SOML – Chapter 25: Each of their own paths

Chapter 25 – Each of their own paths

…

“Ah. You don’t have a mother.” A kicked hurled towards her. Sarah fell, blood leaking from her mouth. Shock befell her mind as she stared at the kids before her. All of them threw insults and their voices increasingly got louder.

“Your father doesn’t want you! Nobody loves you!”

Next, everyone hit her.

“We don’t want to play with you!”

“You are a freak!” “Monster!”

Sarah covered her entire body. She couldn’t even cry because everything was too incomprehensible to her.

Seeing them outside of her window, she had an impulse to go out and play.

What did she do wrong? She was only five years old. And just like others, wanting to play with everyone. She didn’t understand what was the difference between her and them.

Why she had to lock herself inside her home? Yet others could play around without worry?

The orange sky had a tinge of black. Sarah’s little body curled up on the ground. A long time passed since the kids gone. They eventually grew tired of hitting her. Yet she didn’t even cry and remained quiet throughout.

Haze pervaded inside her eyes. The little girl wondered, why she didn’t have a mother? Why her father ignored her?

There was only dry sand accompanying her on that playground.

Sarah opened her eyes. The blinding lights pierced through her curtains. It was a new day.

“It is that dream again.” She muttered. Unpleasant feeling flooded her heart. Since the incident, sleeping became a chore for her.

Shaking herself, she washed herself and went to her grandfather’s study room. She knocked before entering. She had been rummaging through her head the entire time.

Inside, Ryan and Old Man Pendragon sat while drinking tea. It seemed they were talking about something. But they stopped when they saw her.

“You are here.” Ryan looked at her while Old Man didn’t. The latter only gestured to her to sit.

Sarah didn’t beat around the bush. She stared at them with a serious face and opened her mouth. “I want to go to Enderian Journey.”

“Impossible!” Ryan barked and slammed his fist to the table. But Sarah didn’t blink. She knew his shock and accepted whatever they were going to say.

“Do you know how dangerous it is?”

“Even Grandmaster will think thrice to go there. And you, who is only an Expert, dare?”

“Yep.” Sarah interjected. Ryan’s mouth opened, but Sarah continued. “I need to pressure myself.”

Sarah’s face became grim and her eyes glazed. Both of her fist rested on her lap. But right now, her nails dug through her palms. “I don’t want something to happen again where I have no power to resist or change it.”

Her father scoffed. “You think with conviction, you can go waltz to anywhere in the world? Heh! Miracles can only happen after hard work and perseverance piled into mountains.”

“Even miracles happen, you can’t be lucky all the time.”

“There, staying alive is close to none.” Anger and fear appeared on his handsome face.

“That’s why I need your help.”

The men’s eyes narrowed. Ryan slammed his palm onto the table. “Can’t you listen to your father?!”

Yet Sarah remained compose.

“Why don’t you gamble with me?”

Ryan frowned when he heard this. He didn’t know where her confidence coming from or on what basis. Pressure was a great motivation. It helped a person stay motivated. But many times hard work didn’t matter. And her idea surfaced as borderline insanity and a joke.

“I’ll create a team and we will use all our resources to strengthen us. This way, I’ll have a large chance surviving.” Sarah’s smile opened wide. She knew only with confidence she could convince the two.

She had been thinking about this all night. It was a hard decision, but she tried to steel herself. She thought about Ben, Jed and her other classmates and whispered to herself. “I’m sorry. I promised to protect you as best as I can.”

The two men also got lost in their thoughts. The girl surveyed their expression. Ryan kept shaking his head. Her grandfather tapped on his armchair. Old Man Pendragon coughed and stood. He placed his arms behind his back and walked out. But before exiting, he left a word.

“Okay.”

“Father!” Ryan sprung from his seat. But Old Man had already gone. The former inhaled and wore a bitter smile. He saw Sarah grinning whilst leaving. It became a done deal, he thought. He smacked his face in frustration.

“Dammit, Sarah!”

…

Ben hunched. He scanned his home. Sunlight converged up ahead because there was no roof anymore. He saw the refrigerator was salvageable. A few vegetables were still inside it. But he had no appetite or energy to cook.

“Sister Sarah is inviting everyone.” Ben sighed. His heart was in turmoil and buried his face on his knees.

“Brother, where are you? It’s been two days. Please be alive.”

Woosh. The swirling wind did nothing to his already icy heart. After a long time, he got up from his position. He washed his face on a pipe exposed from the ground. “Shall I thank the pipe is still discharging water?”

Everywhere he looked appeared gloomy−no noisy neighbors and no more familiar cheerful faces.

“I suddenly missed Auntie Linda’s chicken wings. I haven’t got back with Edison either. And Auntie Bebang… her son will be too sad. I wonder if everyone’s doing okay where they are…”

The boy became preoccupied with his thought. Only when he arrived at his destination, he awakened. He sighed at seeing his classmates. Each student crowded with their teammates during the trial.

“Ben, how you doing?” Jigen patted the boy’s shoulder. He seemed back in his usual lazy appearance.

“Still no news?” Ben bit his lips.

Jigen smiled with sadness. He closed his shoulders and shook his head. “Sorry.”

Ben became silent. He didn’t know what to do in life anymore. His dream of becoming strong was only for the sake of his family. Now that his remaining family went missing, he lacked motivation.

But while he was suffering in silence, a powerful impact startled him.

“Doofus.” Sarah grinned. “What are you thinking? Sulking won’t do you no good. You already weak in strength. Now, you also wanted to be weak in heart?”

This only prompted Ben to show a sad smile.

Sarah scanned everyone and saw the negative expressions on everybody’s face.

The recent incident done everyone nothing but pain.

But she knew that acting upon it and passively reacting were two different senses. Thus, she clapped her hands to move her agenda.

“Arms up, everyone. So, I call all of you here.”

“Ben, Jigen, Jed, Jay, Terrence, Mimosa, Nina, Raul, Sean, Arnold.” She enunciated. She sat on the broken gate of the school. Von was busy helping the county. Clans and common folks rallied and assisted too. Thus, only here was devoid of people. When she got news of this, she ordered her clan’s guard to deliver an invitation to each of her classmates.

The girl’s face became serious. “This is a world where power is supreme. If we liken strength to a shape, it will be a triangle.”

“And we are at bottom side. It might be the largest side, but also the weakest. We are easiest to break and also the first to run.”

“I know what you are thinking. That you are already training and ahead of those snotty rascals. You can already defend yourselves.” Sarah nodded, but her face showed was different.

“But no matter how large an ant, it’s still an ant.”

“So my idea is this. To hone ourselves on the tip of the blade. Its regardless if you are holding the hilt or it’s against you.”

“Sure, training in years will bear results, but it’s too slow! If we dilly dally and let fate led us, then we can only resign to our luck. Only by continue jumping out of our comfort zone we can fight against fate.”

Everyone listened. In their hearts, they agreed to her.

“Bashing through lines, sweeping through crowds; that’s what I want.” Sarah showed her toothy grin. But the girl gripped her fist. “But I’m too weak right now. I can’t even save a friend.”

“Strength!”

“I badly needed strength.”

“I already planned what I will do after graduation.”

“And it is not any simple plan or goal or whatever. The common thing about it are death, death and death!”

The word death rang to their core and making everyone shivered. They stared at Sarah’s eyes and they knew she was serious. Their palms sweated and they could hear their hearts beating. Few of them felt light-headed and their knees almost give way.

They saw firsthand how tough life in the outside world. Just the Illusory Realm gave everyone a rough beating. Few saw the incident. But everyone could still imagine based on the aftermath.

“Sorry.” Arnold scratched his nose. “I have plans too.” His eyes showed embarrassment.

But Sean wasn’t polite and glared at her. “That won’t do. We won’t be sacrificing ourselves just for you.”

Sean had a brother whom a mercenary. The latter had told him many things. So, he knew how hypocritical clans were. He guessed Sarah needed fodders for her safety. He became angry thinking that.

“Idiot.” Sarah scoffed. Just who this guy thought he was? Though I’m here for help, it didn’t mean I need to beg. She cringed in her head. “Do I need you to save me? You may even be my baggage. No worries, with how weak you are, I’ll carry you.”

“Just because you are a girl, you think I won’t hit you?”

“Then do it, Fucker, otherwise scram.”

“Tsk. I’m afraid you’ll cry to your father!”

“Hm. I beg to differ. You are afraid I’ll make you kneel before me. Just as well, I needed someone to vent.”

“What the hell?” Sean got furious. Those arrogant eyes and pursed lips, he wanted nothing but to shred them. He rolled his sleeves and strutted, facing Sarah head-to-head. “Who are you to talk to me like that? Just because you are from Pendragon Clan? Remember how your grandfather resting his dick while all the people in the county dying.”

The girl raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. She appeared as if observing an art before letting out an ivory grin. “Because I am stronger than you.” And she punched.

Glug. This caught her classmate off guard and making him kneeled before her. He vomited a mouthful of blood and glared at Sarah.

“Do you see that even though East Section is more devastated; the priority is the mansions of the clans. This is strength. The county needed strength and only clans can provide it.” Her contempt swept through all her classmates. “That’s the problem of the weak.”

“Now, shall we have a serious talk? I’m not a philanthropist nor a bully. I’m only telling you because it is a once a lifetime chance.” Sarah became serious. She cracked her neck, producing snappy sounds.

“There are passages that only once in a blue moon will appear. And this is one of them.”

“People flocked just to get inside these passages. It might be dangerous, but the rewards are too satisfying enough for a man to become a winner in life. And just like them, I also wanted to get inside.”

Sarah bared her fangs. “I’m talking about one of the Eight Supreme Killing Grounds, The Enderian Journey!”

Most of them remained composed. Only Jigen, Jed and Nina became pale and took a step back.

“I want to create a team or even a mercenary guild. And the first task we will do is to explore that place.”

“I’ll assure you. It will be one hell of a ride!” Sarah laughed. “Of those who wanted to join me, step forward and face Absolute-death Danger!”

Everyone instantly paled. They then understood. And it was something they didn’t want to experience. It was a frigging hell-hole with no chance of survival!

“You are crazy!” Jigen spat. “You don’t know what you are talking about. Even Grandmasters don’t want to face an Absolute-death.”

Nina muttered. “Too crazy, too crazy…”

“Here I thought you are acting high and mighty because you have something good for us.” Raul sneered. He was already unsatisfied with her treatment with Sean. And now she pushed things too far!

Others also voiced their worries. They obviously couldn’t risk their lives. They got a long life ahead of them, thus unhurried to get stronger. Youths like them could train enough to make their lives comfortable. After all, incidents like a while ago won’t be frequent, right?

Truth be told, their confidence came from the fact… humanity was stronger than any race!

Sarah remained composed amidst others’ vehement opposition. Seeing her silence, everyone gradually shut up too.

Terrence stepped forward, making everyone’s gaze on her. She fixed the strips of hair dangling around her eyes. Her short brown hair gave her a mature look.

“I’m sorry.” The girl stared at the person she considered wanting to surpass. “That I have to refuse.”

“I wanted revenge for Ayill. I’m glad he’s happy when he passed away.” Her face was peaceful.

But then, her eyes shone with blinding lights. She gripped on the handle of her spear till her hand whitened. She wasn’t refusing because she didn’t want to get stronger. It just she had a nonidentical plan in her mind.

“But I am unsatisfied. I want to kill those people that made Ayill suffer. I will let them suffer ten times what he’d experienced!”

“Also, I have my path. Just the same as you wanting to create your own.”

Terrence drilled through Sarah’s eyes. Her aura towered, cowing those with weaker hearts. “I’ve been listening to my elders’ stories about Pendragon since I’m a child. They made you guys as the example for us to forge ahead. And knowing that there’s someone in Pendragon as the same as me, I became interested in you.”

“I’m always watching you. Sure enough, you don’t disappoint. You are strong. And I agree with you, weak don’t have a voice. Thus, we need to struggle and get stronger.

“Sarah Pendragon, let’s see who will reach the peak first. Is it the claw of the dragon? Or the tip of my spear?”

The atmosphere stagnated. The smart ones couldn’t believe her. Surpassing Sarah would be a challenge. But taking revenge was all different matter. Revenge might only be a different hell compared to the mentioned killing ground. But it was still hell! It was fraught with multiple dangers and might even comparable to Absolute-death Danger.

As for reaching the top, reaching Transcendent Level resembled a giant leap to the heavens. Either stuck her feet in the sky or fell to her demise.

But at the same time, everyone couldn’t help but stare at the short girl with awe. They gaze at her eyes filled with heroic ardor. It occurred to them with her spear-like intent; she was serious, dead serious!

Sarah’s lips turned into a curve. Even though she wanted a helper, she also welcomed a rival. “You bet! HAHAHA!”

This duo! Others didn’t know how to react. They shook their heads. On the side, Jigen muttered. “Crazy. This is crazy!”

Terrence smiled before exiting. Looking at her back, her footsteps appeared firm. Jay glanced between Terrence and others. But he still followed her.

Others paused. They also had their own thoughts. Getting stronger shouldn’t be a bad thing, no? And so they didn’t immediately reject Sarah and thought to think about it.

The crowd became sparse.

“About you, Doof?” Sarah faced the unnaturally quiet boy.

“Sorry, Sis.” Only Ben appeared out of place. He half-listened to the conversation. The boy bowed. “I still need to think about it.”

Sarah nodded, but her expression became hard to decipher.

The boy also nodded and followed next to Jigen. Soon, their backs disappeared in the distance. The place became quiet. Only the rustling of wind and the clanking of metals remained.

“Why are you still here?” Sarah asked the only person stayed.

Jed’s hands went inside his pocket. “I’ll join you.” This made the little daredevil to raise her brows.

“Then, your store? Isn’t it destroyed? So you have a lot of work to do.”

“Yes. But I already transferred the management. If I wanted to become strong, the money I’ll got there is too small to sustain all my training. And I saw back then, only by risking myself to collect resources I could have a chance.” Jed gave a thin smile.

He brought out a bag and presented it to Sarah. “It’s one hundred silver coins. I want to buy herbs from you if possible?”

Sarah gazed at him; this time different. She felt he wasn’t someone she assumed a kind person. But she grinned and snatched the bag. “Okay, I’ll give you the common products.”

Jed chuckled and scratched his nose. “I’m talking about the better ones.” He changed his tone. “I’ll be a Master in about two to three weeks.”

Sarah gave him a shrug. “Up to you. If you don’t mind destroying your gifts.”

Jed nodded, but then shook his head. “I also have my path.” This made the girl smile meaningfully.

The boy knew what she was thinking. But he felt it was a necessary evil. His store sold exotic materials and animals, which only had little to no customer. That time, he had a funny feeling that the leader duped him. And he also realized adding sidelines weren’t enough compared to the money he had right now.

He found the growth of his strength too slow and he became apprehensive when he experienced training Combat Art firsthand. Thus, a different action had to happen.

Jed comforted himself as both he and Sarah parted ways.

…

The sky was open and blue. Jigen wondered why there was no rain. It was a rainy season, but the sky just wanted to reveal everything underneath it.

He grunted, seeing all the rabbles. “Ben, don’t worry, your brother is alive. The authorities have found nothing, so it’s a good sign.”

But Ben remained listless. He didn’t speak until he separated with him in the corner.

“Bye, Bro.” The darkness of the alley couldn’t cover the dark shade of his face.

Jigen sighed. He continued walking to his home. But two figures stopped him.

“Nina? Mimosa? What are you doing here?” Jigen asked. He thought these two already went home.

“There’s something we wanted to ask.”

…

Rustle. Ben woke up from his stupor. He only discovered he was nearing his home. Surprised, there was an enormous distance between his home and school, yet he got here already feeling nothing.

Rustle. The tiny noise sounded again. He fought to find the sound. Then he saw a woman crouching on a rabble. She was pulling something from it.

“It’s you! Come, help me with this!” The woman also discovered him and exclaimed.

Ben neared and found that she was one of his neighbors!

“H-how..?” The boy stuttered. His expression made the woman feel weird.

“Yawaka! Are you cursing me? I’m alive, see? Come on, help me!” She hollered as she pulled the steel bars one by one.

“C-coming.” Ben hurried to work.

It was noon when they finished. Both looked fatigue and wiped their sweats on their faces. The woman salvaged a large pot, a box, and miscellaneous things she owned.

The boy kept his gaze on the woman. He couldn’t believe she was still alive. All he knew, this area got the brunt of attacks. After a long time, Ben mustered his courage. “Sis, how did you- you know… live?”

The woman blinked and shook her head. “I’m not home when it happened.”

Ben became surprised. He patted himself that there was coincidence in the world and she was lucky.

“So… you perhaps didn’t see my brother…” Ben knew already the answer, but he just said to confirm it.

“What? Your brother’s body still hasn’t found?” It was the woman’s being surprise.

“No, no.” Ben waved his hands. His face was awkward. “He might not be dead yet.”

“Oh. Sorry. Hehe.” The woman patted her head. “That’s good, though. And I think, he is still alive.”

“Just like everybody else’s reply.” Ben muttered.

The woman stood up and cracked her knuckles. “No! He is alive. I’m sure of it.” This made Ben wonder.

“I have a crush on him before. And I have this unique ability to sense all of my crushes.” She winked and gave him a refreshing smile. She plodded towards her pot and brought something out.

“This is my payment to you.” It was bronze coins. They jingled as they landed on the boy’s palm. “Alright, go home and do your thing now. Oh, you know to cook, right? Though it was already this late. So if you are hungry, you can come by.”

Thus, Ben got kicked out. He glanced, but the woman busied herself. Pursing his lips, he continued his path. Thus, he didn’t see her mysterious eyes.

She was the strange sister that liked to stare off the distance. Ben’s understanding of her-she had many fantasies about men.

“Her name is Sister Dabbie, right? She talked about before how she like mature men like Sir Ryan Pendragon.” His face became weird. He now knew how old Ryan was. One and two zeroes galloped through his mind like mad horses.

“Never mind…” Ben shook his head and continued working. The boy dug into the surrounding rabbles. He hoped to find that thing.

“There you are!” The boy’s eyes lit up. The wreckage cleared and what remained was a flattened drawer. He pushed aside the wooden splinters and wrestled a book from it. He read the title aloud. “Transcendence.”

He patted and blew the dirt. The boy pinched the cover. But he paused, considering flipping it. “Better than never.” He inhaled and then opened it.

The cover, the first page and the second page. And he continued to the third page, unbothered what happened before him.

If it was other time, he would be unwilling to be hurt again. But his mind was blank and his heart was empty. He wanted to feel a thrill, hoping for something to happen. A pain that could knock him unconscious was a welcome, nevertheless. At least… at least with sleeping he could forget he was alone.

Then he saw a man in golden robes. On top of his head was a golden crown with rubies attached to it. His posture was straight and elegant. He had a long black hair and dragon-like eyebrows. His nose was perfect and his lips were so moist, if pinched water would drip.

The man’s smile shone like the sun. His voice exuded magnetism. And his eyes resembled a pair of stars twinkling in the sky.

He was a king.

A voice sounded beside his ears. “In his territory, the taxes were low and no beggars. The king won’t punish the criminals but reprimanded them himself.”

“His favorite pastime was to walk across his land in foot and without guards. He would help in manual labor, he would play with kids, and even help pregnant in giving birth. He was a person loved by all.”

The vision changed. A castle of white got brought to its knees as people escaped and cried for their lives. Mothers became woeful and children couldn’t stop their fear. Men were relentless as they shoved their spears and arrows towards the vast shadows.

But to no avail.

Beasts as large as mountains trampled and slaughtered them like ants. Fire blazed and its smoke corrupted the once beautiful kingdom. With a loud boom, everything collapsed.

And the man wailed as he witnessed this around him. Too powerless to save even one of his subjects. He was without his golden crown and robe. He was alone, even becoming a stranger to his own home.

Fury, despair, dismay, loneliness and various emotions painted the king’s face as he howled to the heavens.

“WHY I AM ALIVE?!!

He felt unworthy to be the king and dug his nails through the soil.

The sun soon rose. Journey might be long, but the emptiness in his heart made him feel nothing. The man stopped beside a lowly tree. He looked back where he came from. In his vision, only smoke and ruins remained.

The sky curtains continued to open and close. The tree was already bent like elderly. And the man had no semblance of his former self. He sat there, daze and unblinking. His clothes turned ragged and his face became covered in dirt, looking haggard and emaciated, just like the tree beside him.

Seasons changed. The tree had already died. With no shade, the king got up. He walked tirelessly until he came back to his previous place. It was still a wasted land.

Scenes played on his eyes like broken video. Everything was like yesterday. He shivered and banged his thin fists to the ground. He begged to be relieved of his pain!

Then he heard something. He raised his head and went towards the origin. The king searched from the dirt and debris. He lifted rocks and excavated through the soil. He went everywhere until… he saw a tiny sapling.

On a land with nothing but death, a new life was born.

The sound came from the sampling, crying like a baby. Its leaves looked vibrant; green and healthy. The man’s eyes blurred. And his tears watered the sampling, its first in many days.

“B-beautiful. This is too beautiful!”

The man kneeled; he dug up the sampling with tender care. He ran until he reached where the lowly tree died and planted the sampling beside it.

Then the king sat cross legs. Past scenes appeared again. This time, his empty heart got filled. And his voice pervaded across the space!

“Love is eternal.”

“In the past, the love of my people made me a king.”

“In the present, the love of a companion willing to listen to my woes eases my heart.”

“And in the future, this love will sprout into something else no matter how dark, destroyed or hurtful your past is.”

“Love is eternal, no matter what time!”

“I am the defeated and unworthy king, the Enlightened Lowly Tree!”

“I transcend!”

And the king left behind nothing but a tiny sapling.

But with love as fertilizer, the sapling later on became a colossal tree, protecting the Mortal Lands for ages!

Everything returned to normal. Around the boy was still rabbles. Ben stood rooted, though. He closed his eyes and his brows knitted together. Scenes kept appearing inside his head.

The trial… Ayill… the titanic entity… and the aftermath. The same thing happened to the man.

Yet the king still learned from it. He learned to love. And he moved on while carrying the lives of those he loved.

“Brother, wait for me. I will find you.”

He exhaled and opened his eyes, now devoid of sadness. Think, think. His forehead creviced in many layers. He knocked his head around and only abled to think a conclusion after a couple of hours.

“If even authorities can’t find my brother, this only means that he vanished. But he is a cripple. So… the only thing I could think of is, he got abducted!”

The boy gritted his teeth. “Hence, I needed strength. Sister Sarah said that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Fudge, why I didn’t listen? She didn’t elaborate, but I’m sure there are plenty of chances for me to get strong there!”

He saw the night sky and his tummy rumbled. He gulped, but his face turned serious. “Eat later! I’m going to the Pendragons!”

…

Chapter 24 | Chapter 26