It was the veil time, just before dawn,the darkest hour of the night, poised on the edge of first light. Norlan was already up, meditating diligently while cultivating the Energy Contradiction skill.
Why so early? He couldn't sleep. Hatred and malice reflected in his eyes. Should he forgive and forget? Hell no. He was not that kind of person. Even Titus, his soon-to-be right-hand man, couldn't escape his ire. Especially being the center of his grievance, however indirect. Norlan didn't know how he should punish that man for following his dream, failing, and, in the process, ruining his life.
Breathe. Everything has its time. Norlan adjusted his posture, cleared his state of mind, and reeled in his killing intent.
His eyes glowed with a faint velvet light. Blue particles of natural spiritual energy came into focus as he tried to touch individual threads in the air. For a moment, the air seemed to freeze, minuscule spirit particles lighting up the darkest part of the night.
Norlan sent his intent into the world, isolating a single energy particle from the whole of a natural spiritual thread. He moved forward, his finger coming into contact.
A smile formed on his face,only to fade as the entire thread disintegrated upon contact.
"That's impressive, my Lord. You can already influence the world with your intent. What level is your Energy Contradiction skill?"
Titus stood at the cliff's edge, having woken from his stone pillow with sleepy eyes. Norlan rose and joined him. He, too, wanted to see the sunrise of this new world,a world in stasis before integration with Albera.
"Not enough to get rid of my current bottleneck," Norlan replied, irritation in his tone. "At this rate, I may as well remain in the fifth level of awakening until we enter the trial."
He already had enough energy to push himself to the Awakened Master realm. But like everything in this world, nothing came easily. For every major realm,and the successive minor realms,one needed to make a breakthrough in a skill or expression.
If your mastery of any particular skill was lackluster, you faced a bottleneck that could only be erased by increasing mastery,or by beginning to cultivate with a new skill.
Of course, the harder the skill to practice, the greater the benefits upon breaking through. Disparity would always exist between those who used different tiers of skill, and between those who used a skill versus an expression.
Take Norlan, for example. His base strength was very high compared to Titus's, thanks to his bloodline evolution. But when the two fought, Titus would always be stronger. That was because Titus had an expression.
An expression or a higher-tier skill like Energy Contradiction, difficult though it was to practice,would always have a greater impact on expanding the divine aperture. It made a cultivator more powerful, able to store more natural spiritual energy than others due to greater expansion.
"What is that look in your eyes?" Titus asked. "You almost gave me a heart attack earlier."
"Loathing. My hatred for you knows no bound."
"I guess I deserve that. After all, I am the cause of death for thousands of Grimblades."
"You know, you could have just kept your history to yourself. I literally didn't need to know that you were the one who ruined my life."
Titus looked at the horizon, waiting for that magical moment when tension eased into morning. He sighed.
"If I am to help you, I needed to tell you. Isn't it better you learn it from an outside source? What if you came into contact with the old families and they set us against each other? I told you my past so we could get over it,get past what has already happened and, possibly, nurture trust."
"I still loathe you, old man. The only reason you're by my side is because I know Aurelia and Hannah wouldn't overlook such a thing. They must have set restrictions, right?"
"Of course they did. I took a soul oath to always guard your interests. And I know it will take time for you to accept it, but I can still hope."
The sun crept into the sky, gently covering the horizon in a glowing blanket.
"I will see how you perform. I hope you don't let me down. As for the other old families,I'll just kill them all. My hatred has already taken form. They thought I didn't know they put people around me. From Larry, my best friend, to my goddamn foster family. They thought I didn't know they kept me like a cow. Livestock, coming out now and again to take reports on everything I did.
They deserve death. All of them can go to hell."
Titus heaved a sigh of despondency. He looked at Norlan with complex eyes. He tried to change the topic off of him
"What kind of ruler do you want to be?"
"Wrong question, old man. You should be asking what my dream is. All rulers are forged by their ambitions and dreams."
"Oh? Seems you do have some plans. What is your dream? Mind sharing?"
"To tell the truth, I don't feel like I would have survived the first culling. I don't see myself as part of the better fifteen percent of humanity. I can only imagine,every last one of the people we will meet here are elites. People who can accept change and embrace it. While I? I'm still thinking about my adopted mother. My crush. My lover. Did she make it past the first culling? If she did, is she thinking of me as I think of her? Is she safe? Pathetic, right?"
"Hahahahahaha! You truly are a Grimblade! What twisted love you have! You already have a goddess as your wife, and you're thinking about your some mortal woman right now? And she's your adoptive mother, no less. Hahahaha!"
"Stop patronizing me, old man. We both know that if not for the Celestial Tower of Providence playing with the strings of fate between me and Aurelia, she wouldn't give me the time of day. No less you!"
"Okay, okay. You do have a point. If not for our luck,cultivated and accumulated since the dawn of time,I would still be a system spirit, and you would still be retarded."
"Enough of that. Back to my question: what kind of ruler do you aspire to be?"
"And I'm telling you again,you're asking the wrong question, old geezer."
"Okay, I give up. Tell me your dreams. What were your aspirations before all this happened, and what are they now? And most importantly, why do you think you wouldn't have made it through the first culling? I find that a very unusual remark for someone who didn't blink before bedding a goddess not long ago."
"Can you let that go! The whole of existence can only blame itself for not having the courage to make advances on her. Plus, can't you see my infinite charm oozing all over? Hahahah!"
"No doubt a Grimblade,arrogant to the bone."
"No, no, no. It's not about arrogance. It's the hair, I say,the hair!" Norlan flicked his wavy. Hair.
"Anyway, the reason for my remark is the nature of the first culling. The whole thing tested aspirations, ambition, and the heart of dominance needed to chase grandiose dreams. I know my pride and arrogance would already give me a seventy percent chance of passing. But my dream may seem mediocre in response.
And for all reasons and purposes, you are the reason for all that. If only I had been born in an ancient family like you. But oh no,you just had to make the whole system world your enemies, letting our whole lineage suffer for your greed.
Do you even know how I have lived my whole life? You wanted to know about my dream, right? Then let me tell you.
I was eight when I wanted to become a photographer. A very mundane dream compared to those instilled by the great families." Norlan took in a deep breathe. Taking in the fresh morning air.
"I wanted to become someone who could capture a single moment and make it eternal." His gaze got lost in the clouds.
"I remember the field of daisies my birth mother loved so much. I can hear her laugh with contentment every time we visited the gardens. I remember her reading beneath the huge tree at the center, and how one day she took a photo of me hugging that humongous trunk.
I remember well the day I decided to become a photographer. I captured a stunning moment full of beautiful elegance as my mother held the daisies in her hand. It was then I decided that some moments should forever be eternal. And that I wanted to create such moments again.
But dreams, much like promises, are only meant to be broken. Despair,that is what I felt when I saw my mother hanged from that very tree the next morning. They hanged her in cold blood, right after she already had dozens of bullet holes while attempting to hide me. They hanged her despite her already being dead, desecrating her body all because she bore the name Grimblade.
That was when I realized one doesn't need a camera to eternalize a moment. Some moments become eternal in your head whether you want them to or not."
"Oh no, no, no, my boy, you..." Norlan didn't want the man's sympathy right now. He didn't blame him. He already knew what Titus had gambled upon when he took the risk to follow his ambition. It was either glory or falling like Icarus. It was just that Titus's fall also plunged his whole lineage with him. Tears rolled down the old man's face, making him look older than he seemed. His grey sideburns grew paler still.
"That was my first dream. I didn't learn my lesson and chose to dream again. I dared to dream about vengeance. I wanted to be strong. But how can an eight-year-old ever dream of such things? It was winter when I felt my fragility. When I felt my dream was as futile as glass against a hammer. I caught a cold that almost killed me. Almost killed by a damn cold,and still I dared to dream of vengeance?
No. That dream also got crushed by reality. How I wished I could become an adult in an instant in that moment. It was either that or accept reality. I chose the latter. I gave up on vengeance as I was exchanged from foster home to foster home.
I won't lie,being forced to give up on your aspirations to accept reality hurt. But as they all say, time heals all wounds. I tried, I swear I tried to give up on my aspirations. I even dared to dream again. To dream about being a teacher this time. I dreamt about all those other kids who don't have people to impart knowledge of the world. Those who don't have people to tell them it's okay to dream. To tell them it's okay to have aspirations and ambitions. To tell them what nobody dared to tell me, but...
Even time became unreliable. It didn't heal any of my wounds. Even as I dreamed of becoming someone better for the next generations, I couldn't help but blame you—you who failed to hold my aspirations.
Why is it that I get to abandon my dreams so I can tell others they should not abandon theirs? Tell me,why was even time unreliable? Why didn't it heal my wounds? Why do I have to live with a foster family full of spies who track my every move? Why is it that even the one I like becomes a spy,to the extent of being my adopted mother? Why do I have to live such a life while others flourish?
Imagine living with a whole family of people who laugh and smile, siblings who nag and irritate to build familial love, mothers who cook for you, fathers who encourage you,but it's all a lie.
You don't know how I felt when those suited strangers appeared at my hospital bed. You'd think I felt fear. You'd think I felt cowardly or small. But I felt fury. Raging fury as my heart of vengeance took shape again. As my dream of immortalizing moments wanted to eternalize their bodies,spiked and impaled by my own hands.
You asked for my dreams before the culling? There you have it. I wanted to be a photographer, a teacher, a vengeful wraith, and much more. You also asked what I aspire to now, after gaining substantial strength and backing.
I want to fulfill my dreams. Well, at least one for now. I want to impale every single member of the ancient families. I want no one left alive. I want them all dead. All of them."
He looked at the startled Titus, who was stunned by the murderous killing intent evaporating from him. Norlan asked, "Will you help me? Will you help erase the stain you put on our family name by your own failure? Will you serve me?"
Titus felt his blood boil. Knowing that he would have done the same without even being asked by Norlan. He also had pent up frustration. Thinking about how these families went after his lineage to the moment he failed. He looked back into Norlan's eyes, nodding as he released his aura.
"It would be my honor."