I fought a losing battle against an enemy I couldn't predict. Standing proud and protected in stolen armor was Washington, my former lackey. After the great system transmigration, he had gone insane.
"I am the hero of this story, and I don't need a wise old mentor anymore," Washington shouted to the booms of thunder.
Lighting curled around his seemingly indestructible insectoid armor. What started as a few wooden plates to turn back lion-shaped demon host claws had mutated? Washington's system given skill Herald of Lightning Phantasms did it to him. The skills given by the system changed us from human, and unfortunately, my skill was weak to his.
We were cultivators in this world of cultivation. There were three known levels to ascend Coalescence, Nascent, and Majority; Washington and I were both at the coalescence realm. To reach the first realm, we bond with a spirit or two and then go through baptism and form a spirit vessel. From there, the known paths forward required assistance, something I despised.
The armor he wore was of my creation. Through the need to build a fortress, I cultivated wood techniques and became good at it. Even if Washington was stronger than me now, I could build once again if I got away. In a fortress of my own creation, there was no end to my qi reserves. What I built was alive and cultivated for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the fortress with me; I traded it for a high-class fire spirit core.
Washington threw his hands up, and purple lightning gathered before blasting forth in a beam. Stray bolts lanced away from the attack as it fired, slicing through trees, shattering stone, and scorching the ground. I raised my staff and blanketed myself in a barrier of the dark.
The lightning struck, and the fillings in my teeth popped and sizzled. Even with my staff-produced barrier, I was pushed back. Despite making the weapon whatever the dark elves did, it made it difficult to use. They had worked strange formations into the wood between my own. My connection to my weapon was weakened because of them.
I stumbled backward and tripped over something heavy and still. Maddie's face stared at me with unblinking eyes. Even in death, she was beautiful. Washington had snapped her neck so brutally that some of the bones stuck through.
Emily's body hung from a tree somewhere to my left. She had been my friend and mentor in this world. She taught me everything she could, from knife fighting to the inquisition's movement technique. Together we investigated a town that birthed an arch spirit, a king of kings. Washington killed her first because she was the strongest here.
"Does this look like the work of a hero?" I asked as I powered up my aura.
My cultivation base was in shambles, and my skill was unresponsive. Washington's lightning had neutered my power, and for the first time in a long time, I realized the damage my skill had done to me. It had made me arrogant and battle-hungry. I might have seen sense and killed Washington on the spot if not for it.
I had lost before the battle began. But, without the others, nothing was binding me to this world. Emily's religious fanaticism had been cute, and she always gave great head; no mouth was warmer. Maddie was a real poisonous bitch, but she was my poisonous bitch, and I agreed to help her regain her father's barony.
"They betrayed me. I'm the hero; all the women are supposed to worship me. You're a bald, bearded mentor character and the only pussy you should get is before we meet. Emily was supposed to leave you for me, and Maddie had an arranged marriage. They should have followed the rules." Washington said.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. So this was Washington's reason. He was pissed because the girls weren't throwing themselves at him. Washington had an entire world to explore, but he had to be fixated on my girls. He had to kill them because I look like he pictures a wise mentor figure.
The formations left by the dark elves glowed impossibly bright as I channeled more power into them. Even as my battle form tried to establish itself, I pushed all my power into the staff. One after another, the formations left by the dark elves winked out. The wood healed over smooth as I felt my connection to my staff return. Once their formations vanished, I felt my staff wake up.
"Since we're being truthful, I've always hated you. From the moment you came to me begging to learn, part of me wanted to kill you. You spied on Emily while she was recovering from the demon poison and constantly tried to grope every girl you met. Leaving Earth clearly drove you insane. I should have put you down sooner. That's my fault, not yours." I held up my staff and felt near-endless dark power radiating from it.
My staff was a special weapon. It was powered by a dark type king-class spirit core and a fire type high-class spirit core. Spirit cores ranged roughly from low, mid, high, baron, earl, duke, king, king of kings, and God respectfully, and I needed to absorb a certain number of high-class spirit cores to reach my next realm of cultivation. For obvious reasons, a king-class core powering a staff made the weapon quite powerful. Without the dark elves ' formations, I would have access to its full power to block my connection to my staff. In a sense, I held a nuclear device in my hands.
Washington cupped his hands together and yelled. Power from the world flowed into him as the armor I gave him did its work. With it, he didn't have to rely on his own power. Instead, the power in his hands condensed on itself, increasing its destructive power exponentially.
I waved my staff, and the world screamed. Ice formed over the ground, and color vanished from the world. The trees exploded around for miles as the water within them expanded rapidly. Even the falling rain turned to hail. The area of effect extended as my staff greedily sucked away at the planet's heat and vibrance. I wielded my staff's true power for the first time and knew why the dark elves put their formations on it. Without limiting my staff's power, it could destroy the world.
Washington extended his hands even as the purple lightning turned white. From the head of my staff, a corona of heat exploded forth. The lightning flowed into the black ball of plasma and winked out. Washington threw his hands up to block the attack. It stopped for a second, and I fired a second corona.
The explosion erupted, swallowing me along with it. I could only hold onto my staff as the world was torn apart. I floated within the belly of a star for a moment, surrounded by a layer of darkness. My only thoughts were, what now?
When the explosion subsided, I was left in a blackened barren landscape. From there, I wondered for months. My desire to ascend had been forgotten. The world carried on as I traveled from town to town. I found work and tried to put my past behind me. The only things that didn't settle down were breaking out all over the triad lands. More spirit beasts were popping up than ever before, and the archdemons had begun to move. I stayed out of it.
Then one night, I opened my system screen and found something interesting.
World Transmigration Y/N
I clicked on it for more information then felt the old sensation of system teleportation. For the first time since the battle with Washington ended, I felt a desire well up inside of me. I could try again.