An End and a Beginning – Part One

Ryun

In the beginning, or at least something resembling a beginning, there were only the Three: entities born out of nothing and everything, existing in the void that contained everything. The Three had always existed, or if they’d had a birth, they did not remember it. The Three did not know of a time when they had not been in one another’s presence. They existed for time beyond counting, and in that time they had done many things: argued about the nature of their existence, fought, loved, hated, and ignored one another. In time, they devised games to occupy themselves. Yet over the ages, they grew bored of it all. They knew one another as well as they knew themselves, and so there were no longer any surprises, as each could anticipate the others’ actions—until, one day, an idea struck them at the same time, a way to break the monotony and boredom.

They discussed the best way to proceed, argued about the details of their plan, but eventually decided that a practice run was the best way to proceed, so that they could learn, and adjust before enacting their idea. And so the Three joined their powers and brought into existence reality itself. Infinite universes, in countless forms with unending iterations of every universe. It took them some time to get it right, but eventually they manipulated this new reality to give birth to life in its immeasurable variants and shapes. Over countless ages they watched over it, refining and manipulating life to create more and more interesting beings.

In the end they realized that for all that there was, and a countless amount of beings for them to watch, patterns emerged, and again their boredom returned. Seeing that they had reached the limit of what this reality could offer them, they decided that it was time for them to move on to the next stage. They had prepared to wipe out all of reality in order to craft a new and improved version, when one of them made a suggestion for them to pick those worthy from the doomed reality and allow them a chance for survival. A test. The others agreed. They created the new reality, and a system, Framework, that would allow the races to gain more power in order to survive and thrive, which introduced more chaos to entertain them. Each of the Three fashioned one facet of the Framework, and all three of them gave a sliver of themselves to give birth to a being whose job was to watch over the Framework and deal with the mortal beings. Then they picked nine worthy races across the reality which was soon to be destroyed, and they chose nine iterations of each race across the multiverse.

And to them they gave the Framework, and the test of worthiness.

Ryun sat on the flat top of the mountain looking at the sky. It was a beautiful day; the sky was blue and sun shone radiantly down on to the Earth. He cast his eyes down, and took in the endless ocean stretching in the distance in front of him. He was so high up that he could see the curvature of the Earth clearly. If this was the world of before the Framework, he would not have been able to take in such a sight, as he would’ve frozen to death or died from the lack of air. But that world was dead, and he was not who he used to be. The sight around him was, in a single word, wondrous. It did not look at all like the world was about to end.

He used a mental command, and a screen flashed in front of his eyes.

Time to the end of the world: 00 hours 09 minutes. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

It would not be long now.

He wondered what the next world was going to be like. Would it be like Earth from before the Framework, or perhaps the jumbled mess that it had become after? In the end, it would not matter much to Ryun. He had accomplished his goal here and looked forward to see what is to come. He had picked this location because of its view; he wanted to have at least one pleasant memory of this world before he moved on to the next. Still, he should’ve known better that the fates would not allow him peace.

The six people reached the top of the mountain he sat on. He had believed that they would not get here in time when he had felt them first take step onto the mountain, but it looked like the power they had gained in the last few months was far greater than he had assumed, and they were faster than he thought they would be. He had watched the Ranker list carefully over the last few days—once he had figured out what was happening, of course. He had been surprised that they would attempt something like this—he would’ve thought that they would find it abhorrent—but it seemed like they wanted him dead more than they cared about their ideals. Of course, in the end, it would not be enough. It never was.

Not even here, at the end, would they abandon their quest for revenge. Ryun didn’t really hold it against them; after all, he had done the same.

Ryun sighed and stood up, abandoning the view and turning around to gaze at the six. They stood there glaring at him with hate in their eyes, their gear resplendent in the midday sun, their weapons held at the ready. They were already standing in formation, three in front, two behind them, with their last member standing at the back. Ryun wondered why they put their most powerful front-line fighter at the back, but he did not dwell on that for long. The time when he had to worry about tricks and traps had passed. There was nothing on the face of this world that could kill him now.

“So, you have come for me, here at the end,” Ryun commented.

“Not even the end of the world will save you from justice, monster,” the woman in the front spat at him. Gloria Hightower was one of the most powerful Classers on Earth—she had always been in the top one hundred on the Ranker list. Still, she had been in her forties when the Framework had arrived, and even with the slowed aging that came with those high levels, her silver hair betrayed her age, even though her high vitality made her skin look smooth and soft. She wore high-quality armor, and held a long, awakened two-hander, a special weapon that could level alongside her.

Ryun cast his eyes to the others. He recognized them all. The two men standing next to her were Marcus and John Grisom, twins who were considered the two most powerful spear users on the planet. Wearing their dark red cloth garments and holding their awakened spears at the ready made them look intimidating to most. Behind them were Nkiruka Bezi and Anastasia Sokolova, top Ranking mages, their robes moving softly in the wind as orbs of power hovered over their palms. And lastly there was the man wearing a light, white suit of armor that contrasted his dark skin, holding a sword that resembled a katana: Zacharia Gardner. Seeing his eyes peeking out of his dreadlocks made Ryun feel an echo in his heart, but it was an old pain. Ryun had long since buried it deep.

There was a finality to their eyes. They had come here for his head, and they would not be dissuaded from their path. That was something that Ryun could respect.

Time to the end of the world: 00 hours 06 minutes. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

There was not much time left. For a moment, he considered stalling, but he dismissed the thought immediately. He could see it in their eyes that they would not let him. With an inward sigh he summoned his own awakened sword, a long and thin double-edged sword resembling a jian. The six stiffened and prepared to attack, but he didn’t give them the chance.

[Inevitable Step]

And he was among them, standing just next to Gloria. Ryun did not know what the name of her Class was, but he had fought her often enough to know her abilities and skills. He slashed to the side with a simple |Cut|. His sword glowed with an eerie green light and was met with her own, and the shimmering gold field that surrounded her blade met his sword and nullified his attack. But even with his |Cut| nullified, his physical stats were too much, and the golden light cracked and shattered, allowing his sword to smash into hers. He felt her using more abilities to counter him, but it was useless. His sword moved without stopping, sending her flying backward and into John Grisom.

Ryun stepped back and allowed Marcus Grisom’s spear to pass harmlessly through the space where his head used to be. He spun around, the glowing threads in his vision guiding his movements. He followed them until he was turned to face the spearman, and then he stepped off the path the threads showed, stabbing forward instead with his sword. The spearman blurred, using a movement ability of some kind and pulled his spear back in time to block Ryun’s attack.

But his paltry strength was barely enough to move Ryun’s sword a bit off target. The blade sunk into the spearman’s shoulder and Ryun took a deep breath, getting into the breathing form for his {Empower}. Qi inside of his core flowed through his body and into his arm, and a shimmering light enveloped the sword as he prepared to slash upward and cut the man’s head off. Before he had a chance, however, a ball of crimson fire smashed into him, throwing him a step to the side. His sword ripped out of the spearman’s shoulder, leaving a large gash. Thankfully, Ryun’s black robes were enchanted with protection and the fire did little to him. Keeping up his breathing form, Ryun empowered his entire body, pushing himself to even greater limits than his stats allowed. A spear of ice flew toward his head and he stepped forward, evading it and using [Inevitable Step] to close the distance with Marcus again. He felt Nkiruka use some slowing ability, but his step could not be stopped—it was inevitable. The air around him shifted as the distance disappeared between him and Marcus. With his Qi coursing through his veins, he activated the skill |Greater Cut|. His sword exploded with green light, and a spectral blade extended from his sword, extending his range.

Ryun saw Marcus’s eyes open wide, and saw him trying to use his abilities and skills to escape, but it was too late. His spectral blade cut through him from the left hip to the right lower ribs. His body parted and the two halves fell to the ground. A pained cry sounded somewhere behind him, but Ryun gave it no heed. He felt the vibrations in the air and knew that Gloria was charging at his back. He activated his ability [Bringer of Sorrow], and a wave of emotion exploded from him, hitting everyone in his vicinity. He saw the two mages falter as they prepared to throw spells at him, their eyes watering and chests constricting. He turned around and followed the threads that only he could see with his sword meeting the overhead attack from Gloria.

Her two-hander had a golden spectral blade extending from it, the same as he had used just a moment ago. Her |Great Slash| smashed into his sword, which was strengthened with his Qi and glowing softly with a silver light. The ground beneath his feet cracked and splintered as his body was driven down by the force of the attack, but he did not bend. A spear flashed from her side, a weeping spearman thrusting at Ryun’s heart. With a mental effort and an intake of air, Ryun cycled his Qi throughout his body, bringing his {Empower} base technique up to its evolved form. {Tranquil Mantle} calmly spread through his body, a layer of silver light spreading to engulf it. He moved out of the way, even as he pushed the great sword back with a monstrous burst of strength.

Then a dragon made out of crimson fire was flying at his head and Ryun grew tired of playing. He switched his breathing form and the {Tranquil Mantle} winked out. With a pause of his breath, his Qi was charged, and in the next moment he unleashed his fruit technique: {Final End} roared out of him, a silver wave of Qi that could not be stopped. The dragon winked out and as it was blown away, Gloria’s sword cracked and shattered, followed by her armor and then finally her body, which splintered in a shower of blood and bone blasting back away from Ryun and showering John Grisom as the wave reached him. He saw the man’s spear shatter and he heard the bones in his arms break as he was blown back. John was lucky; he had been far enough away to survive. The blast carried over and staggered the two mages, sending them to the ground. With an [Inevitable Step], Ryun was above John, and before the blood-covered man could even register what was happening, he was decapitated.

Turning around, he pulled his Qi back and activated a skill. He swung his sword and a green shimmering light swallowed his blade. It looked as if his sword had disappeared into space itself, but in a fraction of a second the |Spatial Cut| slashed into Nkiruka from twenty paces away and cut her head off just as she was getting up. Anastasia looked at her dead companions, horrified, and Ryun pushed off the ground using only his monstrous stats to move. He reached her faster than she could react, and stabbed his sword into her chest.

Finally, he turned to look at the last person standing. Zacharia Gardner had not moved from the start of the fight; his sword was unsheathed and was resting on his hip, held by both hands, and pulled back as if he was preparing to strike.

“Is this why you came? To die and be with everybody else?” Ryun asked. “I know what you did in order to achieve this much strength. You betrayed every single thing you lectured me about in order to kill me, and it was still not enough. And for what? A minute more and this world will be gone, and we will have reached the next.”

“You cannot be allowed to reach the next world. You cannot be allowed the chance to grow stronger. We have sacrificed everything to stop you here,” Zach told him.

Ryun shook his head.

Time to the end of the world: 00 hours 00 minutes 31 seconds. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

Soon, nothing about this world would matter again.

An End and a Beginning– Part Two

Zach

Zach watched as the monster used his Class’s movement ability to reach Gloria. They had studied him for a long time, and by now knew most of his abilities, skills, and techniques. They had many countermeasures and plans for fighting him, but they all knew that in the end, none of it would matter. They had done the unthinkable, had dirtied their own hands, all for this one chance. They knew that they would die. The five standing before him were his closest friends, his brothers and sisters, and Zach’s heart ached for his role in their plan. But they could not allow the monster to go beyond this world, to inflict pain and suffering to the innocent chosen from other worlds. The monster was their responsibility.

Then the battle started, and immediately the true size of the gap between the monster and all of them was clear. Even with everything that they had done to close that gap, they were found wanting. Each one of them had passed level 80; they each had several skills, had each started on the path of Cultivation, and yet still they were like babes fighting a tiger. They could do nothing.

The monster cleaved Marcus in half, and Zach closed his eyes. He wanted to run over and help, but he knew that he couldn’t. He was their last chance. He kept his mind on his sword, channeling and preparing his skill. He had not managed to level it much, had not managed to evolve it. It was too late. There was nothing left living in the world; he couldn’t finish his skill quest and evolve the skill. He hoped that it was going to be enough, as he had spent an insane amount of Essence to purchase it from the Dealmaker. It was their last card to play.

Zach knew that they couldn’t kill the monster. Even if a skill that could harm him existed, it would cost more Essence than what the entire Earth contained. But they had to try. He felt the power of his skill rise, but it was not yet at its peak. It had to be channeled before it was unleashed, and against such an opponent as the monster before him it had to be at its full power.

He saw Nkiruka and Anastasia attack the monster, saw Gloria attack from behind. An aura of sadness exploded out of the monster, and Zach felt his breathing hitch as an unimaginable sadness gripped him. His passive skills allowed him to weather the aura somewhat, but still he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Gloria’s attack slowed, but she still reached her target. She struck and drove the monster into the ground, but it was not enough. He saw the moment when the monster stopped playing and unleashed its most powerful technique. {Final End} billowed out of him, the silver Qi destroying everything around him. Zach watched as Gloria was blown to pieces, and saw John’s body shatter as Nkiruka and Anastasia were thrown to the ground. The monster finished the rest quickly, then finally stepped toward Zach.

He didn’t react, but only focused on his skill.

“Is this why you came? To die and be with everybody else?” the monster asked.

Zach gazed into those empty eyes. He remembered them smiling, a long time ago, but now there was nothing but an ocean of darkness there. There was no humanity in his face, no mercy or goodness. His heart hurt to look at him. It has been a long time since the person in front of him had been anything but a demon. The monster continued speaking. “I know what you did in order to achieve this much strength. You betrayed every single thing you lectured me about in order to kill me, and it was still not enough. And for what? A minute more and this world will be gone, and we will have reached the next.”

Zach’s hands tightened on his sword. He hated this twisted thing before him—hated him for all the things that he had done, and most importantly for what he had forced the rest of them to do. Unbidden, the memory of an old woman holding him as he cried in a small windowless room came. Zach had sworn to her, and to every other person who had visited him in that small room, that he would end the monster and avenge them all.

“You cannot be allowed to reach the next world. You cannot be allowed the chance to grow stronger. We have sacrificed everything to stop you here,” Zach told the monster.

It shook its head, and Zach glanced at the clock.

Time to the end of the world: 00:hours 00:minutes 31:seconds. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

There was no time left. It was now or never. Zach felt the skill reach its crescendo. He knew that the monster could feel what Zach was doing, he just didn’t care. And why would he, when he was the most powerful being that had ever walked this Earth? Zach’s ability pinged in his mind and, without a word, he activated it.

|Sealing Slash| sang through the air. His katana slashing toward the monster in an attack far faster than any he had ever executed before. The monster had to have sensed that something was wrong, as he empowered his blade and moved it to block. But it didn’t matter—the monster did not know what this attack was. Zach’s blade passed through that of the monster, and Zach saw his opponent’s eyes widen as the blade cut through its arm and then its body, crossing through its torso to exit on the other side.

For a moment there was only silence as the two looked at each other. The monster lowered its sword and frowned as it looked at its completely untouched body. Zach felt his strength leave him and he fell to his knees, gasping for air. The attack had taken everything from him, his vision danced in front of him and his body shuddered from exhaustion.

“What did you do?” the monster asked, a hint of anger entering the tone of his voice.

For that alone Zach managed to turn his head up and look at the monster with a smile on his face. And then he saw his opponent’s face pale and the monster doubled over, grunting in pain. He jerked as if struck and released a gasp of agony. He turned to look at Zach, glaring. “What did you do?” the monster asked again, now with panic in its eyes.

Zach struggled to get to his feet, leaning on his sword. He moved forward toward the disabled monster, and with shaking hands raised his sword. Zach knew that he had to end it, that this was his only opportunity. Even though he did not know if his weakened strike would be enough to get through the monster’s skin, he had to try. The monster shuddered on the ground, and Zach began his swing.

A loud chime inside of his head distracted him and a screen flashed in front of his eyes.

Congratulations! You are on the Ranker list, and are eligible for a place in the new reality. Prepare for transport to Infinite Realm.

“No!” Zach screamed as bright yellow light enveloped both him and the monster.

Then he knew only darkness.

Overseer Zha Miya was annoyed as she walked through the halls of the Framework control. They were in the finishing moments of the Seventh transfer; more than half of the worlds chosen for the test were in the process of being destroyed and their Rankers transported to the new reality. It was a stressful time, as the Overseer, along with its Controllers, made sure that the Framework did its work without issues.

Which was why she was annoyed—one of her Controllers had called her and asked for her to come down to the control room, as apparently there was a problem. That was not a good thing to hear, not now at the most important of moments, and especially not since there had been no problems with the Framework before now. She did not need this! Heavens forbid that the Dealmaker or the Three found out that they had screwed something up. The Overseer shuddered. She didn’t truly know which would be worse, but somehow she felt like attracting the wrath of the Dealmaker would be.

She reached the control room and entered, seeing several Controllers huddled around one station. The Controller at the station was the one who had called her, and all six of his limbs were flying over the control interface. She cleared her throat and the other Controllers turned around, noticing her. Quickly, they dispersed, allowing her to approach the station.

“What seems to be the problem?” she asked the Controller.

The man turned around and looked at her. “Overseer, ma’am. There are some irregularities with Earth Iteration 7,” he said hesitantly.

She frowned. It did not sound like there was something truly broken. Irregularities were not exactly problems; such things happened from time to time. She had feared that something had gone wrong with the Framework. “What is it?” she asked.

“Well, first there is the fact that the entire Iteration has only seven Rankers,” the Controller said.

Zha Miya blinked at that. “That is unusual,” she responded. Every world that was taking part in the test had a limit of ten thousand Rankers, and only that number would be transported to the new reality. The rest of the unfortunate souls would be destroyed along with their world when the Three broke it down for Essence. For most worlds so far, every spot on the list had been filled. True, there was a minimum power required for them to be considered a Ranker, but still, such a level of power should be achievable for that number of people. Of course it was also possible that the world did not produce enough Rankers, but that hadn’t happened yet. Only seven Rankers out of a massive population was certainly strange.

“How large of a population did this Iteration have before the Confluence?” Zha Miya asked.

“Around seven billion,” the Controller answered.

Zha Miya nodded. That was about average for Earth Iterations. The other Earth Iterations that had already been processed hadn’t had any problems in filling their Ranker lists. “And what is the world population now?”

“That is one of the irregularities, ma’am. The population is seven.”

Zha Miya looked at the Controller for a long moment, his words not quite registering. “Seven people?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Show me,” Zha Miya said.

The Controller pulled a screen up and allowed her to take a look at it.

“This can’t be right,” Zha Miya whispered. Not only were there only seven humans living on the world, the population of wildlife was extremely low. Every monster invasion point had been closed, too, a thing that she had never before seen done. Nearly all of the evolved wildlife had been culled, and not only that, but the ambient Essence of the world had fallen to a negligible level. Of course, none of the worlds in that reality had much Essence to begin with, but with the Confluence and the arrival of Framework for the test, the Dealmaker had infused an amount sufficient to allow for growth. This, however, was something that she had never seen before.

She raised her hands to the screens and started moving them around, bringing up the Ranker list screen. She looked at the screen in shock.

Ranker Name

Level

Cultivation Realm

Skills

1. Ryun Nacht

65

Mid Lord

3 (2-tier 2; 1-tier 3)

2. Zacharia Gardner

85

Mid Mortal

5 (3-tier 1; 2-tier 2)

3. Gloria Hightower

83

Mid Mortal

4 (2-tier 1; 2-tier 2)

4. Nkiruka Bezi

82

Early Mortal

4 (3-tier 1; 1-tier 2)

5. John Grisom

82

Early Mortal

4 (3-tier 1; 1-tier 2)

6. Anastasia Sokolova

81

Early Mortal

3 (2-tier 1; 1-tier 2)

7. Marcus Grisom

80

Early Mortal

3 (1-tier 1; 2-tier 2)

Zha Miya looked at the screen in disbelief. The things she was reading just didn’t make any sense. They were impossible—no one could’ve reached such levels of power in the base worlds. There was just not enough Essence to go around for them to reach such levels of power in all three areas. She had been reading reports on the Rankers from the other worlds and their Iterations; the top 10,000 Rankers of a world were all powerful, but none had been as powerful as these seven were. The usual path was for people to choose one, or at most two areas and focus all of their Essence into those two areas. It was the only way for them to keep up with the dangerous monsters that were sent to test them.

The most powerful Ranker to date had been a Level 56 Classer, with a rare starting Class. He had made a good deal with Dealmaker for it, and had been a genius. By focusing solely on one area, namely the Class system, he had reached an incredible height of power—but he hadn’t reached the level where his Class could evolve at level 60. That should only be possible in the new reality, where the quality and quantity of Essence was far greater. But these seven had all reached the point where their Class had evolved, and not only that, they were not focused into a single area, but stretched over all three. The amount of Essences needed for doing something like that was astronomical.

And then there was the number one Ranker for this Iteration, Ryun Nacht. Not only had he evolved one of his skills to the third tier, a feat that was rarely accomplished even in the new reality, but he had reached the Lord Realm in the Cultivation area. That was insane. At most, those who focused all of their Essence into Cultivation managed to reach Peak Mortal Stage by the time their world came to an end. Only eleven true geniuses had managed to break through into the Early Foundation Realm. But Lord? And Mid Lord Stage, at that? It was impossible; the quality and amount of Essence was just not able to sustain such growth. For all intents and purposes, a Cultivator at Lord Realm was so far beyond the others that it was laughable, and a Lord Cultivator with an evolved Class and a tier-3 skill? He might as well be a god to the others.

Zha Miya still couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible. Then she looked at the top Ranker’s status screens, seeing that his stats were unusually high, even for all of his achievements. She glanced at his titles. There, she found the reason for his power, as well as for the state of that world. She felt her lunch surge up from her stomach, and she struggled to fight it back. She felt sick to her core, and the Controller next to her looked queasy himself. She knew that she should remain neutral, detached from the mortals, but she couldn’t believe that such a monster existed—and soon, that monster would be transported to the Infinite Realm. A part of her wanted to reach out and deny it transport, to leave it to die on its world, but she knew that the Dealmaker would not be happy, and its wrath would find her.

“Ma’am?” The Controller’s voice broke her from her thoughts.

“What is it?” Zha Miya asked.

“There are now only six Rankers,” the Controller said shakily.

Zha Miya looked at the timer, seeing that there were only a few minutes left before the Framework was done with that world. She quickly changed the screens to surveillance, and she saw the battle. The last seven—now six—Rankers were fighting. Zha Miya wondered what kind of a sick world produced people who killed one another, even now at the end. But there was nothing that she could do but watch. Quickly, the number-one Ranker disposed of most of the others, and Zha Miya lamented for their loss. The Framework and the new reality were created for the strong, and these people who had just lost their lives had been the most powerful Rankers that the basic worlds had produced to date. She had taken the time to look at their statuses as well during the battle. She knew how they had achieved their power, that they were not that much different than the number one, but it was not for her to judge—and for its part, the Framework didn’t care.

In the end there were only the first and the second left. She saw the latter attack and watched the events that followed. She knew what skill the number two had used, and she knew what had happened as the number one fell to his knees. Then, just as the second was about to finish the first, the Framework’s timer ran out and both were engulfed in a bright light.

Zha Miya reached for the screen and redirected their transport, from the new reality to the headquarters where she was currently located.

“Ma’am? What are you doing? We can’t interfere!” the Controller said in a panic.

“Don’t worry, I’m only delaying them,” Zha Miya said. She was not an Overseer for nothing—her job was to evaluate every transfer, to make sure that the transfer and the start of the Rankers’ lives in the new reality were as smooth as possible. Danger was expected, but the Rankers were supposed to have a chance at survival.

The Framework’s original destination for the transfer of the two Rankers had been a lush forest filled with low-level monsters: a standard landing place for Rankers. But these two were not standard Rankers. The Framework usually sent the Rankers from the same world in groups together, to make it easier for them to survive, but Zha Miya knew that these two were enemies, and they would kill each other should they reach the same place together. Her personal feelings aside, the goal of the Framework was clear. Rankers this strong had to be given a fair chance. She picked a more developed area of the new reality, with stronger monsters, and sent the number two Ranker on his way.

Then she looked at the remaining one. She could see his status screen, and the changes there; the attack from the second had done its job. It would not hold forever, but it would still hinder the first. She needed to be very careful where she placed him. But looking at his stats, she realized that even with his handicap he would still be a force to be reckoned with. With a sigh, she found a suitable area that was a fair distance away from the other one and, with a press of a button, she sent the Ranker on his way.

She only hoped that she had made the right decision.