Rolling Tumbleweed

Kane’s POV:

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I came to in a dark place. I couldn’t move or breathe. Everything felt empty. My body unmoving, I fell into a deep slumber. Some knowledge about a little girl always came into my mind. She had a loving family and a few close friends. I didn’t understand why was I seeing pictures or memories of her.

Later, I also realized that I was thinking, which shouldn’t be possible if I was something newborn. But why did I know these words? Everything was a mess in my mind! If I was awake, I had nothing to do but look at the darkness all around me, so I rather spend my time with sleeping. But if I slept, I was seeing that golden and brown haired girl.

She was a mix of two legendary beings. I’ve spent years with peeking into her life. I had a feeling that I was doing something bad, but I didn’t care. I would have felt bored to the death if not for seeing her. I examined her and her friends’ behavior when I dreamed about the same scene. Or maybe they weren’t even dreams.

On a fated day, a voice resounded in my mind, “It’s time to wake up. They will be here soon. Behave the way you feel. It will make that girl happy. Don’t forget your one-time mission. Hahaha, the pieces are on the chess table. I can’t wait to see the result!” it finished its explanation with a crackling laughter.

This thing is quite evil… leaving everyone in the dark only to see enjoy the result, even more, I thought, shaking my head. Wait, what? How can I move? I realized as I made a surprised face. Opening my eyes, I still barely saw further than a meter. I saw two pairs of shining green eyes looking down at me, their curiosity clear.

They must be the girl’s Father and Mother, I thought, rubbing my aching head. Now that I think about it, everything felt cold before, but it’s getting better. I rubbed my eyes, hoping that I’d see further in this dark place. But the moment I pulled back my hand, a white, round thing flew towards my forehead.

The moment it hit my head…

-----

I felt myself gushing out of some dark pit and I found myself sitting on a soft and silky bed, panting and sweating. My head hurt at two places now. What was that round thing? It seemed like a part of a leg. Now that I think about it, the girl I’ve seen so many times had very similar legs. Did she knee me in the face? But why? Well, I was peeking at her the whole time. I could understand her reaction if she knew.

In the next moment, my thoughts were interrupted by the big, burly guy sitting beside me. He resembled a bear, except for the fact that his face was smooth and his skin seemed to be just as pretty as his wife’s. He had short, brown hair, and shining green eyes. His gaze sent shivers down my spine for some reason. I found curiosity, caring, and some kind of fear in it. But he surely wasn’t afraid of me.

Clenching my fists, I felt my strength returning. Wait, returning? I don’t get what’s going on. Did I have strength all this time? I made a confused face, shaking my head. He asked something, but I don’t even remember what I replied. I was occupied with looking at the little girl behind him. She was hiding behind her Mother’s leg, clenching her skirt, looking at me with furrowed brows, her lips slightly opened for her breath to rush in and out.

“So? What is your name?” the burly guy asked, this time catching my attention. He too introduced everyone, though I knew all of them, to begin with…

“My name is Kane,” I replied, a smile forming on my face, which turned into confusion in the next moment. Placing my hand on my chin, I thought, Since when did I have a name?

“What’s wrong?” Hiro asked, placing his big hand on my shoulder. I swear that I felt some kind of bloodlust from somewhere, but I didn’t know where it came from.

“Ah, nothing. I just remembered something,” I replied, hiding the truth. They shouldn’t know that I know everything about them. Just as I finished my thoughts, his eyes opened wide as he leaned back.

“Do you really know everything?” he asked, startling me.

How the hell does he know? I definitely didn’t say it aloud! I shouted in my mind, looking around in the room as a feeling of panic was flooding my heart.

“Wait, wait. Don’t panic. I don’t mind even if you do. Well, there are a few things I wouldn’t want others to know, but I don’t think that you will be just a random person for too long…” he exclaimed, turning into a mumbling towards the end as he looked at Aurora from the corners of his eyes.

Breathing out long, he rubbed his eyes and then stood up. “Do you have anything to say?” he asked with a clear tone of uncaring. He really didn’t seem to mind me knowing everything about them. Sawolond, their dreams, their beliefs, their daughter. To be honest, I felt a little envious of Aurora. She had such a good life, while all I had was that darkness and a chance to peek into her life.

But I didn’t blame her. It would be nice to have such a family, though it’s not like I am one to complain. Other True Divine Beasts not only don’t have a family, they don’t even know what it is like to be loved. The most they know is respect and glory and the fear of others. Their lives are black and white.

Still, these two turned that black and white into something gray yet colorful, I thought with a chuckle, looking down at my gray scales. “Any idea about where should I go?” I asked, not knowing what to do from here. They surely won’t take me in, so I have to look for a place to live at.

“Oh, you can stay here, otherwise our daughter would sneak out,” he said bluntly, pointing at Aurora.

“W-What?! I wouldn’t do such a thing! I’ve never done it before either!” her thin voice which had signs of maturing resounded in the room. She seemed to be offended, but considering their relationship up till now, I don’t believe that to be the case. Sometimes they had problems expressing their emotions in the right way.

“Hahaha, dear, I know you. You would be curious to find out more about him,” Hiro pressed on, leaving Aurora mute for a few seconds. Her head hung down, she mumbled with her pouty lips, “Of course, I’d be curious. He is my other half. Kana and Dre are getting along so well and Gaia plans to take Sophia to her other half in the near future too. I don’t want to be left out among my friends.”

Chuckling, Alice patted the top of her head. Just as I thought… There goes nothing, as usual. They can handle her emotions way too well. These two are manipulative, I should be careful with them.

“We are manipulative, but it’s not a secret. Aurora knows it too, but we are a family. We would never do something that was bad for her. Although you look young, you seem to be just as clever as her. She might look like a cute angel, but you better not underestimate our daughter. She might wipe the floor with you,” Alice remarked, again replying to my thoughts somehow.

“Fufu, curious, are we?” she laughed creepily, her hand covering her mouth. Talking about the devil. Well, I’m not complaining here, I thought, furrowing my brows, eyeing her. She won’t say anything…

Either way, Aurora is curious about me? I feel happy about that for some reason. I should talk to her later.

Finishing my thoughts, I said, “I’m curious and it would be nice to know, but Miss won’t say anything. On the other hand, I don’t know if you heard my thoughts or what, but I wasn’t complaining about your manipulative personalities and never in my dreams would I underestimate Aurora. Lastly, if you really meant that I could stay here, then I’ll thank you very much.”

“No problem,” Hiro replied, placing his hands on his hips. The room turned strangely silent

“Do you remember anything? How did you come to life? What was it like up till now?” Aurora stepped forward and bombarded me with questions, showing her cute side. She was anything but innocent… though I liked that a lot in her. Her pranks and antics always made me laugh. I turned my head sideways, only to realize that Hiro and Alice were nowhere to be seen. They left us alone.

Pulling up my legs, I sat with my legs crossed. “Do you really want to hear my tale? It’s boring and you might not feel happy about it later,” I said with a smile on my face, deciding to be honest with her. Hopefully, she will reciprocate it and behave the way her parents educated her.

“Yes! There should be only one way for people to be born and you are definitely different,” she said with clear excitement in her voice. I felt happy to see her being curious about me. In her company, I told her everything I knew.

------

Ten years passed by. Since I knew Aurora and her friends from the beginning, it wasn’t hard for me to get along with them. They were a little reserved around me in the beginning, but as time passed by, we got closer to each other and became friends. I wasn’t just Aurora’s friend, who got along with the others. Even if she wasn’t there, I felt good in their company, though it felt lonelier.

I had to call Aurora’s parents Uncle and Aunt, which didn’t match with their young looks… either way, I’ve got used to it. Uncle always behaved a little strange when he saw me with Aurora, but that too changed as time passed. I knew how protective he was when it came to his dear daughter, so he must have felt left out or envious. Or he just wasn’t happy about the fact that a guy was around his daughter.

Although I didn’t understand this at the time they took me in, I do now. Well, they accepted me and educated me in numerous things, just like their daughter. I felt it. At the time they took me in, I was more like a responsibility for them. But as they found out more and more about me through the courses of years, I probably grew on their hearts since I received the same smiles and pats as Aurora.

I’ll always feel grateful for showing me this kind of lifestyle. My original feeling of slight envy disappeared and in its stead, love erupted. I liked Aurora from the beginning. I lived or more like slept… for five long years watching her. She was my only entertainment. Maybe my personality turned out as it was because of that.

Her soul, her body, everything felt closer and closer as we grew. Both of us knew that we were each other’s halves, but that was never the point of our interest in each other. We weren’t together because we were halves but because we wanted to be. We were about eight years old when our bodies finished maturing. Our minds too changed a lot over those three years.

That was also the time when we started feeling attracted to each other’s bodies. I felt a bit afraid if our love would fail for some stupid reason and our friendship would end. It was a heavy step we had to take. Either way, we felt happy with our decision since we became a couple. And even after years, we never had an argument. She turned out to be a stunning woman, but that wasn’t surprising since she was really cute since birth.

The time we bonded was a wonderful night… The only strange thing was that even after bonding, we didn’t know each other’s missions. The Abyss played some really evil game with us. The only thing I knew was that both of us were looking for the same person. Elena.

I heard that Uncle and Aunt spent a few friendly days with her and they even had a stone that could locate her. We tried using it, but it had nothing to connect to. She must have done something to hide her tracks. When we weren’t at home, we spent our times with looking for clues about her whereabouts, with no results.

Both of us were able to sense which Universe she was residing in, but when Aunt took us there, we couldn’t find any signs of her… She caused lots of headaches for us. Luckily, our friends helped in looking for her since they were there on the fated day. They knew that it was something important, though it was annoying that we were kept in the dark. It was even more annoying that I wasn’t able to share it with them either!

Nonetheless, we got used to our bond over the years and learned Soul Fusion too. It was way better than normal bonds… We always found it strange that I was able to enter Uncle’s and Aunt’s world, but it must have been the Abyss’ doing.

I was quite surprised that after we bonded, Uncle said that we should have a house of our own, though not too far away… We were happy with that since we didn’t have to tell them our decision, which was the same. Maybe he had read our minds like when we were younger… But later he told us that he understood that we were adults and needed our privacy.

And now…

--------------------- Third person POV: -------------------------

Ten years passed by. It was early in the morning. The sun lit up the dining room of the Inn. Its interior was made of high-quality wooden. In the corner sat three beautiful girls, each with a guy beside them. “Did you find out anything about her whereabouts, Kana?” the girl in the middle asked. She was none other than Aurora Ourichi.

She still had the same hair. She had a white T-shirt on, coiling tightly around her body, combined with light blue hotpants. Her slender legs raised desires of any man. Her upper body was almost the same as her Mother’s. Wide hips, slender waist, and big, round breasts. But her aura felt much colder compared to her Mother, making it harder for people to approach her.

Crossing one leg over the other, Kana explained her findings. Her long white hair falling down on her small shoulders. Finishing her tea, Aurora put the cup on the table and opened her eyes. They gleamed with a strange light, just like her parents’. She was about to reply when she heard a remark that pricked her ears.

“Hahaha, what halves? Are you an idiot? They can talk all they want, but when I went there, I was sent away. They don’t even know anything. They are just talking big and faking some stupid bond. Hahaha, I bet that they are paying a lot for people in Sawolond to stay there. Bastard True Divine Beasts. If only I had their strength… I’d beat all of them, haha.”

Clenching her fingers, the cup shattered into tiny pieces. The noise caught everyone’s attention in the room. Not bothering with the whisperings, she turned around the time of the cup, restoring it to its original form. “I’m sorry,” she said with a smile on her face. Everyone turned back towards their meals.

“So, like I said. Don’t go to that shitty place. I swear that you are an idiot if you go to Sawolond. Do you want to be the same kind of slave as the others? The slave of another person they pay to be beside you? You can’t be that stupid-”

Having enough of him, Aurora stood up and appeared in front of the guy. “What’s your name?” she asked, her voice seemingly calm.

Remembering to her performance before, he humbly replied. “Miss, my name is Quidian Shiao. What can I help you with?”

“Nice to meet you. To be honest, I just came here since I liked what you said about Sawolond. My boyfriend is a loser compared to you and I thought that there could be something between us,” she said with a bright smile on her face. The room turned much more lively and warmer as she finished her words.

“Ho? Miss has good eyes. Shall we leave?” he asked with a wink.

“Ah! I’m called Aurora Ourichi. Let’s go immediately!” she exclaimed, with a smile. But in the next moment, her eyes turned cold as she thrust her hand forward, penetrating his throat. Strangely enough, no blood left his body.

“Oh. Thanks, Sophia,” she said, turning around. Sucking out his life force, the guy died on the spot.

“You piece of shit. Next time learn to shut your mouth,” she mumbled, pulling out her hand and reappearing in Kane’s embrace. [You took it easy… such a lazy person.] she remarked through their bond, chuckling.

[Haha, it’s not like my help was necessary and then you couldn’t have played with him. We should go home. Your parents will leave soon.] he said, embracing her back.

“What about his corpse?” Dre asked, raising a brow, pointing at Quidian.

“Ehm… Whoops?” Aurora said, using a Space Law to make it disappear. Clearing her throat, she said, “Anyone else wishing to badmouth my parents? No? Good.”

“Well, that was rather decisive...” Dre remarked, checking out everyone, trying to pick a fight with those who agreed with Quidian. His parents were a part of Sawolond, so it was offensive to him too.

“It’s not like I will control their thoughts. I just don’t want them to spread bad rumors behind our backs. Anyway, I’ve had enough of this place. Let’s go,” she said, disappearing along with everyone else. Only a few coins were left on the table.

-----

The Abyss announced the start of the race for the next position of a creator early in the morning. After having breakfast, they went back to Sawolond to hear about the details and see Hiro and Alice off.

They were standing in front of Sawolond, facing the city. Aurora appeared behind them, followed by the others.

“Welcome home,” her parents said, turning around with smiles on their faces. Stepping closer, she hugged the both of them, while Kane just stood further away. His face was a little stiff since he didn’t know how to react. He never had to say goodbye to anyone and nobody knew how long they would be gone.

Hiro and Alice looked at him with smirks on their faces. Seeing his indecisiveness, they made a move and hugged him too. “Ah… thanks. Do you know anything about this little game of the Abyss?” he asked, returning the favor.

“God, you are so awkward that even I’m starting to feel bad,” Aurora chimed in, stretching her arms.

Hiro laughed upon hearing her words. Taking up a serious face, he explained what they knew, “It mentioned a few details to everyone. Only people at the tenth level can participate, which is no surprise. Rather, it’s really strange that there are so few people at the tenth level, even if they kill each other from time to time. From so many Universes, there should be much more of them.”

“Today we realized the reason. Only one person can stay alive from the participants. The fifth level will be locked down and there will be no way in or out unless you kill everyone. It’s a really strange way to select the next creator, considering how it was preaching about valuing life. So unlike we imagined it, the rules are simple as that. Bayezinth said that he won’t take part if we participate since he doesn’t want to die.”

“Your parents are still the best,” he said with a chuckle, elbowing Aurora. Shaking her head, she chuckled, “Yes, yes. But I feel worried. What if they gang up on you?”

“That’s likely to happen, but they will lose either way,” he replied with a pompous face, trying to soothe Aurora. Seeing that she was really worried, Hiro coiled his arms around her back as he whispered into her right ear.

“Don’t worry about us. You should know better than anyone the difference between us and normal people. You can put up a fight against us, but even you would struggle. This is something we must do because it was a part of our dreams. We wanted to find out what lies beyond this matter of reality we sense” he finished, kissing her forehead.

“And where is my hug and kiss? I’m all left out!” Alice pushed Hiro’s face away, earning Aurora’s attention. While they were saying goodbye, Hiro was eyeing Kane. “Take care of her until we aren’t here. Ask Gaia or Anthony for help if you can’t deal with something. Your lives are above pride.”

Scratching the back of his head, he replied, “I know. I wouldn’t risk her life, no matter what. But it’s not like we get into trouble too often. Haha.”

Raising a brow, tapping his foot on the ground, he looked at Kane. “A-Ah… okay. We will try to keep a low profile. But we can protect ourselves-”

Hearing his words, Hiro couldn’t help but interrupt him. “Yeah? What about those people at the ninth level? Last time it was a whole group of them at that… You can protect yourselves, but every time you hear someone bad-mouthing Sawolond, you get into a fight. I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I would do the same if I was there. But I’d be happier if all of you spent your time at home for now and don’t go out.”

“Could you do that much for us?” seeing his hopeful eyes, Kane breathed out long as he said, “Okay. We won’t go out and will just train silently. If we don’t meet anyone, we can’t screw up anywhere. Are you happy now, Uncle?” Patting his shoulder, Hiro said, “I am!”

“We were totally ignored,” Alice grumbled, feeling bittersweet.

“...”

After saying goodbye to everyone, Hiro and Alice left Sawolond and made their way towards the fifth level of the Abyss. Unlike in the old times, they were able to see perfectly fine with their current capabilities. A black veil covered the chasm, which wasn’t there before. Those who crossed it wouldn’t be able to come back unless they won the race.

Looking into each other’s eyes, holding hands, they nodded their heads. “Shall we go, dear?” Alice asked, a smile forming on her face. Nodding his head, Hiro stepped forward, jumping down without any hesitation. While falling down, Alice thought, I’m happy that we fulfilled our dreams and that we created such a legacy.

Sawolond would turn into a legend, no matter what, along with our daughter and Kane. I’ve had a content life. But we are still young and has so many things to learn. It would be even more terrible to never see all these things and people again. So we must win this stupid race. Let’s show people that Sawolond is the best. Chuckling, Hiro coiled his arms around her back, pulling her towards his chest.

They crashed into the ground with a loud boom, making the ground tremble. The Abyss stone broke into dust under their feet. As the air cleared out, they stood with weapons in hands, Blank covering their bodies, their Battle Forms active. Their Qi raged on within their bodies, lighting up the green lines among their scales as if they were torches. They sensed numerous presences appearing on the last floor, all of them very powerful.

True Divine Beasts came in hordes, along with talented humans, beastmen, elves, demons, and other races. There were tens of thousands of them. “Don’t fight just yet. There will be something added, but there will be a few more participants,” the Abyss’ voice resounded through the empty field. About ten minutes later, it talked again.

“Now that everyone is here, I’ll explain everything. I wasn’t telling the truth before. Not just anyone can turn into a creator. You need to have a perfect understanding of the way of cultivation. True Divine Beasts aren’t lacking in this, so that’s a head start for them. Or maybe not, hehe. I’m a fair person.”

“Your way of cultivation was always your way of life too. Many of you know the perfect way, but about half of you don’t. That means about fifty thousand people, who can’t do anything but die a meaningless death. It’s really sad, isn’t it?” As its voice stopped for a few second, many people around Hiro and Alice made panicked faces.

“Haha, but as I said, I’m a fair man. The additional rules are the following. Firstly, you need to collect at least two hundred points. You get one point for each person you killed. If you are bonded, you need to kill double the number. If it’s a three-way bond or more, you will have to triple or even quadruple the number. Without having at least two hundred points, you can’t become a creator, so hiding and surviving luckily is a no go.”

“Secondly, those who know the perfect way of cultivation will have a green aura surrounding their bodies. If you can kill any of them, their knowledge about cultivation will transfer to your mind. You’ll see if I have anything else in mind later. Now… roll those tumbleweeds in this always empty chasm of death!” its aura erupted, pressing everyone onto the ground. Its voice made everyone weak in the knee, “SHOW ME YOUR MONSTER SIDES!”

Everyone turned wild as the slaughter began. Immune to the Abyss’ emotional speech, Hiro and Alice stood ready with calm and collected minds. There were six people near them, all of them lacking the so called green aura. Clenching their weapons for a moment, they breathed out long and relaxed.

“Let’s switch to our hands and feet. Weapons won’t work at this point anyway. We should focus Blank on protecting our bodies,” Hiro said, pulling back Blank.

[Yeah. We didn’t look for all those Planet Cores and rare legendary metals for nothing. We have spent lots of points over the years to buy many rare things. With such a treasure trove behind us, I don’t believe that they can kill us,] she replied, using their bond.

Footsteps resounded all around them, getting louder and louder. Six people stood in a circle, Hiro and Alice in the center, their backs facing each other.

“Let’s dance. Dead men tell no tales, but you might just do,” they said with a loud laugh, surprising everyone with a strong suction force. It wasn’t their bodies but their souls! They made panicked faces as they realized how wrong they were when they picked these two as opponents. Clapping once, a huge skull formed above Alice’s back.

“Let’s see what can the manifestation of so many souls do!” she said with a chuckle, scaring everyone. A smirk formed on Hiro’s face as he followed her example...