by Daman
It was gratifying to finally be able to act on his feelings, rather than suppressing his emotions in fear that others would find out his secret. For receiving the strength of the Blood Legacy, Calron would be eternally grateful to his Master.
Although the Azure Lightning was a domineering might, it drew too much attention and unless Calron killed every witness that saw his fights, the existence of such an element would only serve to bring him immense trouble in the future.
Calron was still not sure how he felt about killing others. He knew he would have to do it eventually in future, but he would rather not resort to it unless there were no other choices.
Unknown to Calron, his recent battles and fights were already slowly molding his mind to become sharper and fiercer, as he was starting to be no longer opposed to killing.
Being in an extremely good mood, Calron whistled the tune that he once heard from a passing merchant in the village.
Although Calron had not whistled in a long time, especially after his father’s death, it was one of the few things that he had enjoyed in life.
The village kids were not always nice to him, but at the same time, they did not really try to befriend him either.
The stain of being a lightning cultivator’s son was deeply etched in Calron, and made the other kids stay away from him.
Faced with this isolation, Calron used to spend his time wandering around the village market and talking to the elderly folk.
The old shopkeepers never scowled at him or treated him like dirt. Calron would always help around at the shops, doing everything from running errands to cleaning the place up, and in return, the shopkeepers would sometimes give him small treats to eat or tell him stories about the legends of the past.
From all the legends, Calron’s favorite one was about the Violet-Eyed Executioner!
No one knew where this stranger came from, but he was known to roam the entire continent unparalleled as he vanquished the magical beasts within the human lands.
It was said that in the past, humans were actually enslaved by the beasts!
They were treated like livestock or cattle for the beasts to leisurely feast upon! Many of the cities were overtaken by the beasts due to their larger numbers and the inherent memories of their ancestors. Unlike humans, some magical beasts had the ability to inherit the memories of their ancestors, which included various cultivation techniques!
At that time, the humans only had the simplest of cultivation techniques and against the onslaught of the superior beasts they were soon miserably defeated.
Only a rare few cities still remained under the control of humans as the vast majority of the lands were rapidly conquered by the Beast Rulers!
Beast Ruler was a title given to any magical beast that reached the cultivation of the Heavenly stage or more! With numerous cities under the control of a single Beast Ruler, it was clear to see the terrifying power that the beasts held back then.
Living in fear every day, the humans desperately fought an uphill battle they knew they could not win. The only path open to them was either a life of slavery or a cold touch of death!
Amidst that agony and desperation, a ray of salvation suddenly appeared in front of the humans.
A mysterious hooded man intervened in one of the battles that the humans were just about to lose and single handedly massacred the entire army of beasts along with their ruler!
The hooded man immediately left after that first battle and a few days later, countless stories of a mysterious man effortlessly slaughtering beasts spread across the entire continent!
The only description of the mysterious man was when in the middle of a battle, his hood accidently flew back, as it revealed the striking features of the man!
A nearby wounded soldier at the sidelines etched that memory deep into his heart as he later spread the story around the barracks.
According to soldier’s tale, the mysterious man had his entire lower jaw covered in a veil, but it was his eyes that completely captivated the wounded soldier’s mind!
Burning with a celestial glow, the mysterious man’s violet eyes bore into the soldier as his heart trembled under the pressure those eyes exuded.
The hooded man’s piercing violet eyes blazed with a fierce intensity as he turned away his attention from the soldier and mercilessly butchered the numerous beasts! The scene of the man slaying the beasts as his eyes glowed with an unnatural violet color, earned him the name of the Violet-Eyed Executioner.
Even the Beast Ruler had only lasted a few seconds longer than the normal beasts against the executioner!
A power that could slaughter a Heavenly stage expert as easily as beheading a pig shattered the minds of the nearby humans!
Could they have the same power as this man?
Within a few months, the entire beast population had been decimated to a mere handful as they frantically escaped to the other continents or the nearby mountains.
The hooded man then headed to main capital of the human lands, and handed a series of scrolls to the people living there. He said the scrolls were different cultivation techniques and that the humans will have to depend on themselves in future if the beasts attacked.
After he said those words, the hooded man abruptly vanished!
Till this day, none knew his name and even the stories about the Violet-Eyed Executioner were dubious, as most believed them to be tales spun by bored soldiers on the battlefield. However, the truth of the matter would never be known.
Nonetheless, Calron did not care whether the legend of the Violet-Eyed Executioner was true or not, he simply wanted to carve his own destiny like the hooded man!
Shatter his fate of being weak!
Shatter his fate of servitude!
Shatter his fate of loneliness!
It had been a long time since Calron thought back to those days and he abruptly stopped in front of his hut as he reminisced his life back then.
With a sad smile, Calron slowly entered his room.
………………..
After a quick clean up, Calron immediately sat down on the mat in a meditative position and activated the second stage of the Thunder-Bird breathing technique!
“Hmm, I’m almost there… “
Just as Calron muttered to himself, a massive amount of essence was slowly being absorbed into his body.
Meanwhile, within Calron’s core, a strange scene started to unfold.
Bolts of blue lightning had again appeared around the core as they unceasingly refined every drop of essence that entered the liquid pool within the elemental core!
The golden-azure drops bubbled as the surrounding essence wildly fluctuated around Calron.
A faint sound of thunder echoed in the room as traces of golden lightning crackled around Calron’s skin.
“It’s starting!”
Calron exclaimed in delight as he saw the changes in his core!
Torrents of lightning essence spiraled above Calron as they were rapidly being absorbed into his body. Within seconds, the new essence was completely refined into the golden-azure liquid and just as Calron felt that he had reached his limit, an explosion reverberated throughout the room!
BOOOOM!
A gust of wind expelled from the room as the dust on the floor followed the blast of air, causing a cloud of smoke to form around Calron’s hut.
With a series of coughs, Calron forced the smoke out of his room and let out a sudden grin.
“Awesome! I finally entered the fourth rank! With this, I should now be able to contend against Chax with just my physical body! I was at a disadvantage last time, but let’s see him try to fight me again! Hehe…”
As Calron excitedly talked to himself, a nearby servant just gaped at him.
What Calron had not noticed was that he was completely covered in dust and subconsciously pumping his fists in the air.
The servant was in the middle of sweeping the corridor when he saw a lunatic rush out of a hut covered in dust as he excitedl
y yelled and threw his fists around.
The servant did not know whether to be mad at the boy for the dirtying the place he had just cleaned, or laugh at the silly antics of the kid.
Noticing that someone was staring at him, Calron abruptly turned around until he found a servant just standing there with a broom. Hurriedly regaining his composure, Calron walked up to the servant as he gave a polite bow while stating.
“Sir, I think there is a little bit of dust near there. Thank you for your hard work!”
Before the servant could respond, Calron abruptly starting walking towards the Foundation building.
Meanwhile, the servant burst out in laughter as he saw the boy walking away while still covered in a layer of dust! The boy had not even realized his comical appearance as he obliviously walked away.
“Sometimes, life is just meant to be silly… ”
The servant muttered as he let out a low chuckle.
Chapter 41 – Order of the World
As the sun’s rays shone in the morning, the disciples started to soon groggily wake up one after another.
In a separate hut, a dark haired boy of eight years buried his face into the pillow as the sunlight bore into his eyes.
Damn this stupid sun! Why did they have to put a window exactly there? I don’t like windows anymore…
Calron annoyingly muttered into the pillow as the bright light disturbed his sleep.
“Sigh… I still have Master’s training today, so I better get up.”
Forcing himself to climb out from the warmth of the bed, Calron dejectedly stood up.
After a quick cleanup, Calron wore his disciple robes and rushed to the gathering hall to meet up with Fatty.
……………….
“Big brother, why are you so happy? You even let me take your chocolate milk and usually you always smack me whenever I try to.”
Fatty curiously asked Calron, as they were walking towards the forest where their Master resided.
“What? I just didn’t feel like having chocolate milk, why is that so surprising?”
Calron retorted back to Fatty.
“Bah! The last time I sneaked one away from you, you suddenly grabbed my hand and twisted it backwards…”
Fatty’s voice died down towards the end, as he recalled that painful memory.
Usually Calron did not care much about food, but Fatty had recently found out that his big brother had a strange infatuation with chocolate milk.
Unlike Fatty, Calron did not have the luxury of sweet foods like chocolate, so after he tried the chocolate milk during one fateful morning, Calron was immediately obsessed with this godly drink!
“Eh? You’re hiding something! C’mon, big brother, tell me! Tell me! Please?”
Faced with Fatty’s constant harassment, Calron resigned himself as he quietly muttered.
“I broke through to the fourth rank… ”
“What? Stop mumbling!”
Fatty impatiently stated, as he was unable to hear Calron’s rambling.
“I said… “
Calron mumbled as he purposefully lowered his voice at the end.
“Big brother, I’ll forcefully kiss you if you don’t tell me right now!”
Fatty threatened Calron as he saw that the dark haired boy was intentionally teasing him.
“I’ll punch your mouth if you dare!”
Calron said in a low voice as he clenched his fists.
“Hehe, is that a challenge?”
Fatty snickered as he abruptly leapt onto Calron’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck.
“Dammit! Fatty get off me!”
Calron yelled as he tried to shake off the large boy from his back.
Unlike before, Fatty was not the small chubby kid anymore. He was much heavier than Calron with his newfound muscular frame so it was difficult for Calron to kick him away. Although he could use the source energy to easily suppress Fatty, Calron did not want to use the power of the Blood Legacy on his brother unless they were sparring.
As the two boys rolled on the ground, Fatty loudly laughed every time he managed to kiss Calron on the cheek.
“Kekeke, if you don’t tell me soon, I think you know where I will kiss you next!”
Fatty exclaimed as he puckered his lips in exaggeration while making kissing noises.
“Ugh, you slobbering idiot! I said, I broke into the fourth rank!”
Calron shouted next to Fatty’s ear as he uttered a string of curses into the air.
Flinching from the piercing voice next to his ear, Fatty gingerly rubbed his ears as he inquired again.
“So, big brother, what did you say again?”
“Fatty, I’m going to kill you now!”
Calron stated in a frosty and irritated voice as he wiped away Fatty’s slobber from his cheeks.
“Haha, just kidding! I heard you perfectly. Wow, big brother, you’re so amazing! Although your cultivation is lower than my big sister, but I’m absolutely sure that you are no weaker than her with your current power!”
Fatty sincerely conveyed to Calron.
Standing up, Fatty smiled as he extended his hand to Calron on the ground.
Grabbing his brother’s hand, Calron returned the smile as he slowly stood up and patted the dirt out of his robes.
“By the way, Fatty…”
“Yes, big brother?”
Fatty curiously turned his head as Calron started talking.
“Kiss me again, and I will electrocute you.”
Calron stated in a low voice as bursts of lightning crackled around his hand.
“Ah… of course… “
Fatty promised as drops of sweat rolled off his forehead.
“Well, as long as you understand, it’s fine. Now, let’s run or else we’ll be late for Master!”
Calron stated as he started running into the forest. Fatty soon followed him after he threw imaginary kisses at Calron behind his back.
………………..
“Hmm, so you both are finally here.”
Elias calmly stated as he detected his two disciples sprinting towards his hut.
He was seated in a meditative position as Calron and Fatty approached him. Elias’ cloudy grey eyes flashed as they abruptly opened.
“You’re late.”
Elias said in a serious tone.
“Sorry, Master, It was big brother’s fault! He wanted to kiss me!”
Fatty interjected before Calron could even speak.
Suddenly a bolt of golden lightning erupted behind Fatty’s bottom as he yelped in shock.
“I think Fatty is still sleepy, Master, as he’s spouting nonsense. Master, what are we training in today?”
Calron calmly stated without glancing at Fatty, who was currently gingerly rubbing his bottom as he glared at Calron.
“Calron, today you will begin your training in the Blood Mist Step. Roran, you will continue to practice the Formless Fist until you perfect it. I assume you still remember the forms and the stances?”
Elias asked with an amused smile on his face.
“Ugh, yes, Master! I will immediately start training! Hehe, big brother, just wait and see, I’ll definitely catch up to you!”
Fatty enthusiastically exclaimed as he walked off towards the nearby lake to train. Previously, Fatty had found out that both Calron and his Master trained their Formless Fist there, so he decided to practice in the same place as well.
As soon as Fatty left, Elias instantly adopted a serious tone as he continued.
“Calron, the Blood Mist Step is an extremely dangerous movement skill. The agility and speed it grants is second to none, but the risks in using it are just as high! Although it will not consume your blood like the Titan’s Fury, it will force you to draw large amounts of source energy from the pool.”
Knowing that his Master was completely serious about this matter, Calron did not speak and intently focused on the words of his Master.
“Since the seal has already been br
oken, you can now send your consciousness into the second step and retrieve the information for its activation. Unlike the first step, the rest of the following steps will have past records on the skills and movements that you can easily access once you have broken the seal on them. Come to me when you are stuck or need someone to spar with. I think Roran still has quite some time before he can even put up a resistance against you.”
Elias laughed as he glanced off into the distance where Fatty was currently practicing.
Noticing his Master so accurately perceive Fatty’s location, Calron had always found it intriguing that his Master’s technique let him see without the use of any essence or energy. Taking this time to ease his doubts, Calron hesitantly asked.