R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 23 (Patreon)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 23 (in editing-v0)

“And so you defeated the monster after breaking through to Master tier?!” Serena’s eyes were wide as she stared at Micheal, paying attention to every word of his story.

Micheal coughed,

“Well… not exactly.”

The Void Predator had been severely injured by Dmitri and Micheal had managed to worsen that injury after breaking through to Master Tier…

But it was still a Void Predator, an extraordinary apex predator that feared nothing on the 3rd Layer.

Micheal underwent the physical evolution of a Master in the middle of the fight, saving his life in the process, but he didn’t manage to kill the Void Predator.

Even with the element of surprise on his side and the brutal injuries the Predator had sustained, it wasn’t enough to kill the monstrosity.

He simply managed to worsen its injury, grab Shin, and then flee. The only reason he made it out alive was because the Void Predator itself chose to retreat. The monster was a cruel killer, but it wasn’t brainless. In it’s injured state, it would rather search for easier prey to hunt. The resistance Micheal put up proved enough to ward it off.

“The point is… I spent years and years trying to force myself to comprehend Sword Mastery. It was only at that point then, when I accepted that which I could not change, that I experienced Enlightenment.” Micheal explained.

Serena pursed her lips as she looked at him.

After a few quiet moments, she opened her mouth.

“Is there really no other way?” Her eyes drilled holes into him.

Micheal shook his head.

“As far as I know, no.” Some people were born with special Physiques or bought Types that made obtaining certain kinds of Enlightenments easier, but that wasn’t an option for Serena.

“You can’t force Enlightenment. You need to stop worrying and let it go. It will come in time.” He understood why she had a hard time grasping the concept.

It was akin to saying you could only make progress by either stepping backwards or standing still. It was counterintuitive at its core.

Without anyone to help him, it took Micheal 6 years to grasp this concept.

“I see.” Serena looked down, her voice dropping.

After seeing her downcast appearance, he felt obligated to continue.

“Don’t let everything get to you.” He gestured to the world around them,

“The 7 Layers is a dangerous place and you’ve got your mind in the right spot.” He nodded, raising his right hand in front of him.

“It’s not wrong to want to become stronger. I want the same.” Desperately so.

“The being that dragged us here wants us to fight against each other. It wants to see us killing one another.”

Even towards the end, humanity never found out who or what dragged them into the 7 Layers. They just knew that something pulled them and the others here, and that same thing made every being instinctively aware that only one race could ‘win’ in the end.

Humanity had almost no information about the 7th Layer since they were wiped out right after arriving… but Micheal did know that somewhere in the 7th Layer was the ‘end’ of all of this.

“I want to stop that being.”

The more divided they were, the easier they would fall. If Micheal could replace racial wars with peaceful alliances, there was no telling how powerful a force humanity and her allies could build.

Everyone had an opportunity to grow in the 7 Layers. No matter how powerful the being that dragged them here was, if enough powerful beings grouped together to oppose it…

Micheal clenched his fist, staring down at it for a moment as passion filled his voice.

“And if I want that to happen, I need to become strong.”

If his experiences in the first timeline had proved anything to him, it was that most people only listened to the strong.

That strength could be in anything: powerful charisma and leadership, dazzling unique Abilities and talents, genius intellect and guile...

Or, in its simplest form: Pure overwhelming power.

“Absurdly strong.”

He needed to become so powerful only a fool would stand against him.

A fool… or a God.

Serena stared at Micheal intensely as he spoke, her eyes never leaving him.

Micheal blinked, realizing he had gotten a bit carried away. He turned and gave her a half-smile.

‘I guess it really is easier to confide in strangers.’ He had spoken a bit more about himself than he intended.

“Well, that’s still far from where I am now. Who knows how things will turn out in the end.” Micheal looked up at the night sky, gazing at the shifting, unfamiliar stars above,

“It could very well be a fool’s fancy.”

The muted sounds of night fluttered in the air for several long moments as the conversation lapsed.

Serena followed Micheal’s gaze, staring at the stars alongside him. After several seconds, she began to speak in reply.

“When I came to the 7 Layers, I ended up leaving my own Tribe because they were obsessed with war and violence. I left friends and family, people I had known for years.” Her voice was soft and quiet as she continued,

“And now… things are even worse than they were when I got here.”

“I never wanted all of this… to be here, to have to fight and kill others. I didn’t ask for this.” She clenched her fists tightly before exhaling, her hands relaxing.

“I don’t want to hurt others… but I don’t have a choice now.” Her eyes flashed,

“I can’t just look away as those I love are attacked, injured, or killed.”

“I want to do more. I need to do more.”

Micheal listened to her speak, temporarily forgetting all of his plans to convince her to join him, treating her with full sincerity. He waited quietly as she spoke of the things that troubled her, knowing she just needed her voice to be heard.

“I possess a legendary Bloodline, something almost no other Farians have. It’s my duty to be strong. I should be good at this.” Her voice shook.

“But… It’s hard, Micheal. It’s really really hard.” Serena clenched her fists again, her voice catching as she turned to look at him, eye-to-eye.

“How do you do it? How do you keep going when nothing works out and everything seems to be going wrong?” Serena asked, her voice choked with emotion as she hid a trembling fist behind her back.

Micheal remained silent for a moment as he returned her gaze with a steady one of his own. After it became clear she wanted a reply, he heaved a quiet sigh and looked up again.

“It is hard.” He thought back to his life in the first timeline, of all the countless things that went wrong.

“And I can’t promise you that things will become easier.” Life in the 7 Layers was never so simple.

“All I can tell you is what I do.” He turned to look at her once more.

“I accept that there are things I can’t change and choose to focus on the things I can.”

“If you let yourself be overrun with stress by focusing on every little thing, you’ll stall out and end up nowhere.”

Serena listened to everything he said, her eyes full of unknown emotion.

“The most important thing, Serena…” Micheal said, giving her a small nod,

“The most important thing is that you keep moving forward.”

Serena mumbled something quietly under her breath, her eyes gazing into the distance as she registered all of what Micheal told her.

Seconds slipped away into minutes as the two stood there under the gloomy sky.

One human and one Farian, two lost souls in a sea of darkness.

Time passed.

The darkness grew, consuming everything in its path. The light from the stars above struggled to pierce it and failed, dying embers of hope in a night growing evermore.

It was a cold darkness, pitch black and ravenous.

A darkness that devoured all light and cheer, spreading on and on as if it would never end.

But… as that black night marched onward...

When the darkness roared and all light seemed lost...

There came the dawn.

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