Legend of the Fell

Ruin was all he could see.

With ash in his mouth, the scent of blood filling his nostrils, a wretched scream escaped his throat while the laughter of the one he would come to hate laughed. 

One that would fill his nightmares for years to come.

Deep in the recesses of his mind, the dark-haired youth wondered how and why this all was happening. 

"998… 999…"

His arm ached, crying out in anguish as he tried to stabilize himself. Ethan kept the ground at bay while using all his courage and determination to get one more final push.

"1000!"

With a mighty scream, he pushed himself and shifted his body in the air, stopping when his feet reached the ground.

"Well, now to run a few laps around the village and be done with today's workout!" He was training his body to the brink of exhaustion every day since he was eleven, and, thanks to that, the soon-to-be sixteen achieved a body that many in his village could only dream of.

And while he was strong, a lot of people in his village were still able to completely and utterly defeat him. 

The Cuckoo village was one of the cultivators, through and through.

And, while many didn't take it seriously, they were at least better than Ethan, who could only marvel at the feats they were able to do with that mysterious power.

After all, he was something rare in the modern age. 

An age where everyone could cultivate, where people took that blessing for granted, an age where a person like Ethan had no place.

He was, after all, born without his Inner Tree.

The Inner Tree is one of the foundations of modern cultivation. It is the link between the mind and the soul, being what allowed the cultivators to fully immerse themselves in their potential, to discover more about themselves, about the gods that left, and about this wonderful world he lived in. 

So, someone born without it could never achieve what was normal around him. 

Ethan kept jogging around the village, earning a few catcalls from the older girls, which he promptly ignored. 

So focused he was that he did not notice another youth, one a bit older and wearing priest's garbs, despite being from the easter folk, walking close by, watching him with narrowed eyes. 

Fast. Even without his Ciels open? Interesting. Inasa thought, glancing back towards the boy with an indifferent expression, only a glint in his eyes.

Ethan kept running at his usual speed. Dexterity was, probably, his best stat, other than Resilience, so, naturally, he excelled in running. 

"After jogging, I'll pay Grandpa a visit," he decided, the thought of the chores his father told him to do promptly forgotten. "Then I'll run summore and…"

Thus, he ran as fast as he could.

.After the exercise, Ethan walked towards his grandpa's cottage. 

"Hey, gramps, I'm here!" He called out, seeing the piles of trash and waste there. Sighing, he began to sweep the floor, taking out the junk soon after finishing. 

"Oh, thanks, ma'' boy," he heard the older voice and turned, grinning. 

"Yah welcome, gramps!" He then closed his eyes and, with a sheepish smile, asked: "Can yah tell me another story?"

The older man chuckled, seeing the intent behind the youth's actions. Straightening up, he began, his voice carrying a hint of nostalgia and excitement: "Imma tell yah of the time I and mah crew got ambushed by a giant scorpion… It all began…"

The young priest narrowed his eyes, gazing deeply into the forest behind the church. He could almost taste the foul stench that came from there, one that invoked feelings and memories that he preferred to leave buried, but knew that he could not.

His posture straightened and, with a burst of superspeed, he ran, allowing himself to take his mind off of the job he was currently doing. 

He was a Marble, a mid-ranked one, at that. Even so, he was sent to hunt down a demon that was eating the cattle of small villages in Nevra Cluster; the archipelago he currently was in. His searching bore fruits, and he was ever so closer to his prey. 

A movement in his peripheral caught his attention and, with deadly precision, he drew his lightsaber and blocked an ax made of flesh and bones, forcing himself to backtrack to dodge the incoming projectiles, blocking those that were too close.

"Mind telling me what are you doing here, priest? The closest church is that way." The flesh golem spoke, his voice as ancient as it was powerful. It did not give Inasa any room to answer, so he jumped back into the fray, his ax being blocked by the lightsaber. "You are well-trained, exorcist." 

Inasa clicked his tongue and, shifting his weight, allowed the ax to swing harmlessly by. Before the same could cut the ground, the priest used his weapon to cut the golem's head, watching it vaporize with a narrowed gaze.

It seems they lied to me… This demon, whoever he is, is strong enough to create his minions.

He narrowed his gaze as more and more flesh-made golems emerged from the trees. 

"Show before me and be my shield, Obice!" He intoned, an orb of pure light encasing himself and blocking the weapons. "Oh incarnation of thunder, aim and strike my foes! Tonantis Sagitta!" 

As soon as he spoke those words, ten arrows made of pure lightning shot from his hand, the electricity so strong that created a blinding flash that destroyed the constructs, allowing himself a moment of respite. 

Despite that, he could not simply stop. With measured steps, he expanded his senses, hunting for that stench… however, before he could catch it, his lightsaber intercepted another bone bullet, drawing out a growl from his throat. 

Yeah, a strong one. 

He ran, dodging the projects as he tried to grab a hold of where the other golems were. The bullets came from all directions, so he could not even search for the closest one.

Also, since they were golems made out of the flesh of animals, they did not carry the stench that all demons had.

Oh, Joy. Seems like I'll be doing overtime today.