The place was full of merry voices and melodious chants. Everyone was celebrating and praying to have another happy and healthy year. The entire village was in a festive mood. Everyone was gathering near the temple in the forest for his or her morning prayer. Even the birds on the giant tree, which was as tall as the mountains on the other side, were delighted and chirping joyously.
Lia and Sohe were searching for Sofey to go to the festival together. They found her lying in bed for some reason.
Lia said, “Hey sleepyhead! Wake up! Don’t you want to eat cotton candy? Hurry up and let's go…” Saying this, she pulled her blanket and saw blood on her pillow. Both of them started to call for their parents.
Lia picked up Sofey and started to go to the nearby hospital. The hospital admitted her and asked the others to wait outside.
After a few hours, the doctors told her parents that Sofey had a rare disease that will paralyze her body within a year and she might die within two or three years. All family members were struck by lightning. They were not rich and couldn’t take care of her medical bills. But they loved her too much to let go. Lia was devastated after listening to the news. They made plans to eat out when Lia turns 18 next year. But now she might not even live that long. She was the one whom everyone loved. Sohe, her twin sister couldn’t take it and started crying.
That little chubby girl of 14, with a small stature and big brown eyes, short and straight black hair, was about to leave them all.
There were no rooms for them to stay so they had to leave her alone in the hospital at night. After coming back home, Mom asked the sisters, “Who was the one who woke her??” Lia, still in a daze replied, “I was the one…..” “Then why didn’t you TELL US ABOUT IT!!!”
BAM!!! And her mother started hitting Lia with anything she got her hands on.
Lia was someone of very little importance in the family. She was a thin girl of 17 with white hair, having pale complexion. She wasn’t that good in academics and her cultivation was stuck on the 7th stage of Disciple rank. She spoke very less too, so everyone thought of her as insignificant. She was also being bullied by her classmates because of her hair color.
Within a few minutes, Dad and Sohe successfully stopped her from hitting Lia. Dad said, “You shouldn’t be venting out your anger on her. This isn’t her fault. Lia, take Sohe and go off to sleep.” Lia and Sohe left, leaving Mom, crying and Dad, trying to calm her.
Sohe was so tired that she fell asleep the moment she hit the bed. But Lia couldn’t. She kept on thinking of ways to earn money and save Sofey. When the lights of her parent’s room turned off, she got up, took a few necessities and jumped out of the window. She headed towards the temple in the middle of the forest. After reaching the place, she went straight to the head priest’s room. Everyone was asleep by that time.
The priest was a kindhearted old man and highly regarded by almost everyone in the village, including both the poor and the nobles. He used to take the orphans to the temple and taught them for free. He even distributed food to the poor old people who couldn’t work themselves. He had helped Lia in her studies too. He and Lia were very attached even with this huge age difference they had. She was like his daughter.
After seeing Lia the priest asked her, “Why have you come here so late at night? And why didn’t you come to the Morning Prayer? I was waiting for you” After seeing him, Lia burst into tears. The priest took her to the garden bench and asked her, “Child, what’s the matter? Did someone bully you? Stop crying and tell me what the matter is? If you don’t tell me, how will I be able to help you?”
After a few minutes, she said, “Sofey has...*hic*…has a rare…*hic*…rare disease and she will die soon” She told him what the doctor said. “I don’t know the cause or the cure but I have read of something like that. Come with me.” And he took her to his small library in the temple. There he rummaged in a shelf and took out a book. It was a relatively thin one, which she did not expect. “We have less information on this disease so the book is thin,” said the priest.
“Here it is ‘Symptoms…..paralysis…..Aha!! Here it is. It says that the medicine can only be found in the City of Fire. It takes nearly 2 months to reach there….. No, no, not a good idea…”
“Why? If there is a way to cure her then why not”
“Because it’s dangerous outside the forest. Many monsters are strong enough to destroy the entire village.”
“But I want to save her!!!” She said.
After listening to her pleas, he told her, “There will be a group which will be going to the City of Fire next week. You can apply to join them. But on one condition!! You will have to stay in the temple for the week and study about the different types of monsters outside and ways to defeat them.”
Lia gladly agreed and stayed there for the night. The next day, she went back home to tell her parents about the trip excluding the ‘dangerous stuff’.
After listening to her, her father said, “There is no need for you to go. I will go there myself.” But mother didn’t like this though, “Who will take care of Sofey and the house? I won’t be able to do it all myself.”
“But how can we let her go alone.”
“I’ll go with her. It’s better than letting this idiot go alone and making a mess there. Also, I am a genius cultivator at the 3rd stage of Practitioner rank,” said Sohe.
After a lot of arguments, Lia and Sohe were chosen to go. Lia didn’t want it but she had to take Sohe with her or else, no one would go. After that Lia went back to the temple and started studying and cultivating.
She studied in the day, ate with other disciples in the temple, slept whenever necessary and cultivated at night. This way, days started to go by and the departure was just the next day.
Lia was very scared and excited at the same time. The weather was bad in the morning and the storm started in the evening. She was sleeping at her house that night. The storm was so bad that the Giant tree in the forest fell blocking the way outside.
The next morning, she went up to see if there was still some place left for them to leave the village. Thankfully, the Giant tree fell on the temple, but it is a strong building protected by the great priest, who was at the 3rd stage of Emperor rank, was still standing and people were going in and out of it.
She met up with the priest and asked him if the trip was still on or not. He told her that the group was still going as the temple had a back door. They can use that to cross the tree. They decided to meet up at noon.
Lia went back home, took the supplies and started to set off with Sohe.
Note: - Hey readers!!! I just want to inform you all that all the upcoming chapters will be the POVs of the characters. Soon I will add a chapter explaining the ranks and power levels for ease of understanding. I hope you all like it and share it too ;-)!!!
Lia’s POV
When we reached the meeting spot, we saw that there were only a few people who were going on foot. Many of them had carts, tamed magical beasts and horses.
I didn’t know of that!!! Now, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO COPE UP WITH THE OTHERS!!!???
Calm down and think….. I can’t arrange a cart or a horse, don’t have money for a magical beast…… Have to walk…..
Sohe was staring at me as if I had committed a crime. Yeah, it was my fault for not knowing the mode of transport, but now is not the time for the Blame Game.
Then, a huge man with bulging muscles and an oppressing aura approached us and started talking to Sohe.
“Hey, so you are also joining the quest?” He said.
“Yes, but why are you going?” She asked.
“Oh, nothing serious. Just for some adventure and experience. Who is she?” He pointed at me.
“She is just my older sister…”
I am ‘Just her older sister’ and nothing much…..
Still, I held out my hand and said: “Hello, my name is Lia”.
“Hi, I am Nick. Nice to meet you. You have a unique hair color”
“Thank you—“
“Are you using a vehicle or you are also going on foot?”
‘You interrupted me. This is so humiliating.’
“Why would I walk when I can ride a magical beast such as my Flame Lion? What about you?”
‘Now this is even more humiliating’
“We are going on foot, as certain someone forgot to get the entire details before arranging the trip” she glanced at me and then continued chatting about useless stuff.
I could clearly sense it that he was trying to flirt with her but did not listen to their talk.
‘This is awkward’
I started to observe others and see what they were doing.
Everyone was busy either talking or checking their equipment. Nick asked us to go with him as he had a place for two, but I denied. He seems like a shady person. We shouldn’t trust him. Sohe wanted to go but I told her that it would be uncomfortable for both of us to sit on the Flame Lion with him. She didn’t want to but had to agree to this.
After a while, everyone was called up, nearly 50 people were going excluding the animals and beasts and we set off to our destination.
Everyone was going on a slow pace to match others.
The entire day went by without any disturbance and the evening came by. The group supervisor told us to set the camp near the road. It was a full moon night. The moon showed brightly in the dark sky. The clouds near it had a silver lining and beautiful patterns. The soft and cold breeze brushed past us like feathers. We ate our packed food and were about to go off to sleep. I was looking at the bright moon and saw a swarm of some insects near the clouds.
DANGER!!!
“Sohe, take out the cotton and stuff it in your ears, close your nose and breath through your mouth with a tiny hole only. Hurry!!!!”
Sohe was startled but still, she did the same and closed her eyes.
“Don’t move what so ever!”
I also stuffed the cotton in my ears, pinched my nose and started breathing through my mouth with my lips just touching each other.
After a few seconds, huge insects were crawling on me. Even with the cotton in my ears, I could listen to the screams of a few of the group members.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, the insects started to go away from me. But for safety, I kept still for another fifteen minutes.
***
“But how did you know what was about to happen?” Sohe asked.
“Well, I read about them in a book. The Desert Flies are huge insects that enter the human body through their nose, ears or mouth for warmth at night. They suck our life force for food and some even eat human flesh from the inside, as it is soft. Also, they do not attack in—“
“Stop, this much is enough. Thanks for the information.” Sohe said.
Eight of our group members had died, even a few animals had died. Only the magical beasts and a few bulls had escaped from the Flies. They were brought back after an hour and then everyone went off to sleep.
The power level of cultivators is divided into Ranks and Ranks are divided into stages.
There are 10 ranks in increasing order of power:-
These ranks are further divided into 7 Stages. There is a bottleneck found on every 3rd and 7th stage.
There are five elements namely
In the same series, they are dangerous to each other. For example, Fire is a tough enemy for Air but looses to Water. In the reverse order, they are promoters of the elements. For example, Air promotes Fire.
The Rank of Skills/Weapons
The rank of different skills in the increasing order is:-
Bronze rank skills are available almost everywhere, but God rank skills are very rare. Only the Lord of the City of Fire and the shady organization has a few of those. They are hard to practice, even dangerous for the practitioner’s life.
***
This is all about the ranking system and description of the skill levels.
Hope you like it!! You can also keep in touch with me through my Facebook Id by the same name Risa MV and with the same profile picture. Send me a message and I will accept your request. See you in the next week { maybe ;-) }.
I could not get a wink of sleep even after laying down. I saw Nick getting up and going somewhere. He set his camp near ours so I was able to see him. It feels a bit weird, him getting up and going somewhere, after all, that has happened. I quietly got up and followed him from far. He went behind a huge rock. I also hid behind a bush so that I could see him.
He was there with a girl, holding her hand. Then they started making out. This is bad. Sohe likes him and he showed her the same signs. Now he is doing something like this with someone else. I have to call her and show her his deeds.
Then suddenly someone tapped me on my back. I almost got a heart attack. I turned around and saw Sohe. She followed me until here and she has seen everything.
“Lia, let’s go back to sleep” Sohe whispered.
We walked up to our camp without making a noise. When we got there, I said, “Sohe, I know you don’t like to listen to me, but still, don’t trust anyone on this trip. The Priest told me that many people here are scammers and they come to the trip just to get the rewards of others. So, please don’t trust anyone, not even your friends.”
“OK…” Sohe said.
She had gotten a huge shock, so I should not press on the matter. We went off to sleep for real this time. However, sleep was not a relaxing one. I was worried about Sohe.
The night went by and the sun rose. Everyone woke up and we got ready to leave. Nick was trying to talk to Sohe but she ignored him and kept on packing. The slut who was with him last night, Ashley, kept on disturbing us. She had been a nuisance since day 1, throwing herself on the group leader Kevin, and now Nick. She even showed off in front of Sohe by hugging him.
We started moving again.
Sohe was getting tired of walking for that long. It was noon and we didn’t stop to get some rest. Everyone agreed to rest and we stopped. It was like we were walking on the lava in a volcano. It was unusually quiet. There was no sound other than the chewing of food, gulping of water and our breathing. Then suddenly, from behind the rocks on the sides came a wind, blowing sand here and there. I closed my eyes to stop sand from entering them. When the wind stopped, I opened my eyes and saw a few humans like figures coming towards us.
Those were the Stone Monsters!
I made a move and asked everyone to cluster their vehicles. They did the same and hid behind them. Nick and Ashley were standing near Sohe in the corner. I knew she had been jealous of her because Nick was giving all his attention to Sohe, so I tried to call her to stand near me. Suddenly she pushed Sohe out of the shade of the vehicles.
“SOHE!!!” I ran towards her and helped her get up.
That b**ch, I will get you one day.
However, by that time the Rock monsters had started throwing the stones from the road, some stronger ones were able to form there energy or chi to stone-like form. The stones were coming towards us. There was not enough time to take Sohe and hide behind the barrier, so I shielded her with my own body. We walked towards the barrier, in the middle of the way a stone hit my head. I was feeling dizzy but we managed to get behind the barrier somehow.
“Are you OK?” Aron asked. He helped me get up. After getting hit I didn’t have any energy left and was quite unsteady so he kept me steady while holding my waist. I was not in any position to decline him.
Aron is someone, who had been friendly to everyone in the group. He was there to help out, whenever someone needed it.
***
Sohe was alright. Aron, Nick, and the others were asking me if I was hurt somewhere.
"I am alright. Is anyone else hurt?"
"You should be worried about yourself. You were the one who got hit and everyone saw it. You don't have to deny it." Aron kept on insisting that I get a checkup from Ms. Beth.
"But I am fine. Look, am I bleeding, do you see any blood?"
He sure was a stubborn one. However, in the end, I won.
That night was the most painful night of my life. But there was one thing that made me happy.
After the nightfall, Sohe came to talk to me.
"Thanks... If it weren't for you, I would have been dead by now."
"We are sisters. Anyone would have done this much for their sister." I taunted while slapping her face playfully.
We went off to sleep and didn't talk till morning. I couldn't sleep well, my entire back was hurting, but more than that, I was angry at that slut Ashley. I would get my revenge someday.
The next day arrived and we continued on our journey to The City of Fire.
Note: Hey Readers! The chapter this time is a bit longer than the previous ones as it has something which will be a turning point in the lives of the characters. I hope you like it and give me your views about it.:-).
We kept on walking and searching for treasures on the way, as many places were still unknown in the outer lands. The roads were dry, the weather was windy, the sun was bright and we didn’t have a shade. We took a break at noon and rested for a while. ‘I need to do a check on the wounds on my back from the last day’.
So, I told Sohe, “I am going freshen up, will be back in a few minutes”
“OK” she replied and I started going off-road.
It took me some time to reach a spot, which was far away from the resting area. It was well hidden too, with a huge pyramid-shaped rock. ‘Who would have carved this huge rock in such a way?’
I took off my top and tried to feel the wounds with my hand. I had another white-colored top, which only covered my chest. Most of my back was exposed to the sun.
“Ouch! Damn those Rock Monsters!”
The wounds were not bleeding, but they hurt more than that. I was sure that the entire back was bruised. It had bumps and a few places where the skin was peeled off with pressure.
“Do you need any help?”
It was Aron!! He saw EVERYTHING!! Now I won't be able to get married!!
I was so embarrassed that I didn’t say anything. I picked up my top and started running away from him, away from the resting area. He didn’t chase after me. Maybe he knew how embarrassed I was.
I saw a huge cave on my way, so I stopped by to look. It was a dark and long one. I should have bought a torch with me. I kept on walking for nearly fifteen minutes. The cave was going downwards and suddenly it bent sharply towards the left. There was light coming from that side. I took a peek towards the left with caution.
The cave opened up in a huge room-like space. The room was bigger than the classrooms we had at school. They contained nearly 50 people and another 50 could be accommodated easily. The light was from the Energy Crystals* which were on the walls and the ceiling of the cave. On the floor, there were human skeletons of five people and a wooden box, which looked like a coffin.
I went closer to examine the bodies and found 5 Spatial Rings* in the hands of the skeletons, 3 Gold Rank and 2 Silver Rank Swords. Near the walls, there were glowing rare herbs, which could be sold for a high price. Every single one of those could get me nearly 50 gold, but in an auction, I cannot even imagine. The spatial rings contained 8 Black Rank Skills.
‘I have become RICH!!! Now we won’t have to worry about money in the City of Fire!!!’
I took all the crystals and herbs and started to go back. Suddenly I remembered about the coffin. There was no need to take a risk and open Pandora’s Box. However, my curiosity was killing me, so I mustered up my courage and stepped closer to the coffin. My every step weighed more than a tone. My heartbeat raced with every step. I sat down and reached out my hand to open the box. I slid off the cover to peek inside. It had another corpse, just like the rest, but it was a bit strange. It was radiating Chi*. Even the cold cave became warm. The corpse had a black book in its hand, close to its chest.
‘Should I pick it up or leave it as it is. What if, it is a trap or a bad omen?’
Me being me, I picked up the book. It gave off a powerful wave of Chi when I touched it. It had a name written on it. “Godly Art of Cultivation” I opened the book. The pages didn’t flip after page 1.
“Does it mean that I have to practice and master the first page to go to the next one. Also, I already have a Cultivation Technique” But the Technique I had didn’t work for me, so I decided to try this one and see if it worked.
So, I sat in the meditating posture and started cultivating according to the book. All the Chi in my body started to leak out of my 7 acupressure points. I tried to stop it but it didn’t work. I couldn’t move from my place. I was getting dizzy and thought that it was the end of me.
However, after a few moments, Chi started to gather in the acupressure points. It was so strong that my body started to become hot. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. It felt like an explosion in my chest.
I made a breakthrough!!!
I started to jump around in the entire cave with my hands in the air. That was the best moment in my life so far.
After that, I stored all the treasures in the big storage rings and then put them in the smallest one. I started to leave the cave but turned around and said, “Thank you, honorable souls, you have done a huge favor to me. I hope you all rest in peace” and walked out of the cave.
I went back to the resting area and told Kevin, our group leader, about the cave I found but not the part in which I went inside.
“Take everyone there, we will go inside and see if it has something valuable”
I showed the way to the cave. Everyone was eager to go in and search it. However, I said, “What if there is something dangerous inside? We should send 2 people as scouts to see if it is safe or not. I will be the first person to volunteer. Nick, why don’t you go with me?”
“Yeah Nick, you should go with her. You are at the 5th Stage of Practitioner Rank. You should go and show us what you have got.” Aron added.
Nick hesitantly replied, “OK, I will go.”
I went up to Sohe, hugged her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, he will never come out of this cave”
We walked in with torches in our hands. Nick was leading the way from the beginning. We went down and turned left, towards the big room. It was empty. Nick stopped for a moment and was turning around, but before he could, I hit him with the strongest Gold ranked Sword. The entire cave was filled with flames. Just by swinging the sword once, the man with the cultivation of a 5th Stage Practitioner Rank died. I was shocked, but I had to stick to the plan. So, I screamed at the top of my lungs and started to run outside.
When I came out, I found Aron in front of me. I stood in front of him and started crying. He hugged me and made me sit on the ground. His touch was soft and filled with pure love. He consoled me. I stopped crying and narrated an imaginary story of a chained man being inside the cave. He was strong, very strong. Nick was in his range, so he killed him. I was further away from him so I ran away. It was really scary.
Everyone believed in my story.”As the cave is not safe, we will go back to the resting place and continue our journey” Kevin said. He even gave us the Flame Lion, which belonged to Nick.
We continued on our journey after this incident. At night, I told Sohe about what happened, except the treasures. She cried a lot that night but slept quickly too.
Key:
Energy Crystals- They are crystals filled with Chi. They are used to aid cultivation.
Chi- The energy used by cultivators is called Chi.
Spatial rings- They are storage rings, which have their own space.
That night, I practiced The Godly Art of Cultivation, aided by the Energy Crystals. The entire night went by. Just before the daybreak, I made another breakthrough. I reached The 2nd Stage of Practitioner Rank in just one night. It was like magic. This time, it wasn’t painful, rather it was a pleasant feeling. I wasn’t tired or sleepy after that. Everyone else woke up soon afterward. We packed up our stuff and got ready to leave for our destination.
A day passed without any adventure. Still, I went through hell, avoiding Aron. He was making advances on me. All-day he followed me like a ghost. At night, he set his tent near ours. He was humming the tune of a romantic folk song the entire time. Sohe went off to sleep earlier, so I started cultivating. I went outside to practice the new martial art, 10,000 Terror Fists.
The explanation was simple but the stress that it left on my body was immense. After practicing the technique for an hour, I started cultivating. All my fatigue vanished I was getting stronger. I practiced the technique again, but this time it wasn’t that tiring. After a whole night’s training regime of cultivating and practicing, I could do 30 punches in a single breath.
The next day, Aron was still following me everywhere. At noon, I went off-road to get away from him, but he followed me there too.
‘Why is he following me? What have I done to get this?’
I began to run away from him. He ran so fast that he caught up to me in no time. He held me by the waist from behind to hinder me from running.
Aron - “Why are you running away from me? Do you hate me or what?” he asked.
Lia - “Let go of me you pervert!”
Aron - “You didn’t answer my question”
Lia - “Molester! Harassment! Help!”
Aron - “Fine, I will let go of you but don’t run away again. OK?”
Lia - “Yeah”
He let loose his grip and turned me around, but before he could say anything, we noticed another pyramid-like rock on the right of me. It was bigger than the one I saw the other day. Also, it had weird symbols on it. They were like runes. Aron and I walked up to the rock to examine it.
Aron was looking at the rock very closely. After a few minutes, he inserted his Chi in the runes and they started to dissipate. ‘So, he knows how the runes work. Cool’. That side of the rock opened up like a door. There was a staircase going down. We looked at each other, held hands, and moved forward.
The moment we got in, the door closed on its own. Space inside became dark. As we stepped down, the torches on the sides started to light up on their own. The moment we laid our feet on the next step, the torches on both sides would light up. We went down at a steady pace.
The stairs ended after 2 to 3 dozens of steps. The path opened in a small room that also had runes on the walls. Other than those, the room was completely empty. Aron moved ahead and solved the set of runes. It took him quite a while to do so. He stepped back with me. The walls glowed like the sun. We couldn’t open our eyes. When the brightness of the room reduced on its own, we opened our eyes.
This time, the walls of the room had vanished and shown a forest pathway. ‘Here comes the adventure’. We continued on the pathway. On the sides, there were plants, which I had never seen before. Aron was very excited after seeing them. He quickly plucked them and stored them in his storage ring.
Lia - “You have a storage ring! It is expensive, how come you own such a costly item”
Aron – “I uh found it on the way”
Lia – “Oh. Nice. So, you know about these herbs?”
Aron – “Yeah, I am an alchemist. I make medicines so I know about many rare herbs and their uses.”
Lia – “That’s cool”
And we kept on walking on the pathway. A while later, we saw fire at the end. We ran up to it to check. There was a stone slab that had a fireball on it. ‘How can there be fire without anything burning!’
Aron – “That is a spirit fire*. It is used by martial artists to refine their Chi and by alchemists to refine pills.”
Lia – “Then you should take it as it is beneficial for your cultivation.”
Aron – “No, you should. I don’t need it. I already have one. The next spirit fire can be refined only after reaching the Grand Master Rank. Refining it before that will put huge stress on the meridians. So you should take it. But refine it later, we have to go back too”
Lia – “If you say so. But first, let’s pick up the other valuables.”
We went different ways and started collecting the things which seemed valuable. All the items were brought near the stone slab. Mostly, there were rare herbs. Aron took the herbs and I took the spirit stones and the spirit fire. We decided not to disclose it. We stored the items in the storage rings.
I went up to take the spirit fire. The moment I picked it up, the entire forest disappeared and we were teleported back to the entrance of the pyramid-shaped rock. This experience was exhausting.
When we came back, we were misunderstood for being a couple. On top of that, Aron kept on his sly grin and glanced towards me quite a few times. He didn’t deny it. I was trying to clear the misunderstanding but he kept on increasing it.
‘This man is so annoying! I want to strangle him to death!’
Even Sohe was looking at me in a weird way. “Is that true?” “Of course not!”
At dusk, everyone went off to rest. I trained for some time but I dozed off while cultivating in our camp. Sleeping had never been that refreshing for me.
The morning was not a practically good one with all those stares and glares but the cave incident was something that cheered my mood. Every bad thing has a good point too. The misunderstanding created the other day will keep some of those troublesome guys away. There won’t be any “guy problems” now.
Key :-
Spirit Fire - It is a spirit in the form of a flame. It is formed when a Spirit Beast over 10,000 years age dies naturally. It is used to refine tje Chi and increase one's level of cultivation.
Texte: Risa MV
Lektorat: Risa MV
Satz: Risa MV
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 04.04.2020
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