《IJIN》 Prologue: Weakness and despair. The setting sun cast its radiance on the green ground and the lake beside it shone with a silvery white glow. It was a rather picturesque scene, that is if you paid no mind to the image of the teenager with blood red eyes seemingly bloodshot looking up to the sky, those eyes that seemed to hold within, deep despair and helplessness. ¡°You¡¯re too weak boy, come trying again in ten thousand years, maybe then you might have the slightest chance of reaching the gates of a high ranked overlord¡¯s domain before ultimately dying there anyways¡­.¡±, those words filled with contempt echoed constantly through his head along with the face of the arrogant man who said it, judging by the aura of the man he knew he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in a fight with the man, it would have just been him sending himself to be killed most likely but even still he felt a big urge to punch the guy in his face. ¡°I guess I really am weak¡­.¡± Murmuring to himself, a wry smile appeared on the teen¡¯s face. ¡°And it¡¯s entirely my fault... Ella I know now how i feel about you, I don''t know if you''re aware of it or not, but now it seems like I never will be able to confess it to you...¡± The setting sun moved slowly beyond the horizon and night fell, after total silence for almost two hours with only the sound heard being that of grasshoppers chirping filling the scene, a vibrating noise rang out. Still looking at the horizon the boy raised his left hand slowly, and as it reached his lips, a voice sounded out from it, ¡°Honey where are you, I came here to see you but Kasali told me you weren¡¯t home, I waited for so long because I wanted to surprise you but you¡¯re really late, don¡¯t make mama worried, where are you?¡± a worried voice sounded out of a wristwatch. The guy stayed quiet in response for a second before replying ¡°I''m sorry I made you worried mom. Don¡¯t worry about me, see you soon¡±. The person on the other side though could hear the odd tone in his voice as she sought to say something else ¡°Hey-¡­¡± But he disconnected the call before she could continue talking.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! He put his hand down and stood up like he was carrying the weight of the world on his back. He raised his head, looking at the sky like his eyes were about to pierce through the sky to look beyond but of course, he was too ¡®weak¡¯ to do that. ¡°Too bad no one¡¯s here to mark my words, I will definitely find you Ella, and I¡¯ll take you with me¡­. And I¡¯ll also make sure to kick that asshole in the mouth but that¡¯s only because he¡¯s related to you, otherwise I¡¯ll be cutting off his tongue too¡± the guy¡¯s attitude suddenly took a whole different turn from the ¡®saddened and helplessly despaired¡¯ atmosphere around him just now ¡°How dare him call me weak, I could have taken him down if I wanted, I just didn¡¯t want to seem disrespectful¡­.¡±. You could clearly see the sadness deep down in his eyes yet he managed to utter such words, it was a real wonder whether or not he even knew what his words implied. The guy seemed to have cheered up a little though, turning his back to the beautiful picturesque-like scenery, he walked with somewhat heavy legs to his home. HIS ORIGINS. ¡°I wonder why mom came at this time, she usually waits till the December festival¡­¡±, looking at the small sized mansion ahead of him, the guy was seemingly back to a stable state of mind. He moved through the glowing black and silver gate leading into the compound surrounding the mansion like it was non-existent, then continued walking forward through the small sized lawn on the pathway in the middle of it. He climbed up the steps as he came to the front of the grand door glowing a subtle reddish-golden color and walked right through the door too looking like he was a ghost that could pass through material objects. On passing through to the other side, the sight of an empty front hall entered his eyes, seeing no one there he continued without stopping as he took a left turn and reached a small corridor with a staircase leading up to the first floor, almost at the same time as his feet landed on the first step, he heard an aged voice calling out to him from behind him, ¡°Young master¡±. Jumping like he had his butt set on fire, he looked behind him to see the person who he knew was talking as he showed an indignant expression, ¡°Oh come on Kasali, how many times have I told you to stop doing that, you act like a specter every single time you have the chance to spook me, you made it seem like I was scared which I obviously wasn¡¯t¡­.¡± the young man said indignantly. ¡°Lad your mother asked me to immediately direct you to her once you¡¯re home so¡­¡± the man who looked like he was in his late sixties said with a straight face, the young guy had a defeated look on his face ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll leave you alone for now you old bag of bones. Next time we duel though, you most definitely can¡¯t use any of the elements though when we fight. You¡¯re a complete bully, I mean honestly¡­.¡±, the man started smirking slightly with a mischievous glint in his eyes when his eyes zoomed onto a figure at the top of the stairs and his expression immediately turned to that of a wise old man listening to one from a younger generation bicker and complain, he even started stroking his goatee to complete the picture. ¡°Hey what¡¯s wrong with you, did a brain worm enter your head or something¡­¡± the guy immediately noticed and knew something was wrong, but the old man didn¡¯t even give him any time to think well, ¡°Will you stop stroking your beard it¡¯s¡­woah, hey hey¡­¡± the guy didn¡¯t finish talking when he noticed he was already floating off the ground with no control over his movements, and he even started spinning ¡°hey, hey, you put me down this instant you old bag of bones, how can your face even take this much!!¡±. ¡°U need to learn how to release all that flame within you and maintain a calm mind and heart, only then can you have the mannerisms and strength of an expert, you-¡­¡±, the man started to say before he was cut off, ¡°You despicable bully, I haven¡¯t even synergized yet and you want me to have the mannerisms of an expert? Don¡¯t let me lay my hands on you¡­.arhh!!¡±, The shoulder of the figure at the top of the staircase started quivering slightly and it seemed like he/she was actually holding back some laughter, ¡°Kasali u can stop this now, put down my son¡±, the voice was a warm yet a little sultry voice, it felt like the voice of a holy temptress, one you couldn¡¯t dare to blaspheme, it obviously came from a woman. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll put him down¡±, the old man said with the smirk still on his face and like there was no longer anything holding the young guy up in the air, he dropped back down to the ground, and landed hard. Thud! Still fuming at the embarrassing bullying he had just experienced, he turned back and said to the woman ¡°Mom!, how can you watch him attack me like this and not do anything, even when you told him to put me down, he still just dropped me on the ground, now that¡¯s just wrong!¡± the guy said with indignation. ¡°Honey, mommy won¡¯t be able to be there to stop him every time he bully¡¯s you, you have to stand up to him on your own, keep that in mind will you. Now why don¡¯t you just give mommy a hug¡±, stretching her arms wide she hugged the guy and held him really tight and then she started ruffling his sleek curly hair, ¡°Mom, I¡¯m not a ten year old anymore¡±, the guy grumbled even though he felt warm, ¡°Ha! You are not even as old as a single strand of my hair yo-¡­.¡± Kasali, who couldn¡¯t help but further tease the guy suddenly stopped when he saw Maria looking at him with a strange light in her eyes, it was clearly emotionless but he saw a sharp glint flash deep within that pair of sky blue eyes. Gulping silently he shut his mouth and looked the other way. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to stop me from hugging you whenever and however I like, you will always be my blessed and cute little angel, oh I¡¯ve missed you so much¡­¡±. ¡°More like a sinister demonling to me¡± looking at the mom and son pair hugging each other, Kasali muttered under his breath but seeing the woman turn her gaze toward him again he quickly looked away. ¡°First go freshen up wll you, you smell like you had a long day¡± Maria lovingly looked at her son as she urged him up the stairs, ¡°alright mom just give me a few minutes¡±. He moved up the stairs while Maria and Kasali both followed him up with their eyes feeling worried. Maria looked on with just the slightest bit of worry in her eyes though, it was actually Kasali who had a deep tint of worry apparent in his eyes and he was the one who spoke after lightly sighing ¡°looks like losing his sweetheart has impacted him a bit, even when he was yelling at me I could see a little bit of pain in his eyes, he tried to hide it but he¡¯s still a few years lacking in that ability¡­.¡±. Still looking up the stairs Maria had an odd look in her eyes like she was remembering something, or rather someone ¡°He¡¯ll be fine, after all he¡¯s my son and his father¡¯s, from what I know about his father he¡¯ll turn that pain into the motivation he needs and be more firm and determined. He¡¯ll need all that for what¡¯s about to come, I almost feel like I¡¯m going to push him into danger and I can¡¯t bear thinking of anything bad happening to him¡± she said. ¡°Maria you don¡¯t need to worry that much, you underestimate your son a lot and you underestimate that devil that¡¯s his father even more, trust he¡¯ll be fine and he¡¯ll amaze you beyond belief, his bloodline is after all one of the strongest in the races fighting against the aboriginals, worrying is not going to do anything right now, opening his eyes to the power of his family line is what you should do right now¡± Kasali comforted her as best as he could, after all even he couldn¡¯t possibly stop being amazed by the power each successive generation of this bloodline brings to light, he had complete faith in the original power that runs in their blood¡­ ¡°Mom some privacy please!¡±, a cry of indignation rang out from behind a quickly shut bathroom door, ¡°oh please, What haven¡¯t I seen of it¡­ besides, who asked you not to wear any clothes when coming out¡± taking a seat on one of the couches in line of sight of the bathroom, Maria said with a teasing smile, ¡°This is my room, not the living room¡±, opening the door and coming out he walked through a faint red sheen of light looking like a second door to the bathroom that vaporized the water droplets on his body and rapidly turned a faint blue color before fading away. He started talking but was cut short before he could finish what he was saying ¡°So what¡¯s up, this is an odd time for your visit, not like I¡¯m not happy you came but..-¡±, ¡°I came to take you home honey¡­.¡± Maria said as she cut in.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°¡­¡± Silence reigned supreme for ten seconds before Maria spoke up again ¡°aren¡¯t you excited?¡±, a little while later he spoke up ¡°I would be if you ever told me anything about where I came from, other than you and-¡±. His words were cut short again when Maria cut in with her words, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything you want to know today, right now, is that okay?¡±. ¡°Really?¡±, Surprise was evident on the guy¡¯s face as he was ready to finally be able to know something more about things related to him after almost sixteen years of thinking about it without getting any reasonable or tangible information. After so long without knowing who exactly he was, his mind was forced to come up with different possibilities but it just wasn¡¯t possible to cross the thoughts out of his mind. ¡°In truth, I could have told you everything you wanted from the first time you asked but u just weren¡¯t ready to carry the burden that is within your bloodline¡­.¡± Sighing with a thoughtful expression she continued ¡°you should have learned about the theory of our evolution and about the planetary transmigration, the truth is the first generation of our race that transmigrated had no part in the transmigration, some people like to call it the ascension and revival of earth because in truth the way of the transmigration was like an ascension but this is it¡­. ¡°The universe we once lived in and called our part of it the milky way was actually an incubator, an incubator for planets, it¡¯s like the womb of a woman, the millions of years that earth existed within that place was merely it¡¯s gestation period, only after earth became populated significantly and could be said to be ¡®mature enough¡¯ was it able to be brought out into the world as a newborn ¡°After earth was truly born it started evolving and because of that the life-forms inhabiting the planet also evolved alongside it, some of the plants evolved, animals also evolved, when the animals evolved, they suddenly started becoming way stronger and more powerful, at a particular point they become a troublesome matter for the humans, they started become resistant to our weapons and ammunition, they became sentient and started fighting for dominance but we worked something out with them and signed a treaty with them, when the animals evolved, the humans followed suit, but when evolved although we also became more stronger and resilient, we realized something else hidden deep within us, our bloodlines, ¡°Bloodlines are like the pathways in which we can develop and grow and realize amazing and unimaginable power, it had been genetically imprinted into our blood, body and soul and is what we were born with. There were different levels of bloodline talents that emerged when the humans on earth were enlightened on the pathway, talents which showed what realm of strength you¡¯ll ultimately be able to reach, we couldn¡¯t realize that strength before down in the milky way because in a way we were closed from a particular kind of energy, it was that same energy that caused everything including the planets, the plants and animals and we the humans to evolve and realize our potentials, we called it the cosmic energy, is the energy around us that powers almost everything u see around you¡­.. ¡°Honey, when earth ascended and started evolving, all the previous power and authority systems collapsed, and when the humans started evolving and showcasing different levels of strength and talent, segregations and alliances were formed, not just alliances, clans, schools, sects, institutions, academies, all of them of varying strengths and influence, as time went on, some of these groups of people had their strength and influence reduced and some lost mostly due to the corrosion of time and some due to other major groups assault on them, Honey when your father¡¯s great great grandfather, who I should say is one of the first people here after the ascension, was once a member of the armed forces, at the point before the ascension, the entire Earth¡¯s armed was united as a whole in an expedition to find and conquer any other life-forms found on any other planet, it was a big undertaking that was first proposed when Earth¡¯s NASA agencies discovered a whole new life-forms with extreme but not total resemblance to our own species in an entirely new galaxy, it was to take many years of preparation and training because some people deemed it a dangerous undertaking considering the fact that we knew close to almost nothing about the other species, the decision was almost overruled but some really influential tycoons managed to keep it on track. But the expedition never occurred, instead before the time for it ever came, earth ascended. So although it was never acted upon. The military forces of earth had already been merged together and they were extremely united and they only became even more united after earth ascended and separations started to occur within the people and countries and other power systems. Some of those newly formed organizations decided to move and left earth to look for other places to settle down on, those who left were deemed as deserters somewhat, as they left at the point when earth needed all the help it could get, but they didn¡¯t care much because they found other more resource filled planets and spaces and they settled down, while some of them were destroyed, others actually managed to muddle their way into other planets and settled down quite well. They couldn¡¯t be blamed much because others saw some benefits in it too. So some others did the same too but they left bases back here on earth while some others were staunch aversists toward the entire idea of even leaving so they stayed rooted here and didn¡¯t move. The military army was part of the ones who left bases on earth and moved out to find more resources but because of the fact that they once fought and protected on the surface of this earth, they felt more attachment to this place than the others, so they left an entire double headquarters here, but their true headquarters isn¡¯t even on any planet at all, it¡¯s in a folded space that¡¯s relatively close to earth-¡± ¡°Mom am I somehow related to the military of earth, they seem to be the main lead of your story¡­¡±. ¡°I just needed to clear you up on some histories¡­ yes honey, you Are related to the military of earth, the military system of earth is now an independent organization, its divided and controlled by eight top families within, Alpha, Omega, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Fox and Golf, these families are ranked from first to seventh, with the Alpha being the first and the Golf being the seventh, there are two Alpha families actually, Alpha-Ranger and Alpha-Layk. Honey you¡¯re the seventh generation born of the Alpha-layks, a descendant born to the direct descent of the layks, the heir to the commanding power of one of the top families of the Khaki Legions¡­.¡± Looking up to see her son blank faced, she knew things would no longer be the same, he would never have a normal life again until possibly extremely far off into the future and that would be in a very long time, she would have to be the one to wake him up and push him into the life that¡¯s ahead of him, into the world that would need him to grow as soon as possible, and into the high league post that is that of the Khaki legion, somewhere deemed to be a place filled with crazy behemoths, the prestige of an Alpha family could not be challenged, but they still won¡¯t make it easy for him ¡°Alpha-Layk Ijin, you¡¯re the heir to a power that commands clout over a good amount and has been made known throughout the entire lower Realm of Oasis. You might not understand all this just yet but I¡¯ll tell you this now, you¡¯ve to grow up a little bit quicker than you thought you would, the life we¡¯re throwing you into is one that isn¡¯t the usual you have known. I know u¡¯re not ready for all this, but you have to step into this, and you have to step into it starting tomorrow. ONE LAST DAY. "Uprt nd dtch" In the center of a room, incomprehensible words were muttered and here was a figure floating a few meters above the ground, giving off a mystical light with entirely white pupils. Floating off the ground was Maria as she closed her eyes after muttering some those words that seemed to resonate with her surroundings. Almost immediately after closing her eyes, strong winds began to blow out around her with her in the center, space began to displace under her feet and if you looked closely, you would notice that it looked like transparent lines were flowing out from her feet moving to the ground and moving into the floor, and then an odd looking white circle with beautiful designs grew out from the spot that the lines entered the ground from and then it grew bigger with the symbols appearing within it glowing rhythmically, lines started to spread from it and stretch out across the beautiful and aesthetically furnished living room that they stood in, reaching the walls it began to creep up it quicker and quicker. Looking through the walls you could still see the lines stretching across the flooring of the passage outside the living room and stretching across everything, stretching all over the house and to even a little way round outside the building if you looked at it from across the street. Then the lines stopped and began retreating into the house, but before retreating completely into the house, it stopped at a point where it was like under the walls of the house and as if it was glued there. At this point, from both inside and outside you could see the walls covered in odd looking symbols making the whole building look like it had been trapped in a net of symbols or something of the sort and then everything suddenly vanished like nothing ever happened. Maria floated down to the ground, opening her eyes as she looked towards Kasali who had been standing there throughout the entire spectacle, looking at Maria like what happened was nothing odd. He opened his mouth to speak, ¡°The lord would be proud to see the stage you¡¯ve reached now, I could sense the manipulation of laws within that resonated with each other in your spell circle, although it can¡¯t be manifested outside the circle, it is already showing its prominence¡±. ¡°It¡¯s only a fragmented level of it, nothing too big or small.¡± Maria replied as she continued, ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t need him to know that, so let¡¯s keep it that way¡±, Kasali shrugged and said ¡°I have no contact with the other side anyways, so there¡¯s no way for him to know¡±. ¡°That¡¯s better¡± Maria replied and waved her hand releasing a wave of energy following which a voice sounded out in an echo, like it was coming from everywhere in the room ¡°Familiar energy signature detected. Pleasant morning Maria, how have you been doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been doing fine Aisis, thank you for asking¡± Maria replied calmly. ¡°What do you want me to do for you at the moment Maria?¡± the voice asked. To which Maria replied, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking Ijin with me to receive his full legacy inheritance, hence we¡¯ll be leaving Earth and the house won¡¯t have anyone present for probably a very long time so I¡¯d insist you initiate total lockdown but don¡¯t complete the sequence just yet and wait till we¡¯ve left, and also start to transfer your consciousness into Ijin mental landscape and assimilate completely with him, remember to only leave a shred of consciousness present within the Layk mansion control core to manage any unexpected events and to maintain the state of the mansion, understood?¡±. ¡°¡­You do know that the whole sequence of total lock and assimilation was basically part of the fundamental procedures inputted into my consciousness right?¡± The voice said in an insinuative tone. Maria just shrugged ¡°I just wanted to make sure everything went as planned Aisis, no intended offense¡­¡±. The voice made no further response to acknowledge her words though. ¡°Ha¡­ she still hasn¡¯t gotten over it¡± Kasali muttered as he chuckled to himself. One flaw he had known Maria to have in huge amounts was the fact that she tended to be a bit bossy even when she wasn¡¯t the boss, and by a bit he meant a lot. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Making sure a conscious self didn¡¯t forget something? That¡¯s just baseless argument.¡¯ But it was what they all coped with; even Aisis, so they had already gotten used to it.¡± Ijin walked down the stairs from upstairs with a little bit of sleep still lurking in his eyes as he said in greeting ¡°What¡¯s for breakfast?¡±, But that was when Kasali spoke up with a loud but firm tone that was almost like a shout. ¡°Avoid¡± Chiing! A sharp light was given off from the surface of a thrown dagger moving at a fast speed, the destination; Ijin. He could actually see it¡¯s trajectory, but that didn¡¯t stop it from flying towards him. He moved quickly in response to the dagger flying to his direction. The dagger was thrown so perfectly well from an angle hard to react to and was sure to pierce through the heart if it connected, but surprisingly, Ijin didn¡¯t look so panicked, taking a quick step backwards and leaning his body from the waist upwards backwards, he paused a bit and waited till the dagger was almost in front of him. Then almost like performing a move from a kungfu movie, he swung his fist, gathering momentum, and met the blade of the dagger with the tip of his knuckles changing the trajectory of the dagger, causing it to barely fly parallel to his body and thus hitting the wooden wall by the other side of the stairs. Oddly enough, when the knife point happened to come in contact with the wall it disintegrated like it was a mere mirage. From a viewer¡¯s paused angle of vision the scene looked pretty comical as Ijin looked like he had his body¡¯s orientation displaced with his chest and face facing the back while the two people in the living room looking towards him had impressed expressions, different from the angry and horrific emotion you would expect to see on them. Then everything started moving again while Ijin turned back to the front, a hand dropped slowly down to its side. ¡°Your reaction seems to have dulled just the tiniest bit, if you were a tad quicker, you could have totally dodged it¡± the instigator of the sudden attack spoke up, stroking his beard like it was nothing much. ¡°Mom¡­¡± Ijin growled in a low tone with indignation ¡°Hmm now while I am impressed with the fact that you could fend off such an attack honey, I am also rather curious as to why Kasali chooses to assess your combat sense in a way like this, care to explain hm?¡± With a raised eyebrow she turned to look at the old man who was frozen in his stroking posture. ¡°Ahem¡­ well it¡¯s only just a simple conjured solid illusion to stimulate his young blood, it has never really hurt him before. He can¡¯t just train in the usual manner, after all no one in this time and age does things in the usual manner any longer¡±. Ijin couldn¡¯t help feeling speechless despite expecting such a response from Kasali¡­ ¡°*sigh*, I must admit sweetheart it¡¯s not a bad method, at least it seems to aid you in developing the abilities you possess like your father¡­ Anyways you¡¯ll be busy training and experiencing the things you¡¯ve always wanted to ever since so you don¡¯t need to bother. Today¡¯s the last day you¡¯ll be staying here, so you should try to get the last view and whiff of your favorite places before you go. Now normally every recruit who gets enlisted into the legion isn¡¯t allowed to bring any other person along, but of course since you¡¯re a special case you are allowed to bring a few in, and since you only have two close friends I¡¯d recommend you bring them along though you probably had the thought. I¡¯ve spoken to Mrs. Grey and Mr. Lade; they have no problem with having them go along with you since I told them about the legion. They both have good talents, the Greys even come from a long line of expert assassins, so they won¡¯t have any problem fitting into the legion. So now all I¡¯m trying to tell you is not to worry about anything else, so you can instead go grab something outside and better don¡¯t come back till it¡¯s late¡±. The expression on his face went from angry to sad to confused until he finally spoke up ¡°I¡¯d certainly do all you said but I really want to have a bite of the breakfast combo you always make when you come around, I could eat lunch and dinner outside later on¡±. She looked at her son with a bright loving smile on her face ¡°I guess you could, you¡¯re looking a little skinny, I thought Matilda¡¯s cooking was a close match for mine but it seems you don¡¯t eat all that much¡±. ¡°Well I do mom, but Kasali seems to have seduced her and so she pampers him some more compared to me¡±, ¡°The hell?!¡± Kasali suddenly bursted out with an angry face ¡°I¡¯ll be grateful to God if she could even say a single decent word to me for once, don¡¯t you dare say things like that, it sullies my name¡±. After both mother and son laughed at the obvious style that the housekeeper and Kasali tended to use in expressing themselves, Maria spoke up ¡°Where is Matilda anyway? I haven¡¯t seen her since yesterday¡­¡±. ¡°Probably cleaning the house up one more time before we leave tommorrow¡­¡±. Kasali mumbled in a low voice. Maria lifted a corner of her lips up in a teasing smirk as she said ¡°Hmmm is that so?, okay lets go eat anyways¡± DEPARTURE. He was finally leaving. He was finally leaving Earth and going to see the world beyond it. Looking at his surroundings with excitement visible in his eyes and looking up at the blue clear sky, memories couldn¡¯t help but pop up in his head. Memories he was probably going to miss a bit¡­ ¡°EJ, come on, why do you still keep staring, you¡¯ve been looking around with weird eyes for so long now¡±. Ijin found himself tipping the corner of his lips up into a smile hearing the voice that spoke up as he replied, ¡°You act like you¡¯re aren¡¯t going to miss it, but you¡¯re probably the one going to bawl and cry when we take-off¡±. Today was the day they were leaving and heading to the legion¡¯s headquarters, he met up with Damian and Ayo, his two best and only good friends, yesterday. And they were both awed and excited when they heard from him that the chance the three of them had been waiting for, to leave earth to explore the space beyond, had finally come. They had so many thoughts and speculative questions that they had spoken all afternoon and night before they eventually knocked off early this morning and barely got any sleep in. They all had to sleep over at Ayo¡¯s home, where they stayed all day, stuffing themselves with food nonstop as they sat in his room that doubled as his little lab. Ijin wasn¡¯t entirely sure about most things though, so the three of them had let their imaginations go wild with loads of crazy thoughts. ¡°I would cry?!, heck that¡¯s the funniest thing I¡¯ve ever heard, don¡¯t make me pass some gas¡±, Ayo was originally a scoundrel fatty, so his words had always tended to sound like one, as he spoke, he made a face that made it seem like he was having a constipation. Ijin and Damian immediately distanced themselves from him in a swift step sideways. ¡°Stop making a fuss and let¡¯s get going, stay close together¡± then Kasali showed up behind them with Maria walking past them as she looked up at the sky for a brief moment. it was Kasali that spoke, smacking Ayo in the back of the head as he passed by them, ¡°Brats, you all have to get ready, the legion isn¡¯t a place where you can dally along, it¡¯s where real warriors are born, the exercises I¡¯ve had you go through will be multiplied dozens of times, you gotta be ready for it, there¡¯s a reason why the legion can reign as one of the supreme forces in the Oasis.¡±. ¡°Old man keeps on lecturing every single time¡±, he didn¡¯t dare speak up but Ayo couldn¡¯t help but grumble silently. Unfortunately, Kasali was able to pick up on his words clearly, making steam almost come out of his head. ¡°Who are yo-¡± Kasali was just about to lash back at the boy when Maria cut him short, ¡°Alright that¡¯s okay, we¡¯re leaving now. ¡­Reina, bring us up¡± she spoke to keep Kasali quiet and then suddenly spoke out like she was talking to herself. The trio looked up but didn¡¯t notice anything, until a response came moments later and the group of boys noticed a semi-transparent ray of light appear around them. Immediately after that, their visions darkened. When they were able to perceive light with their eyes again, they were standing on a silver platform that screamed sleekness to them along with the interior of where they were now currently stood. Sadly the boys weren¡¯t focused on that as what they felt just now had their eyes displaced to the back of their heads¡­ ¡°Awwww¡­¡± the sound of groaning was first heard from Ayo, who eventually slumped on the ground after trying to stand with wobbly legs ¡°The h*ck just happened right now, my head feels like it just went on a rollercoaster ride, aww¡­¡±, in the end they all managed to barely get themselves together, ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna be sick¡±, maybe not¡­ ¡°Wimps¡± Kasali muttered under his breath. They seemed to be in somewhere like a hallway, they were able to see three different paths on their left, right and front views, the lights coming from hemi-spherical protrusions on the ceiling reflected on the walls that gave off a deep vibe with its deep black coloring. ¡°What you¡¯re feeling right now is an aftereffect of the rip space teleportation technology employed to bring you boys up, you should and will get used to it¡±, suddenly they heard a voice speaking, and were immediately drawn to its beautifully pleasant and attractive tone. When they looked to see who was talking, the three teenage minds went blank. Although she was in what they recognized to be a one-piece battle suit that wasn¡¯t too tight or revealing, it couldn¡¯t hide the fact that she was a fine movie to watch with a heart shaped face and a perfectly proportioned jaw, pink lips that were slightly full and a body that couldn¡¯t be any more curvy, and although her hair wasn¡¯t the silvery-white color like Ijin or deep black like Damian¡¯s, it seemed to have a special appeal with its red coloration that matched the blood-red color of her eyes. All in all, she was a real blockbuster and the males in the group standing on the platform seemed to agree with that. Ayo in particular had his mouth open for a while before he instinctively spoke up ¡°Wow¡­¡±. ¡°The brat has a good eye at least¡±, the one to mumble was Kasali who was also staring and he immediately got jabbed in the side by a woman who looked to be in her late thirties, ¡°You¡¯re still ogling women at the age you are, you should be ashamed¡±. His ears went red and his face heated up at the comment ¡°Of course I¡¯m not, I simply noticed he has good eyes. Nothing wrong in that, is there Matilda?¡±. ¡°¡­Hmph¡± she stared at him silently for a while before looking away not bothering to say anything more. ¡°Boys, this is my assistant Raven, she¡¯s mostly going to be the one with you guys at times when I¡¯m not present alongside Kasali¡±. Maria finally spoke up breaking the perverted silence in the air. At this point, Ijin was barely able to become clear headed again as he tried to speak up, ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­ nice to meet you¡±. He stretched out a hand for a handshake with a polite gesture which Raven then held and gently shook with an amused look in her eyes. It wasn¡¯t odd or embarrassing for her that the boys reacted like that on seeing her for the first time, she got reactions like that a lot, but it was surprising that the boy shaking hands with her was able to clear his head much faster than usual especially since he was still a pre-evolved that hadn¡¯t synergized yet, hence not having much developments yet. With this, he became a tad more interesting to her. While these thoughts passed through her mind, Ijin almost lost his head again at the feel of her hands but held it in. ¡°My name¡¯s Ijin, and these two are Damian and Ayo¡±, ¡°Of course I know that. A heir of the legion can¡¯t be unknown¡­¡± ¡®A heir?, I¡¯m not the only heir?¡¯, he thought to himself as he heard what she said clearly so he didn¡¯t doubt his ears. He looked to his mother and seeing she only kept on smiling, he decided to ask about it later instead. ¡°Alright boys, your luggages are in the quarters you¡¯ll be staying in for the journey on board, Mathilda will take you there, so you should go get some rest, while I¡¯ll be there in a while with some snacks to pass the time with¡±. The room Mathilda opened for them was one that was like that of a king¡¯s chamber from ancient times. They felt surprised and intrigued but the reason for the surprise wasn¡¯t only for the room¡¯s size, but also the fact that the whole space was made to look like they were still back on Earth, like it was a separate space from the rest if the spaceship. Mathilda noticing their awe smiled slightly as she walked towards the kitchen and inwardly wondered when Ijin would finally adapt to his proper status and level if only a trivial room space could excite him so, in fact, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Maria didn¡¯t want the boys bored and hence put them together, there were readily two equally sized bedroom that was set aside, but Maria felt it better for them to be in the same room and keep each other¡¯s company. ¡®In the end, he¡¯s currently only a young boy¡¯ such was the thought she eventually concluded on as she moved briskly with expectation for the future. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Moving further down the hallway, she moved straight down for some time and reached a place that had the same device like the one she and the others had appeared on and moved to step under it as she muttered words to no one in particular ¡°Command hallway¡±. As she said it, the platform under her feet lit up for a second before dying out with Mathilda nowhere to be found. And then she appeared on a similar platform in a hallway with silver walls, moving straight down she came the front of a silver door which was well endowed in size and for a second, a white net patterned beams of light moved over her whole figure before going off and then like a ¡®ghost¡¯, that they all seemed to be, she moved through the giant silver door. Moving through the door, she came into a room that boasted several screens and chairs here and there that brought the scene of a command center from a Star wars movie to mind, within the room was Maria and Kasali looking through the ship and watching the boundless dark void within their sight. ¡°Ahhh¡­ I think I may have missed the sight of this a little, how nauseating, the Xinite glass used to forge the entire head of the ship had always been a good idea.¡±, Kasali with a pleased and relaxed look on his face was saying as Mathilda walked in. ¡°Of course you did¡­ the boys should be settled in by now right?¡± Maria agreed with a smile then spoke up as she felt Mathilda¡¯s presence, ¡°Yes, they should be getting comfortable right now. Why don¡¯t you have them go through the ceremony right now when there¡¯s nothing wrong?¡± Mathilda asked a slight perplexing look in her eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t need to rush it, it¡¯s not a ceremony that will take a long time anyways, let have them have some more time to themselves¡±. After Mathilda left the boys, the unruliest of the three ran to the big round bed in the center of the room and jumped on it. Using his body to claim the big feather-soft bed Ayo spoke up ¡°I could get used to this real quick, wait¡­ I already am, having a friend like you is a blessing from my past life Ijin¡±. Ijin rolled his eyes at the comment knowing fully well how much he liked to exaggerate things like this. While the wealth and lifestyle may not compare to the amount as a family of the legion that Ijin had learned about recently, he knew Ayo and his family could easily afford the trivial things like a spaceship like this and beds like this within their home in their real estate. ¡°I choose the high bed on the left¡± for the first time in a while Damian spoke up, claiming ownership over another bed in the big room. There were three places to sleep on in the room, there was the big extra comfy looking bed in the center, the high bed on the left that was basically just a bed supported in the air with a sort of levitation technology that kept it floating in the air and a hammock type bed that was suspended from the ceiling of the room. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll take the hammock then¡± Ijin said after Damian claimed possession of the high bed. Then a silence prevailed in the room, it wasn¡¯t an awkward kind but the comfortable type. Ijin walked to a corner in the room that caught his eyes, it was a cubic space cut into the wall that displayed books of various colors and sizes. Immediately interested, he took one with the title ¡°Elemental Cultivation¡±. Although he had heard about the two paths of cultivation, namely the Elemental and Spiritual path, he had actually never been told anything about them yet. Kasali always told him to be patient and wait till the right time. Now that he could start cultivating at any time, since the opportunity to learn about the intricacies presented itself to him, he naturally wouldn¡¯t pass it by. Opening it, he began reading and pretty soon forgot about anything else, even when Ayo posed some absurd questions as he usually and joked around, he didn¡¯t realize it. It was until he and Damian raised their heads to check and they determined the cause to be the book in his hand did they leave him be. Although intrigued neither of them went to the bookshelf themselves to look through it, Ayo usually had a hard time keeping focus when reading and Damian felt the need to train his punches and kicks some as he went over to the training dummy placed at another point in the room, this one here though was of a higher quality. And so they passed the time doing their individual things and it was until when Mathilda came back with the snacks about more than an hour later that Ijin was able to stop his reading. He had learned a lot. Although it was mostly only on the fundamentals, he could finally say he knew more of it. When the Old people of the ascended Earth began to awaken, a divide was established. Although all humans gained the ability to cultivate and affinity to wield the elements, not all of them possessed bloodlines. A bloodline is an inherent strength passed down through the DNA situated within the genetic make-up of a person¡¯s primary cells, it was a symbol and proof of a great strength from the past age and a display of talent and strength as it had various uses. One of those uses being the ability to induce better synergy between the human body and environment and hence open the body to further cultivation. It was said that those without bloodlines were able to awaken their affinities with the help of mnemonic chants, infact even those with bloodlines used mnemonic chants, the difference was when the moment of awakening arrived, what awakened was their bloodlines which would automatically lead to synergizing, those that only awakened elemental affinities couldn¡¯t undergo such effortless synergizing. So after synergizing, one became a red star warrior and for one that also awoke spiritual powers, a red star warlock. After the red star stage was the orange star, the yellow star, the green star, the blue star, the purple star, the violet star, the white star, the black star, the silver star and finally the golden star, it was all amazing to read for Ijin who took it all in. After about an hour after they ate the snacks Maria brought and the boys were just lying on their respective beds, a knock came from the door after which it opened up with no delay. Not bothering to give the boys any face in the least, Kasali intruded into their room without delay. He said to them, ¡°Get down and out of your beds, it¡¯s time to take your first little baby steps on the journey ahead of you¡±. And then he left the room, waiting outside in the hallway while the boys inside exchanged looks of excitement with one another, they could somewhat guess what was about to happen. AWAKENING. Due to their excitement, the boys quickly got down and out of the room. Very soon they were in the white hallway that was the Command hallway, but they didn¡¯t move forward like Mathilda did, instead they teleported to the sight of Maria already waiting for them. As soon as she saw them she said to the visibly excited boys, ¡°Follow me¡±, and together with her they moved to the left wing of the hallway, there wasn¡¯t many doors on their way through the path, only a scant few of them but they knew the big interiors behind those doors were the reason for the little number. Soon they reached a door, evident that this was their destination, Maria placed her hand on a groove that looked like a handprint and immediately after the groove glowed a bright white beneath her palm and the door actually opened up, it was a different sight from the normal doors that one only needed to open to pass through, hence it was evident that the space behind it was probably a special place. A narrow path was within their sight as the door opened, walking into and through it, they came upon another door, but this didn¡¯t need any waiting as they passed through immediately. Immediately they moved through and they came into a spacious room that was twice that of the boys¡¯ room. It was circular in shape and adorning the walls throughout the room were a good amount of bookshelves. It almost felt like a conventional library if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it felt more like a studio with the mats black and silver mats laying around. Ijin could feel the usual atmosphere one would get in a sound-proofed room. Every sound made was heard better in here than outside without a chance of it leaking out through the walls. ¡°Alright you three should take a seat in the center, take a lotus position and take deep breaths to clear your mind. It¡¯s time you go through your awakening ceremony. I know I didn¡¯t mention any of this before but we¡¯ll be reaching the Legion soon enough and I want you all to have awakened before then. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, just do as I said and keep calm, you three are too excited at the moment.¡± Their guess turned out to be the right one. It was easy to expect since if they were back on Earth, they would have undergone the awakening ceremony like everyone else during a general awakening ceremony that the Higher major academy, one of the best schools on Earth, conducted for its final year students that would be graduating among whom they would be a part of. Due to the turn of events ever since though, it wasn¡¯t until today that they would finally be able to do it. So they went forward and took their positions in the center, the lotus position was easily the best posture to cultivate normally so they sat in that position. ¡°Remember, breathe in.., breathe out.., breathe in.., breathe out, imagine something that keeps you calm and clear all your thoughts in that state of mind¡­¡± Maria said as they took their places. ¡°Your bosom like heavenly peaches, your bra the container of holding. With my hands I aim to pluck its nectar but first I must¡­¡±. As the one who speaks the least, he had the habit of listening for even the tiniest sound that he could pick up. So naturally, Damian heard Ayo¡¯s absurd mumbling and almost coughed out as he felt both laughter and embarrassment bubbling within him. His concentration was almost broken but he had a lot of restraint and control, hence he could control himself and tuned Ayo¡¯s words out of his ears. He was the only one beside the young scumbag who heard it as Ijin was already as calm as possible and oblivious to his surroundings. Naturally with their level of strength they both heard it. While Kasali¡¯s face turned slightly red as he seemed to be holding back some laughter, he turned and spoke to Maria who had an amused look in her eyes and was similarly holding in her laughter with a hand over her lips. ¡°This boy¡¯s a thorough scoundrel I¡¯ll give him that. The legion will have many of those constantly infuriated by him, want me to fix him up?¡±. Smiling she replied ¡°Leave him be, they all have their individual characters and traits, forcing him to change might not be that easy or necessarily the right way even, in time he will grow up and possibly grow out of it¡±. Kasali had a doubtful look in his eyes on hearing what she said but made no further comment on the matter as he watched the scoundrel drivel on shamelessly. After saying that and noticing that the boys were all calm, she took out a small device and pressed a button on it. As she did that the lighting in the room dimmed a bit and something like a solemn chant began to echo within the spacious room, as time passed the chant became louder and louder until it boomed within the boys¡¯ heads and they could hear only nothing but the chant. Then as they began falling into a trance like state, a voice entered their heads, it was Maria¡¯s ¡°Let go and let your heart move to the rhythm of the chant, listen with all your heart and mind, the rest will happen naturally¡±. Having no need to hesitate, they tried to do like she said and soon enough they felt a connection between their hearts and mind. With the chant echoing in their heads, the connection became clearer and stronger until it was like their hearts and minds came together and became one. That was when things became different for them, looking from a perspective point of view, from two of them faint noises could be heard and from all three of them different colored sparks of light began to appear around them. Seeing this, Kasali couldn¡¯t help but crease his brows a little bit, having experienced this scene a few times he naturally knew what was happening. He was looking at Damian as he spoke, ¡°He¡¯s a bloodless warrior, it¡¯s expected and not too surprising but it¡¯s going to be harder for him than the others, a tad more times harder¡±. Maria sharing the same thought replied ¡°Hm that¡¯s true, but surprisingly he has extreme affinity for the darkness. Even Ayo with his bloodline doesn¡¯t seem to have such affinity for the flames and wind around him, so it¡¯s remains unclear and still not easy to say anything at this point¡­¡±. After saying this, she looked over to her son, the sparks of light around him seemed to glow with a golden shine. It was as beautiful as it looked mysterious and it even seemed to be causing conflict and disturbances with the sparks of light around Damian and Ayo. Realizing the situation, Maria waved her hand and a screen of light appeared around his body, it was until then that the sparks of light became calm once again, then she smiled and spoke again, ¡°As usual, it¡¯s effect is already showing subconsciously, a battle against him would be a draining one but I guess it depends on who decides to battle with him¡±. Around him and within his mind, other than the chant that occupied his head, he began to hear another faint sound, it was a chant, but this one sounded different, it had a grander feel to it and also increased in it¡¯s volume, as a second chant could be heard coming from Ijin. Red and greenish yellow sparks could be seen around Ayo as a bestial roar could be heard from within him. If one listened closely it sounded like the roar was aiming to burn all things around it and then blow all the ashes into oblivion. It was an arrogant roar. ¡°The Flaming storm beast bloodline power is a very strong one, even though within the flame bloodline rankings, it¡¯s on the second highest level range of power, with the essence of wind innately present within it, it can be said to have the strength to contest for an overall top-level bloodline ranking, it matches his unruly and rascally character very well. It¡¯s a bloodline that can only be cowered by the bloodlines at the top of the top, and it¡¯s only barely with a few number of those¡±. Maria spoke again as an expression of approval and gratification flashed within her eyes.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Then she looked over to Damian whose awakening was void of any sound. It seemed lonely and sad, with the deep black sparks around him growing to a size that almost flowed around him like a river, it all seemed to give off a desolate and mysterious vibe. Then after minutes of incessant non-stop roaring and sparks of light gathering, an apparition appeared behind Ayo that although was blurry, was clear enough to gain a vivid outline of it, it was a beast that seemed like one from those stories and lore, with a lion¡¯s head and a qillin¡¯s body on which two fiery wings grew on, it released a final roar to announce it¡¯s awakening and arrival. As if on cue, both Ayo and Damian opened their eyes feeling something different about themselves. The light sparks around them had receded into their bodies so they didn¡¯t immediately notice, but when they felt within themselves they noticed something like a sphere floating and slowly rotating inside them and Ayo felt a presence within his heart, he kind of instinctively knew what it was but he couldn¡¯t be sure, so he looked up to ask the two older ones who would have experiences in it. But he noticed they were focused on something else. Following their line of sight, he saw Ijin wrapped in golden sparks of light, the density of the golden sparks was on the same level as the one around Damian. He couldn¡¯t make out the reason for their focus on him but he guessed what was happening was having a big effect on his close friend. ¡°Isn¡¯t he also supposed to have completely awakened, what¡¯s going on?¡±, Confused but having a growing thought and feeling, Kasali couldn¡¯t help but ask, and like an answer to his question, the atmosphere around Ijin changed and faint sounds could be heard. It was very faint considering the sound of the other chants echoing around him but these two people could hear it clearly. Suddenly then, the expression on Maria¡¯s face changed as she made the same guess, ¡®Could it be¡­¡¯. Answering her thoughts, white light began to spread out from her son¡¯s head, spreading out and covering his entire body too, albeit faintly, then those faint chant grew louder and clearer. ¡°It¡¯s awakening as well; he¡¯s awakening two¡­¡±. The golden light around him had already reached a point of saturation, and like Ayo, a golden silhouette began to form behind his back also. As it became clearer it took the shape of a human being, but the eyes of the being were completely golden. The skin on it was like transparent jade and haze of golden light was covering it from head to toe. On its head, it had on what seemed to be an emperor¡¯s crown, with a serene and profound look in its golden globes for eyes, it¡¯s mouth kept on moving as a chant was heard, then beside it, struggling to appear was a white silhouette, the white color it had gave off a pure and saintly feeling almost like platinum , but as the silhouette began to appear, like it had sentience the crowned being already behind Ijin turned to look at it and a frowning expression crossed its face, such sentient behavior from a supposed bloodline silhouette was a rare occurrence and sight. Following the frown, the golden haze around it¡¯s body immediately brighter and spread out around Ijin actually aiming to suppress the white light, then the white light in its defiance also began struggling and resisting. ¡°As expected, it would be hard for him to wield the two of them. They are both supreme bloodlines and seek sole occupancy¡­ Too bad, it felt like he had a chance¡±, Kasali spoke up after witnessing the white light struggle to form while Maria didn¡¯t reply, a certain thought passed through her mind, it wasn¡¯t sure whether what she was thinking was possible. As if to prove Kasali¡¯s words, the white silhouette that was trying to form stopped the struggle and began to fade away. The white light surrounding Ijin also began to reduce, but it didn¡¯t disappear or disperse. A sliver of white light then remained stubbornly and moved with the golden light as it moved into his body through the pores on his skin and moved to the region between his heart and stomach, the golden light could only compromise and ignore the tiny amount of white light within its midst as it followed the coercion of the first and second chant and started swiveling as it reached the exact center between the heart and stomach, like as if there was another space entirely within his body, the golden and little amount of white light circled and circled around eventually becoming smaller and smaller as it became more condensed until eventually a core was formed, a golden core with streaks of white here and there. -The core is the essence of one¡¯s path, it declared your attribute, it housed your bloodline spirit, as of this initial stage, when a warrior¡¯s bloodline had awakened and synergized with the corresponding elemental attribute in the atmosphere, the core would naturally be formed and it will be in it¡¯s initial stage of development, many other things will be attributed to it later as it grows, if and only if the growth reaches that particular stage- That was how a text in a scroll Ijin had read explained the core that he was seeing and feeling. There wasn¡¯t much of an explanation and only this little explanation was present, it didn¡¯t explain much any further. He realized that with the awakening and the synergizing, he felt like a different person altogether, he could see the core within himself, yes see not feel. The infinite chant was the chant that was played and stirred the bloodlines and attributes within them, hence leading to the awakening. It would also strengthen the various connections within a warrior¡¯s body. All in all, it was a mysterious and unfathomable chant. In the text he read, it was said that when the ascension of Earth happened and it was exposed to the cosmic energy in the vast space. A kind of resonation occurred and as the earth was said to awaken, the infinite chant, that was now also known as the chant of awakening, was first heard coming from Earth itself. Every plant, every leaf, every tree, every grain of sand, even the seven oceans and vast seas, anything connected to nature on Earth seem to gain sentience and sounded out with the chant. It was engraved in the mind of every human being on Earth at that point and was even mysteriously passed on to the later generation from the predecessors. The first step to cultivation was awakening with the words of the chant that seemed to contain a kind of mysterious law. On completely awakening, every warrior and warlock would gain what was called clear insight, it made the senses of the cultivator to be far beyond what could be called normal. At a preliminary level like he was in now, it only allowed for total view and sight into his body. He looked within and saw a core that was nothing short of beautiful, golden with streaks of platinum white, dazzling to the eyes, Ijin couldn¡¯t be more fascinated. As beautiful as it was, Ijin could clearly see it was no larger than a Ping-Pong ball. After awakening, he would have to take some time to ring out the infinite chant from within himself again; doing this to condense and awaken his red star. Every time after further advancing to a higher stage, the same process would still have to occur, meaning that it was only with the resonation of the infinite chant with his body and soul could every star, from the red star to the golden star, be formed with no exception. In the higher stages with every new star added, it would remain as it was; without increasing its size. It would also then maintain the position in the middle of all the stars formed, like that of the sun in the middle of its revolving planets¡­ ¡°EJ¡­you are one hell of a freak¡­¡±. While he was lost in his thoughts and admiring his beautiful core, a bewildered voice snapped him out of his thoughts, then he looked at the person and saw Ayo looking at him with an expression that was a mix of admiration and bewilderment, even a tinge of envy and longing. Worrying about Ayo¡¯s sexual orientation, he scooted farther from him subconsciously as he looked up and then noticed a similar look on Damian, as well as some weird looks on Kasali and his mother. At this point he was confused and uncomfortable so he spoke up, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°¡­!?!?¡± Everyone present on the ship at the moment were gathered at the command center, looking forward at the seemingly limitless scenery. What they were there to see quickly became obvious as the image of a magnificent utopia like floating island stretching across a gigantic distance came into sight. At this point the boys became dumbfounded with astonished looks on their faces while Kasali and Mathilda had looks of reminiscence and joy in their eyes, the majesty and magnificence of the place hadn¡¯t degraded a single bit and even seemed to have increased it seemed. It was reminiscent of an isolated island floating in water, only that this was floating in space and would easily and totally eclipse the Earth, putting it into thorough darkness if it were to hover above it. It was a mix between technological innovation and amazing sights of a magical nature, there wasn¡¯t any sun or natural satellite nearby to cast some light onto it yet it shone with the beauty of a hundred moons put together. ¡°Welcome home boys¡± This was the legion¡¯s headquarters.