In a bed of flowers, a little child with golden hair can be seen floating in the air. The child's skin was as smooth as porcelain, you can almost see your reflection on it. There was a warm aura enveloping the little child.
Even with all the peculiar things surrounding the child, it was not until he opened his eyes that one can truly see his most unique trait- pupils darker than the night itself, almost as if it wanted to suck you in.
The little child always liked being far away from the city, the reason so is that when he was only 3 years old, he could hear the noise and the voices of the people of the city even though their house was half a kilometer away from it. He could hear every laughter, the deafening sermons of slave owners, and the casual chuckle of each and every people as if they were right in front of him.
This caused him to find solace in places far away from the bustling city.
Although he learned to control his hearing as time went on, Viel still had the habit of going to this place. Originally, this place was barren and only had blades of grass growing on it, but after Viel made this place his hideout, the most beautiful of flowers suddenly decided to grow here like they wanted to show Viel how beautiful they are.
"VIEL! Where the hell did that brat went off to again?! VIEL!", a voice of an old man resounded in the child's ears. Viel chuckled and covered his mouth like he was afraid someone would hear him laughing.
He looked at the direction at where the sound came from, but no one was there. Only the flowers greeted him.
[Soul 03: Walk of the Lightning God activated], a voice suddenly ringed in his mind.
"Thank you, Mr. Voice", Viel stopped chuckling as he replied to the monotonous voice that only he could hear. Streaks of lightning appeared on his feet and spread throughout his entire lower body.
A large exploding sound echoed throughout the flowery forest as Viel suddenly disappeared into the distance.
---
"Ancient's titties, where could have that brat ran off to now?!"
An old man who was carrying wood can be seen shouting near a small house in a settlement near Taizhou city.
"Boo!", suddenly a child appeared out of nowhere behind the old man and startled him. The old man shouted and jumped 3 feet high in surprise, making him drop the firewood that he was about to load on a cart.
"Y-you brat! You almost gave me a heart attack!", the old man scolded the child as saliva spewed from his mouth.
"Ew! Grandpa Ling", Viel covered his mouth as he chuckled in the cutest way possible. As he did so, Mr. Voice ringed in his mind.
[Soul 03 shows signs of endearment]
"Tch. Where did you run of to now, you brat!? Hurry and load all the firewood into the cart!"
"Eeh!? But there's too many...", Viel pouted as he looked at the pile of firewood on the side. He then looked at his Grandpa Ling with his face in a cute smolder, "...can I have a candy after!?"
"T-this brat! Just load the firewood! I will tell Grandma to give you some candy later.", Grandpa Ling waved his hand as he hid a grin from Viel.
"Yay! Thank you, Grandpa!", Viel raised his hands in victory.
Suddenly, a distortion can be felt in their surrounding as a red flaming hole appeared on the bottom of the pile of firewood.
[Soul 02: Hell's Gate]
Mr. Voice ringed as the pile of firewood was sucked into the hole. A few seconds later, another hole appeared on top of the cart as the firewood fell on top of it. Some of the firewood have obvious signs of burnt mark on them.
"O...oops?", Viel slowly and nervously looked at Grandpa Ling, "Teehee?", he stuck out his tongue and winked.
"Y-you... what do you mean teehee!? Come here you braaaat!", Grandpa Ling raised his hands and started chasing Viel.
"Nooooo!", Viel shouted as he ran straight to their house and closed the door.
"Tch", Grandpa Ling nodded as he gave up on chasing Viel. He wiped his sweat off and revealed a warm smile.
When Grandpa Ling first found out that Viel had these weird and strange powers, he was afraid. He thought that his wife picked up a son of a loose immortal cultivator, or maybe even a rogue demon. He was afraid that someday, someone might knock at their door and kill them for taking away their baby.
But alas, 5 years have passed and they still seem to be living peacefully, even with all the little boy's shenanigans.
"Grandma Ling! Grandma Ling! Save me!", Viel hopped as he went inside his Grandma's room.
Grandma Ling, who was sitting on the bed dropped the book she was reading as Viel rushed to her side.
"V-Viel! M-my heavens! You need to stop surprising me, Grandma is getting old!", unlike Grandpa Ling, the old woman had on a smile as she reprimanded little Viel, "Now, what is this about?", she said as she patted Viel on the head.
"W-well... you see", Viel recalled the happenings with Grandpa Ling, with a little change of details favoring him, of course.
"Tch tch, let me handle your Grandp- *cough*", Grandma Ling was about to stand up from the bed before she vehemently started to cough. She covered her mouth to try and stop herself from coughing, but this only made it worst.
"G-grandma!", Viel said with concern as he reached for the glass of water that was beside the bed, "W-water, please have some water, Grandma!".
Grandma Ling finally stopped coughing as she looked at the little child that was worrying for her.
"Oh little Viel, come here."
Grandma Ling embraced Viel in her arms as a few tears fell down from her eyes, "Do not worry for me, my child. Grandma will be alright", she said with a warm voice. She only stopped hugging Viel after the tears stopped so that Viel would not see her crying.
"So, can you tell Grandma about your trip outside? I hope you didn't go too far!", Grandma Ling waved her fingers as she interrogated Viel.
"No! I made sure not to cross the ocean this time! Hehe!", Viel proudly lifted his chest up.
His statement was not an exaggeration. A year ago, there were festivities in their settlement because their neighbor got married.
The noise was so loud that it started ringing in Viel's ears. When he couldn't take it anymore, he ran so fast away from the sound until he didn't realize that he was already in front of the ocean.
"Good... good", Grandma Ling was relieved.
The both of the continued to talk about mundane silly things. After a while, Grandma Ling reached for something beneath her pillow.
"Viel, happy 5th birthday!", Grandma Ling handed Viel a wooden box.
"F-for me!?", Viel was happy to receive a surprise. But then he tilted his head as he realized something, "B-but... my birthday isn't until next month?"
"Ssh, don't mind it. Hurry, open it up"
Little Viel was still suspicious but he could not win over the curiosity of receiving a surprise gift. He happily opened the wooden box before once again tilting his head.
"Eeeh, Grandma Ling... What is this?", in Viel's hand, was a slab of shining copper with a quote on it, "Reach for Immortality! Enroll in our Academy!".
"That's a token to take the examination for Taizhou Academy! Lots of scholars and top cultivators of various sects are an alumni of that school!", Grandma Ling clapped her hands as she explained it to Viel.
Originally, the old couple were opposed to the idea of having Viel go to the academy. After all, even with their limited knowledge of cultivators, they know enough that Viel was different.
They were afraid that Viel would be isolated and bullied in the academy for his difference, even worse if you add up the fact the he is a westerner.
But when they thought it through, would they not be isolating Viel themselves if they do not allow him to mingle with other children?
It was also a chance for Viel to lead a more extravagant life. Afterall, once Viel becomes a cultivator, it will not matter anymore if he was a westerner, the academy will protect him. This reason alone was enough to convince the old couple to finally allow Viel to have the chance to go to school.
"Eeh, but couldn't I just stay here with you and Grandpa!? It's noisy there in the city!", Viel lied down on the floor and started to roll around.
"No no", Grandma Ling shook her head, "Besides, there will be other children there. You can play with them!"
"WHAAAAT!? I get to play with other people!?", Viel suddenly stood up and ran on top of the bed as he hopped like a bunny on it.
"Yes, the children there will be as strong as you... probably. So we are not afraid of any accidents happening.. we think", Grandma Ling replied hesitantly.
Viel continued to jump up and down on the bed as Grandma Ling tried to calm him down. Suddenly, Grandma Ling started to cough violently again.
"G-grandma?", Viel stopped jumping as he expressed his concern.
"I-I am alright, Grandma Ling is just too happy *cough*", c-can you call Grandpa here?", Grandma Ling comforted Viel as she forcefully revealed a pleasant smile.
"O..okay, I will go and get Grandpa now!", Viel hurriedly jumped off the bed.
As Viel was about to exit the room, he turned towards Grandma Ling.
'Mr. Voice, please activate Eyes of Judgement!'
[Warning: Souls 02 and 03 is against activating the skill]
'P-please, Mr. Voice!'
[Soul 01: Eyes of Judgement]
His pitch-black eyes suddenly turned white for a split second as Mr. Voice ringed in his ears.
Viel revealed a very sad expression before he finally exited the room.
A few weeks after, Viel finally entered Taizhou city for the first time.
"W-woah! W-w-w-what's that!? W-what's this!?", Viel frantically walked around all the stalls he could see in the city.
Initially, Grandma Ling and Grandpa Ling was supposed to come with Viel to drop him off at the exam venue of Taizhou Academy, but Grandma Ling's health started to worsen so the old couple couldn't come.
The city folks started to gather as they notice a little child was running around the city with a stupid expression on his face and checking every stall he sees.
"Hm, who left this little girl here?"
"Hehe, how cute"
"Why is a western runt running around in our city?"
A commotion started to arise. Some of the folks expressed worry, some expressed joy, but there are also some who expressed annoyance.
"Someone call the guards, there's a western runt running around our city", an old man said with disdain.
"Ssssh, watch what you're saying, look at her waist!", another man reprimanded the old man as he pointed on Viel's waist.
"T-that... a Taizhou Academy pass?", the old man swallowed his saliva as he nervously walked away from the crowd.
Although Viel was still not a student of Taizhou Academy, the guards will not take kindly to people who will make fun of anyone related to Taizhou Academy, even if they are a westerner.
As Viel was still curiously checking all of the shops, a group of men calmly approached him.
"Hello, little girl. Are you going to take the exam for Taizhou Academy?", a skinny man with dark circles on his eyes tapped Viel's shoulder.
As Viel turned around to see who was talking to him, the skinny man quickly retracted his hands as he was surprised to see Viel's pitched-black pupils.
"H-hello sir! Y-yes! I am going to Taizhou Academy!", Viel quickly prompted and stood straight as he saluted the skinny man.
'T-this runt.. I-I guess it's nothing', the skinny man wiped his sweat off as he nodded, "Can I see your pass? You see, we big brothers here are actually teachers of the academy.", the skinny man pointed at his small group.
For some reason, his group chuckled as they were introduced.
"Uhhmm, okay. Here you go, sir!", Viel handed the copper slab to the skinny man.
The skinny man waved the slab around to check it, he bit the slab before nodding his head.
"This is indeed an examination pass, come with us. This big brother will take you to the exam venue", the skinny man put the examination pass inside his bag as he told Viel to follow his group.
"Y-yes sir!", without even a slight of suspicion, Viel nodded as he followed the group like a rabbit being led to the guillotine.
The skinny man's group once again chuckled mischievously as they led Viel away from the lively plaza.
The group walked for a while until they reached a dark alley devoid of people.
"Eeeeh... it doesn't smell good here, sir!", Viel covered his nose as they entered the dark alley. "A-are we at the academy yet?"
Viel looked around as he was surprised to see how different this place was from the lively plaza he was in just moments ago.
"HAHAHA! You stupid little shit!", the group laughed as they suddenly revealed an ugly and perverted expression in their faces.
"This is a nice catch, boss. A little western girl like this will fetch a high price in the market", the fat man in the group said as he rubbed his hands.
"Are we sure about this? This little bitch is an examinee of the Academy"
"Relax, Fengfeng. No one saw us. kekeke"
The group started to discuss as they started to surround Viel in a circle.
"Uhhmm, w-what is happening, kind sirs?", Viel tilted his head as he found himself confuse as to what these men were talking about.
"Hahaha! You still don't get it, little girl? We tricked you!", the skinny man laughed evilly as he pulled out a knife.
"I'm a boy?", Viel looked at the skinny man as he becomes even more confused with the situation.
"W-what was that?"
"I'm a boy."
"W-what? You expect us to believe that!? HAHA! There's no use, we're not letting you go, little girl", the skinny man laughed even harder as he ordered one of his men to tie up Viel.
"Come here, little girl. I'm not gonna hurt ye, keke", said one of the men with a rope as he approached Viel.
"Uhhmm, does this mean you're not going to take me to the academy?", Viel replied, this time with a slight disappointment with his voice.
"Oh, oh no. We're going to take ye to a school alright, but a different school", the man with the rope said as he continued to approach Viel.
"Uhhmm, no thank you. I have to go to Taizhou Academy. Please give me back the pass, please", Viel shook his head as he looked at the skinny man who took his slab.
"Haha! This is mine now, little girl. You are not going to need it where you're going to", the skinny man waved the copper slab around mockingly.
"Give it back please, my Grandma gave that to me", Viel reached out his hand as his face started to pout.
"Oh is that so? Then perhaps I should visit Grandma to thank her personally? Kekeke! Hurry up and finish tying this brat up so we can go", the skinny man turned his back and walked away.
"Okidoki bos-", before the man with the rope can finish his sentence, he felt his whole body shift as he felt a heavy force hitting his stomach.
The group was surprised with the sudden turn of events, all they heard was a sound of something exploding and their friend with a rope was suddenly planted on the wall a few meters away.
"L-little bitch, w-what did you do!?"
"I think I know what you guys are... my Grandpa Ling told me about you"
Suddenly, the alley that was already dark enough turned even darker as a chilling pressure started to build up. The group felt a painful cold bite their skin as Viel released a breathe.
Viel slowly raised his hand and pointed at the skinny man, the group trembled as they nervously awaited what was to come.
"W...wait! Young master! W-we were just joking... h-here, y-y-you can have th-"
"You guys... are pedophiles."
"....", the group looked at each other in bewilderment.
"And Grandpa said that pedophiles..."
"...Need their balls smacked!"