Tak! 

 

With a laugh, Irys smiled menacingly towards Kiel, "Yihihi, at last, your undefeated title will be taken down by me, Kiel! You shall fall today, and know that it would be I, Jura Irys, who defeated you!"

 

'She's are already sure they will defeat me.' Kiel smiled at her while he wondered what of the three holes to victory he should use.

 

Kiel lifted his piece and then froze.

 

"Huh? What the matter, Kiel?" Irys asked when she heard no sound, "Huh? Kiel? Why aren't you answering me? Are you still there?"

 

Kiel did not answer; no, he couldn't. He could only watch as the image of a smiling Blue Demon rose from behind Irys carrying a flaming blue ax.

 

'Move… move….' He said in his mind as the Blue Demon raised its ax, 'Move!'

 

"Kiel? Where are you? I can't hear you; I'm scared… please… answer m—"

 

The ax descended and right before him. He showered in her blood, and as Irys' head rolled, her lifeless eyes looked back at him, "Kiel… I'm… scared." 

 

It uttered.

 

The Blue Demon appeared right before him. With its ax raised, Kiel looked at the demon with a passive expression. 

 

'This nightmare again?' This had been his nightmare for the past thirteen years, and it got old years ago.

 

'Time to end this charade.' and just as he was about to open his mouth and break free of the curse that was this nightmare, his ears twitched.

 

He regained his body and quickly turned his head over his shoulder. Two shadows appeared from the darkness, "….mother, fathe—"

 

SLASH!

 

Then, the demon's ax descended and cleaved him in half!

 

"!!!!" Kiel opened his eyes at the fifth hour of the day. His body was drenched in cold sweat.

 

"Is it the nightmare again?"

 

"…Yes." 

 

"I see, then; why are you so rattled? Haven't you killed that Blue Demon in your nightmares countless times already? It has been years, Kiel; I thought you'd already be used to such a thing." Ouroboros said with a sigh. 

 

"No, it's different from the others… this time… I couldn't fight the sensation of being frozen. I was rendered helpless. It was not the Blue Demon that perished… it was I who died."

 

"… you're losing yourself, Ye Feng."

 

"No… I managed to move at the last second. I could've killed it, but… I was distracted by the darkness... I saw my parents. The nightmare is changing, Ouroboros."

 

For the past thirteen years, Kiel had been having the same nightmare over and over again. In these nightmares, it would be him and Irys playing a game in peace until the masked man would appear and kill Irys right in front of him. Before it could kill him, Kiel would always snap out of his trance and then destroy its presence the next moment he gets.

 

The dream would then appear a hundred days later, where he would do the same. But, since the start of the previous year, there have been changes occurring.

 

From when the Demon appears, what move Irys makes, what day it is. Changes happen from time to time.

 

"The nightmares are now more frequent, to the point that it happens every night. It might be caused by the fact that it has been getting harder to reject the spirit energy."

 

"There are many who can see the future through their dreams. Though it is inaccurate and more symbolic, there's no telling what these entail. As for being harder to control spirit energy… it's simply because you continue to reject our true selves. Spirit Energy came from us, and it simply wishes to return to us. As you grow older, the attraction will only grow stronger. I have no gripe about your decisions, but if you want to continue being a normal person, might I suggest crippling yourself?"

 

It was an honest suggestion.

 

Kiel listened, but he shook his head, "I know what I must do, but unless it is needed, I will not inflict self-harm. It took us so long just to recover; we never know when an attack might come." 

 

Even with his mutating physique, it took five years to correctly set his bones on the course, three years to regain a proper flow of blood without pain, and another three just so he could call himself fully recovered. 

 

Kiel just lay on his bed, clearing his mind of any thoughts.

 

Life would take its course; he would ride it and react accordingly, "Mother and Father should be fine."

 

He finally got up from his bed.

 

"It is the first day."

 

"I know; I will take a walk around town." 

 

After washing his face, Kiel finished his morning rituals. Kiel left to take his weekly walks with a set of clean, cheap robes and his dimensional bangle. 

 

[Market Place]

 

"Here is your weekly order, Kiel, my boy. I added some just for you." An old lady selling spices handed Kiel his weekly order.

 

"Thank you, Madam Mi." 

 

"Oh, Madam? Me? Hoho, you never fail to flatter me, boy." 

 

Old Mi laughed in embarrassment.

 

13 years had passed since Kiel's parents and sister left, and he had grown to be a fine young man.

 

Standing at almost 2 meters, Kiel was already 20 years old. His body had been honed to the limits with the use of the Flow of Life, blessing him with a beautiful physique and handsome facial features.

 

His eyes were striking, his brows perfect, his black hair luster under the sun. He was a beautiful man, so much that he garnered both love and hate. But to Kiel, it mattered little.

 

"Oh, he's here he comes! Kya! Ki-Kiel, look over here."

 

When he goes to town, there would always be women waiting for his visit. He wouldn't interact with them and only smile and wave before walking away and minding his own business.

 

He does not have the patience to talk to them. Many had run away from him with his sharp tongue and way of speech in tears. 

 

But that doesn't stop them from admiring him from afar; it actually added to his popularity to women.

 

It was a mystery he didn't want to understand.

 

"The abandoned bastard son is here?"

 

"Tsk, it's him again. Acting all cool like that when he's just someone his family left behind."

 

But of course, in the face of being in the limelight, there would be those who would dislike him. 

 

They would speak badly of him loudly as much as possible but never tell them in front of him. Kiel tried talking to them about the matter before, and though they apologized, they started calling him abandoned bastard son the following week.

 

Kiel shot them a glance, and when they flinched, he walked away carrying a fake smile. He chose to drown them out and just listened to the gossip of the mothers that gathered in the market area. He listened to their talks and ignored the squeals of women and the hated grunts of the men.

 

But, even with all these annoyances, he continues going to town.

 

Kiel goes to the market weekly to buy spices, though that was just a front to listen to gossips under jealous glares. 

 

It might seem like a jarring change, but Kiel was not collecting the gossip. Instead, it was Ouroboros who was listening intently.

 

"Hmm, so Silver Forest claims another group. The King there must be getting stronger—" Ouroboros listened intently to the continuation to the tale in regards to the Silver Forest.

 

When Irys was still alive, Ouroboros witnessed a lot of things through Kiel's eyes. Its curiosity was satiated through Irys and the people around her and the conflict that was waged around them.

 

The Ouroboros' desire to experience things was fulfilled by just Kiel going around to play. Even the idea of turning Bula into a Spirit Beast was something that Ouroboros supported, for it had not been something like that before.

 

Ouroboros was a beast that held equilibrium. It watched everything that existed and happened; it knew everything, and to say nothing could surprise it was an understatement. 

 

It understood more than it should, was wiser than even Kiel and had more insight when it comes to life. However, it could feel what Kiel feels. It shares his thoughts, and now that it was free of its bounds, it was free to experience everything through its vessel.

 

Kiel, however, cared little other than waiting for his family. He did his tasks and kept the house clean. He's satisfied with the simpleness of this life; the sensation of feeling small and insignificant kept him grounded. If he wanted new experiences, he could just watch others' life through his pool of knowledge.

 

If he does not understand something, he could simply investigate and search for the answer in the universe in his mind. He finds enjoyment by merely watching and observing while Ouroboros through experiencing them in reality, not memory.

 

Thus, these walks where they just go about walking around town were needed to satiate its hunger for new information… in other words, Ouroboros was a gossipmonger.

 

Ouroboros would finally have its fill and go home by the seventh hour. It had been fed with new delicious things.

 

Though it would rather have something more "exotic" experiences, Kiel could not provide it any at the moment, if not ever.

 

Kiel went back home to prepare his breakfast with his little shopping over.

 

In the kitchen, there was hidden storage. Kiel opened it and entered a small cave beneath his home. Inside, there were several giant carcasses of beasts wrapped in clothing.

 

He unwrapped one and carved it for his meal for the entirety of the day.

 

He closed the entrance to the underground storage and began cooking the meat, "Mother said the [Ice Stones] layer should last for about twenty more years… she wasn't lying."

 

After breakfast, Kiel would go out and take a walk and then do his daily grass trimming. Finishing that, and Keil was already left without anything to do.

 

A week has nine days, and a year has 500.

 

He refined his 720 apertures until five years ago to speed up his recuperation. But, he had long finished everything.

 

Without anyone to distract him, Kiel had to find a way to stave off his boredom as he waited for his family's return.

 

Thus, he created a weekly list.

 

On the first day, he would choose to buy spices and gossip. 

 

On the second day, he would chop wood used for the entire week. He already prepared a stock to be used during the rainy days.

 

On the third day, he would go explore the forest. He regularly checks on Bula, who frequently leave to fight wild animals. The Ox was still incapable of speech, but it showed signs of intelligence on par with a ten-year-old child. It had already shown signs of creating its Core. It was also the same time he washed his clothes by the river. Consequently, the town's mothers also wash their clothes the same day, so Ouroboros gets his fill of gossip.

 

On the fourth day, he has nothing of importance to do; thus, he would close his eyes and watch the life of the experts of his time. He doesn't protect them fight, but rather how they conversed and spoke. The way they smiled and moved all of it was observed and analyzed by Kiel. He wouldn't even watch cultivators, only ordinary people most of the time. He wanted to learn how to express emotions. He got good at faking a smile over the years.

 

On the fifth day, Bula goes back home. It would spend the entire afternoon lazing around with Kiel. 

 

On the sixth day, he would teach Bula how to cultivate. This was a day that Ouroboros enjoyed. Through Kiel, it would help Bula awaken as a Spirit Beast. Ouroboros liked how his hard work was beginning to bear fruit.

 

"She'll form her Core in Three Years."

 

"Or it could be sooner depending on her encounters."

 

On the seventh day, Kiel would play Ascend against Ouroboros — They started playing a year after Irys' death — and they would spend the entire night playing, even forgetting to eat. 

 

On the eighth day, Kiel used to go on a medicinal bath using what Irys gave him. However, since he healed, he just started experimenting on the effects of different concoctions. He was born with an absolute natural immunity to poison, so even if Kiel tests a new poison, he could just gather the malicious substance in his fingertips and then extract it out of his body. He had created deadly poisons for years now and kept every extraction in a special jar where he left it to fester. It was Ouroboros' idea to keep it aside. It used Kiel as a human furnace to create the deadliest poison in all creation.

 

"Do you think it can kill us one day?"

 

"There is a possibility."

 

On the ninth day, Kiel would not do anything. He would rest and converse with Ouroboros to try and improve his conversational skills. Sometimes if Bula was there, he'd talk to the Ox.

 

That's how he spends his every day. However, Kiel would leave for Irys' grave every tenth night and clean it of any weed. He did this when everyone was asleep, without letting anyone see him.

 

After Irys' death, Kiel also started a journal that detailed everything that happened after his parents left.

 

Kiel would speak of what he had done to let his parents know what happened when they were away. Though it was a static life, there would be a moment where things would deviate from his plan; thus, this man who had lived for eons would be excited to write about it.

 

He would love to write them a letter. However, Kiel received not a single one over these past thirteen years.

 

Even Ame hadn't received one from them.

 

Speaking of Ame, she used to visit Kiel.

As Kiel waited for his parents to return home, this reunion with his sister would be the highlights. He would prepare food for her, and she would tell him stories of her life in the world outside he rejected.

 

"I was trapped inside the tomb of the ancestors, and that bitch Riel attempted to have me eaten by the Heart Earth Beast. Stones flew into the air, and it cornered me. But just as I was devoured, I used my trump card, the mastered First Level of Heaven and Hell Palm! I blasted the Heart Earth Beast and then slapped that bitch half to death; she was bleeding all over when I did it. Tsk and all of that was just because I stole the first ranking from her younger sister."

 

"So, did you uproot them properly?"

 

"…I did and managed to get some good treasures from them. Do you want some?"

 

"No, I cannot use such things in Mortal Society."

 

"I see, I see... oh, if anyone asks, when the Lively Heart Society was annihilated, tell them I was here visiting, okay?"

 

"...you didn't properly cover your tracks, didn't you?"

 

She would tell Kiel stories of light and death fights and even arrogant people who tried to claim her as theirs. Ame's experience filled Kiel's life with colors, but even that didn't last as seven years ago, Ame broke through the Ascended Realm and left Celestial Phoenix Mountain.

 

"I have reached the peak of my peers; none could match my strength, and I won the right to join another power. I need to go to another Sect called the Fire Demon Sect as I have already reached this level. The Fire Demon Sect is a faraway place, it's tens of thousands of kilometers away, and I might not be able to…."

 

She was shushed by her brother, and as Kiel looked Ame in the eyes, he said, "I know Ame; I am well-versed in these things. Do not worry about me. This is the path you have chosen, and I would support you with anything you would do. Like you, I have been in such a situation before; as you grow stronger, the more we need resources. It is only natural for this to happen.

 

"Never fear that I am being left behind because this path that you took is much harder than mine… you will face danger and meet companions and, if at the end of it all, you feel lonely, come back, and I will welcome you and listen to your stories with Mother and Father. We are Family wherever you go."

 

When Kiel finished his words, he showed her the smile he had been refining for years. Ame hugged Kiel before giving him a book.

 

"I do not know for how long I will be gone; I do not know if I will be able to come back home quickly, but I'll try to write to you. This book has all the names and locations of the friends I made over the years. If you ever need help, contact them. I do not know if I'll be able to return home, but — ow! I was acting really emotional at that time!"

 

Ame complained as she rubbed her forehead. Kiel just used a portion of Intent to flick her forehead.

 

"Don't say anything stupid and just go! I will remain here no matter what happens… I will be waiting for you, Mother, and Father. Who knows, you might come back that they are already here with me."

 

"…that would be nice." Even Ame wished for such a thing.

 

The day would end, and the next day would follow. Ame left with hesitation, and just before she reached ten kilometers out of their Mental Connection, she spoke to him one last time, [See you later, brother.]

 

Ame's words were filled with warmth, and without sounding forced, she had long accepted Kiel as her brother, but she repeated it one last time before leaving as if to remind her that someone would always come to find her if she was to become lost.

 

Ame kept something from Kiel, and that was the fact that when she left for the Fire Demon Sect, she would soon be going after the people who killed her in her previous life.

 

She knew that Kiel would do anything for her, even if that "thing" was to break his oath of never stepping into the World of Cultivation.

 

'For my Family, I am willing to do anything, even if it means becoming the one thing I do not want…' that was Kiel's words to Ame when they were young.

 

Ame did not want that, and he did not wish to endanger her brother. She would hunt the bastards who took her down one by one, "I'll kill them all and return…."

 

Kiel was once again left alone, and his life continued without anyone there to watch him grow. 

 

Ame's monthly letter then became every three months, every six months, then, every two years… and now, it was three years since her last letter, that was the three years ago when the eleventh year of him being alone was celebrated.

 

Since two years ago, no more news about his family members reached him.

 

Since a year ago… his nightmares have grown in number.

 

And the premonition he had earlier was the last news he had of his parents.

 

Sitting on the front lawn, Kiel watched the sun going down.

 

As it hid behind the mountains, Kiel closed his eyes.

 

'An abandoned bastard son….' He repeated their words.

 

He let out an exasperated sigh and buried any more thoughts. 

 

'There must be some other reason why there haven't gone back… why Ame hasn't sent a letter.'

 

He got up and then proceeded to go back inside… continued living his life.

 

Going about it, day after day, with little differences. 

 

Then, the night passed, and Kiel left to go and sleep.

 

Then… at the thirteenth year's fourth month, Kiel woke much earlier than he should. All the hair in his body stood as he got up and exited the house with hurried steps.

 

His smile disappeared as he found no one outside.

 

'...It's not them.' Kiel thought to himself as he picked up the stick he kept by the door, 'Just in case.'

 

For a moment, he stood outside and then started walking calmly, away from his house.

 

Only after half a kilometer later did he stop.

 

In his hand was a stick carved from a lighting-struck tree, a rare material stronger than iron.

 

There were no trees, no tall grass, nor were there any bumps where he stood.

 

With a sad expression, Kiel looked at the moon, "Do you really think I walked all the way here for no reason?"

 

Kiel spoke, and five men appeared dressed in black while wearing bamboo hats appeared, "Kiel Zarta, we came here to take your dead body. You can try to fight us, but it appears the information was correct. You do indeed do not have any cultivation. Don't worry, we'll make this quick; you'll soon be with your parents."

 

All of them were at the 9th level of the True Spirit Realm. Kiel knew he could not win, but something else mattered more than the fight.

 

He lowered his head and began thinking. A smile appeared on his face, and as he raised his face to meet with one of them again, he showed them a twisted expression.

 

A broken smile as if he was holding onto a notion of impossibility, "Huh? What did you just say? My parents? You do not mean Noah and Ava Zar—"

 

The five men's figure disappeared from sight, and as Kiel lowered his head, he saw five swords embedded in his body.

 

Kiel coughed up blood, but he didn't care as he looked the one in front of him in the eyes as he asked in confirmation, "Are… my… parents, my family… dead?"

 

There were tears in his eyes as he asked this question. He was hoping that they would shake their heads before a dying man, but the man before him only let out a snicker, "I confirmed it with my own eyes."

 

Shhsssk!

 

The sword rendered Kiel's flesh, and he began bleeding out as he fell to his knees.

 

Kiel's tears fell, and then… he screamed, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he was in pain, but it was not the stab wounds that were hurting him. 

 

It was because, again, another part of him was slain.

 

Kiel's tears flowed, and then his eyes revolved and showed a Serpent Biting its own tail, a ten-meter diameter dome appeared with his scream, and the stream of time flowed in reverse!

 

Fifteen seconds was returned.

 

"Kiel Zarta, we came here to take your dead body. You can try to fight us, but it appears the information was correct you—"

 

The man was talking when Kiel bursts out laughing. He held onto his gut as his laughter turned into a guffaw, tears of blood escaped his eyes, and as the men in black robes began to sense that something was around Kiel, this target of theirs abruptly stopped.

 

With tears of blood still streaming down his face, he looked at one of them with a smile, "It... hurts... again... it hurts."

 

"Wha—?'

 

Kiel's figure disappeared as an unimaginable amount of pressure appeared and almost made the men's knees in black robes buckle.

 

Everyone was confused, and then, when Kiel reappeared, he was stood before one of the men, and as the man lowered his head, he saw his beating heart on Kiel's hand.

 

At that instance, the man who vowed to never step into the world of cultivation ever again had reached Pseudo-True Spirit Realm from being a non-cultivator in a manner of seconds.

 

As his tears of blood continued to flow, he asked them, "Why?"

 

As Kiel watched the dead body plopped down, he whispered, " Why? Why did you make me remember? Why couldn't have you just beheaded me?"