The man stopped at a small shop in a dead-end alley. He took off his hood and went inside. Not long a blackbird dove down on the shadows, blending and entering the store.
Inside the store, Jc, still in the form of shadow on the ground, halted and was shocked upon seeing how massive the shop was from inside.
"*Wow! What sort of Hogwarts magic did they do on this...*" Looking around. The room was like an enormous bar in medieval times with no people can be seen.
"*Where is that fellow? I can't believe I lost him!*" Jc was about to use his power to scan the building when suddenly the place started cramping up. Types of Furniture beginning to be absorbed where it stands, and walls began folding.
"*D*mn! So cool.*" Jc exclaimed in admiration as he watched the scene unfold, still hiding in the shadows.
After the transformation, the immense place became ancient-looking tree structures inside and a staircase that went from the door down to the unspecified area because it was dark and cryptic.
The entrance where the staircase begins opened. The man who appeared out of it was the same person he was spying for who had also entered here before him.
"*What happened to him? I clearly saw him went inside first, and now he appeared right after the place transformed. Weird... Also, why is he look like that?*"
The man's clothes are torn and ripped, and you can also see the wounds all over his body. It looks like he had been cut by sharp objects as if he had gone through trials before reaching here.
"Those rats! Do they plan to kill me right here?!" Angrily said the man clenching his fist as he went down the stairs with no hesitation. Likewise, Jc followed suit.
Every step the man take small lights on the wall started to glimmer as they shined down the stairs.
Not for long, the man stood upon an ancient-looking double door.
"Darkness shall rise!" Touching the ancient writings on the wooden door as he said those words.
Little by little, the door opened and lit up to the point that the man could no longer open his eyes.
*****
Somewhere in a realm, there is a massive forest. That covers most of the landmass, and among those, there's a tree that stands above all.
Legend says two renowned gods fought for years on their unending rivalry until both exhausted their powers, which eventually lost their lives in the process, and birthed the now distinguished throughout the realm. The Good And Evil God Tree, which most cultivators and gods believed to be ranked first among the four legendary trees of all the realm except for The Omen Tree, which few individuals know of its existence.
When the two trees were still saplings in the past, many ancestors of humans made offerings to the sprouts. And would always pray in their belief that the trees were the grace of the gods who died.
They took care of the sprouts for a hundred and thousands of years, believing they would grow someday. But no progress or even a slight growth on both trees since the first record of it, in history until a boy named Midas changed it all in one eventful night that would make the mortals or even gods frightened of that time.
"Because of the past mistakes of the hypocrite's ancestors believing these things are the grace of the gods! I will make you understand that delusions are just delusions!"
"*You are a keeper, kid... Let me taste your anger...*" The boy was about to slice the tree when he suddenly heard a voice that halted his actions.
"Whoa!!" The boy screamed from pain as he kneeled on the ground, and dark Qi gushed out of his body.
"Aarrgggh!!!"
"*Do not resist it, child... If you want power, this is all for you to take.*"
"Noooo..."
The boy gave one last cry before passing out, then the little tree that didn't move for a long time suddenly grew and grew very tall as it carried the body of the boy on one of its trunks high up in the sky.
The townspeople heard the commotion as the ground started to quake, some structures collapsed, but amidst it, they stayed ignorant of what's happening around them as they looked up in the sky. Even though it is dark, the silhouette of the humongous tree outside was an eye-opener to the citizens.
"Isn't that.."
"THE SEED OF GOD HAD GROWN AT LAST!!"
Some started kowtowing on the spot, and some strong individuals couldn't resist the temptation of coming closer to the tree.
As they got closer and closer to the giant organism, they could see its large roots bulging into the ground, and some were already exposed, like huge snakes swimming on land.
*Boom!*
A large green-like fruit fell beside the tree.
"What is that?"
"It seems like the fruit of the tree. Let's take a look!."
The group finally neared the tree where the fruit fell. They circled the fruit for a while, which was the height of a human.
"First, let's bring it back- Aagh..," A person who was acting as the leader of the group got swiftly stabbed in the back by a sword.
"Don't you guys got fooled enough? We already know what sort of character this guy would play if we let him take the fruit. Isn't it better the last one would get the reward?"
"What are you trying to say?! You just killed an official-" Another one got slain by slicing his throat out.
"It's pointless to talk to you cowards. I'll just kill you all!"
Numerous types of the blood of the fallen dyed the soil red as some got seeped out by the roots.
"Thank you, brother. That was a close one. Let's take the fruit before another group would notice this thing here." The man stood up before putting his weapon away, then walked to the fruit and touched its surface.
"Our life will lastly turn for the better..."
*Swoosh!*
"Whyyyy..." Those were the man's last words after he turned to look at his brother, whom he truly trusted in the whole incident that now led to his death.
"Now, you can finally be reunited with my wife. You guys have fun in hell!" Said the man after he had slashed his brother and the last man standing in the group.
"Let me see what sort of treasure you are!"
He was about to cut the fruit, but a hand came out of it and stopped the sword from slicing it.
"What?! Let go!" The man struggled to get his sword free from being grasped. But that didn't stop there as another hand came out and choked the neck of the man.
"Agghh..."
Not far from the tree where the incident happened. A young man was lying sideways in a large vein while looking at where the incident took place. And next to the man is a panda sitting while eating a sugar cane on the side.
"(Munching) Master, why do mortals make grave mistakes? (Munching)"
"Bear..."
"Yes, Master?" Feeling the seriousness of the tone of his master as he readied himself for the answer.
"Why do you think we are here?"
The panda pondered for a while and said.
"Because you made Her Highness angry, so we got kicked out of the palace?"
"Exactly! Who do you think I am? a sage or a scholar!? I don't know what BS these mortals had gotten into now. I'm just a God with cool powers!"
The panda was dumbfounded for a sec without looking at his master once and said.
"(Munching) You're right."
"What? You believed what I just said? (Sigh) Let me put some wisdom on that empty bear head of yours." The young man jumped down the vein, and then he squatted down near a sapling hiding below the roots where they were sitting just now.
The panda slowly turned its head on the man as if it was looking at a lunatic.
"Mistakes were never really a mistake. It is just another form of your greed that didn't work." The young man stood up after saying those words looking up in the moon with a smug look on his face, and with the flick of his finger, bright moonlight gradually descends on him.
Despite being sick of this display of his master every chance he gets, the panda still clapped after it ended, but there's no sound coming because of its fur.