Chapter 5
Just then I heard a deep voice, commanding even.
"You, come with me."
I just laid there and pretended to act 'asleep', or in this case, dead.
"Don't make me repeat myself, sister is waiting. I know you are alive and awake."
I could feel his energy intensify, so I knew playing dead until now wont get me very far. His energy was so tense it was like he was going to kill me.
I got up, still looking toward the ground embarrassed.
"Come with me. Now" he commanded with so much confidence that he left out the door expecting me to follow him. So I did. We went up the stairs, dodging all the bodies and still squirming bodies of fallen warriors. As soon as we got out, the patriarch's lavish mansion, the same mansion he claimed that he spent a hard time watching us from breaking our backs, went up in flames, the structure almost consumed immediately.
"Here, wear this for the meantime." He handed his jacket to me.
I wore only some short pants and a hairband to tie up all my hair.
I wore the jacket and stole a glance at the warrior. He was a big man, with arms as thick as tree trunks and fists bigger than a turkey. His figure was, although big, very muscular. He had very short hair, and was dark skinned. He must have very good stamina, as we've been running for minutes straight now.
I noticed that the lesser energy of this world is very easy to manipulate and gather. The navitas is about 10 times as hard, considering the depth and density of the prison.
"Venus, could I beat him?" I asked.
"Considering your level of training as of now, you at most won't die. You most definitely will not be able to touch him. He's no problem for me, though" she boasted.
There are times that I would have loved to give some people a beating, and now was one of them. I asked for a general opinion, the side-tracked insult and the self praise wasn't necessary.
"Ughh, whatever" I sighed.
Suddenly the man stopped. We were running at such a speed that I could not make out the surroundings until now. All those years mining overtime really built my stamina. We were at the coast, and of course all the ships but were set ablaze, some already ashes and wrecks.
About 100 feet to our right hand side there was one ship that was not set on fire, although looking different from the ones that we had, I only read of these kinds of strange looking ships in books that I stole, even though texts about machines were hard to come by. It was a steam-powered ship.
I could make up about 20 people on the ship, the ship being huge in size, enough to fit about 60 people.
"Get on the ship, the one you've been staring at."
I got in the ship and noticed each person, hard looking, some with scars, all about my age, some looking slightly older. I could notice from their formation that the female in the center was their leader.
"Josiah, who have you come with?" she said in a soft tone. She was beautiful, stunning even, although nowhere close to Venus. If not for Venus, I would have been stunned all over again. I was able to pull myself together quickly enough.
"Were beautiful women always this common?" I thought to myself.
"He's a prisoner I freed, I thought he might be useful," he replied.
"Bring him to me," she said. She seems to always have a faint smile. Was it fake? I wouldn't have known.
The warrior, whose name was Josiah, nudged me to move forward.
I stumbled lazily, and moved towards her, ignoring all the gazes that I could feel from the others.
They were all dressed as warriors, some holding bows, others swords, another an Iron staff, some a spear and so on.
I got closer to her and noticed she was an elf. Her ears were pointy, skin smooth and pale, and her hair white.
She gently held my chin.
"What Is your name?" she asked.
"My name is Muna," I replied.
"Muna…. Follow me, Muna" she said as she walked near a door. The two other people that seemed to follow her around, went along with her. One opened the door, and the other stood guard beside her.
We went into the cabin, after a series of stairs, of course. The cabin was made of wood, which was weird considering the rest of the ship was made up of steel. She sat on a stool and urged me over to a chair on the other side of the room. Which was weird, because I thought we were having a personal conversation.
"Where do I start?" She sighed.
"Maybe with your name, miss?" I said jokingly.
"Hah, you're a cheerful one" She said as a serious tone took over.
I sat up.
"To put it simply, will you join us?" she asked.
"Why would you ask that? I don't know anything about you guys" I revolted.
"I'll make it as short as can be."
Exactly 10 years ago, the War of Geddon, or the Geddish war kicked off. It was a war between everyone which started between the murim alliance and the Demonic faction. The murim alliance wanted some land near the demonic settlement which was split among them evenly. The cultists refused, and so the war ensued. The murim faction was losing, due to lack of the concentration of masters at the time. Most of them, including Emperor Xilan, were away somewhere in seclusion training. The murim alliance was getting massacred, mercilessly by the cultists, who left nothing alive– children, women sick and elderly. They even slaughtered the animals and put fire to every state conquered. While this was happening for a good year or so, the emperor who barely held everything together, died of poisoning. Then war was waged between the alliance for the throne, as the only heir he left– an unknown girl, who obviously was not of age, went into hiding. War among the alliance and against all the cults of the demonic faction waged for another 2 months. Then Xilan showed up. He single-handedly neutralized all of the demonic faction and kidnapped its leader. He then did the same for the 7 families and 9 sects. Then he 'forced' peace on them, on the condition that they do not quarrel for the next 14 years, and he won't intervene in the next war.
"What is my business in all these? I asked absentmindedly.
"I am that child that went into hiding, 10 years ago. I want you to help me, no, help us reclaim the murim alliance and defeat those demonic idiots."
I just sat there dumbfounded.