"Thump Thump Thump!"
A dark-haired man was running in the dark woods as fast as he could while holding his bleeding abdomen, the countless trees grew blurry from his view as he ran tiredly
"Tch! Those damn barbarians, if only I saw it coming then none of this would've happened..."
The man grunted quietly under his breath, his gaze sullen as he cast his armour onto the soil, desperate to shed its weight. Suddenly, a sharp killing intent brushed against his neck. Instinct took over and he dodged to his left.
But he wasn't fast enough; The dark arrow whistled through the air, piercing clean through his shoulder and embedding itself deep into a nearby tree.
"Ugh! Damn it."
He groaned as he tried to hold his shoulder but immediately let go at the slightest sound; his gaze was attracted toward a faint shine that appeared through the gaps of the tree leaves and managed to dodge the next five arrows consecutively and hide behind a large trunk.
He then looked at the artifact that he was gripping in his left hand ready to be used at the slightest mishap.
"Do I have to use it this early?"
he said with a hardened gaze but then saw a red smoke permeating the dark sky: he hurriedly focused his mental energy into the weird looking obsidian stone with weird symbols drawn on it seeing that the enemy who shot him had called for allies.
Light suddenly appeared on the symbols and the dark-haired man felt his mental state deplete by a quarter as his body was now camouflaged like the trees and soil. He didn't stop to rest as he knew the cooldown of this artifact was already limited and focused all his energy to reach his hometown, the village which he was born in.
"I hope it is still ther-"
A sudden gasp escaped his throat as he started coughing into his hand. He saw blood and a small but extremely red centipede with a skull-shaped head; he immediately threw it away but knew that it was too late to realize it now.
"poison blood centipede!?" He scoffed as he stepped on it and mashed it to bits.
"Heh...to think kingdoms of so-called righteousness would work with these demon figures just to come kill me."
The man known as Crius understood his situation clearly, but even at the face of death his expression remained as calm and deep as the ocean.
He ran until he couldn't, he walked until he started limping, his head was too dizzy already to focus on where he was headed due to the effect of the poison.
Suddenly he stumbled and tried to regain his balance by holding a branch but it was too light to support his weight, thus causing him to fall on the dirt.
"Finally...I'm here."
He grumbled lightly; followed with a choked laugh and then focused his gaze upon an ancient slab of stone with ancient writing on it.
Since the beginning, this end was something that he had foreseen and was prepared for, when he made his decision in the beginning he had already prepared himself for this conclusion.
"Sigh...I don't know in which place and time or world am I going to be reincarnated by using this thing."
"Regardless, as long as I get a second chance I'll make sure not to repeat my mistakes again."
Slowly but with resolute, Crius walked to the slab with a dagger and sat cross legged with his back on it.
As his hand gripped the dagger, his heart wavered as memories of who this dagger belonged to surfaced throughout his mind. He took a deep breath as he started reciting the ancient prayer.
"O-slave of fate and the firstborn of the unknown, disgraced from the truth; you have walked these lands and spread fear, cowardness, and treachery to all races."
Crius aimed the dagger's tip to his throat slowly as it started drawing blood, his hands were shaking but his gaze unwavering as he recited the last sentence
"Have created this treasure of yours filled with loathe toward fate and thus...marking the first prophecy to the war of the severed realms."
"I, Crius Nightstar, bestow my soul to you in exchange for another chance!"
With that Crius thrusted the dagger into his throat as a pained groan escaped from his throat and blood began to gash out. Crius started gripping his dagger shudderingly with a pained expression as some tears fell down from his eyes due to how painful it was.
...
After 5 minutes of desperation, the grip of Crius's hand suddenly lost all of its power as his body fell on the weird stone. After some time, the weird stone's runic letters shone a strange yet divine bright light within as it disappeared, taking with it Crius's corpse.
***
It was raining quietly on a village near towering mountain, the village was led by a clan called fang.
It was already late at night, so the cold breeze was mixed with the fall of the rain. The village and the mountain weren't covered in darkness as dozens of flickering lights were shining all around the buildings in the village, from high buildings to small houses, shops and restaurants.
Although the number of lights was not more than a couple of thousands, it was enough to light up most of the village in a beautiful and serene manner.
In the middle of this village was a large building, a magnificent ceremony was taking place at this moment. There were more than 15 people inside all wearing white robes.
"We pray in this year's talent evaluation that our clan's younglings will bring many young talents and geniuses who will be able to bring new hopes and dreams to our clans!"
The head of the Fang clan slowly raised his glass as he announced to the people who ranged from clan elders, influential people and important members.
After the head announced his words, the sounds of discussion began spreading throughout the place.
"Four years have already passed since our fang clan has produced a B rank talent...it's a shame to the nearby clans!"
"I agree, it's been a long time since we have seen a good talent emerge in our clan"
"I hope this year's evaluation will bring many talented youths "
"Aside from the new geniuses that appeared in the Xun clan and the Ni clan, we are the only clan that didn't have a genius appear in our clan in the span of these 5 years!"
"Indeed, the Xun and the Ni clan had three geniuses appear for them in the span of these years unlike the Fang clan. The only thing holding us at the top is the past of our alliance leader being from the fang clan and the clan leader being a fourth level essence user." One of the robed men voiced in disdain.
"Especially that new genius from the Xun clan is monstrous, I heard his talent's aptitude is already B rank!"
"I heard he's also already a level three essence user."
Many of the elder's expressions started to worry at the mention of the rising genius of the Xun clan, even the Fang clan's leader eyebrows furrowed upon hearing the name.
Xun Liu's talents were extraordinary indeed, being able to become a grade 3 low tier essence user in the span of 5 years was nothing but the works of a miracle!
The clan elders wouldn't even be surprised or doubt it if he became a strong pillar of the Xun clan and also one of the strongest people to come yet from their clan alliance.
"Regardless, let's hope in this year that we may be blessed with new young prodigies."
"You're right, there's the younger son of Luo Feng, able to talk at 4 months, and walk at 6 months. I heard he took after his father's talent with the sword too. It's a pity that his parents have passed away and his elder brother is a D rank only."
The head of the clan Fang clan already knew who this Luo Chi was, being the clan leader he naturally focused his attention on the future candidates and this Luo Chi happened to also be quite famous around the village as the most promising candidate. It was shown that those who were geniuses from birth had a good chance of awakening a promising talent aptitude!
With that as his final thought, the clan leader knocked on the table three times to gain the attention of the people.
"Guests, the hour is late and we have to be prepared for tomorrow's evaluation; today's ceremony is concluded."
"And keep in mind, anyone who tries to interfere immorally with the evaluation will have severe punishment, no tricks or conspiracies are allowed!"
The clan leader concluded with a stern expression.
"We wouldn't dare!"
"We'll keep it mind"
"Please take care."
...
At the same time, faraway in the Luo household
Crius opened his eyes with a gasp as he quickly held his throat.
"I'm alive...I did it..."
He slowly sat up and walked to the window as he took a look at the quiet and serene village that he was just reincarnated in.
His gaze fixated on his palm that was nearly close to teenage years from his observation then slowly clenched his palm tightly .
"A second chance starting from a young age...."
"Adam...Elira...Eldrich" His heart filled with sorrow as he remembered his younger brother's sacrifice, his wife and his loyal servant. But then anger and killing intent spread out.
"Mark my words Thyrrhen, I promise with my entire being to wipe out your entire kingdom with every wisp of my power as long as I'm breathing!"
his eyes shone with anger as he unclasped his palm: for he knew that the reality that he was currently in was nothing but his beginning.
.....
Since ancient times it was said that four stone tablets existed throughout Crius's world, each possessing an unusual but mythical tale. The stone tablet that Crius used was the tablet of reincarnation and by sacrificing one's own soul to it, one could travel to a different world from the one they were originally in.
Many people had divided opinions regarding the tales of this tablet, and few dared to believe it. The sacrificial requirement for this tablet was simply too crazy!
To use one's life as a sacrifice to the tablet without knowing if the rumors and tales were true, only a madman would dare to try!
It was just a shame that it couldn't be brought after using it, since one wouldn't know if the world they went to was in the same star system or another.
Only by becoming strong enough could one have the ability to travel to another star system freely!
To no avail, being able to be given another chance was already a precious thing, now that I am reborn I have to regain my cultivation again!
"The body I gained hasn't even stepped on the path of cultivation, making me a mortal right now. I also need to find treasures and without a cultivation trying to find one is like trying to find a four-leaf clover through a field full of three-leaf clovers."
The obstacle that Crius had to pass right now was cultivation.
Thanks to his past experience and memories, the only thing he had to worry about was resources. And in order to find some, the easiest path was to get into a sect and become a disciple.
The second path was far riskier and it was to leave this village and venture out to find a cultivation city."
"With the state I am in, it would be dangerous to travel in the wild across the mountains. Even ordinary wild beasts would be able to take my life easily. I have to quickly enter a sect and gain a minimum cultivation of a second-level Essence User so I can gain the means to protect myself against other Essence Users."
As Crius concluded his thoughts he wandered throughout the house, he suddenly overheard voices in the living room. One was a teenager while the other was an older man. The older man was respectful to the teenager and his posture was formal so it was easy to guess that his status was of lower rank than the youth.
"Luo Chi Young Master, Tomorrow is the awakening ceremony. Make sure to rest and gather your energy for tomorrow's evaluation. I'm sure with your intelligence you will gain a B rank aptitude!"
"You are praising me too much, Wang Xi," Luo Chi said with a light flush of pride.
"I mean you know my older brother gained a below average aptitude of D rank."
"Nonsense Young Master! Whether Luo Yun Young Master awakened a below tier just means that he didn't inherit your father's bloodline! The Young Master had already inherited the attainment of the sword like Master Luo Feng!" the servant voiced resolutely as he saw Luo chi's expression"
As Luo Chi was returning to his room, he stumbled upon Luo Yun and looked at him with a polite smile, but Crius could feel there was a hint of disdain hidden behind that smile as he walked past him.
Even though they were both born from the same womb, Luo Chi always felt that his brother was a thorn that he couldn't get rid of in his life.
Every time people walked around him, older or his age they'd mention his brother who had one of the worst talents in the clan, when they mentioned him he would always feel anger and shame for having such a useless older brother who didn't have talent, nor the smarts.
Crius could feel the hidden disdain from his younger brother as he walked by and chose to ignore it, there was no point in pointing out the negative view people had of you. Everyone had their own view, and there was no point in arguing with prejudice rooted so deeply.
As he walked back to his room, he rummaged throughout his items and concluded what this body's original soul had.
"four spirit crystals which could be used to exchange and gain energy to cultivate, some white clothes, and a short journal"
The journal didn't speak of much, it was mostly Luo Yun's original soul venting about his inability and frustrations, so Crius skimmed past it and managed to gather some information about the kind of place he was in.
He was Luo Yun, a mortal with a D rank aptitude in a clan called the Fang clan, which was part of the three clan Mountain Alliance which consisted of the Fang, Xun, and Ni clan. The clan with the most authority was the Fang clan due to the clan being a fourth-level upper tier Essence User!
The Luo household consisted of two members and three servants, one being the servant of the late master which was Luo Yun's father, his daughter, and also an old woman who was assigned after the passing of the parents.
Luo Yun concluded with final words of shame and wishing that he had a better talent.
Even after reading this whole journal, Crius didn't have any pity for this sort of person because he didn't know him and could only view this life as a story.
"Fate has bestowed me another chance from a young age, but gave me a body that has one of the worst aptitudes and physiques in the world of essence users.
But I am Crius Nightstar! Even if I have to stray to the demon's path I shall return to my old world!" Luo Yun's dark eyes shone with dark light as he looked at the high moon.