Free Web NovelChapter 18: Lands of Horror [7]
What is the cycle of life and death?
From the perspective of a homeless person, the cycle of life and death might feel less like a grand philosophy and more like something witnessed every day.
To them, life was a borrowed blanket for the cold night, a warm cup of coffee from a stranger, or the patch of sunlight that finds them on a cold afternoon... while death was never far.
When they sleep with a starved stomach, there’s a chance they might never wake up. And they hoped they didn’t, so they wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Life was cold to them while death was a warm embrace.
Now, for a wealthy person?
Life and death were subjects discussed by those who lacked the power to concern themselves with greater things.
They lived with that arrogance until death came knocking on their door... to collect its fee.
But when Yves asked the same question to his mother, her answer was quite simple and poetic.
"Idal, the cycle of life and death is an eternal, unbroken circle of transformation. It is not supposed to be seen as an absolute ending but rather as a graceful transition where fading energy — like falling leaves or the setting sun — returns to the earth to nourish the roots of new beginnings."
The world of Estoria was a world filled with stories that granted the Awakened stories made of their own experience and shaped them as people.
Everyone has their own story.
But for something to be a story, it had to be alive. And what better way was there to bring it to life than showing it to someone?
And Yves was doing just that.
He was showing his story to Ezio.
...
Ezio had wanted to act the moment Yves started getting hurt badly. It would just take a second to kill the meaningless beast. And even when Yves had ignored him, he was still going to jump in.
He believed Yves to be a careless fool to think he could take on a beast far above his rank. Sure, he had been doing well since the beginning of their entrance to the forest, but reality was reality. He had now hit a wall he couldn’t jump over.
Just as he was about to jump in, he saw Yves’s body suddenly leaking a dark aura, and then dozens and dozens of small black shapes that looked to be letters came out of his body and started to spin around him.
’S-Story Manifestation!’ Ezio thought with complete shock. ’That’s impossible. How can he already — he... he might be able to win if it’s like this...’
Ezio was in complete utter shock at the scene and remained inside Yves’s shadow willingly... watching...
...Watching with anticipation for what Yves would do next.
...
My eyes went wide at the system’s message.
This was... impossible.
How was I already able to awaken my Main Story from its slumber?
It was too early.
’Story Manifestation.’
You see, when someone awakens a Main Story, they gain abilities from that story, and as you ascend, depending on the story, you may get more abilities.
However, just because you have the abilities doesn’t mean you can use the full power of your Main Story.
A Main Story is asleep from the moment you experience your Awakening. And in order to use its full potential, you had to meet certain conditions depending on what type of story you had.
Two of the most important conditions were having a person witness you doing something related to your story, and the other — which was the most important — was understanding your story. Understanding yourself.
I definitely didn’t understand Yves, nor the Main Story he awakened.
Meeting all those conditions triggers Story Manifestation, which is basically manifesting your Story into reality, allowing you to wield power beyond your current limits.
That was what was currently happening.
A sharp bloody grin spread across my face as I felt my Main Story giving me strength and supplying me with mana.
The Fire Monkey leader growled with caution at my sudden rise in energy. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The beast instinctively felt danger and attacked me.
With restored mana running through my veins, I raised my katana and parried its fist, sending it back, surprising the beast with my strength.
I didn’t give it time to process its thoughts and punched the beast right in the sternum. Its body was sent flying back a couple of meters before it flipped and landed on the ground.
"Ooh-ah!"
"Ooh-ah!"
"Ooh-ah!"
"Ooh-ah!"
The Fire Monkeys in the trees reacted to their leader being pushed back for the first time.
I saw the Fire Monkey leader touching its chest. It seemed my punch had done some damage through that hard skin.
The monkey raised its arms wide, brought them forward and beat its chest while screaming loudly.
"Oooh-ahhh! Ooh Aahh!"
The monkeys in the trees screamed as well, cheering for their leader.
After beating its chest, its entire body suddenly caught on fire — it activated its magical ability for the first time.
The Fire Monkey leader hadn’t been using its abilities from the beginning of our fight, which meant it hadn’t been taking it seriously. But now... it was no longer playing.
Seeing its red eyes glowing alongside its burning horns and tail made it look like a demon.
Which made me smile.
"That’s what I like to see. Let’s clash one last time!" I said as I dashed forward.
The beast moved, growling as it ran at high speed, leaving dust behind. My katana, moving faster than my top speed at the start of the fight, was wrapped in darkness energy and drew a black arc towards the beast’s neck.
The beast raised its flaming arms to block the slash.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you."
My blade, instead of being stopped by the beast’s tough skin like before, cut through its flesh like butter.
The beast screamed in pain and before its arm was sliced off, it threw a punch at me with the other arm.
I pulled the blade off its arm and ducked. I felt the scorching heat as the flaming fist punched through where I had been. At that moment I had already sheathed my katana, and with an explosion of mana I drew it again and sliced the beast’s chest diagonally.
The blade cut through the fire and then through the tough skin, leaving a huge slash mark across its chest. But before the cut could go any deeper, the beast’s instincts kicked in and it jumped back with fast reflexes.
Red blood spilled on the ground.
"This is the first time I’ve actually made you bleed properly." I said, raising the blade to look at the blood stained on it.
I opened my mouth and was about to lick the blood off, then stopped.
"Just kidding."
The beast was infuriated by my ragebaiting and ran towards me, slashing its sharp nails at my chest, but my blade was already there to meet them.
Black sparks and red flames lit up the air as katana met fist.
Black met red.
One was darkness, and the other was fire. One was cold like the night and the other scorching like the noon.
We both sped up and moved through the forest, our hands blurring as we exchanged attacks. Like machines made for combat.
The attacks that had been overwhelming me earlier no longer had the same effect. I could see them clearly now, finally blocking and parrying them.
My speed now matched the beast’s.
Despite me holding my own ground against it and finally wounding it, the beast didn’t back down at all. If anything, it only increased the vigor of its attacks.
Oh God, I loved the fighting spirit!
My attacks were even more precise as I delivered them. Nothing wasted. I made sure to keep hitting the monkey in the same areas I had been targeting from the beginning.
And when I kept hitting them, they finally started to take effect.
It first started with the beast’s attacks becoming stiff. Its punches no longer carried the boulder-like force they had earlier.
My arms could now handle them without going numb. freewёbnoνel.com
And with stiffness came openings.
My blade pierced through the beast’s right thigh and sank deep, protruding from the back.
"Ooooohhh!" The beast screamed in agony and tried to grab me, but slick as a snake, I slipped away.
I appreciate the warm intentions, but that was a little too warm for me.
