After enduring for an unknown amount of time, Forus could finally gain a little bit of influence over the mysterious dart that inflicted Death Aura on him. He learnt that the dart was not under the control of that blue-robed man, because if it was, then he would not be able to exert control over it.
Although he could suppress the pain that the man did to him, the fact that he could not move a single bit made him incredibly uncomfortable, coupled with how he had to watch the man experimented on his body, cutting them apart and healing them, over and over again just to test his idea.
"I have to admit that the power that the entity has given to you is very strange, I couldn't find the true usage of it even after several experiments, but that was to be expected." The man stopped working to do his daily meditation, he was going to clear his mind to reconsider the new possibility of that unknown power.
His daily meditation was the only thing that let Forus know how much time had passed, it had been a week since he made a deal with that evil being. He might also start to doubt that the power really existed if not for the fact that it was being used to slowly take control over the dart.
Forus didn't dare to exercise any control over the dart, even a little. He was afraid of the very idea that the man could detect his plan. If he got caught before he could freely control over the dart, his last hope would truly be extinguished, he would have no real way to retaliate.
He also couldn't go all-out trying to control it either, his understanding over the mysterious nature of the man was too little, he didn't know the depth and the resource that the blue-robed man could use. The realm that he stood on was completely above any other thing Forus could ever imagine.
...
The sun was setting, the sky was painted orange by the reflection of the sunlight. The falling leaves were numerous, they fell off to accompany the woman to sit on a bench. She was looking toward the sky, waiting for someone to come.
Her face was that of a mature and aged woman, a trace of the story could be seen in her weary eyes. She had been sitting there for hours, there was no mysterious energy inside her body, she was utterly mortal.
Behind her was a handsome man whose eyes were sharp as a blade, his yellowish eyes could stare at those with a weak mind into submission. His body was brimming with the invisible force that separated himself and those ordinary mortals.
"Sister, you have been sitting there for too long, it gonna cause your condition to deteriorate." The man couldn't endure seeing her getting lost in her mind, he asked her softly, knowing full well of what she was yearning.
"I know, I also know that I couldn't live for too long, but I always unknowingly recall my past. I wish that I would live a happy life with my family, even as a mortal." She turned her head toward the man, her eyes were watery as she wiped them out.
"I know that I have said it so many time. But if you want to be with him, you can always cultivate under my guidance, I could help you breakthrough and move past the limit of the mortal to completely cure you." The man couldn't help but persuade her again.
"If one day you succeed in breakthrough past me and ascend to the new realm, you can always find him at the cycle of reincarnation and live together with him, for as long as you want." The man said in a hoarse voice, the old memory from ten years ago was starting to resurface.
"When he tried to protect our daughter, I couldn't do anything to help him, I can't even be there to support him and could only watch him die. Now, for he is now gone, I shall live my life peacefully as he always wanted me to. He lived and died as an ordinary mortal, then I shall be a wife that he always wanted, I shall live my life as an ordinary mortal, I shall die peacefully as an ordinary mortal." Her voice was cracked due to intense sadness and grief, her husband had already left her. If not for his brother that prevented her, she would already commit suicide and rejoin with him at the next reincarnation.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't send that cursed gift to your daughter, it was my fault. I could have been there by myself several times, but in the end, I couldn't even be there to see his dying face nor could I accompany him in his death." The gift that he sent to their daughter was to test her talent for sorcery. If she could become like himself, then his brother's family would be prosperous for all to come.
But how would he know that fate was wicked and twisted, that there would be a passing sorcerer who noticed her extraordinary talent and forcefully took her to their own faction. Not only the child was taken, but the parents were almost killed by the process. If not for him to quickly move to check the situation, the wife would have already been dead.
Although he had cursed the enemies with one of his strongest spells, he could feel that they were not dead, one of them had used a mysterious treasure to forcefully break the curse, he didn't die but sustained some internal injury. The other was killed easily along with his family, but later, he also found out that it was the clone that died and not its true self.
So his curse couldn't do any real damage to their foundation, it could only prevent them from advancing further for a while. He could also deduce that they were both stronger than he was. Worst case, they might have giant backing with formidable depths of connections.
"But if you never cultivate and become like me, you might not have any other chance to save your own daughter again. If you have power, then you could have both of your family members lived peacefully." The man tried his hardest to convince the maiden to cultivate, not for his own good, but for hers and his brother's.
"I have faith in our daughter, she would soon become the influential figure, an imposing sorcerer who reach the peak. I am a bad parent who let her daughter suffer unjustly, but this is also her chance to be extraordinary." She had completed faith in her daughter, she knew her child full well. The girl would suffer a lot, but she was adaptive and smart, she would soon learn to live in the harsh environment. She was destinated to become a historical figure engraved in the eternal history of the sorcerers.
After having said so much, the weak woman coughed softly. The man also walked toward her and supported her up, her legs were very weak that she couldn't walk if nobody helped her. Her condition was very bad, the only way to save her life was to practice the art of sorcery or having the almighty sorcerer of the higher rank personally helped her, but they were too few and far between, those beings would always be in seclusion and hardly came out.
"I will have to trouble you again, Mister Intor. My body was too weak to walk, I could feel that my death was approaching." She calmly said so. She was happy that she could reunite with her husband even in the underworld.
"No problem. This is naturally my compensation for causing this tragedy, I am willing to help you and be with you until you died. I could also temper with your destiny in the next life so that you will meet him again." Intor Ander, the little brother of Forus Ander. He was willing to do everything to atone his sin, if not for tending Meria, he would have risked his life to slaughter those who separated the family.
...
Time flew by, on a blink of an eye, Forus had been in this new room for months, perhaps years. He would never be able to remember the exact time he was tortured. He had been through hell and back, he almost gave up his little life for many times, only to be forcefully held back by the blue-robed man.
One of the only things that held him in place and preventing him from scattered away was the warming memory of the past. When his family was still intact and peaceful, when his daughter was still within the range of his arm and when his wife was still there for him.
His only hope lied on the speck of grey light within his soul, it had been continuously fused with his soul, allowing him to recover and strengthen his mental ability. It could also help him control the mysterious dart that was stabbed into him by that man.
But, all of those enduring was the foundation of today. From this moment onward, Forus had already completed all of his preparation. He only needed to endure this for one last time and use the moment of weariness of that man to escape and kill him.
"How are you feeling today? I've got a surprise for you." The blue-robed man chuckled as he pulled out a dark-blue seedling. Its roots were twisting continuously, it was more like a parasite than a plant.
"What will you do to my body this time?" Forus spoke with intense hatred. If he still couldn't speak after such a long time, the man might suspect him of hiding something.
"There is no harm in telling you anyway. This is my new creation, it still doesn't have a name. But after I used it on you, depending on the result, it would be either Blossoming Soulflower or Undeath Floret." The man obviously liked his new creation very much that he thought out two names for it.
"Judging from the name, it would have the ability to at least make me your slave. You think that you could indirectly obtain my power by controlling me?" Forus sneered as he mocked the man, provoking him into fury.
"I really want to see your expression after you became my servant. But don't worry, you won't die easily. I will take good care of your body." Having said that, the man sent the flower floating toward Forus. If the flower successfully planted itself into his soul, that would be the end.
But before the plant could touch him, Forus decided to risk everything and exploded with countless Death Aura that was concealed in his body for a long time.
The Death Aura that Forus emitted was very powerful and in great quantity, if the enemy was not the blue-robed man who took precautions against it, they would be overwhelmed by it and had their lifeforce sucked dry.
"That was unexpected, but still within the range of my preparation." The man was not tensed at all, he was relaxed and carefree. He had prepared for this moment for a while now, he would not let the same thing happened to him again.
Forus saw the man took out many paled-white pills and processed to pinch them, the pills were dissolved into dusk and greedily absorbed the Death Aura, reducing the overall amount of it.
Gritting his teeth, he used every bit of his force to break free from the chain and gave himself many wounds in various parts of his body. Finally, his endurance paid off, the chains couldn't withstand the flow of time and his strength and collapse.
Forus jumped toward the man, aiming his hands at that man's neck, he only had one chance to strike him and robbed him of his life!
