A period of time passed. Lars who passed out finally had his eyes open as his vision returned to him.
However, his head felt sore. As if his brain had undergone a massive tremor, causing a soft groan to escape from his lips.
His head buzzed, prompting him to reach out and grasp his short hair.
"My head..... actually hurts". Running his hand all over, he repeatedly made sure that his head was completely intact. After confirming that there were no injuries.
Despite that, Lars didn't feel ok. In fact, he felt like he was anything but ok.
"AHH! The pain.... So much pain!"
As he slowly sat up, a massive headache assaulted him, causing him to let out a pained groan.
He felt wet, and a sticky substance could be felt on his hand but was ignored for the meantime. Finally clearing his vision as the headache receded, what came to his view wasn't the ceiling of his familiar room and soft comfy bed, but the moonlight reflecting in the night sky.
Lars felt perplexed. 'Wait! Why am I outside'?
The last thing he remembered was the pendant hurting his hand and the scroll suddenly floating while it...
As soon as he thought up to here, his eyes suddenly widened in shock and panic.
"The scroll! Where's the scroll?"
Grasping at his neck, he found to his relief that the pendant was still there. However, why could he feel his fingers directly on his skin when he touched the pendant?
Lars looked down and exclaimed in disbelief.
His clothes, they were gone. No, they weren't entirely gone. At least he was still wearing pants. However, they were ripped and in tatters, while his upper body was completely naked.
The evening trees swayed as the atmosphere was windy. The shrubs and bushes moved as the wind brought about a heavy smell.
A stench that Lars was all too familiar with. His body was covered in blood, from his hair to his feet. A small blood puddle had even formed a few inches away from him.
What surprised him more was the human limbs that were around him. No matter how fearless a man is, they would definitely get freaked out when the first thing they wake up to in an unfamiliar situation are dead bodies.
Lars, was no exception.
There were multiple dead bodies in front of him. And judging from their corpses, each of them had died a gruesome death.
Not one corpse was left intact. There was no exception as all of them were either missing an arm, a leg, a head or half of their bodies. The fear reflected within the eyes of those who still had them shown just how frightened they were.
As if they had seen a perpetual demon.
Looking at himself, Lars was stunned. How the hell did this happen? How did he even get here? Who were these people, and why were they dead?
"What in the seven hells happened when I blacked out?"
Lars sprung up to his feet as whatever slight aftereffects he may have been feeling vanished. With a slight push, he flew upward as his eyes surveyed the area.
Although it was currently dark out and the reflection from the moon gave out little light, he could see just fine.
Stopping in the air, he saw that the surrounding area was noticeably damaged. Most of the vegetation for miles had been destroyed and there were several potholes all over the area for a kilometer, making it look like the land had been dug out.
Judging from the situation, it didn't take Lars more than half a second to decide that all the damage was the result of a battle. However, did this battle have anything to do with him?
"... But, this isn't the fog region?"
Looking at the fallen trees and the topography of the land, Lars was sure of this. Not to mention the fact that the Mana Qi in this area was insanely thin, just the fact that the area wasn't shrouded in fog was enough to let him know that he was no longer in the territory of the ruins.
"It should be quite far from it, but what exactly was I doing here?" Lars rubbed his hair.
The sticky feeling and metallic smell made him very uncomfortable, and he wished for nothing more than to find some place to wash up.
[Change View: Lars POV]
Flying in the air, the confusion, and uncertainty within my heart increased with every passing second. At that moment, something caught my attention, causing me to look down.
It was at the same place where I stood before I flew into the air. I guess due to my initial confusion, I didn't notice it at first as my sight was blurry, and my head was messed up.
I slowly flew downwards as I examined the area seriously. The blood was still fresh, and it looked like only an hour or two had passed since this.... I would say massacre, happened.
As they were already dead, I couldn't figure out their cultivation bases when they were still alive. But one thing was for sure, each one of them were in the Qi Spirit realm. Moreover, the clothes they wore were somewhat similar to each other.
There was a small logo embroidered on the chest area of their robes with the word Li written beside it.
"Are they part of some sort of clan or tribe?" I couldn't help wondering.
Moreover, judging by their bone structures, none of them were above fifty years of age. This was undoubtedly much better compared to patriarch Yang Bowen, whose Yang family only had five people in the Qi Spirit realm. Not to mention, all of them had already surpassed fifty.
My mind went back to Tian Long, wondering what he would be doing now. This fleeting thought, only passed through my mind but for a moment.
Drawing closer, I discovered that the corpses were actually laid down weirdly. Almost like they were representing something.
"Is that some kind of symbol?" I wasn't sure of my guess, but the corpses certainly weren't scattered randomly but arranged to form something.
At first, I thought it was a circle, but later discovered my earlier conjecture was wrong. It was indeed a symbol, and the corpses laid down were done in the form of a spiral.
I nodded at my thoughts. However, what exactly does this spiral stand for and why was it arranged using corpses?
'Is it possible that all of this was my doing?' I couldn't help but ponder.
With my blood soaked figure, I definitely had something to do with this. But I just can't remember what.
'Was it possible that when I lost consciousness, I left the ruins and did all this? But my guardians said that this pendant and the scroll was the only thing I had on when they found me.
I thought it would be the key to finding out where I really came from, so how does all this relates to it.
Did I do all this when I passed out, and is my subconscious trying to communicate with me through this? Trying to tell me something?'
In a matter of seconds, countless thoughts brewed in my mind. The confusion I felt suddenly grew greater as more and more unanswered questions were bottled up, causing me anxiety.
Looking at the spiral more intently, the headache reappeared again with mild symptoms. I squint my eyes a little as I try to shake it off.
"Wait! There's something at the center".
My eyes lit up as I looked at the corpses with an intense glare. The spiral it formed was made with a few dozen dead bodies and at the center of the spiral were three characters written in the native language of the continent, 'Kibaran'.
The three characters were separated from each other and represented three different words. However, they were all written with blood.
The first was 'Wilde', the second 'Alcan', and the last one wrote the word Lower divide'.
Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze. Flashes of memories bombarded my head instantly causing me to plunge down from the sky.
My eyes glowed with an intense blue radiance.
"Argh!" Feeling as if my head were going to be split apart, I cried out due to the pain I had never experienced before.
However, there was a change in the corpses. With the change in my eyes, the spiral glowed as well and so did the three characters on the floor, at the center of the symbol.
A set of memories that I wasn't sure who who it belonged to entered my mind.
"Let's name him Larson. What do you think?" The picture of a woman came into view and if not for the pain I was experiencing, my eyes would probably go wide in shock.
An incredibly beautiful woman, one he had never seen before and yet, the feeling she gave him made him grow nostalgic.
"Are you certain? I mean, his eyes have been glowing ever since you gave birth to him. The patriarch said even he can't identify what kind of eyes he possesses. Don't you want to give him a more heroic name?" He heard the voice of a male.
Although he couldn't see it, he was sure that the man was nearby. He had a chuckling tone that was filled with seemingly endless warmth.
"Yes I'm sure. And as for his eyes, there is no need to bother about the changes in its color. As our son, he is certainly destined for great things, it's not surprising". The woman smiled lovingly.
Suddenly, the scene changed.
A strong sense of loss suddenly washed over me, causing me to feel empty, but an even stronger sense of pain came following on its tail.
The new scene was different. My vision showed me a massive city right in front of me. It was currently dark outside, and the city was filled with glorious lights and bustling streams of people.
In the distance, I could see multitudes of flying ships I had never seen before. From the vague outlook, I could only guess their use to be for transport purposes.
"This is Emerald city, little one".
The voice of the woman sounded again. This time, however, I couldn't see her face, but that didn't stop her from uttering her words.
"Your father went on a trip and I can't take you out for now. But soon, my little Larson, you'll see the beauty of it all for yourself". The woman giggled slightly, her tone containing joy and some slight worry.
Disregarding the pain, I reached out my arm subconsciously as a trace of longing appeared on my face. However, it seemed like the memory flashes had reached its end as my vision started to darken.
Yet still, the ethereal voice of what I could only assume to be my mother called out from the memories, as if it were transversing through the great void.
"Till w-we see each other, oh how I hope. Do not forget w…wh…ere you co…"
Silence took over as everything seemed to return to its original state of calmness.
The pain continued for a few minutes until it gradually receded, causing me to open my tightly clenched fists. Without me realizing, teardrops had already formed on my eyelids.
However..... they didn't fall.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm the turbulent emotions raging within my heart as I processed the information that I had received right now.
Everywhere should have been calm and quiet as if time had been put to a stop or at least slown down to a certain extent to accommodate the mood. However, the weather had a different thought in mind as the heavy breezes were soon after accompanied by rainfall.
As if the heavens were acknowledging my throbbing heart, the rain fell heavily, causing the originally pungent smell of blood to be diluted and washed away in the rain.
Blood flowed in different areas, carried by the rainwater on the now murky soil, and yet, the atmosphere surrounding me was as solemn as it could get.
My eyes which had been closed when the rain fell for reasons known to only me opened abruptly. However, those eyes of mine now contained nothing else but indifference and coldness.
Reminiscing on the memories from earlier, I discovered that those last words which didn't play out in the memories completely were interlaced with different emotions.
Like fear, sadness, anxiety and more. Nevertheless, although I had gotten a certain percentage of the answers I wanted, I was only left with more questions which I knew I couldn't answer. So, I didn't bother trying to.
However, I now knew my next step to take in this world.
"Those buildings, that city..... It's definitely not something you can see in the Outlands. That means that if I want to discover where I'm really from, then my first goal is to leave the Outlands".
I said calmly with a hint of resolve within my tone. Those flying ships were absolutely not something you could find within somewhere as backward and primitive as the Outlands.
At the very least, you would need to go to the next layer of the lower divide and step away from the Outlands.
However, it would be very difficult, if not outright impossible, for a normal cultivator to try to travel to the next layer. This was because the Outlands in its entirety was blocked by a natural obstacle which they found difficult to bypass.
The Everdark forest.
The hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land which comprised the Outlands was divided into four kingdoms. And each kingdom had a ruling king or queen as well as several clans, nobles, tribes, and prefectures in their territory.
It also had varying powers, alliances, organizations and some sects as well which had carved out their territories using nothing but their blood, sweat, and strength. And the Outlands which made up all those territories were blocked by the Everdark forest as a natural barrier.
Several hundred thousand kilometers of landmass consisting of nothing more than dense vegetation and extremely cruel and viscous environments.
It had deadly swamps, perilous mountains, poisonous quicksand's, death fogs and man's greatest enemy. Spirit beasts!
The fog region in which Starfall Valley rested in was also a part of the Everdark forest, and the strength of the Spirit beasts within were nothing to scoff at. With the average strength of the spirit beasts in its perimeters at the seventh level of Qi Spirit realm while the strength of the highest known cultivator in the Outlands was reported to be in the Seventh or eight levels, one could see how much of an impossible task this would be.
The deeper one ventured, the stronger the strength of the spirit beasts.
Just one random seventh level Qi Spirit realm monster from the outer perimeter would be able to wreak havoc in the Outlands. Luckily, the Mana Qi within the forest was denser, making it nothing less of a blessed land to beasts and leaving them extremely reluctant to leave.
While trying to go in the opposite direction would lead to the infinite ocean, which was even less of an option unless you could fly.
The difficulty of this task was plain to see, but for me, such a problem didn't even exist.
I rubbed my chin with a thoughtful yet determined expression on my face.
"My guardians did send me out of the exiled region to gain experience. I guess it won't be long now before I have to leave the Outlands". Leaving this place had never been the issue at all.
Since I have now discovered that I was never from this place, then it's only natural that I leave, right?
If I wanted, I could probably leave for the next layer of the lower divide right this instant. However, some things should not be rushed.
"It won't be proper if I were to simply get up and leave at the moment. I still have some things to take care of. I also can't leave those old coots in that hellhole now, can I?and then there is my exclusive soul energy generator, I have to deal with him somehow".
Shaking my head, I decided. In no more than six months time, perhaps even less, I would leave the Outlands on my journey.
"But first things first". I woke up from my thoughts and looked around.
The rain was still pouring heavily and a lot of blood had been washed off in a certain direction. The three words made of blood had long faded, and even the corpse spiral no longer looked like how it once was.
As for me... My body had been cleaned by the rainwater to a certain extent.
At least I wasn't as bloody as I once was.
But still, I should probably find out where I am now and how to get back to the ruins. Take a bath, get new clothes and.... Oh, probably some food as well.
My stomach rumbled before I finished, prompting me to add my last sentence.
Furthermore, I should probably check my records later to see if there were any changes while I was... subconscious. I close my eyes and try to hone my auditory sensory organs.
But due to the heavy rain, it becomes extremely difficult to hear anything. After standing there for a few minutes, I suddenly opened my eyes and look east.
"I'm not exactly sure, but east it is, I guess".
Without further ado, I leaped into the sky and flew into the night.
[End of Lars POV]