ACT II ­­– Ryun

Alone

Ryun woke up looking at the tree crowns and the golden light sneaking through the branches and the leaves. It was a familiar sight, and something nagged at his mind, but he couldn’t remember. His mind was fuzzy. He blinked a couple of times and then he sat up. He looked around, seeing the bright red leaves covering the forest floor and the dark, almost black bark covering the trees. He glanced up, seeing that even the leaves up on the trees were red. He had never seen such color on a tree before. He noticed his sword lying next to him on the ground, and he picked it up before standing up slowly.

He turned around, searching. Something told him that he wasn’t supposed to be alone, that someone should be there next to him. A feeling of déjà vu filled him, but he couldn’t place exactly where the memory came from. He shook his head, dismissing the last of the fog on his mind. And then he remembered the pain, and his eyes widened as he remembered everything. He looked inwardly, feeling for his path. He could feel his Qi, his core and channels, but it was as if something had covered it all up—a sheen of crystal that prevented him from touching it. It was the same with his Class. He couldn’t reach his abilities, a crystal block covering it all up. The only thing that he could touch were his skills. In his mind, he saw the giant crystal ball enveloping his power, and a bright sword peeking out of it, cutting through the crystal and keeping it away. His skill |Spatial Cut| hadn’t been covered, and instead the crystal had broken itself against it. There were cracks spreading in all ways away from the sword. He reached for the cracks, attempting to break the crystal and release his power, but there was no use—he couldn’t budge the crystal. Feeling a touch of fear, he quickly brought up his screens and looked.

Name

Ryun Nacht

Race

Human

Titles

First Kill, Adventurer, Hero of Promise, Transcended, First Body of Iron, First Quickened Mind, First Lake of Qi, Beaten but not Broken, Cannibal, One Against Many, First Lord, First Qi Manipulator, One Against Horde, First True Body, Hated Foe, One Man Army, Butcher of Humanity

Essence (Greater)

3,000

Class (Sealed)

Harbinger (E)

Level

65 (0/160 Greater Essence)

Combat Ability

Bringer of Sorrow

Movement Ability

Inevitable Step

Support Ability

Reave

Cultivation (Sealed)

The Path of the Final End (E)

Stage

Mid Lord (1270/12,000 Greater Essence)

Base technique

Tranquil Mantle

Branch technique

Silent Breath

Fruit technique

Final End

Passive Skills

Active Skills

Combat Mastery (10/10) >> Sword Mastery (5/10)

Cut (10/10) >> Greater Cut (10/10) >> Spatial Cut (9/10)

Seismic Sense (10/10) >> Vibration Sense (9/10)

Perks

Body of Iron (Path Perk)

Quickened Mind (Path Perk)

Lake of Qi (Path Perk)

Feast (Class Perk)

Vampire (Class Perk)

Regenerator (Class Perk)

Silent Hunter (Class Perk)

Qi Manipulator—Weaver of Destruction (Path Perk)

True Body—Untethered (Path Perk)

Indomitable (Title Perk)

Reaper’s Aura (Title Perk)

Strength

486

Dexterity

487

Vitality

571

Endurance

486

Intelligence

459

Wisdom

514

He grimaced as he saw his screens. He couldn’t touch his Class abilities or his path techniques—both had been sealed. But at least his stats were still whole, as well as his perks and titles. Without them, he would be truly handicapped. He figured that he could be worse off; what Zach had attempted could’ve gone a lot worse. His attack could’ve worked and sealed off all of his power. From what he could see, the crystal seal only worked on Classes, paths, and skills, not on stats or perks. If not for his tier-three skill, he would’ve lost them all. Still, he needed to find a way to get his power back, especially since he was no longer on Earth. And then there was the Essence that he had, it said three thousand now, but he’d had three million before he arrived here. Now it appeared he had something called Greater Essence, and it appeared like one Greater Essence equaled about one thousand ordinary Essence. He grimaced as he realized that the process of conversion had removed what he had over three million; it had been only a few hundred, but it was still annoying. He needed every Essence he could get if he was to advance to the next stage.

A flashing notification finally brought his attention to a new message.

Welcome to the Infinite Realm.

There was nothing else, but it was enough. He had finally reached the next stage. A realm that was supposed to be so full of promise and opportunity; a realm that had succeeded the previous world. For a long moment, he just stood there looking at the light streaming through the leaves, holding his sword in his hand and keeping his mind blank.

He had no idea what to do. He had never had a plan about what to do with his life once he came here. He had no desires, no reason for taking a step forward. On Earth he had already accomplished what he set out to do, and now there was nothing. For a while he debated ending it all, but then put the thought aside. That would give Zacharia’s and the others’ words far too much credence, and that was one thing he didn’t want. They did not deserve to have their beliefs confirmed.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but to him it seemed significant, and he noticed the light getting dimmer. One thing caught his eyes, however—as the light dimmed, the streaming light did not move, but instead it came through the same way it had since he arrived here. The barely visible sun behind the red leaves had not moved from its spot in the center of the sky.

Ryun frowned. He was certain that the light was growing dimmer, and yet the sun wasn’t setting. Finally finding something interesting enough to investigate, his curiosity made him move. He jumped, grabbing a tall branch at least ten meters in the air and started climbing. Even with only using one arm, it was easy for him, but he put his sword back into his spatial ring for efficiency’s sake. He climbed quickly and finally reached the top. He looked at the now orange sun, sending dim light to the ground. All around him were red tree tops, and in the distance to his right was a massive mountain range, taller than any he had ever seen. The mountain peaks seemed to pierce the sky itself. To his left the forest stretched for leagues, hills rising and falling, creating a sea of red waving in the distance. Everywhere he looked, it seemed as if there was no end. There was no horizon; the land just sort of grayed out, disappearing into a fog of nothingness. Ryun frowned and turned to look at the sky, at the sun. He sat there at the top, watching without blinking, seeing the sun grow dimmer and dimmer without moving in the sky. The clear sky dimmed and the sun turned a pale white color. Ryun watched as the sky turned black and the sun never moved. Instead it now looked more like a moon, washing the ground in a barely visible pale light.

He scratched his head, as he realized what this meant. He was truly in another reality now, one which did not follow the rules of the old one. The light in the sky was not a star, or if it was it was unlike any that existed before. Looking around at the dark shapes of the trees, he wondered if this world was flat. He had not seen a curvature in the distance, and there had been no horizon except for that fog that obscured his vision in the distance. He couldn’t even begin to tell how far he had seen before the fog, but something told him that it was an impossibly far distance. His eyes were better now that they had been when he was only a simple human; he could see everything in his vision on Earth if he had no obscured sight line, perhaps not with perfect clarity, but enough. The only thing that hindered him was the horizon. Had he seen more now than he could have back on Earth with a high vantage point? He was unsure. In the end, it did not matter much, only in the sense that it was interesting. Looking up above, he saw nothing but darkness and the sun-moon. No stars, nothing but blackness.

His curiosity satisfied somewhat, he dropped down to the ground, landing softly and with no sound. There was barely any light that reached to the forest floor, making it almost complete darkness. It did not bother Ryun much. He and the dark were old acquaintances—not friends, perhaps, but they were familiar with each other nevertheless. And with his skills still available to him, he had no issue in knowing his surroundings. His |Seismic Sense| told him that there were critters beneath the ground, some moving about, others sleeping. His |Vibration Sense| sensed the vibrations in the air, informing him about the nocturnal predator birds flying above the trees, and some below. He felt the disruption in the air from the birds sleeping in their nests, too. This world was filled with life—a thing that he had not felt in a long while. He had forgotten how nature could feel, how it should feel. Earth had not been balanced like this since before the Framework arrived. He took a deep breath, for the first time in a long while allowing himself to relax. Even the air felt different here, somehow better.

He stood there, just breathing the ambiance in. He itched to cycle, to draw in the Essence from his surroundings, but he could not touch his Cultivation at all. That angered him. His Cultivation had been one pillar of his existence, always there when he needed it.

And now he was without it, all because his enemies could not admit defeat. It made him regret even considering to allow them to live. With an effort, he put those thoughts out of his head. He did not need to dwell on them, not now and not here. He was in a new world, and perhaps it was time for him to make a new path for himself.