The Ancient Era has come to an end. Gods, demons and ancient beasts strong enough to rule anything with power and roam free in the universe... All vanished mysteriously.
No one really knows how it has ended and what actually have happened. Some records state that it was the constant war between gods and demons that caused their demise, or even the conflicts they had against members of their own race that ended that golden age.
Greed, pride and selfish motives could have been the catalysts for that ending.
Who can precisely tell what happened? It has been 2 million years since the last record of those times and in this gap of time, other races made their appearances.
Still, those considered God's and Deities of those old times, didn't let their names be erased from history. There are a lot of legacies they've left behind for the new races. Some are already claimed as people make them their sect treasure or family heirloom, but It's speculated that there are lot more legacies left behind that were still not found yet.
This is a cruel world where power reigns, so people do everything to get what they want.
It has to be known, that there were six supreme beings that were above the ranks of Gods and Demons, and they were called True Gods. Dauntless and unstoppable. They attained the peak of power and could only be feared and respected.
Till this day no one has really found any True God legacy, so people have forgotten about their existence. Although, there were a lot of god legacies, since they were constantly searching for the best inheritors for their bloodlines and their teachings. However, it is highly unlikely for a person to fully attain it, because Gods are Gods and humans are mere humans.
Their marks are all over the universe and they are treated with utmost respect until the present age. Still, there is no Deity alive to enjoy such treatment.
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Blue Light Zone.
Lazuli Star. The name could not be more fit, since the planet was too much alike the Lapis Lazuli stone. Blue, yet it was stained with brown, green and many other colorful marks.
In a continent called Alteria, there were waves coming from the sea and crashing on all its sides. It's land is divided into four well outlined territories and one forbidden ground located right in the middle. It's in no way a small piece of land and It takes twenty-one percent of the surface of this planet.
It's common knowledge that this is the only continent in this planet, as people have not found another piece of land through the numerous explorations towards the sea yet.
Although the land mass of the Alteria continent takes a bit more than one fifth of the entire planet, the rest of the surface is covered by water and not even a quarter of it was explored yet. Not because people were too lazy to explore it and sail through the oceans, but because the sea was too dangerous.
The strongest energy practitioners had once traveled ten million kilometers through the sea, just to find nothing more than the great blue horizon and terrifying marine creatures that would make things too complicated, even for them.
Ateria was divided into four territories. The Southern Territory was inhabited by humans and its Eastern Frontier was constantly at war with the Demon Race that took the Eastern Territory as their land. The Western Territory was inhabited by Elves, while the other one was taken by the Wild Beasts.
New Lime Village
The weather was sunny and windy. At the top of a hill, a bit farther from the center of the city, there was a small house surrounded with some fields where plants were slowly growing.
A forty years old woman was currently hanging some wet clothes on a wire, slowly doing her job while thinking about some complicated things of life. Her line of sight, always visiting a young boy that was trying to build a sand castle. His success chances were nearly null as the wind would always blow it and get him back to the starting point.
The boy was ten years old and have lived a fairly tranquil life until this moment. He was an adopted child and as long as he remembers, he has lived in this place he was currently in.
He heard some steps coming his way and stopped making his sand castle. Those steps were far, but approaching slowly. He quickly stood up and went to check who was coming to visit.
"Mom, the penguin is back!" The boy came running back to warn his mother.
"Who the fuck is a penguin?!!!" A man's enraged voice echoed through the whole hill. The sound of footsteps that were previously really slow, were now fast and furious.
"Son, get inside the house!" The woman knew what kind of trouble was coming.
While the boy was hiding inside the house, a round man came running from the entrance of the front yard. Two city guards were following behind him. They came running behind the fat man, since their job, was to protect him from any harm; however, they were seriously troubled right now, seeing how pityful his state was.
HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!
With both his hands grabbing his knees, he was panting and sweating like a bull. His body clearly couldn't handle what he had tried to do.
"Who?!" Huff! "Who called me a penguin?!"
His small and fat figure, coupled with the way he walked and his pointy nose, brought him that nickname. He clearly disliked it, going as far as abusing his authority and connections to hunt down those who called him that.
"Where?! I heard a boy calling me a penguin! Where is the boy?! I'll beat him up today!"
The man looked around the place in a frenzy, but didn't catch a glimpse of the culprit. There was only a woman, the one he initially came for.
"Martha! Where is that dirty brat?!"
Martha was mad inwardly. The way he was referring to her son was impolite, but she didn't dare voice out her opinion.
"Mr. Jonathan, who are you talking about? There is no one but us here, my son has left this morning and hasn't returned yet."
Jonathan, knew the brat would probably be hiding or running right now. It wasn't a problem... He could catch the brat later. His eyes glinted with a crafty light. He would accomplish what he came here for, but now, he would be doing it with an iron fist.
"Miss Martha, I came to collect your debt!" He started grinning, feeling the taste of his victory even before collecting the money.
Martha would monthly raise the quantity of 20 silvers, selling the plants and flowers on her field. The city lord would send his men to collect 10 silver monthly from everyone. That fee was for protection and development, but the entire village knew, that people that didn't pay that fee, would end up miserably.
She didn't want to argue with Jonathan, so she quickly took half of what she had, out. The other half, 10 silver coins, would be the exact amount she needed to live and feed herself and her son for a month.
A guard came to collect the money and bring it back to Jonathan.
"Martha, are you kidding with me?" Jonathan raised his tone in discontent.
"What is wrong?" Martha asked back apprehensively.
"Didn't you hear? This place is far from the city center and really hard to reach. We don't have enough soldiers to patrol every part of the city lately, so the city lord started recruiting more men to the army. The taxes have been raised!"
"What?! I didn't hear about that! A-are you kidd... Is that real?!" In her shocked state, she almost lost her politeness. She knew it was a theft, but even so, she couldn't be disrespectful with Jonathan, as he was a close relative of the city lord.
"Huh? Do you think I would lie to you?! We are collecting 20 silvers this month! It is really expensive to maintain a village, don't you know?"
Boom!
A bomb exploded inside Martha's head. If she paid 20 silver coins, then she and her son would probably starve to death this month.
"I-I c-can't pa..."
"You can't pay the taxes? Are you sure you can't pay them?" Jonathan narrowed his eyes.
Imagine the possibility of giving even the last cent you earned to the government. Martha was already paying fifty percent of her income as taxes, but now Jonathan has put her in a tight spot.
Martha was at a loss. It was certain that Jonathan was making things hard for her, but any wrong choice she made there, could complicate things many times over.
"Jonathan can I have a bit more of time?"
"Lady Martha, we are in serious need of funds right now, there is no time to lose. If you can't pay it now, then I'll be forced to confiscate some of your stuff!" Jonathan's plan was getting close to be accomplished and the smile on his lips were more evident now.
"Guards! Let's go inside and get some things to cover for the money that is missing!"
Jonathan led his two bodyguards to enter the house. While at it, he would deal with the brat that messed with him and steal whatever he wanted.
"No! I'll pay it!" Martha knew there was nothing good coming from this, so she would rather give all her money than risk letting them enter.
"Oh?" Jonathan got impressed by her quick response. He was not expecting her to be able to afford that much money. So instead of getting happy he was actually a bit sad.
"To tell you the truth lady Martha, I was not expecting you to possess such wealth." He knew it was probably all the money she had to live for the month, so he was content with it. She preferred to part with it than let her stinking brat suffer. That action of hers amazed Jonathan a bit.
"Here! Take it!" Martha took the silver coins out of her bag.
A guard quickly took it from her hands.
"I see... Miss Martha is probably doing a good business lately. I'm eager to see you again next month! AHAHAHA! Let's go! We have other business to attend."
After walking past the entrance, Jonathan said: "Boys, let's go visit the central district, we got 10 silver coins extra to spend with whatever we want today, we'll drink until we pass out!"
"Uhaaaa!"
The soldiers got excited. They were going to take the day off doing the best activity on their opinion.
Life is unjust.
Martha heard their conversation with a bitter taste in her mouth. She could only obey the rules that those more powerful than her were imposing.
While she was lost, thinking on how she would earn more money to at least be able to eat, the boy who heard everything, was getting his first lesson from life. Though and hard, as life is.
Suddenly, he felt two hands grabbing him from behind...
Drip! Drip!
Two tears fell off Martha's eyes.
Martha quickly wiped her tears and forcefully suppressed those sour emotions rising inside her. She had to be strong, there was a boy she was responsible for, the only one that made her life worth it for.
She entered her humble house searching for her boy.
"Son, are you there... Son?"
After searching every room in the house, Martha could not find him. She instantly got worried and many thoughts emerged inside her head. After the events that just happened her mind couldn't think properly.
She left through the back door and entered the forest. She prayed nothing bad happened, hoping for the best outcome, where her son was safe inside his little hideout in the forest.
After crossing some distance, she found the wood hut they built together atop a huge tree.
"Son! Son!"
Not getting a reply, she rushed inside as her worries were killing her already.
As soon as Martha entered the hut, her world seemed to turn upside down. The boy wasn't there... He went missing, or maybe someone could have even kidnapped him.
She started running towards the city. She would not permit anything bad to happen to her son.
Some distance away from there. A guard reunited with his companions that were following the infamous "Penguin", Jonathan.
The guard was carrying a tied-up boy that was trying to scream, but unfortunately, the cloth tied around his mouth wouldn't let him.
"As you ordered Sir. I brought you the brat."
"An excellent job! I will reward you handsomely later, but for now I'll teach this smelly brat a quick lesson!"
The other guards got jealous, while the one that did the job was rejoicing.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Jonathan started kicking the boy with all his might, but after three hard kicks he was tired and left with no stamina to continue.
"Smelly Brat! Bet Martha didn't teach you manners properly, but after this long beating, I dare you to call me a penguin again!"
The guards that were watching from the side couldn't believe what they heard! After meager three kicks he was out of stamina... And even dared to call it a long beating! Maybe that's why he said it would be a quick lesson?
For the boy though, it was the first time he was beaten! Even though he was only hit thrice, something that those guards considered as nothing, it was the worst pain he had ever felt.
Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, as the pain was not vanishing even after an entire minute, but for some reason he endured it.
However, after seeing that the boy was not totally broken in tears, Jonathan got mad. He took a piece of wood nearby and swung it towards the boy that was lying on the floor.
"Dirty brat! I want to hear you crying for help. Ahahaha..."
Just as it was about to hit the boy, Martha came running and stood between them protecting him with her own body.
"Stop!!!"
Bang!
Martha was not a Qi cultivator, as people often called those who practiced magical and mythical arts, so she took the hit entirely on her unprotected head and fell unconscious on the ground.
Jonathan got surprised by what just happened and was at a loss. The boy though, forgot about his own pain, like it didn't even exist and his senses narrowed so much that he could just focus on trying to call for his mom.
HMM! HM!
But the cloth around his mouth was still there, not letting him scream for her.
Finally, his tears fell like a downpour. He felt it like a hammer had just pounded him in the chest.
"You there! Check her condition!"
A guard hastily came and checked her pulse. Then he looked at the injury on her head and knew it was not a good sign.
"She will not make it."
"Damn it!" Jonathan wasn't bothered that she was dying. The problem was that, he, as leading figure inside the city, would be in deep trouble if anyone knew about it. "If any of you talk about what just happened here, I'll make sure you will regret it afterwards! Understood?"
"Sir, we didn't see anything." A tall guard, that seemed to have the highest authority in the group came forward and stated their position about the situation.
"Help!"
"Someone Heeeeeeelp!"
"Please!"
Through muffed sounds the poor kid tried his best so that someone could hear it and come to their rescue. His words were messy and no one could hear them properly, but everyone there knew he was asking for help.
After witnessing the cruelty of these people, his heart was broken for the first time in his life. So many emotions were starting to bloom inside him, but he didn't understand them, so he could only ask for help.
"Annoying brat! See how I'll deal with you!" Jonathan was preparing to finish it all, but suddenly, a loud sound came from direction of the village.
BOOM!
The blast was enormous and the shockwave hit them really hard. They were about three kilometers away from the city, but still, they felt like they were really close to the explosion.
The guards quickly realized the situation was not normal and entered the formation, releasing their Qi to protect Jonathan.
Martha and her son though. Like two kites without string were sent flying some twenty or so meters. The boy fell rolling on the floor and the binds around his hands and the cloth around his mouth got ripped. He was lucky enough to land on the soft soil, so he didn't get too hurt, but together with the beating he just suffered, his body was feeling tired and weak.
But for the unconscious Martha, it was fatal. Her condition was already complicated. Now, her vitality was leaving her body really fast.
"Jonathan, the village must be facing a crisis! We need to head back!" The leader of the guards started urging Jonathan to head back.
The fat man looked around the messy area, full of trees and leaves that fell after the impact and couldn't find his target.
"Damn! I'll deal with that boy later. Let's get back!"
Quickly, the guards escorted him towards the village gates.
After trying to stand up and failing miserably, the boy consciousness was threatening to fade. He was already tired and weak. His eyelids were already closing when suddenly he heard some steps and saw someone approaching.
"Help."
The man approached and asked: "What is your name, boy?"
After some time, he weakly replied.
"Seth."
"Don't worry, Seth... I'll make sure to bring a worse hell upon them. Hahahaha!" His voice was very deep, and there was madness inside his eyes, however, Seth was too naive to understand anything about that.
Seth couldn't see who the person was very clearly, he could just see the ring on that person's hand before passing out.
A silver ring with a savage Cerberus head printed in.
The strange man was holding a silver chain on his right hand, it was metallic, cold and really thick. It was connected to a collar just some five meters away from the man. This collar was not normal either. There were many metallic spikes around it and the beast wearing it was enormous.
It was a savage-looking dog that resembled a wild wolf. A massive beast, around three meters tall and five meters long. Just that instead of a nimble body that would lead to a greater speed, its body was robust, full of muscles.
"You can have your fill, but do not eat this boy here."
Grrrrrrrrr!
Clap!
After loud thunderclap noise occurred, the massive beast started sprinting, hunting the prey that just left the area. The chain that connected the animal and its owner, like a magic tool, was constantly expanding like it was unending.
The soldiers that left together with Jonathan felt the earth tremble abruptly. They were preoccupied with the situation in the city when suddenly, from behind, a beast appeared and didn't even give time for them to react.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The mysterious man, could hear their despairing noises from afar, and could even see what was happening through the beast eyes.
"Ahaha. He is going to have a "fat" meal this time."
He lifted his hand and a strange hellish flame ignited. He flickered his finger towards Martha's lifeless body and it started burning fast, spreading to the forest nearby.
Many parts of the city were burning with the same flame.. A hellish flame that would raise all the hairs in the body of the people that saw it.