Moore of House Leaf's Perspective:
It had been around two months after the attack on my home village and around a month after the attack on the Beast Tribe when the remaining tribes gathered in Ocean God territory.
The goal was to discuss what actions we would take against the final threat to our continent:
The Fire Tribe.
According to some eyewitnesses, the remaining Fire Tribe member is a silver-haired boy who shouldn't be older than seventeen or eighteen.
'I thought I slew most of the younger generation down in that stupid cavern.'
I chuckled to myself as I walked down the main hallway of the building made specifically to meet with the other tribes.
'I did kill the only fighter down there, man, if only I could have let him grow into a full-fledged warrior. It would have made the fight so much more fun.'
I continued down the hallway as a long, skinny smile stretched across my face.
This time, I spoke out loud, my voice echoing through the hallway, "This time, I'll skewer you like your best friends."
Lightly laughing, I pushed open the door to the meeting room and took a seat next to another one of the Nature Tribe wielders.
However, with a lack of management, the Nature Tribe wielders were now the representatives of the Nature Tribe as well.
There were nine of us left, and we were the last members of the Nature Tribe who could lend a helping hand in the efforts against the silver-haired boy.
I had arrived slightly early, and the rest of the group was still waiting on the Mountain Tribe and the final Nature Tribe member.
It wasn't unusual for Mountain Tribe members to be late, but the Nature Tribe member worried me.
The meeting went without issue. Although one of the Nature Tribe members didn't show, the group decided to continue gathering and strengthening our troops before meeting again in a week.
The Nature Tribe only consisted of nine wielders and no communication crystal, making us the weakest Tribe at the moment.
Although our strengths were most likely more significant than some from the Mountain or Demon Tribe, we were treated like losers, as if we weren't fit to fight for Terra against the enemy we "Failed to kill" as the deities deemed it.
The Nature Tribe took the lead on the Fire Tribe attack, and the rest of the deities decided to blame us rather than their subjects.
Now, without a communication crystal, we had no way of sticking up for ourselves against the other deities. We needed the Nature Goddess, yet we had no way to reach her.
After the meeting ended, I immediately left the building, heading towards the inn where the wielders were supposed to be staying.
Slamming on Cathy's door with my fist, it pushed open into a dark, silent room.
"Are you cultivating in the dark or something? Fuck Cathy, turn on a light."
I spoke into the empty darkness and heard nothing in return. I couldn't see Cathy, and I wasn't sure if she was in the room.
However, when I lit a candle, a sharp breeze from the corner of the room would blow through, immediately putting out the small flame.
I heard Cathy's voice in a whimper from the corner of her room, "No fire. Please."
I sighed. Cathy was a difficult one who experienced many cultivation hallucinations and followed the Nature Tribe's interpretations of the hallucinations. They believe that the hallucinations can show the future of the cultivator who is hallucinating.
However, it was only Cathy that enjoyed that idea. I thought it was bullshit. I refused to believe that cultivating would somehow have to do with the future or one's power being so enormous it crosses space and time. These options never fit in my head, so I pushed them away.
"Another hallucination, Cathy?"
A muffled response, "Mhm."
"Want to talk about it?" I asked, sitting on the floor with my back against the door.
"M-maybe?"
I chuckled, "Well, that isn't very helpful, now is it?"
I could feel Cathy smile in the pitch-black room as she began to talk again.
"This hallucination was different than any other cultivation hallucination I've ever had, Moore."
"How so?" I pressed, slightly intrigued at the idea of an even more powerful hallucination.
"It felt, so, incredibly vivid. It didn't feel like a hallucination. It truly felt like what I saw was my only option in life, that I had no choice in whether it happened or not."
I stayed quiet for a bit before asking a follow-up question, "What did you see, Cathy?"
Since I had come into her room, I saw Cathy's piercing green eyes through the darkness for the first time, "No one lives, Moore. Everyone dies. Period."
As the words left Cathy's lips, I didn't feel troubled, sad, or angry; no, I felt excited.
A smile grew across my face as I stood to leave Cathy's room.
"Thanks for letting me listen, Cathy. Swing by my room if you need another conversation." I waved over my shoulder into the dark before closing the door behind me.
I whispered giddily to myself, "It's not every day I get to fight destiny itself. If Cathy's hallucinations are real, there might be a fight to die for soon."
I practically skipped to my room, filled with excitement at the thought of facing solid enemies.
Revenge? That's stupid; the Nature Tribe died because they were weak. I don't want to avenge my family and friends; they should have protected themselves. My goal is to be robust enough that no one stands in my way. I will be the ultimate and most powerful being.
'I need to kill that silver-haired boy. I no longer hold any obligation to serve the Nature Goddess. I may use her powers, but she was weak; I would not follow the weak.'
'I will kill the boy and leave the 'weak Nature Tribe' behind.'
~~~
Cato Emberson's Perspective:
It had been probably a month after I had attacked the Beast Tribe. Most Tribes now had pictures of my rough description painted throughout the continent, leading to people recognizing me whenever I entered any city or tribal territory.
When I had finished the attack on the Beast Tribe, I retrieved the communication crystal. Still, Beast Tribe civilians and other stragglers fled towards Demon Tribe territory before I could finish them off.
The refugees gave information about my appearance and details regarding my abilities that they had seen and my actual threat level.
Luckily, I hadn't needed to use Soulflame in front of anyone that lived, which meant they didn't know about that ability.
It was also likely that they did not know about my dash maneuver because I had used it sparingly during the attack.
After decimating the main village of the Beast Tribe, I left for the Nature Tribe's territory, where I could hide in either small towns or large jungle trees.
I had tried my luck at a small town first, but with many suspicious looks, I thought it would be best for me to hide out in the jungle, away from people.
I stayed close to a small town and cut off most of my hair, leaving short white locks cropping off the top of my head. I kept close to the city to gain information about what the other Tribes were planning.
I would have to either go along with whatever they were planning or develop a better plan to execute before them.
After a couple of weeks of waiting and occasionally sifting through the small town, trying to pick up conversations as I walked by, I finally heard something worthwhile.
I had my red hood up, covering my bright hair when I heard two men talking to each other.
"—eems like they're splitting up."
"How so?"
"Pairs of two wielders or something?"
I had only heard the quick snippet of their conversation, but it was enough information to give me a headstart.
I would most likely need to train for the time being. I was positive that some of the God Sources throughout Terra would pose a challenge at my current level.
As the weeks seemed to pass by in a blur—the only activities I did were cultivation or hallucination training—I became much more powerful, both visually and physically.
The visual aspect is how tall my Soulflame gets, and the physical side is my body's output of source energy.
There were too many things to prepare for, and now all I could do was cultivate.
I needed to be deadlier to give Thatcher's life meaning and avenge my family and friends.
'I need to be even more ruthless.'
As I stared at my lake, there were now two more people that didn't look like silhouettes:
Vulk and Roppings.
They were stationed next to each other on different lines, same row.
The two of them stared straight ahead, not looking in my direction, almost as if I was doomed to be ignored by the people surrounding my insides.
Technically the people I held closest were the people I killed. Although I was never the best at processing my emotions, I always kept everyone who died to my blade or hand close to my heart, or seemingly, my energy pool.
However, I was doomed to stare at the emotionless faces, reminded countless times of what I've done and who I've become.
A brief thought of my own accord passed through my head;
'I wonder if the entirety of Terra thinks I'm their Reaper?'