father. XiuYing sneered at her brother.

“Yeeees,” he answered with a sigh.

With the suddenness of that incident, XiuYing had temporarily forgotten about Zhang Jie’s expedition tomorrow.

It was near midnight when Zhang XiuYing was awoken by the sound of light footsteps. She quickly put on a coat over her light sleepwear and sneaked a peek through her door.

Lit by the bright moonlight, she saw a small figure standing by the living room, gazing out through the open window. The only thing visible through there was ShiMu tower in the distance. Quiely and with careful steps, she went out of her room only to find her father standing by the door of his room. Zhang Mo’s door was open and she could see him snoring inside without a care. The sleeping mat beside him where the boy should have been was empty. Of course, he was the figure standing by the window.

He was just there, standing and not doing anything else. Father and daughter watched and waited. They were so concentrated that they did not notice time passing by. Dawn broke, but the boy was still standing there, as if he was a living statue. Well, he was at one point.

With red and dry eyes, XiuYing couldn’t take it anymore. She walked toward the boy. Her father did not stop her and just continued to observe. When she arrived behind him, she placed her hand on his shoulder and tugged a little.

Slowly, he turned his head and looked at her. His expression almost scared XiuYing to death.

His eyes were wide open, but his brown pupils were unfocused and seemed to stare right through her soul. His cheeks were wet with tears and his lips were shaking non-stop. Had he been crying like this all night?

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked the boy, but he didn’t answer. He just turned his head to look back at the tower.

XiuYing tried to remove the image of the boy’s face from this morning as she walked to the dojo. Zhang Jie, his father, and all the other disciples of the Zhang Dojo were going to ShiMu today. She had already resigned to the fact that she could not prevent him from going, so she decided to see him off.

Arriving at the dojo, she barely made it in time, as the discples had already packed all their gear and were ready to go at a signal. Zhang Jie was surprised to see her and initially thought that she was going to make a last effort on stopping him, but was slightly startled when she gave him encouragements instead.

Along with other family members of the disciples, they were escorted to the entrance of ShiMu tower.

“Take care, elder brother Jie!” XiuYing said with a voice that seemed about to cry at any moment.

“Don’t worry, we are fully prepared this time,” Zhang Jie replied as he placed his hand on her head and patted her. “You’re a grown up now, so stop crying. We’ll be back in a week’s time at the earliest, and a month at worst.”

She nodded while his big warm hand still rested on her head.

Afterwards, with the lead of Zhang Jie’s father, the disciples of Zhang Dojo entered ShiMu tower.

A week passed, then two, then three. The one month deadline was fast approaching and XiuYing was getting more anxious with every passing day.

Compared to the unknown situation of the Zhang Dojo expedition, the mysterious young boy’s recovery progressed well. Five days after that night, he had finally regained life in his eyes. He responded to the actions of the people around him. When asked, he couldn’t answer because he spoke a different language, but it didn’t take long before he grasped the language of the eastern lands.

The young boy’s name was Sievor, and he was from a city called Payton in the western lands. He told of his tragic tale which was quite unbelievable at first, but it could be clearly seen in his eyes that he spoke of the truth. How he survived was a mystery even to him. He said that he was a Yingxiong, an Adventurer, but the brand, his only proof, was gone along with his cut left hand.

Zhang Wei and Zhang Mo were intrigued by him, but XiuYing could not care less. She was too worried of Zhang Jie.

Then, a month passed. A week after and there were still no news about the expedition. XiuYing, depressed, locked herself in her room and refused to come out. The relatives of the other disciples were all grieving. Cries of grief could be heard all over Tadao.

Amid the sorrowful village, one boy was lamenting over a different reason.

To Sievor, it was not long ago since Old Gregor’s death, but he just found out…

…that ten years have already passed since then.

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End of Chapter 2

"Ten Tombs; Ten Years"

A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I kinda like this chapter... or do I just have bad taste?

No multiple parts this time!