The winds howled, the gales roared and even the trees fell as critters were carried off onto the raging winds. Dust rubbed past the world like sandpaper as debris rose unhindered into the sky. Thunder roared as lightning repeatedly split apart the sky but clouds refused to bleed and rain refused to descend.

Within such raging gales and the sweeping winds, various things that weren't supposed to fly flew. Amongst these things were debris, branches, pebbles and critters. The passed out Malfae was one such critter. It momentarily woke up and its dark pupil-less eyes tried to see. However, before its mind could even completely awaken, the weightlessness told it all it needed to know. ‘How is it still going?!’

0.0

Under the azure moonlight and within the dense grass stalks laid the prone form of the unconscious Malfae with its small form was lost within the unnaturally tall grass blades that spanned the length of a mortal's entire leg. Such was the density of the tall grass blades that the [Reincarnated] confused them to be some strange forest upon awakening. If the distinct shape of grass blades hadn't keyed the Malfae in, perhaps its misconception would have lingered.

The [Survivor] had barely taken in its surroundings when it received a string of notifications.

Ting.

.

.

Ting.

Bleary as the Malfaewas, it couldn’t even read the notification. However, it didn't stop its body from functioning again. Its sensitive antennas came alive to sense the fragrances in the air and the [Hive Monarch] instantly froze. Its pupil-less dark eyes widened as its heart raced while the sound rapid heartbeat echoed in its massive ears. Its blue skin paled and the white hair on its back stood up in sheer terror. Its scalp tingled as its massive ears flattened themselves against its head.

The [Reincarnated]'s body trembled beyond its control before its face crashed into the ground. It didn't even move to mitigate its fall. It couldn’t. Its face slammed into the ground to let it taste dirt. Its heart raced and continued to race until its chest ached. At that moment, the Malfae even lost control of its bowels. It shat itself. Yet, it dared not move. It couldn't move. Its heart continued to still race and the ache turned into a sharp pain. Yet, the [Survivor] made no move to help itself. I could not. It dared not.

All because its antennas had picked up scents which, bar none, had not just subdued it but overwhelmed it to the point of immobility. It dared not even move.

Those consequence of sensing these scents hadn't been fear, for fear could have been fought. Instead, the consequences of being assaulted by the cocktail of scents had been utter and total domination. The [Survivor]'s every instinct screamed of certain death, for these scents belonged to immortals that could annihilate it without even knowing. The Malfae would die from just the unintended consequences of their actions.

Every one of these scents overwhelmed its mind to whisper stories of creatures so powerful and unfathomable that the word ‘dangerous’ couldn't even begin to comprehend their existences. Only the word annihilation could be used to comprehend the difference in power of those creatures and the Malfae.

The Malfae remained still. It laid on the ground covered in its own faeces and trembled. The goosebumps didn't subside, the chill didn't fade and its heart didn't slow down from its maddened pace. With its every breath, the terror reinforced itself to sow utter helplessness within its trampled mind.

The Malfae had been so utterly destroyed by merely sensing the faint layer of scents that it couldn't even consider using [Sense]. It dreaded death if it did so.

Its thoughts came to a halt. Terror dominated its mind and the [HIve Monarch] could do nothing but submit. But to whom was it forced to submit? It didn't submit to the beings or creatures or anything alive. Instead, it had submitted to scents. Such had been the power of these monsters that their mere scents had overwhelmed a Tier 2 immortal.

The Malfae remained motionless for a long time. Meanwhile, its heart continued racing with its maddened pace and the pain in its chest became agony. 

The azure moon's star parade finished their track across the sky along and the sun rose. Yet, the [Survivor] remained motionless with its heart racing. The newly risen sun shimmered in the sky as it completed its journey across the sky, yet the [Reincarnated] remained still as pure agony tore its chest.

When the night came again, it brought along dark clouds which bled to let out pitter-patter of welcome raindrops. After all, it was still monsoon. The droplets fell on the motionless [Hive Monarch] and water washed away its terror and its shame, while its heart that had been pounding for a day and a night, calmed down as the power of the scents diminished.

The tiny thing had exhausted itself beyond its capabilities. The consequence of which the creature had yet to find out.

As more and more rain fell on the creature, the scents of the horrifying creatures rapidly washed away and the Malfae breathed easily for the first time since it had awakened. ‘I-that…’ The Malfae couldn’t finish the thought as it raised itself while supporting its weight on all fours of its trembling limbs. Yet, it was not at peace. It was panting and its pupil-less eyes were wide. ‘I-I have to get out of here. I have to. I must.’

Ting.

The [Survivor] raised itself and as the rain continued to fall on it the Malfae hurriedly summoned the Skill’s description.

Ting.

The [Reincarnated]'s eyes shined and a slimmer of hope rose within its pupil-less eyes. Without wasting another moment, it flew. However, the moment it raced up, the subsided agony exploded once again as its instincts took over and slammed its flesh into the ground.

The Malfae shivered as it fought itself to look up but its gaze found nothing. All it saw were the raindrops and the grey clouds. Yet, as it gazed into the night, its suppressed instincts took over once again to make it look away. The instincts dreaded the skies for they knew that the Malfae was but a mere pest. And a pest had no right to the skies. The [Survivor] wasn't allowed to gaze at the sky, let alone fly. It was as if what had happened a few moments before had been a mere warning.

The [Reincarnated] abandoned the skies without another thought. Instead, it supported itself with its 4 trembling limbs and crawled. It didn't even dare to walk, for it didn't trust itself with even something so simple. As it crawled, it felt the danger dissipate which allowed its tense body gradually loosen. However, as its mind relaxed, all the bodily functions that it had been ignoring made themselves known.

Its parched throat grated as it breathed and the [Survivor] hastily lowered its head to the nearest puddle and drank. It did not matter to the creature that the water was a mix of dirt and filth. All it knew was that it was rainwater, thus freshwater.  However, it was the burning hunger that proved difficult to solve. In a place where merely the scents of the residents could dominate the Malfae’s being, the creature couldn't even imagine hunting. This left the Malfae with just one option.

Thus, as the creature crawled on all fours, it found a small pit and used [Sense Essence] to check it out. It didn't even consider utilising [Sense] out of its fear of domination. Though once the Skill activated, what it saw left the [Reincarnated]'s mouth hanging open.

As the world had dissolved away, where there had always been nothing but Essences, much more had existed. Where there had been nothing but darkness, now wind existed within the dissolved realm of Essence. Or it was better to say that even the air here contained enough mana to manifest Essences. ‘How is this even possible?!’ The blurry Essence of the air was unlike any other Essence that the [Survivot] had ever seen. Let alone it, this Essence of air was unlike anything that even she had ever seen. And she had been someone that had worked with Essences as she had walked the path of a Curse Mage.

This hazy Essence flowed. Essences didn't flow. They were stationary things situated within the centre of creatures, beings and things they represented. They were the condensations of the mana that passed through creatures. Any change in a being changed the Essence and any change in the Essence changed the being. It was a fundamental truth. While the nature of anything that flowed was of constant change. Yet the Essence of air flowed.

'This…this…I must get out here. I must!’ ­Overwhelmed as the creature was, it instantly dismissed the Skill and panted. The fur on its back felt every little movement of air and its heartbeat began to pace with every resulting movement. The overworked organ paced and the creature’s chest instantly ached in protest. The Malfae closed its eyes and breathed before coming to a sudden stop. ‘This…is air. I am breathing the Essence of the air.’ Its eyes widened beyond belief. Even without sclera, its eyes became crossed as the [Reincarnated] tried to look at its nose. 

The [Hive Monarch] hyperventilated and as it breathed it panicked even more. This panic regarding breathing resulted in even more rapid breathing. Thus trapping the Malfae into a vicious cycle and its heart pounded even harder. Its vision rapidly dimmed and the world became hazy. It tri-

0.0

The harsh light of the sun brought the Malfae back to reality. It tried to move but the pounding in its head didn't allow it to do anything other than twitch.

Ting.

The [Reincarnated]'s eyes widened and it hurriedly summoned its Status to confirm, only to see the truth with its very eyes. Its lifespan had been reduced. ‘Ho-how?’ Its heartbeat quickened but before it could panic anymore, its antennas comprehended the scents in the surrounding and it stiffened. Its chest roared in agony as its heart raced with all its might and the hair on its back stood up. The scents had returned to hijack the [Survivor]'s mind.

 

Ting.

And at that moment, the Malfae was trapped in a vicious cycle that fed off its terror and only grew larger. No matter how much it tried to control itself, it didn’t succeed. The only thing it could do was pass out.

0.0

The Malfae stared at the screen. The shine in its eyes had long since disappeared, leaving its eyes dull and the lips flat. Its forehead lacked even a single crease as it gazed flatly. Its face lacked even the slightest emotion. This state of the [Survivor] was not one of zen but one of forced calm; achieved by breaking out of the loop that it had trapped itself in. Though, the price to break the loop had been a heavy one.

'Two years. I lost 2 years of my lifespan.' It could even feel its heart that had critically weakened. Every pulse that its heart let out, it set off a fresh wave of pain in its chest. ‘Just what good is this trade-off?’

‘Just one Skill Level for 2 years of my lifespan?’ This turn of events disgruntled the [Hive Monarch] but it dared not linger on the emotion for too long, lest its heart suffers even more. Thus, the [Survivor] could only choose to be happy that it hadn't exhausted its limited lifespan even further.

But this didn't end the [Reincarnated]'s problems. The Malfae had barely managed to collect itself when it had rained. As a result, the scents had been washed away. However, the moment the rain stopped and scents had returned, the [Reincarnated] had summarily fallen apart.

‘I must move.’ It knew it had to leave this place. However, how could it do so when all it could do was crawl? How could it do so when even walking was an unfathomable mountain? Thus under the dominance of the scents belonging to unfathomably powerful monsters, the [Survivor] struggled. 

As it fought itself, it used its [Domination Resistance] and felt a minuscule change. With the activation of the Skill, the looming heaviness seemed to marginally diminish. Although the decrease wasn't anything concrete, it was enough for the Malfae to hope. Thus, it willed its body to move. It fought the pounding in its head. It fought the agony in its chest. It fought against its instincts urging it to surrender. It willed its body to do anything, just anything.

At that moment, the [Reincarnated]'s finger twitched and a smile blossomed on its face. Its eyes regained a bit of light that they had lost. However, this achievement was not a result of the [Survivor]'s strong will. Rather it was the effect of its new Skill. If not for the Skill, this movement would have been impossible.

For this creature was a very special creature. Or rather, it was better to say, its soul was somewhat special. Its soul was the antithesis to what could be considered as Heaven defying. This was a soul that was Heaven-obeying. By its very nature, it tried to make the best of the resources that it had been given. It knew the limitations imposed on it by the Heavens and it dared not break past them. And if the Heavens wanted the soul’s vessel dead, then the soul would struggle but still die. 

It was for this reason that the Will of the Wild had chosen this specific soul. It was for this reason that the Will of the Wild had reincarnated it with its memories intact. After all, the one to reincarnate this soul had its own agenda. Why would it choose just any other soul? Why would it not choose a soul that would follow the limitations set by the Will?

However, there was a catch. As although this was a Heaven-obeying soul, what this soul considered to be Heavens was not something easily defined. And the Wild had overestimated itself. It had considered itself to be the Heaven for beings in its domain. But the Heaven-obeying soul had found this definition of heavens week. It had used the knowledge that it inherited from her, and had rejected the week heavens. And as a result, the Will of the Wild had failed in its quest.

Yet, there was not a lack of Creatures and Existences that considered themselves as the Heavens and the Earth. And all of them sought to control the fate of the Heaven-obeying soul’s vessel. They all sought to be the heavens for a creature that was heaven obeying.

However, these beings overestimated themselves, much like the Will of the Wild had. After all, was Heavens something so easily defined? Was the fate of a Heaven-obeying soul, so easy to control?

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-