Losing half of their body was a death sentence to every mortal, no matter how strong they were. After all, they were just mortals, inconsequential to the world as a whole.

However, when one stepped into the true side of the world, miracles and myths would manifest themselves before the users of sorcery. To them, losing half of their body was lethal, but not a certain demise.

Nevertheless, the blue-robed sorcerer was a loner; his resource and material were limited, compared to the others who had the backing of a large force. In this experiment, he had lost more than he expected.

"In the end, it's still unknown, huh?" After a few precious potions and exotic medicines, the sorcerer managed to stabilize his condition. Although he lost the subject, his gain was still substantial in term of experience and insight.

The sorcerer looked around and sighed. His hideout was ruined, and he needed to recover as soon as possible to relocate his belonging. Thankfully, the wilderness was filled with his isolation formation, making the commotion as silent as possible.

While he was noting down the aftermaths of the exchange, as well as speculating about his future path, a burst of sharp, distorted laughter echoed inside the chamber. With it, the iciness of the air and the dimness of the surrounding intensified.

Unlike the presence of the Evil Entity, this demonic laughter did not cause the impossible, but its existence instilled even more fear and apprehension into the sorcerer's mind than the Evil Entity itself.

"How did you come back?!" The sorcerer looked upon the strange crack that manifested in front of him. Inside it, a pair of golden eyes stared directly into his soul.

The demonic curse peeled into reality with its all-consuming hand, and the sorcerer could do nothing to prevent its advance. Although countless treasures and formations inside the chamber manifested, none could block its ever so slow motion.

Like a piece of worn-down paper, everything broke into bits and pieces after coming into contact with the dark hand.

The sorcerer looked at the ever-expanding field of darkness. Even though he had prepared various defence formations in case of the intrusion, the power of curse needed a specific defence that he lacked— the already used one-time life-saving treasure.

"Ah... so it's yours, isn't it?" Facing the inevitable demise, the sorcerer looked at death in the eyes and understood the alluded fact. The past phenomenon, coupled with the present, fell into its place and revealed the truth.

"Damn." The sorcerer uttered a word, full of unwillingness, before his body withered under the influence of the demonic curse. His soul, guided by the black hand, flowed towards the rift and merged with the void beyond reality.

In the end, the chamber was dead-silent. Aside from the remains of the previously stable structure, only a hint of the blue-robed sorcerer's presence remained.

...

A white-haired old lady laid peacefully inside her decorated coffin. Her face, covered by a thin veil, remained steadfast, with a hint of acceptance and longing. The wrinkles on her appearance did not deter her natural beauty.

Despite the extravagant of the funeral, merely one individual attended her passing. Intor looked at the sleeping beauty for one last time, before averting his gaze towards the horizon.

Meria, for all her life, remained an ordinary mortal. Although she passed away due to the afflicted condition from the past tragedy, she had fully lived her life in peace— as she had once promised to her husband.

Gently, Intor held a ball of glowing light in his hand. Although the ball was somewhat large, it was weightless, as well as soft and delicate. The sphere, ever so softly glowing, contained the first and last regret of Ander Family.

"Meria, may you find peace; if possible, find him— reunite with him. When fate permits, I'll go look for you both." With a wave of his hand, Intor guided the sphere of memory into a rift in reality, straight towards the River of Reincarnation.

Intor watched as Meria's soul drifted across the vortex, finally settling into the tide of the River of Reincarnation. Although he had blessed the soul, he had no idea where and when would she be.

"It doesn't work, huh?" Intor sighed as the vortex closed itself. He tried to preserve Meria's memory, but his measly power could not compare to the ever-corroding water of the River of Reincarnation, let alone the mist of the Underworld.

"Brother, I've found your daughter. Let me handle this, for the sake of my mind." Clenching his fist, Intor whispered his conviction into the sky. Although it was not a sacred oath, its weight on his heart was far stronger than any oath could be.

The air around him intensified as his sorcery boiled in excitement. Intor disappeared from the spot, leaving the funeral in the embrace of nature. He needed to get stronger as soon as possible; so that he could redeem himself, after all the mistakes he had done.

...

A mystical maiden sat alone inside her resting quarter. Her appearance, unmatched by all others, reflected a sense of aloofness and elegance. With her eyes closed, her rhythmic breathing betrayed her surreal presence.

The abode, humble and full of nature's breath, gave contrast to the extraordinary bearing of the maiden. The tranquillity of this place had helped her calmed her mind and cultivated her sorcery. Its appearance mostly resembled her first home.

Gradually, Matia opened her dark-cyan eyes and placed her gaze upon the neat little wooden door. Before long, a delicate hand gently pushed the door opened. The figure, dressed in feminine clothing, walked into the room, bearing an important document with her.

"Mistress, the other Elders request your presence." The maid bowed deeply in a perfect manner; her short skirt lifted up unintentionally, revealing her snow-like tender thighs. She looked more like an angel than a lowly maid.

Matia said nothing and only nodded to the maid, causing her face to flush red. Although she was confident in her captivating look, she still admitted defeat when facing her mistress.

Not only the beauty of high calibre; but Matia also possessed a great talent for sorcery. She was truly the one blessed by World Will, the great protector of the Sorcerer World.

Along the way, the maid and Matia would pass various people, and all of them would greet them amicably. They were somewhat of a star within Flying Green Garden, both because of their goddess-like appearance and Matia's great potential.

"Mistress, here is the list for the promising apprentices. The Elders wish to have you participate in the selection of at the selection of the pupils." When arrived at the banquet, the maid skillfully handed her mistress a piece of paper containing the names of seedlings worth guiding.

"Tell the Elders not to worry. I already have someone in my eyes." Matia spoke calmly, shocking many listeners. Many expected her to reject the request like all the previous attempts.

"Come; you'll understand soon." Looking at the battle platform, Matia laid her gaze upon a certain female apprentice. With her mouth slightly smiled, she waited not her maid and walked towards her seat.

...

The world remained unchanged, moving at its constant pace. The sun and the moon rose and fell, interchanging their position countless times. Despite the destruction caused by a battle between the two individuals, nature prevailed.

Due to the corrosion of time, the roof of the underground chamber collapsed, opening a passage for sunlight to permeate into the darkness of the aftermath.

Before long, the greenery began to fill the wreckage, restoring the damaged surrounding into the embrace of nature. Although one could still see the debris, they would not be able to determine the date of the battle anymore.

At the middle of the large sinkhole, where the dense bushes and flowers blossomed like a mini garden, a faint, greyish ball of light rested peacefully inside it.

Strangely, despite becoming a soul without a vessel, the River of Reincarnation and the Underworld did not come to beckon it. There was no sign of a rift opening, as well as the dispersion of the soul.

By absorbing the remaining sorcery energy within the surrounding, the greyish soul continuously extended its lifespan, as well as using excessive energy to nourish itself.

Slowly but surely, the fading soul, from the size unnoticeable by human, condensed and expanded. With countless layers of greyish web, the soul managed to hold onto itself without dispersing into the Sorcerer World.

Fortunately, the second-ranked sorcerer, even after death, released a great deal of sorcery energy into the world, helping the soul to not only recover its vitality but also strengthened it.

In a span of a hundred years, no one had ever come across the settlement of the blue-robed sorcerer, allowing the grey soul to freely recover its size. When the sorcery energy ran out, the soul had already approached its limit.

With the first cycle completed, the soul finally settled down steadily, not afraid of the decay caused by time anymore.

Then, the greyish soul sunk into the bed of flowers, creating an invisible vortex around itself, drawing an ethereal quality into its centre. The invisible particles in the air could not resist its attraction force and moved towards the soul.

The ethereal particles came in various colours, signifying its correlation with the primary building blocks of the Sorcerer World. The particles, called Elements, floated ceaselessly towards the soul, waiting to be devoured by it.

Due to the surrounding, most Element it had devoured was Wood Element. Unfortunately, they were not compatible with the soul's affinity, meaning that it could use only a part of the total quantity.

Soon, seasons passed, and time marched on; another hundred years went by. The greyish soul, glowing ever so brightly, suddenly twisted and cracked. It trembled fiercely before abruptly stopped, shining in black light.

From the rifts, a strange noise echoed forth, accompanied by the emergence of grey tendrils. They rushed into the physical plane and expressed delight by wiggling around, trying to feel the sensation of the outer world.

The second cycle finalized, and the soul mutated into its perfect form, completely merging with the grey light the Evil Entity had bestowed upon it.

Before long, the tendrils calmed down. As if ordered by their creator, they moved in unison to construct a vessel for the soul. By using the Elements it had absorbed and maintained inside its realm of consciousness, the mortal body began to take form.

Despite trying its best, the quality of the body was merely above average, barely qualified to be a body of a talented mortal who could awaken their supernatural power.

Nevertheless, the body, contaminated by the power of the Evil Entity, became a unique vessel that could contain the mutated soul. With its bizarre constitution, its capability to withstand the corrosion of Death Aura was much better than an ordinary body.

The process of remodelling a vessel took another one hundred years, and thus, the third and last cycle had ended.

Once the vessel became completed, the grey soul, after lingering on the physical plane for three hundred years, finally came to rest inside the lifeless body.

As if it was unreal, the grey tendrils, as well as the sphere of light, merged with the mortal body without any hesitation or obstruction. Both the soul and the body were compatible to the extreme degree.

In a carefree, gradual manner, the lifeless body gained its lost vitality and slowly opened its eyes. The eyes, dyed with the colour of the sky; the hair, fluttered in the silver glitters. Forus had risen from his temporary death.

"... and so, I'm the winner." A light smile spread across his face. Forus felt weightless as he tried to remember himself. The three hundred years inside a timeless, spaceless void had caused some unspeakable change to his mind.

From the bed of flowers, Forus climbed out of the sinkhole and witnessed the change caused by time. The familiar torture chamber had already collapsed into a beautiful scenery of nature.

"In the end, time conquered all... Even such power could not contend against it." Forus whispered his thoughts as his mind wandered into the realm of fading memory.

With an unimaginably-long time, Forus could not help but wonder... how was Matia, his daughter? How was the world? How... was he?

After countless cycles, the wheel of fate finally began to turn— little by little.