Vidio slightly squinted as the giant’s last words lingered in his ears. The taste of this story was quite bittersweet. Speechlessly, he sat down and activated his Breathing Technique.

After receiving all that knowledge and Epiphanies, he definitely couldn’t miss the chance to employ them.

Most likely, if he hadn’t stumbled on the giant, Vidio’s Dao of Mana would have eventually led him towards Life. Though, what he had just experience changed him drastically. The just acquired awareness that love could lead someone to experience as excruciating a pain as the havoc he wreaked opened up a new part of his conscience that was yet to be explored.

The young Vidio sat down there for several days, as still as a statue. If it hadn’t been for his faint breathing, any onlooker would have concluded that the man sitting cross-legged on the bottom of the Dungeon was but a dead body. Slowly, a powerful Aura exuding death and desolation engulfed Vidio. And yet, there was some kind of an anomaly. Vidio’s Aura wouldn’t seem to be advancing towards Destruction. It looked more like it was only borrowing its means.

His deadly Aura increased gradually until it covered the whole bottom area of the Dungeon. Then, it spread as far as the cliff that swarmed with demons, who exchanged the most terrified look. They sensed the presence of a far more powerful Aura than they had. All in all, they only made for the lowest level of Destruction. They were the mere embodiment of some low impulse. The Aura they perceived was a thousand times as pure instead.

The demons began to growl in terror. For several days, their ghastly moans reached as far as the Dungeon entry. The hit men camped out nearby couldn’t ignore this.

They had ordered a sentinel to report to them any possible unordinary event. The frightening growls clutched the shivering heart of the man, who promptly ran towards the headquarters to inform the rest of the group.

“Boss! Something sounds awry in there. For the past few days the beasts have been crying non-stop. Their whining is unbearable. They seem terrified. Terrified by something. And if something scares them, it means we’d better be scared too. I suggest running the hell out of here!”

The rest of the group frowned.

Several weeks had gone by since Vidio had disappeared inside the Dungeon. He had shown no sign to be alive ever since. The young man was likely to be dead down there, but they still had the duty to make absolutely sure about this.

The hit men exchanged a thoughtful look. Anyone in the Second Phase stepping inside that Dungeon couldn’t hope to survive more than a couple of hours. The chances of that madman’s survival were truly beyond human limits. They saw no point in waiting there any longer. However, their boss had put a lot of effort in insisting they must stay on the spot, which clearly meant the man who had hired them was a wealthy, powerful one.

Vidio’s next memories began to flow much faster. Helial could catch a glimpse of just a couple of scenes that followed his meeting Perion.

Helial saw Vidio finish meditating, climb its way up the cliff, and kill off the hit men in a matter of seconds. His eyes were now framed by a web of black veins. He left the leader of the group for last. Vidio ripped his head off barehanded, destroying all of the anatomical structures linking the head from the body one by one.

The scenery changed.

Vidio was now back in the Capital. An uncanny darkness shrouded him, hiding him away from any curious eye. He was standing in front of a building. The light on the last floor was on. Suddenly, Beritius’ voice shattered the silence. The fact that he hadn’t been hearing from the hit men for several weeks now was driving him insane. With a shifty eye and a feeble sneer, Vidio darted away.

And once again, the memory changed.

Vidio was finally holding Cori in his arms. He covered her in kisses. Helial blushed terribly from head to toe as the two lovers lay together, skin to skin, and chatted about Vidio’s imminent test to become a Master.

The memory turned into smoke as Vidio’s last words to Cori echoed out in Helial’s ears: “Don’t you worry…”

A flurry of images fell over the boy.

Helial witnessed with his very eyes the scene that Vidio would tell him so often. There was his Master, insignificant yet so towering, as he faced the Episcopous of the Mana Congregation. Now he took the tests, and passed them all. And now, right in front of him, stood a very peculiar snake.

A snake that swiftly turned into a terrifying Dragon.

“NO! DON’T!” An invisible barrier suddenly got in Helial’s way before the guy could step in. Helial could not but let a flurry of kicks to the invisible surface, in frustration. Then he turned towards the Devil, his eyes stinging with tears. He cried: “Do something! YOU GOTTA DO SOMETHING!”

Helial knew perfectly well that he couldn’t interfere with the course of events, but his usual cool and rationality didn’t turn out to be of much use at that point. His head was exploding. Vidio would now be exiled due to the Destructive technique he had learnt inside the Dungeon. He was too upset to even take notice of the unordinary Aura that had just began to blossom inside his heart.

The Devil didn’t reply. He stood still as the Dragon lay lifeless on the floor, a hole of the size of a human head in its trunk. His heart had just been broken, his life as just been dismantled by a young man that was now standing still before the bloodcurdling dead body.

Thump

The unbelievably huge body of the Dragon fell down without a sound.

A warm tear streaked the cheek of young Vidio and dripped to the ground.

Plop

Helial’s rage calmed down only after the Episcopous said this one word.

“HERESY!”

“Goodbye, Cori…” Vidio whispered.

And again. The scenery changed. A new flash forward. Vidio was lying in bed. He was covered in unguents from head to toe. He slowly chewed some elixir that would let him recover soon enough. Suddenly, the wooden door of the room was kicked open. He made out the figure of a man. Beritius.

“I’ve heard the Episcopous was impressed by your talent. That’s the only reason why he exiled you rather than sentenced you to death. He hopes you will join us again one day, once you have atoned for your sins and reached the Fifth Phase. But I don’t really think this will ever happen, Vidio. Your Soul will be sealed permanently. Even an Immortal, if sealed, would be helpless.”

Helial was baffled. So this must be the reason why… Vidio had been stuck in the Second Phase Late stage because of a seal on his Soul… The fury raging on in Helial’s heart started intensifying with each passing second.

“You’re much of a lucky one though. You still have your honor. The Episcopous decided to keep your affair with his daughter a secret. He wants to give you a second chance, you know. You won’t be expelled by the Mana Congregation. You’ll only be exiled with a seal marking your Soul which will block your growth and any advance on your Dao.”

Vidio grew gloomier. He started off: “You piece of shit. Just give me a reason why I would follow your shitty conditions. Don’t you think in ten years I’ll come back just to tear your bloody heart off your chest?” He was furious. Vidio didn’t think he deserved that grievous punishment.

“The thing is, Vidio, if I were to see your dirty face in the Capital once again, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Think of her, Vidio,” Beritius fished out of his sleeve a little icon with Cori’s face engraved on its surface. “I gave her a dose of venom which will erode her heart throughout the years… She needs me, and the antidote I have, to survive.”

Helial gasped for air as rage took his breath away. He was growing exponentially insane. Large blue veins appeared along his arms.

A new flash forward.

A dark room only illuminated with a feeble moonray. Vidio was sitting on the bedside. He was still visibly injured. In front of him stood a bunch of men whose faces Helial couldn’t make out. They handed him something. It was a circular scarlet little object, so small it could be held with two fingers. Vidio brought it to his mouth.

“DON’T! DON’T!” Helial erupted in a furious cry. He banged his fists violently on the transparent barrier than was keeping him apart from his old Master.

And again. The scenery changed.

Vidio was standing in a clearing, or better, what was left of a thick forest that had hosted a fight with the Goblin commander. His Staff seemed to turn into a humungous majestic dragon which glistened in shades of blue. The outstanding being seemed to rule unrivalled over everything as it intimidated every life form in the surroundings. The Lightning Dragon stared at the Goblin Commander with fiery eyes, ready to devour him.

Suddenly, the silhouette of an imposing aquilin-nosed Goblin appeared. In fact, he looked more like a Human than a Goblin. His greenish complexion though betrayed his belonging to that race from the mountains. With a nod of his head, Cesar ordered the Commander to kill the human.

A blade thrusted Vidio.

“Die, you filthy human!” cried the Goblin Commander as an ecstatic Schadenfreude gripped his heart.

Everything turned black. Helial wound up engulfed in darkness. He thought the memories were finally over. But a faint light that was suddenly lit up told him a different story. It illuminated a small room where a middle-aged man took a seat in front of his desk.

Vidio was inside his home in Floralivory City caught during a sleepless night. He fetched a scroll and dipped the stylus in the inkwell.

The barrier that had been preventing Helial from interfering with the past had now magically disappeared. The boy took some uncertain steps forward towards Vidio. He began to read.

My beloved Cori,

It’s been twenty-five years, but I still can’t forget the day when I had to bid you farewell. I’ve never had the chance to catch a glimpse of your face ever since. I don’t even know what you might look like now. I surely imagine that your ass is fuller and your tits are more juiced-up, but I would love to be there and make sure in person…

I have never written to you before. I would have run pointless risks. Anyhow, I will make sure this letter arrives in your hands instead of those of your husband. I’ll rely on some big shot friend of mine. This time, I really had to write to you because, my Cori, I did think that hopefully, one day I would come back to you.

Vidio paused briefly as he gazed ahead of him, sneered as he would do so often, shook his head and then gazed down to the paper again.

But never had I imagined that I would come back with a son.

I am training an orphan who lives by himself with his little sister. From time to time I have some food delivered to his place, or I personally provide the little sister with food. What about him?, you would ask. Well, he doesn’t need that. He’s extremely talented, much more than I was. He’s strong. His eyes sparkle with the same flame as mine used to burn with. Though, his flame is inextinguishable. Of that I’m sure.

I’m coming back, Cori. With a son that will let me win back the dignity I lost so many years ago…

And when I’m back, Cori, I will hate you, if I can, otherwise I will love you in spite of myself.

A sudden drop dripped down on the paper. Vidio ceased to write. The Master sensed some sort of presence behind his back, and turned. He made sure he was the only one in the room. Then he turned to the paper again and burst into laughter. “Fuck, I see quite more ghosts than naked women in this rat-hole!”