by L. M. Kerr
Some number of days and seconds after the two Barons held this secret conversation…
A disturbance arose in the countless evenly spaced trees that made up Humanity’s Spawning Ground.
Shouts, screams, and the sounds of battle rang in the air, an unusual occurrence for this location. Fights, if they started here at all, typically ended in short order. The 4 Syndicates patrolled this area quite heavily.
The sounds of an intense fight continued, nevertheless, energy fluctuating.
This lasted for several minutes, increasing in intensity as more and more warriors were sent in, various patrols raising the alarm.
Finally, after six minutes of increasingly violent battle, the noise died down and the energy vanished.
Despite the veritable wave of warriors that had opposed them, 16 figures emerged from this battle virtually unscathed. Various glowing Auras clung to the body of each figure as they fled from the Spawning Ground, rapidly beating a retreat.
The only thing they left behind, apart from the injured or dead, was a series of low, rumbling growls that ominously faded away.
“Kkktthh… Kkktthh… Kkktthh…”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
An unknown amount of time after that…
“Well, Sophia, it looks like the truth has finally been unveiled.” A familiar voice rang out as a young, blonde-haired man warmly hugged one of the Spawning Trees, smiling at a pretty, brown-haired girl that was fiddling with a smartphone nearby.
“I thought we were the ones planting trees, but as it turns out, they were the ones planting us all along.” The blonde-haired man nodded in a sagely manner.
Sophia brushed aside a strand of hair as she looked up, glaring at the speaker in exasperation.
“Shin, come on. We only have a week left to find this place, we can’t waste any time here.” She turned around and promptly began to stride south, her words sharp.
Shin looked at his tree sadly for a few moments before shrugging and teleporting away, reappearing right next to Sophia.
“Well, alright then. What was 'this place' again?” Shin smiled, his optimism unwavering.
“An Inheritance, Shin. The Soul King’s Inheritance.” Sophia muttered, her eyes cautious as she took in the world around them,
“Let’s go!”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Rumors spread like wildfire in the Second Layer, kindled by the embers of truth.
Rumors about the death of one of the Four Barons.
Rumors about mass poisonings and human experiments by the Byrens.
Rumors about the appearance of an entire Magic Forest out of nowhere.
Rumors about a plague.
Rumors about the Orkals, the Rakkonians, and the Farians.
Rumors about the secretive Six Lords preparing for war.
Rumors about a strange creature clad in silver light, challenging an undead dragon.
Rumors about a group of Monster Class Morenkai appearing in the Spawning Grounds.
Rumors about the ‘Great Traitor’ of the First Layer, the murderer of hope.
Rumors, galore.
Deep within the territory of the Silent Sword Sect, Micheal found himself blissfully unaware of all of these rumors.
Instead, he slept a deep sleep that lasted for several days, all the strain he’d put himself through finally catching up to him.
As he slept, Micheal’s consciousness appeared inside of a dream.
He stood alone on the edge of a small lake, looking across it at a small clearing that was covered in flowers.
In this clearing, he could see two Farians, a man and a woman, holding each other tight. They clutched at each other, tears falling freely as they celebrated the mere fact that they were still alive.
He knew this was a dream and yet, at the same time, Micheal knew it was also reality. What he was looking at here was actually happening, in the real world.
Micheal gazed at Isabella from across that lake, studying her appearance. Her beautiful smile, curly hair, warm eyes… he took it all in silently.
A few seconds passed as time seemed to stand still.
A single tear trailed down Micheal’s cheek, tracing a small, lonely smile.
Slowly, something inside of Micheal began to change.
Sadness, pain, fear, emotions that had chained his heart for years seemed to melt away, vanishing altogether as he took one last look at the woman he had loved.
In that moment, he, too, celebrated that she was alive, that she was happy, that she was free.
“Goodbye, Isabelle.” Micheal’s words fell away as he turned around, a fact settling in his heart with certainty.
There was nothing for him here, nothing except broken paths and painful memories.
He had only one way left to go, now.
Forward.
Micheal’s back never wavered, his march holding strong and his gaze steady, as he walked away from that lake.
In this dream that was both real and fake, he let go of everything, the chains of his past holding him back no longer.
This was the last time he ever saw Isabelle.
As one story must end, yet another shall begin.
After an unknown amount of time, this dream broke into a thousand pieces, vanishing as Micheal’s mind fluttered.
Moments later…
Micheal opened his eyes and his story began anew.
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The End of Volume 3
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Author’s website: LMKerr.com
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