Chapter 13: The Creation of a Demon
"He did it?"
"He really did it after so long; someone finished the trials of the Pagoda."
The voices of different people were heard in the background. The voices of young and old people, even those of children, were heard.
"Silence," The voice of an old man spoke, which caused all of the noise to stop.
"Rom al lordo," The voice called out this time to the soul of Tom, who laid on the ground of the last Trial, a broken soul that couldn't hear anything or anyone. The voice didn't really care if Tom heard him or not. It spoke those words for a deeper reason. Those words triggered a profound transformation, causing Tom's shattered soul to teleport and change locations from the ninth floor to an unknown place in the Pagoda, a place where there was only a lonely man.
"You did quite the damage on your soul, young man. You are truly fortunate to have me here to fix it."
The old man moved his index finger and pointed it at Tom, making a white holy light shine out of it and enter Tom's soul. Once it entered his soul, the cracks on it started to mend themselves from looking like a broken cup into a new one in seconds. And while Tom's appearance looked younger and younger, the old man's image changed to an even more worn-out look than ever, then just as fast as it came, it returned to his original self as if it was all but an illusion.
Tom, who was lying on the ground, started to stand up looking at this old man as he tried to gather his thought, but he didn't realize who he was in front of. His thoughts were all entangled by all that had happened.
Tom didn't have the energy to be his usual analytical self because of all the fatigue that he had accumulated over the last couple of floors here, so he simply asked, "Who who are you?"
The old man had a mocking smile on his face that was directed at no one and everyone at the same time. It was directed to the universe itself and at himself as he told Tom the following words.
"The four seasons pass, and those who thought themselves immortals will fall in the fall."
"Samsara is but one example of the end we all face."
"Some champions die on the battlefield and return to Samsara, and from that, they grow."
"Others weather with time, waiting until their time comes."
"I am but a lonely man at his end."
"The fire that I once carried died out."
"The passion that I once had got crushed by the world."
"The dreams that once made me who I am disappeared, returning to the realm of illusion."
"All that is left of me is but this old shell."
"I have but a spark of fire left; it's but a drop of passion, one last dream to fulfill."
"I, the lord of reincarnation, ask of you, forsaker of your world, to carry on to reach a peak that I couldn't reach. I ..."
A poem or a cry for help? Tom wasn't sure which one was it, and while he might have been moved a little by whatever that was, he didn't think he had any empathy in him to spare for this old man.
"Wait a second, did he just call himself the lord of reincarnation? The same lord of reincarnation who made me go through this hellish Pagoda?" Tom didn't know if he should try to kill this old man for making him go through all of the hardships that he went through or if he should be thankful to him for giving him this opportunity.
"Angry, aren't you? I don't blame you after risking your life and your everything just to come and see this decrepit man. What pathetic sight to behold, isn't it. I was actually planning on changing my appearance to look like a young man, but the last of my energy was already used on healing your soul."
Tom had a puzzled look on his face. The so-called lord of reincarnation, a person who should have been an all-powerful being, looked like this, "What do you mean? Aren't you supposed to be an immortal or know at least guide me to immortality? I didn't go through hell and back just to talk to you."
Tom's rationality was reaching its end. The only reason he kept on fighting was for that reward that would help him get closer to his goal, and this old man that looked like he couldn't help himself was the lord of reincarnation.
"Haha, the fervor of youth, what an incredible thing to have. Though I may appear to be nearing my journey's end, fear not, for the promised reward is not a deceit. Sight, our conversation must be brief, as your soul's restoration remains incomplete, and your current disposition reveals an urgency I cannot ignore."
"I shall give it to you shortly. However, before I bestow it upon you, I feel compelled to offer a smaller token as compensation for the incomplete healing of your soul."
Once, the lord of reincarnation said that a fire started to light in the room, a fire that Tom was quite familiar with.
"Yang Yang?" asked Tom. After all, It had been a while since they last met each other.
"What are you doing here? I thought that your job would be done once someone succeeded in completing the Pagoda and finished the last Trial." Tom wanted to know about Yang Yang's situation. He was the first person Tom met when he reached this weird place.
"Will, mister, I think you will shortly understand after receiving my master's first gift." Yang Yang had a downcast look on his face. He didn't act like his usual playful self, and after he said that, he looked at his master with an even sadder look.
The lord of reincarnation noticed that look and told him, "Child, it's time. I have made many mistakes over the years. However, the biggest mistake I have made was dragging you here with me."
"Don't say that, master. I was the one that chose to accompany you to find your inheritor." Yang Yang replied, not wanting to agitate his master.
In this deep-hearted conversation between a master and his eternal servant, there was a young man that didn't really understand what any of the two meant. Both of them spoke as if this was their last moment.
"Thomas, right?" the lord of reincarnation asked, knowing full well the answer, but he asked anyway.
"Yes sir," Tom starting to regain a bit of his rationality, answered him.
"Did you hear of the veil? Legends have it of a veil that covers the eyes of every mortal across the verse. It was made to protect mortals from seeing something that they can't fathom. There are many rumors and stories about how it came to be, but no one knows the truth. Some say it was created by an all-powerful being, and others say it was created at the beginning of the universe." The lord of reincarnation told Tom about this secret, waiting for Tom's reaction.
"What? Why would a powerful being be bothered with creating a veil to protect the mortals?" Tom thought, not daring to ask this question, only waiting for the lord of reincarnation to continue.
Looking at Tom's reaction, the lord of reincarnation thought that Tom wasn't going to ask any questions, so he continued from where he left off, "You must have been wanting to ask me about why I am telling you all of this, right?"
Tom didn't think of that at all, but he still said, "Yeah, sir, I was just about to ask you that."
"Will, since you are so curious, I am going to tell you. I am going to remove the veil that has covered your eyes since you were a child, and while this will only last for seconds, with my protection, you might gain a deeper understanding of this vast universe."
"Thank you?" Tom knew that his reaction was duller than usual, but this injury of his seemed to cause him to be uncaring a bit of the situation.
The lord of reincarnation said, "Don't worry about the injury. Once you reach that place, your injury will recover."
Not waiting much longer, the lord of reincarnation snapped his fingers together, causing Tom to see.
This feeling I feel as if this is the first time I can see everything. I feel as if I was a blind man opening my eyes for the first time.
The sky's full of worlds of different sizes and shapes, the beings that ruled those worlds and the beings that traveled from and to other worlds.
"The starry sky" would be the best description of what Tom was looking at, although the things, or should I say stars, he was looking at weren't simply stars. Each one of those stars had a world inside of it, a world with a complete system. Some worlds were weak, with no magic, no cultivation; they could simply be called boring, just like Tom's world; although even those worlds were amazing in Tom's current perspective, everything he saw in his world was but a tinny bit of sand in the desert.
Tom felt a feeling that he didn't feel in a long time. He felt excited to see each and every one of those worlds while trying to reach true immortality.
Tom looked at the lord of reincarnation and Yang Yang wanting to thank them for this gift, only to see.
"You two are not real?" Tom's eyes were wide open, not understanding what was going on.
"No, no, it is not that you are not real, but you are remnants of a past self. A regret of the past, a memory perhaps." Tom looked sad? No, he can't be sad. After all, he is a demon in heart and soul, right?
"Forsaker of your world, it is not wrong for the heart of a demon to feel the misery of another. You only need to control this sadness and not make it stop you from reaching your goal. After all, the heart of a demon never dies." The lord of reincarnation spoke as if he was once a demon, but how could he? He acted all gentle was all of that but a facade that he put up to deceive Tom, or were all those immortal beings at the end but demons?
"What is a demon" Tom wanted to ask; however, he couldn't.
Tom saw too many things that a mortal mind can't normally see, so naturally, he was quite exhausted.
"We don't have much time a need to give you the second reward and send you on your way. After all, this place is going to collapse soon." The lord of reincarnation said with a hurry in his voice.
Tom didn't notice it previously because he was too focused on the lord of reincarnation and Yang Yang, but now that he had a look around him, he saw that multiple cracks covered this room, and from how deep they looked, it seemed that the Pagoda will only last for a couple more minutes.
"Fragment of Samsara. A never-ending journey. A Heaven and hell in One. Some seek it for the first part of their lives while trying to get rid of it for the rest of their lives. You will call it a gift at first and a curse at second. Please keep on fighting. Please keep on fighting for your dream. If you truly want to reach immortality, you will need to suffer like no one before you suffered." Moving his hand to his forehead and extracting what looked like a mark between his eyes.
A weirdly shaped gem floated in the air directed at Tom, and at that moment, with speed, it struck his head.
The lord of reincarnation and Yang Yang both pushed their palms at Tom generating a gust of wind that sent Tom floating out of the Pagoda to a place out of his soul sea and out of the world he had forsaken.
Tom couldn't think straight because of the headache he was feeling. However, he had one last chance to look at the Pagoda, a Pagoda which he challenged to reach his goal, and now that same Pagoda was collapsing in front of his eyes with all of its inhabitants, an old man, and a fire phoenix.
Tom, who was flying away at a momentum speed, believed himself a demon. Yet, despite this, he found himself at this moment shedding a tear for them. While he didn't know the two for long, he knew that they sacrificed everything they had to give him this chance.
As exhaustion tugged at the edges of his consciousness, Tom's eyes grew heavy, threatening to shut down. However, before letting them close, he made a vow to himself, "I will never shed a tear for you or me again. I will reach immortality at whatever cost I need to pay. I will sacrifice myself and others If I need to. I will become a demon."