The troupe had been traveling for two days now.
They would travel to cover maximum distance during the daytime and then rest only when the sun dimmed and became the moon. Yes.
The sun and moon were the same here.
'I have underestimated alright…'
It was ground-breakingly shocking for Silver, to say the least, After all, the fucking sun became the moon.
He wondered how he didn't notice this until yesterday, but then he recalled he had been busy and not paying attention during the most important of times.
The first time he opened his eyes, he was already lying on the floor with the moo-the sun which had become the moon, was already out in all its majesty.
Then he missed the sunrise the next day because he fell into that foggy house, again not noticing this logic-breaking peculiarity.
'No wonder the moon was so fucking massive…it was the sun in disguise all along.'
'Is this the world's way of mocking me, who adheres by logic and sense, is it telling me that the logic I'm used to won't be of any use here?'
He knew next to nothing about this world, and just when he thought that he had overcome the shock of the sun and moon being the same, another incident happened.
Just yesterday, while traveling through sandy terrain. The troupe was attacked by giant centipede-like beasts.
These beasts were no smaller than those wolf-like beasts, and even more dangerous in the sense that they lived under the ground in the sand most of their lives.
Silver, who wasn't at all used to these situations, was once again frozen by fear when the first beast had shown itself.
His resolve he had made earlier to himself was strong but Silver hadn't yet known the full extent of horrors this world had to offer, whether his resolve break or remain was yet to be seen.
If only beasts like these were enough to break his resolve then Silver wouldn't last long in this world.
To some extent, Silver understood this as a matter of fact too.
This was not the world he was familiar with, the logic and the sense he had acquired over a long time living in his hell of a house would not necessarily be of help here.
It had only been three days since he woke up to a different reality than what he was used to and his life was threatened, on the brink of death two times already.
Silver knew that he had to do better than this. If this was enough to freeze his entire being and wait for death, then someone like him didn't deserve to own something that was, after a long time, in his possession.
If he wanted to protect his freedom, he had to face, and potentially eradicate those who threatened to take it from him.
He may have to do things he never imagined before, He may have to dye his hands red with someone else's blood too, He didn't know if he was ready to make that choice but one thing was for sure. He didn't want to be on the losing side.
He had to find it, that something which will help him always have the say in things that decided his fate, it may not be easy, it may not be all merry, it may be very difficult. But never were the things that one desired, obtained cheaply. It was not a need, after all, it was an absolute necessity.
In the depths of despair induced by weakness and helplessness, beaten up by reality and their own incompetence, There will be millions who would break, falling into the ground like shattered glass, crushed under the weight of things only they know, but sometimes, a handful of them would have the curtain of falsehood they were wrapped in from their birth, taken off.
They will see themselves for all they are worth. It must not be beautiful, it must be very ugly, after all the reality of things is what people hated with all their might, let alone the reality of themselves which they bury inside the deepest. But a handful of those handful people would look at that version of themselves and accept it.
They will embrace all the things that they were blessed with and move to find what they lacked.
They will find what they were looking for and what they need to look for when they are face to face with the one who had all its falsehood torn off.
That was the epiphany Silver was experiencing right now. He had already gotten what he had desired, but the world had deemed him not worthy enough to have it.
He didn't want to be on the losing side anymore, he had spent eighteen years of his life living like a loser, having no goals or dreams, having nothing to embrace and nothing to protect. But not anymore, His freedom, he would protect it. And to do that he needed only one thing— Strength.
The people around him were powerful, when Silver was frozen like a doll along with the other travelers, there were people who did not.
These people not only did not end up frozen in fear like him but even went ahead with swords in their hand to slay what blocked their way.
They got injured in the process, they stumbled, they got thrashed, but they did not give up and kept fighting.
'What are they fighting for…surely their life. If they don't fight, they die. All the things they acquired in their life will lose their meaning the moment they die.'
Standing at the very back, the scenes of a fight that was not by any means praiseworthy reflected in the limpid eyes of Silver.
He took it in as five black-clothed people worked to exhaust the last of the four centipede-like beasts. He saw it all as a sharp-eyed youth dashed from behind the beast when it was distracted by black-clothed people.
He watched as the boy thrust his sword straight into the beasts head without missing a single footing.
The green particles that had formed on the tip of the youth's sword were beautiful enough to entrance all the people present, even the already entranced Silver.
"I-Immor—"
"An Im–mortal art."
"So it was true…"
The bewildering commotion spread around like wildfire at the youth's display, the people looked at him with a tinge of fear, awe, and respect.
There were groups who almost fell on their knees, there were people who had bewildered faces. There were two people who were not as affected.
One of them was a girl who looked like she had lost the color on her face due to some accident but after watching this spectacle, as if replenished, her eyes glowed like glistened gems, and elation was visible all around her face. This girl was Han Ling.
The other was Silver, from the start to the end, he had not shown any intense reaction to the occurrence that happened in front of him but that did not mean that he had not noticed.
'Found it…'
Looked like in this life, Silver was destined to be one of those handfuls of people, No, even destiny and fate can't help those who can't even help themselves.
This one was, without a doubt, on Silver.
'That something which will help me keep what I must…It exists in this world, and I will make sure to grasp it.'
Silver had realized that day. After watching the struggle of the people, who were obviously weaker than the beast they were facing, after watching the sharp eyed youth unleash a bombardment of green fireworks amidst a strike that pierced the head of the beast, after watching the last of the beast tumble down while the people were still standing.
'This world is fundamentally different, there exist things here that I never in my wildest imagination thought about. People here are strong…they can become strong.'
"Young master Chen, I knew you were from a martial clan."
"Y-young master Chen i-is like a hero, my brother and I can only admire…"
"...You're strong."
"Are you Mo Chen? The captain wants to talk to you about the thing you asked earlier, follow me."
"We are blessed to have the descendant of a martial clan alongside us."
"Right right, it looks like we will make it alive to the sect."
"Heavens have not forsaken us, it seems."
Amidst the wild commotion everywhere. Silver, who was still on his knees from when the beast first attacked, slowly got up.
He looked all around him, he looked at the people, not understanding much, but expression conveying the emotions.
There was a type of power here that humans could wield, just like magic, a power that would make sure that they hold their own against odds.
'No matter what it is, I will acquire it. Strength, it's not a need now, it's an absolute necessity.'
They say that a handful of people will come to face that which they bury deep inside them, and a handful of those handful will accept what they see, not letting their resolve in the depths of despair crumble.
But sometimes, very, very rarely a single grain of that handful of another handful will have their resolve undergo a complete metamorphosis. They not only accept what they are, they let themselves be devoured by reality and start from the very beginning.
The resolve of such a person doesn't need to bend to falsehood, they can only break when facing a reality stronger than them.
Silver, who was undergoing this exact change, had to just make sure that his reality remained the one and only.