Cato Emberson's Perspective:
I left the Nature Tribe main village with many sore muscles and a few newer scars.
For some reason, scar tissue seemed to be a little complicated for my Soulflame. Although it recognized the scar tissue as something it needed to fix, it didn't know how.
My Soulflame's misconception provided my back with a fresh scar that reminded me of Thatcher whenever it stung.
As I traveled away from the billowing tower of smoke behind me, I thought about what Thatcher said and my battle with the red-eyed girl.
My mind wandered over to my fight with the girl first, leaving Thatcher's message alone for the time being.
My head ran through every attack and second I could remember from the battle with the girl.
'I hadn't needed to use fire against her, but I genuinely went all out.' I thought to myself.
She pushed me to the brink, nearly taking my life. I wouldn't have come out alive if I hadn't trained with the Goddess and experienced as many near-death scenarios.
Soulflame, combined with my mission and my experience in the Goddess' realm, allowed me to come out of that battle victorious.
I internally thanked the Soulflame that provided me with so much I thoroughly took for granted.
My mind suddenly spun and started to think about Thatcher.
It was hard for me to wrap my mind around the Nature Tribe member.
I had no idea whether he had been on the attack force or not; the fire tribe wasn't something we discussed together.
However, even if he had been on the attack force—this would only cause me to grieve his death a little less—I enjoyed my time with him. Nothing would change that fact.
But, if he wasn't on the attack force, it would make grieving him more straightforward and the guilt more complicated. Because, if Thatcher wasn't on the attack force,
'Did he really have to die?'
'Did I genuinely have to kill Thatcher?'
'Was it my destiny to kill Thatcher?'
'Had it been this whole time?'
I shook my head as questions flooded it.
I had no answers but questions about anything and everything.
But—history tends to repeat itself—there was one word at the epicenter of all my questions.
'Reaper.'
I sighed, thinking about the word, thinking about the question the voice in my head had posed:
'What is a Reaper? What makes a Reaper?'
Thinking about these questions, I stared into my energy pool. I appeared above the silhouettes, almost like a commander facing his troops.
There was still, only Thatcher, with the smile he wore during death, plastered on his face.
I stared at him from the middle of my Soulflame.
His last words flashed through my mind:
"Good luck."
I thought about the odd boy just a couple of years older than me, who was now standing motionless and silent in a line of other people I had killed.
'Why would you say something like that, Thatcher? What were you trying to accomplish?'
'He said he saw my 'destiny,'' I sighed, 'I guess those silhouettes I see every so often are people destined to die by my hand.'
I was disappointed it had taken me until Thatcher to piece the information together. But, with a brutally realistic reminder whenever I looked at my energy pool, I finally realized it.
'Well,' I thought, 'can I demolish destiny with a little fire and some lightning?'
'Do I even want to fight my 'destiny'?'
I argued internally, 'You had already steeled yourself to bring about revenge for your tribemates; what's stopping you now?'
'If you back out now, Thatcher's death would be meaningless, no?'
A side inside me had been heavily influenced by the pressure emitted from my mother's last wish that I witnessed in a hallucination. However, there was another side that wanted complete and utter demolition of this continent.
I was positive the side filled with hatred had developed from seeing the aftermath of the attack on the Fire Tribe.
But now, there was another motivator on top of the side fueled by rage. Thatcher's death and last words seemed to eliminate my chances at everyday life.
If I were going to live an everyday life starting with anyone, it would have been Thatcher. He would have been able to help me assimilate into Nature Tribe culture, and now, with him dead, the Nature Tribe home village destroyed, there was no chance for me to live an everyday life there.
Thatcher also told me he understood me, offered his condolences for my lost ones, and tried to reason with me.
I doubted there was another person as understanding and open as him.
'If I don't continue, what will his last words carry? Nothing. They won't hold any value; if I live a simple life, Thatcher will have died for nothing.'
A new emotion filled the side that drove me to demolish this continent:
Guilt.
Plain and straightforward guilt.
It wasn't rage that had its icy grasp around me; it was a chilly blanket of guilt.
It weighed down my chest and arms as I sat on the driver's bench, traveling towards Conterra.
I didn't want to leave Thatcher to walk pointlessly into my energy pool as I ignored my destiny.
I had to continue. I had started, and for all I knew, the Beast Tribe was aware that I had decimated their colony.
The remaining Nature Tribe members would soon come to avenge their tribemates, whether they work with other tribes or not.
I thought to myself as I looked up through the jungle path, 'They will probably start hunting me soon; The last Fire Tribe member. They're bound to find out soon enough and want me dead.
'I need to be strong enough. It seems I've added another person I need to fight for now.'
I wasn't sure where I should head next. For the time being, I was going to be heading back to Conterra. I had made enough money selling my wares in the Nature Tribe to put myself up for quite a few days.
I also needed to lay low for some time so people could realize someone destroyed the Nature Tribe.
Once someone stumbled upon the Nature Tribe, the whole continent would know there was a surviving Fire Tribe member and, from the contempt I had seen expressed, imagined the entire continent would have it out for me.
I would need to strike without fear and with confidence that I can defeat my upcoming enemies. I was going to face powerful God Sources from all around the continent. I couldn't waste any time being unprepared.
I planned to lay low, cultivate, and train while I waited for the rest of the continent to figure out there was a Fire Tribe member still alive.
Once the rest of the Tribes figure out that I pose a significant threat to them, it would make sense for them to band together in an attempt to drive me into the open.
Eventually, they'll make a move, but they have no way of telling that I am the last Fire Tribe member, which makes my job even more accessible.
I only need to train to be prepared to ambush the Tribes when they are busy gearing themselves up to fight me.
I allowed myself a smile, 'While they're preparing to attack me, I'll be ruining them.'
I continued to move forward, sitting on the carriage as the only thing that seemed to come easy was the thought of demolishing the rest of the tribes.
~~~
I entered Conterra with ease. I didn't see any other carriages on my way back either.
I was pleasantly surprised that I would be inside Conterra once someone figured out what had happened to the Nature Tribe.
I was still slightly worried about the colony I had decimated, but at the end of the day, someone else took the carriage out, and the delivery place didn't ask for my name.
Nobody should suspect me for the time being.
I need to position myself in an inn and cultivate for now.
I have to survive these upcoming battles, and getting stronger now is a necessary jumpstart on the other God Sources throughout Terra.
I quickly sold my carriage and found a suitable inn to stay at, paying a reasonably low price.
I holed up inside and cultivated thoroughly during the night and the day.
My only current goal was to be able to destroy anything in my path.
I would not let anyone's wishes be in vain, and to do that, I needed to be stronger.
The thought process I explored throughout my travels supplied me with a new driving force behind my cultivation.
Thatcher had left an enormous imprint on me, and I didn't want to let him down.
I didn't need to gather information, and I continued to disassociate in my room away from the crowds in the streets.
On the day I finally left the inn, crowds were absent throughout the streets, leaving an oddly unsettling feeling in the pits of my stomach.
I walked down the street my inn sat on, towards the main square of Conterra. I hadn't spent much time here despite the beautiful surroundings.
As I neared the square, I noticed crowds throughout the court, all facing the same direction.
I quickly threw my hood over my head and continued forward through the crowd.
I maneuvered my way through a dense sea of people and arrived at the front of the crowd, a wooden post-board standing in front of us.
A poster laid flat on the wall, large print covering the sign.
'FIGHTERS NEEDED. FIGHT FOR YOUR CONTINENT AND HELP ANNIHILATE OUR FINAL ENEMY.'
I followed the words down the sign.
'THE LAST FIRE TRIBE MEMBER IS WREAKING HAVOC THROUGHOUT TERRA. THEY ARE KILLING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS; HELP US FIGHT THEM NOW.'
I stared blankly at the poster as I read the address posted at the bottom. It was a place in Conterra and was most likely the army building.
I wasn't surprised that this response had come, but they were preparing for all-out war, aren't they a little cautious?
I turned away from the board and started sifting through the crowd again.
As I headed towards my inn, I decided that my next target would be the Beast Tribe. It was close by and would be necessary if I ever escalated to fighting a full-scale battle. I could maybe hold off an army of contractors, but beasts included were a tall order even for me.
That made the decision happen quicker in my mind as I entered the inn and made my way back to my room.
For now, I'll cultivate and prepare for the upcoming bloodshed.