Chapter 1: Dreams
Bam!
In a small living room — polluted with the smell of alcohol — a tall adult male towered over a skinny young man, crashing his bloodied knuckles over the latter’s bruised face.
The young boy had a worn down black hoodie on and tight gym pants that stuck to his thin figure. He had lifeless black eyes and dark hair, with thin features and pale skin.
The middle-aged adult had a humped stomach and a frowned look on his face.
“Didn’t I tell you not to be late?!” The adult shouted, swinging his large fists and suddenly knocking the young man unconscious.
Malcolm King clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw his son laying on the floor unresponsive.
He wiped the blood off his knuckles before shifting his gaze towards his son, Darius.
“It should’ve been you. Not her!” Malcolm snarled, before entering his room and loudly slamming the door closed.
Meanwhile, when Darius opened his eyes, he was no longer in his depraved, despaired room.
Loud wind wafted over his ears, and passing fluffy clouds seemed just an arm’s reach away from him.
He looked below, finding himself laying atop a huge body of rough, red scales, each scale bigger than him.
In his hands, a pair of sharp blades were clenched tightly, clinging to his palms as though he was born with them.
A flapping sound resonated beside the howling wind, and upon a closer listen, a deep growling noise.
Darius smiled.
Never did he do so in reality, but during his dreams, it was as though all his hardship and coldness melted away.
He propped himself in one swift motion, before assessing his surroundings.
He was in the air!
Not only that, he was atop a giant bloody dragon!
Upon Darius’ awakening, the dragon’s low growl slowly turned into a bellowing roar, accompanied with blinding flames that assaulted the air.
“Hahaha! I’ve missed you too!”
Darius ran across the dragon’s body and with a wide jump, perched atop its scaly head.
He stared down at the distant earth, its lush plains and vast mountains appearing as miniature paintings.
Rivers connected the landforms like veins, giving the fauna and flora life.
Before he could command his beast to lower itself, a distant roar entered his ears.
Darius’ gaze shifted forward, a shadow forming behind a wall of clouds.
Suddenly, another draconic beast burst through the sky and flew rapidly towards Darius’ figure.
Darius smiled and readied his blades as the two dragons were about to collide.
And…
Darius awoke to reality.
His bruised face no longer containing the joy it did a mere moment ago, replaced with a throbbing pain assaulting his entire body.
His ears couldn’t hear the dragon’s roars any longer, replaced with the deafening silence that he was used to.
‘Ah. I’m home.’ He thought, staring at the ceiling of his small living room.
His expression instantly turned to its usual detached coldness.
Darius had no energy to pick himself off the floor. He was broken, in more ways than one.
“Is this living?” He wondered, feeling like a bird stuck within a cage.
As a young man, he hadn’t experienced a mother’s love, since she died shortly after giving birth to him.
He hadn’t really experienced a father’s love either, or any love for that matter.
Though, it wasn’t love Darius sought.
It was freedom.
‘I’ll never be free, will I?’
During his dreams, he got a slight taste of how that freedom felt. As fleeting as it was, it gave him a slight hope to live.
‘Malcolm spends all his pension on beer. He’s already cut me off at ninth grade because of his addiction. I’m not even nineteen and I’ve already gotten sick of life.’
‘Shit. I don’t really see any light at the end of this tunnel. It’s not like I can really make a living in this ghetto either.’
…
‘I’ve had enough.’ Darius decided, his face growing colder and detached. ‘I can use the rest.’
Darius mustered enough strength to push himself off the ground, ignoring the sharp pains that caused him to grunt.
He limped to his room, making his way to his small futon and laying down.
‘How would I kill myself though? Jumping off a tall building would be ideal. I don’t want to suffer too much before dying.’ Darius thought, stroking his temples to lighten his headache.
His thoughts grew more wicked the more he reminisced about his past.
‘I won’t die before I make sure he suffers.’
His mind raced to think of various ways to go about the murder suicide.
‘Does Malcolm still have his pistol from his time being a police officer?’
Tasers and batons were simply too weak of a weapon in the ghettos.
‘He’d have to exit his room for me to search it, though.’
Right as he thought that, the entrance door to their small apartment creaked open, before slamming shut.
Darius instantly propped himself up and limped to Malcolm’s room.
The space had beer cans and wine bottles scattered across the room, but at the very least, housed a proper bed.
Darius instantly started searching his cabinets and drawers, but was unable to find anything.
He heaved a sigh and sat on Malcolm’s bed, preparing to groan and lament his luck, when he spotted the corner of a small box beneath his feet.
He instantly pulled it towards him and opened it.
Darius smiled, picking up the Glock-19 pistol and the eight bullets that it came with.
Now, all he had to wait was for his father to come home from the bar, drunk and unsuspecting.
…
Rain pattered against the living room window, and flashes of lightning illuminated the small living room. Blaring police sirens grew loud for a moment before fading into the distance.
Hours had passed and soon, it was midnight. The moon illuminated the living room Darius was in, casting a gentle silver hue on his face.
He felt incredibly drowsy, but pinched himself to keep awake.
A few moments later, the door creaked open.
Malcolm staggered inside the room, his face flushed and eyes drooping.
“You? Why’re you awake, kid?” Malcolm questioned, seeing his son standing in front of him.
“Wha—!”
Bang!
A muzzle flash flickered brightly across the room and shook the air, and a bloodcurdling scream sounded a second after.
Malcolm’s left knee spurted blood as a bullet pierced through it, pulling him to the floor.
He was instantly sobered.
Fear, confusion, anger and panic all entered Malcolm’s mind at that moment, alongside a lethal dose of pain.
He anxiously grasped at his knee and shouted at Darius to put the gun away.
Malcolm’s eyes gathered another layer of despair when he saw Darius smiling with cold eyes.
Gripping the gun tightly, he took aim once more.
Bang!
This time, it was Malcolm’s right knee that suffered, forming a pool of blood on the floor.
Darius could see Malcolm’s lips move, but he filtered what they said, taking aim once again.
A series of gunshots followed.
Malcolm’s body was riddled with holes, yet it seemed the man still had a wisp of consciousness remaining.
With one final bang, Malcolm abruptly limped, falling lifeless with his eyes and mouth still open.
Darius heaved a melancholic sigh, sitting on the sofa and caressing the pistol’s trigger.
“It’s over. I can end it now.”
He brought the pistol to his temple, before pulling the trigger.
Darius felt his consciousness yanked out of his body, before being shrouded in a dark light.
Chapter 2: Reborn
‘It’s dark.’
Darius felt weightless, like air.
His body was devoid of feelings, and his thoughts seemed slow and dull.
All the while, his senses were muted.
‘…Didn’t I just kill myself? Why can I still think?’
Darius grew more confused the more he thought about his situation.
However, he had heavy drowsiness looming over his consciousness, forcing him to sleep.
Slowly, time started to blur.
Darius had no clue how long had passed, but he always drifted between a state of semi-awareness.
Over time, his feelings had returned, giving him a weak sense of touch.
At the same time, he realized that he still had limbs, as he could kick and punch, albeit slowly and weakly.
Soon, something started to press rhythmically against his body.
At the same time, a dim light appeared opposite him.
‘Wha–?!’
A firm grip seized his legs and yanked him towards the light.
The brightness temporarily blinded him, and a moment later, his vision and hearing returned and adjusted.
The first thing he saw was an old woman’s face with a particularly long nose.
From Darius’ perspective, the woman was a giant!
Her wrinkled face expressed indifference, while her giant hands wrapped around his tiny waist held him still.
‘No… she’s not a giant.’ Darius realized, then creaked his neck to look below.
He had become a baby, a warm air wafting over his buttcheeks as his wet body was completely naked.
‘I’ve been reborn.’
With that shocking realization, he instantly started to look around and inspect his surroundings.
He was in a simple wooden shack, devoid of any luxury.
Tools like rakes and straw brooms were huddled in the corner, indicating a medieval age, while moonlight entered through a glass window towards the furthest wall.
‘Is this still earth? Have I gone back in time?’
Bright candles illuminated the space, casting an orange hue over the room.
Besides that, an oval-faced young lady rested on a bed to Darius’ right, panting heavily with a pained expression.
Her plain dress was drenched with warm sweat. Silky brown hair fell over her shoulders, and her irises were hazel.
‘That should be my mother.’
The old woman’s gaze fell on the member between Darius’ nether regions.
“It’s a boy, Eve.” She uttered, before handing him to the young lady. “I don’t know why he didn’t cry, though.”
Darius couldn’t understand her tongue, nor link it to any language on earth.
‘Maybe this is another world…’
Eve’s panting had calmed down at that point, allowing her to gaze at his features.
Her lips curved upwards to form a loving smile, yet warm tears streamed down her pale face.
‘Why is she the one crying?’
A moment later, she wiped her tears away and kissed Darius on his forehead, speaking what seemed like words of warmth.
“I’ll call you… Liam. May you grow strong-willed, just like your name.” She uttered, before unfurling her dress and forcing ‘Liam’ to swallow mouthfuls of breast milk.
Liam didn’t understand a word she said, reluctantly drinking his fill to satiate the void in his stomach.
‘Judging by the tattered rags these people wear, I don’t suppose we’re rich. If this really is medieval earth, I won’t make it past a few winters.’
He didn’t fail to notice the lack of a father figure either, or any other figure for that matter.
‘I guess there’s a silver lining, but this works against me too.’
After an hour’s rest, Eve finished breastfeeding and cleaned herself, before wrapping Liam in a tight cloth and leaving— ignoring the pain assaulting her body.
As they left the shack, Liam’s expression turned sour.
A damp, putrid smell entered his tiny nose while his disappointed eyes reflected a destitute scene.
The dirt roads were lit by tall posts with dim lamplights at the top.
Small favelas made from clay and wood were built on the sides, and the streets bustled with penurious peasants.
They wore plain tattered rags and bore skinny features. Although the townsfolk were visibly poor, they didn’t have an empty look on their face.
Unlike Liam, of course.
‘Did I really have to be reborn here, of all places? As if my luck wasn’t already horrible.’
As Eve continued to walk, more of the town revealed itself.
Like any society, Liam spotted plenty of businesses the fortunate owned. The most common & popular of which were bars and brothels.
Now and again, flush-faced drunkards could be seen tripped over themselves and loudly guffawing.
Liam couldn’t find any differences from his first life.
In truth, there was a part of him that wished for a fantastical world, yet his present circumstances were far worse than before.
‘Maybe it’s not too late to kill myself. If I reincarnate again, technically It’ll be reroll.’ Liam thought with a bitter snort.
Suddenly, the night sky rumbled.
The surrounding townsfolk raised their brows in confusion, a slight fear growing in their expression.
Liam himself felt Eve’s hands tremble as she held him.
‘What is happeni—’
Over the horizon, where the houses and shops didn’t block the view, a large shadow grew larger amidst the gray clouds.
Bright flares of orange accompanied the huge figure, which caused flickers of light to illuminate the heavens.
The rumbling sounds grew louder too, shaking the air.
The surrounding townsfolk instantly started to run for shelter, screams of pure fear echoing throughout the region.
Eve clutched Liam tighter as she ran through the hectic crowd, holding him over her shoulder.
Liam’s awed eyes reflected the giant figure as it burst through the clouds, flying over them like a plane.
It was a dragon!
Eve was forced to crouch, yet Liam still had a clear view of the sky.
The giant beast was covered with sharp crimson scales, each one the size of a riot shield. Its massive wings stretched out on either side of its body, casting a shadow that darkened the surrounding landscape even more.
Its reptilian eyes— glowing like molten gold— surveyed its surroundings with a prideful gaze, as though the sky was its domain.
Although it was a long distance away, its mighty wings sent powerful gales of wind over the town.
Liam watched as it flew past, growing distant by the second.
The scene didn’t end there.
From a far distance, a blazing figure rapidly shot towards the dragon, leaving behind a trail of smoke and flames.
It appeared as though a meteorite had shot from earth towards the sky. More precisely, towards the dragon.
Upon a closer look, Liam realized the tiny dot was a human!
The beast bellowed, its roar shaking the sky and earth alike, while its blinding flames were directed towards the human.
Eve didn’t waste a second and began to run, but Liam’s awed eyes were fixed to the distant sky.
The blazing figure flew past the flurry of fire and collided with the dragon’s stomach.
BOOM!
One after the other, bright and deafening explosions caused the night to appear like day, while its vibrative shockwaves echoed through the air.
The clash was short lived.
Liam witnessed the dragon’s distant figure going limp, falling towards the earth. Yet before it did so, the human held it by its tail, slowly bringing it back to the ground.
Eve’s ears bled and her body ached horribly, but she finally entered her lodge and slammed the door shut.
Panting heavily, she shifted her anxious gaze to her baby, who hadn’t made a single noise from the beginning, except an inaudible giggle now and again.
Eve sucked in a cold breath as she saw her son’s expression.
Streams of warm tears ran down Liam’s face, all the while, he grinned maniacally with a toothless mouth.
Chapter 3: Genius
Days passed since Liam’s reincarnation, yet the clash between the dragon and the human kept replaying in his mind.
‘In this world… a single human can actually fight against a beast like that and win? I must find out more.’
Meanwhile, his life as a baby was repetitive and quite dull, simply feeding, emptying his bowels, and sleeping.
Eve did most of the work, and Liam simply focused on his mother’s tongue while learning how to crawl in between.
Not a minute passed where she didn’t converse with him, be it words of warmth or playful remarks. Thanks to that, it didn’t take long for him to learn the language she spoke.
‘Ucladd is a monarchical city, split into a peasantry and aristocratic side. Although I haven’t seen any nobles, my mother seems to warn me of them already.’
Liam remembered seeing a giant wall visible even from a great distance, which divided the wealthy from the poor.
Stern-faced armored guards blocked its giant gate, which luxurious carriages made their way through.
The townsfolk made a respectful gesture whenever they passed by.
‘I guess status and wealth will always be important for humans.’
On the other hand, Eve was quite similar to her son in some ways.
She had no friends, nor family members Liam knew of.
Liam sympathized with her and knew he had to help her, but his feelings resembled more of obligation than it did love.
Besides that, there wasn’t anything significant that happened.
Five months passed.
Currently, Eve took him with her during a short trip for groceries, giving Liam opportunities to sightsee and learn more of the world.
During the day, the streets bustled with men, women and children alike, a lively air surrounding the city despite its horrible conditions.
Despite the panic and shock that the dragon had caused around the city, the townsfolk had resumed their normal activities.
Eve was looking at a vegetable stand, inspecting the fruits and products, while a bored Liam was in her caring arms.
‘A book stall!’ Liam’s glittering eyes fell on a middle-aged vendor selling dozens of books and manuals in the open.
He tugged at Eve’s ear, grabbing her attention and pointing towards the book stall.
Eve had a surprised look on her face, before she looked at the direction her son was pointing.
“You want… books?” She asked, her brow raised in confusion.
Nonetheless, she complied, approaching the stall and inspecting the various books stacked atop one another.
Some had giant texts and illustrations on the front which explained their purpose, but Liam’s eyes scoured for anything related to fantasy.
Eve picked up a few children’s books and showed them to Liam, but his eyes were already fixed on three different covers.
Instantly, he started to point towards them.
Eve stared at the books her five month baby pointed at. Even the aged vendor had his mouth open in shock at that sight.
‘Whispers, Myths and Legends.’
‘Cultivation: The Art of Immortality.’
The cover had a robed figure sitting cross-legged with his hands on his abdomen, yellow colored streaks converging on that spot.
‘The Thousand Year War.’
Eve had more than a few questions, and the books that Liam had chosen were thick in size and complicated in topic.
Eve shook her head and flashed him the children’s book again, but Liam shook his head and yelled for the other three.
‘This child… ever since birth, he hasn’t cried, even when he fell down when attempting to crawl. Could it be… my son is a genius?’
With that thought, Eve couldn’t help but gain some sort of pride. A moment later, she bought all three of them.
Bringing them back to their lodge, she instantly handed the books to him for play.
She obviously didn’t think he knew how to read, let alone know what a book is.
However, Liam could already speak her tongue, and its writings were quite similar to the English language.
As Eve headed to the kitchen to cook, Liam instantly opened the books, starting with the cultivation one.
It was the thinnest out of all of them, and resembled more of a manual.
‘Please don’t tell me this is about farming!’ Liam wished inwardly.
Staring at the first page, he instantly started to read the wall of text.
‘Cultivation! The fabled path to immortality, allowing mere mortals to challenge existences beyond their imaginations. How can one achieve such power?’
‘Through ‘Ora’, the miraculous world essence that gives any worthy being the chance to harness its groundbreaking strength. ‘Ora’ is all around us. In the air, in the ground, in everything.’
‘Stealing this energy is a direct crime against ‘The Opposition’, its rightful owner. The Opposition is the ruling force that governs the very cultivation journey we tread upon. They are fair, they oppose, but do not oppress.’
Liam’s eyes shone with a curious and joyous light. The book was satisfactory in every sense, yet still had vague descriptions.
‘However, one simply cannot absorb this essence in its raw form; which is why our bodies have a certain organ to transform and safely take in ‘Ora’, known as the ‘Core’.’
‘This center of power is one of three, with the other being the Body and Sea of Consciousness. However, these organs require ‘Techniques’ to awaken.’
Only one line remained at the bottom of the page.
‘Haha! Good luck getting those!’
Liam raised his brows, a bad feeling rising in his heart.
‘What is that about?’ He shook his head, before repeating what he just learned.
‘This world essence should be similar to the ‘Mana’ in fantasy novels I’ve read. I’m too young to start leaving the house and finding out more, but my next goal is clear.’
Liam focused on the next book. It was only slightly bigger than the first.
‘Whispers, Myths and Legends.’
He opened the first page, which had an illustration of a bald ‘human’ figure, their body covered with a large black cloak. Skin pale as ash, irises blood-red, a pair of razor-sharp fangs protruded from the corners of their mouth.
Liam’s eyes widened as he read the text below.
‘Vampires. Said to have evolved from blood leeches to bats, then a new existence entirely.’
Chapter 4: History
Liam’s eyes held an excited and curious glimmer as he scanned the vampire’s image again and again.
‘Vampires feed on blood, sucking it through their nails. They are capable of conversation, and have intellectual capabilities. Found in the Parag Continent, but are rumored to be violently hostile and territorial. Fabled to possess immortality.’
‘To think that other races exist…’ Liam thought with shock, before flipping the page.
The next image he saw was of a fair-skinned lady, wearing a silky, long-flowing green dress with particularly loose sleeves. Her hooded eyes were a bright emerald, while smooth, light-azure hair fell over her most distinct feature.
Her pink, pointy ears.
‘Elves. Nicknamed the ‘blessed’ race. Not much is known about them.’
Liam flipped the page once more.
The next race he saw couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
‘Goblins. Short, green-skinned creatures who— when working together— can cause devastating damage to towns. They target women, as well as little children.’
‘Yikes.’ Liam thought, staring at the image and flipping the image for the last time.
‘Dwarves. Midgets with amazing architectural abilities. Rumored pioneers of nearly all forging methods. Not much is known.’
By then, Liam felt ecstatic. He couldn’t help but want to grow older quicker.
Then, he shifted his focus to the ‘Thousand Year War’ book, opening it and skimming through its coarse, worn-down pages.
‘Ages ago, when myths and legends were common knowledge. For a millennium, the world was at war. Most probably for much longer, but mortals just kept dying before they could continue the count. No one even remembers why the war had begun.’
‘The Ashuras, a cursed demonic race— though little in number— wrought havoc on the world. The pantheons of the human and non-human countries formed a momentary truce, combining their strengths to fight against them.’
‘It took long… too long to defeat them. By the end of it, entire lands were uprooted and countless lives were lost, but the demons were finally wiped out. So was their description and history.’
‘Or so the legends claim.’
The book ended with that sentence.
‘To think this world had such a background.’ Liam pondered, before his mother finished with her cooking and picked him up again. ‘I need to learn more. I won’t be satisfied if I don’t turn over every rock I find.’
Like so, more months passed.
Liam was aging quite nicely, and over time, his features became more prominent.
Strangely enough, he resembled nothing like his mother, since Liam had sharp green eyes and smooth blonde hair.
‘My dad’s then.’
On his first birthday, Eve baked him a pumpkin pie, which Liam had to admit tasted better than anything he had in his first life.
On the same day, a knock surfaced on their house door.
Eve opened it with Liam in her arms, and a burly, stern-faced man donning hunting attire handed her a satchel filled with meat, along with five gold, and twenty silver coins.
“Here, Miss Eve. I’ve been told to deliver this to you.” The man said.
Eve accepted the items with a “Thank you,” but her worried gaze fell on the coins a second later.
“But Adrian agreed to much more than this… I can’t afford to feed my child with this much alone!” She argued, panic in her voice.
The hunter shook his head.
“I don’t know much about your circumstances, Miss, but I have my orders.”
With that, the man turned around and left.
Eve closed the door and instantly began sobbing on the spot, unaware of the cold gaze in Liam’s eyes.
‘Of course this has to be complicated. I always wondered where she got her money from. Now I know it’s from my father, ‘Adrian’.’
Eve clutched Liam tighter to her chest.
“I’m sorry, my child. Had it not been my selfishness, you wouldn’t have been born in this cruel world.”
…
Years passed, and Liam’s living circumstances had taken a turn for the worst.
Once it was time for him to eat solid foods, Liam made sure to eat as much as he could to grow as strong as possible. Even in his first life, he didn’t have the best nutrition growing up.
Eve made attempts to ration their meals, since only once a year, would money and food arrive. However, Liam simply ate too much.
His mother was kind enough to feed him some of her own meals, but the rate of consumption was too fast.
Noticing how Eve’s features became skinnier over time, Liam promised to help the one person who helped him unconditionally.
Soon, he could walk and talk clearly, and was allowed to leave his home by Eve’s permission.
However, there was a silver lining in their situation.
Liam was a step closer to cultivation.
He soon realized that Ucladd’s guards weren’t normal people.
Now and again, some peasants daring enough attempted to rob in broad daylight, giving Liam a chance to witness more magic.
It wasn’t too complicated, tendrils of the earth wrapping around an escaping thief’s foot, gales of wind stopping an assailant from stabbing someone, etcetera.
These cultivators worked in ‘Guilds’. Large, four-story buildings situated around the city.
From what Liam knew, each building served a different purpose, yet he wasn’t allowed to enter them at all.
Civilians were strictly barred from those areas, and the only way he could enter them was if he did so silently.
‘I guess there’s no other option. There’s one more month left until the hunter comes. When he does, I’ll creep behind him and enter silently. I’ll have to ask someone to teach me, though.’
Liam was a month away from being ten years old. By then, his looks were far beyond those in the peasantry, with his cold green eyes giving him a mature look.
However, his plan depended on someone being kind enough to teach him, which was its biggest weakness.
Soon enough, the day arrived. He watched from afar as a scar-faced man knocked on their door, a satchel of meat and a handful of coins in his hands.
Chapter 5: Power
‘He’s unfamiliar.’ Liam realized, staring at the delivery man from behind a distant wall.
Eve accepted the coins and stored the meat satchel inside the home, which prompted the hunter to turn around and leave.
Liam silently began to follow, pulling down his hood and keeping his distance.
The streets of Ucladd were busiest during the day, allowing Liam to hide his short figure amidst the townsfolk.
In the distance, the guild building grew visible, and the hunter was clearly headed towards it.
Half an hour passed, and the crowds slowly dwindled the further they went, giving Liam less chances to hide his presence.
‘Damn it. I won’t be able to follow him like this.’ Liam cursed, forced to extend his distance.
However, the route the hunter took was quite strange, consisting of dark back alleys that led to the guild district.
‘Does he know I’m trailing him?’ Liam wondered as he slowly peeked over the corner.
However, the hunter was gone.
“What do you want?”
A grueling voice rang out from behind, and a strong pressure weighed against Liam’s mind.
‘Sh*t! What should I say?’
Liam slowly turned around, a defiant look on his pale face despite his flickering consciousness.
“Please… teach me how to cultivate.”
As he said those words, the pressure slowly subsided, allowing Liam to assess the hunter’s facial features.
An unreadable expression was on his stern, scar-ridden face. He looked to be in his middle-ages, yet his aura indicated a strange enlightenment.
His brown eyes contained a powerful gaze, and his tall, burly stature gave him an intimidating air.
“Why do you want to learn it?” He eventually asked, his gaze fixed with Liam’s own.
After a short pause, Liam answered truthfully:
“I want power.”
The hunter’s eyes flickered with amazement for a split second, before reverting to normal.
Memories of his own flashed in his head, remembering himself saying the same thing.
‘Such a defiant, ambitious rascal. If he wants to walk down this path… I won’t deny his resolve.’
“Ten seconds,” The man uttered with an expectant look. “Suffer for ten seconds, and I’ll teach you.”
Liam suppressed a smile from appearing on his face.
He’d been suffering for an entire lifetime, what could a mere ten seconds do?
“Deal.” Liam instantly agreed. “Suffer how?”
“No spoilers.” The man denied. “I’m Lloyd Kahl by the way, and you?”
“Liam—”
Liam couldn’t complete his words before a mountainous pressure enveloped his consciousness, as though his head was placed under a truck tire.
One. Two. Three.
Seconds felt like hours, and Liam’s heart pumped blood like an engine. His face and body started to sweat from every orifice, all the while, the pressure on his head never waned.
Four. Five. Six.
At this point, Liam’s consciousness started to drift. His knees buckled, pulling him to the ground. His eyes flickered close as darkness started to take over his vision, and his limbs trembled uncontrollably.
‘No!’ Liam managed to squeeze a thought, his eyes bursting open as he bit his tongue with all the strength in his jaw.
Blood gushed from his wound and filled his mouth, causing him to cough it up violently.
Yet, the sharp pain from his maimed tongue managed to keep him barely awake for the next four seconds.
The pressure ceased.
Lloyd’s expression didn’t hold back any amazement at that scene.
‘This kid might just be something special.’ He realized, before attempting to inspect Liam’s condition.
Liam raised his hand, denying any help as he weakly picked himself off the floor. “Are you gonna teach me now or what?” He asked, his wounded tongue slurring his words.
Lloyd smiled, flicking his wrist and stretching his hand.
Under Liam’s shocked eyes, a green, thumb-sized pill appeared out of thin air in Lloyd’s palm.
“Chew. It’ll help with your tongue.”
Liam did as instructed.
The pill had an extremely bitter taste, but gave a warm surge of energy throughout Liam’s body.
Slowly, the wound on his tongue started to heal, and a moment later, there was no trace of any injury.
“What… is this?” Liam asked, an incredulous look on his face. He realized the world he was in was much more advanced than earth. “How’d it come out of nowhere?”
“It’s a revitalization-pill. I said I’ll teach you cultivation, and I will. You’ll learn those things in time.” Lloyd heaved a sigh, before gesturing for Liam to follow him.
Liam nodded and followed.
“Are you already familiar with what the guilds are?” Lloyd asked as they made their way to the guild building. “What about cultivation?”
Liam shook his head. “Only the names. I have no idea what a ‘Sea of Consciousness’ is.”
The pair approached the guild building. Armored soldiers leaning on sharp spears covered the large entrance, their expressions turning stern as they saw Liam’s figure.
Lloyd shot them a brief, understanding look, and the guards let them pass.
‘Is he important or something?’ Liam couldn’t help but think that as they entered the building.
The inside lobby resembled a lavish bar, accompanied with various drinks and furnished with wooden tables.
To the right and left side of the room, were stairs that led downwards.
Men donning similar clothes to Lloyd were seated around the tables, mugs of beer in their hands. They were too drunk to pay any heed to the small child.
Lloyd walked down the stairs with Liam following closely behind.
The basement led to a hallway, which led to a small empty booth. A small hollow compartment was on its side.
Lloyd took out a small lapel button from his collar and inserted it into the slot.
A moment later, whirring sounds resounded around them, and the booth doors closed on their own.
‘An elevator?’ Liam thought with wide eyes. ‘I thought they didn’t have electricity?’
A few moments passed, before the ‘elevator’ stopped and its doors opened.
Liam’s green irises reflected a large underground ‘city’, illuminated by giant, glistening chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
‘You gotta be kidding me.’
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