The 5 year long journey: Part 3

"How can you feel so close to someone, yet feel so far away?"

-CJ

In an unknown time and location:

In an area that was mostly covered with vegetation, there were many beasts of all shapes and sizes wandering through the area. Some seemed to be completely normal.

As in to say they didn't undergo any changes like everything else after the "Awakening".

Their appearance was like those of deer. Other than that, there was nothing that made them different from all the other beasts.

These beasts were though, completely ignored or better said avoided by all the other beasts that had changed. For some reason, there was immense fear in the eyes of the changed beasts.

It was as if they knew that something was not right with those "normal" animals. As the unchanged animals continued to wander around for a while, something finally did happen.

Right at the front of the "normal" animals, a male deer lifted his head. His eyes shined as golden lights and his horns shined like pure silver. The fur of this deer also had a majestic appearance to it. Giving a feeling of raw and primal power, yet still giving a feeling of majestic elegance.

As the other changed beasts saw this, they all started kneeling on the ground, as if to honour and acknowledge the power of this deer.

The other normal deer behind their leading deer also underwent some changes, although not as spectacular as the main leading deer, they too all showed magnificent changes.

They too started kneeling in front of the main and leading deer, acknowledging his leadership over them.

Following this, a golden and majestic light started to shine over the leading deer, and a strong and majestic voice could be heard from this light,

"Hear all beasts and creatures that are present! We have chosen the king of the beasts. He and his flock shall lead your tribes into a new age! All beasts that are present shall be the founding members of the Empire of Beasts!" announced the voice with grandeur.

Following this, the voice and light disappeared. There was now a marked difference in all the beasts that were present.

They all had attained sentience and a large amount of intelligence, similar to that of humans. As they discovered their newfound abilities, the beasts all turned their eyes to their new king and his flock, that could be said to now be the royal tribe among all the other tribes.

As the main deer saw this it opened its mouth and spoke:

"Hear me my fellow-subjects, gather all the tribes that you can, for we shall no longer be separated. From here on I declare this ground the beginning of our empire, of our new home. This ground shall be called the "Anointed Forest". For this is where everything began and shall also be the foundation of everything we shall build on!" As the king of the beats proclaimed this, the other beasts roared in excitement as they then ran off to find their other tribe members to join their new empire.

This would be one of the first empires to be forged in this new era. It would be one that would take part in shaping this world with many other great powers.

But this would only happen much later, for they still were few, and they had a limited number of intelligent beasts. Once their foundation was set though, nothing would be able to stand in their way.

Location: Planet(Hyperion), City of the Celestials

Time: Unknown

Era: Unknown

In a grand golden hall that shined with majestic magnificence, there was a large floating oval table. The table seemed to have been made from the most precious materials and gems that ever existed. For it shined so greatly that it seemed like it would never diminish.

Around the table, were hundreds of golden thrones, these thrones did not have a specific design to them, for they were all created according to the individual characteristics of their masters.

For example, one throne even though it was still very beautiful, was very plain and rusty compared to all the other thrones. This throne belonged to one of the most mysterious and oldest members of this celestial faction. It was for Aforn.

Aforn, from what people could see, had always been a simple man. He had his hair tied back into a ponytail, and he wore simple plain clothes that would normally never be found on a celestial.

Although Aforn looked like nothing but a simple peasant, the people around him knew that he was anything but that. For the people sitting around the table were all high-celestials. Only they had the right to sit at the table. In contrast to what their soundings looked like the atmosphere of the hall was extremely silent and all the members had a solemn expression.

None of them spoke a word for they did not know what to say. A plan that they had set in motion many years previously, and had almost come into fruition, had been ruined and utterly dismantled. Additionally, the main perpetrator had vanished.

They did not know where he went to and it would be very hard to find him. They had many galaxies under their rule, and to go through all of them would take a very long time, and even then, who knew if Rogen even was still in their domain.

He might have escaped to the other factions, where they had absolutely no way to get him out.

Thinking about this, the celestials were all very solemn and extremely depressed. How should they go forward? Will their weakness be exploited? Would their domain fall to other factions? As this continued for a while, suddenly someone coughed and spoke:

"I know we are all very frustrated and concerned now. All the planning, all the resources we have invested for so many years! We are so far behind the other factions, that even if we invested everything into catching up, we would never be able to catch up."

"It is far too late for that," said Alforn with a bitter expression. As everyone heard this, they sighed with sadness- They who were once in top middle-ranking celestial factions, had now finally lost all hope in getting a higher position.

For in the last years, their position had continuously declined, and they were even overtaken by many factions they once deemed as trash.

Now they couldn't even look them in the eye. As everyone thought of this, Alforn spoke once more, but this time with more vigour and passion than they had ever seen before.

"But fret not. All hope is not lost. There is one and only one way we can get out of this disastrous situation!" said Alforn with his eyes blazing passion.

As the celestials saw this, hope once more appeared in their hearts. There was a way out for them to become once more become a high-ranking faction. To gain more power and to further strengthen themselves.

"But this way will be perilous, some of us might die! Especially the low-ranking celestials. But if we want to survive and become a great power, this is a cost we must pay!!! I have spoken with many of the other elders and our only solution is to merge with the world we lost," proclaimed Alforn with a serious expression.

Hearing this, many of the celestials were shocked! They couldn't believe what they were hearing. This only lasted for a while before most of them became extremely quiet and expectant.

One of the high-ranking celestials though raised his hand. He was young and had only recently attained the status of a high-ranking celestial.

He had dark brown hair and grey eyes. His attire was also very simple. He wore a grey robe and wore simple sandals. In contrast, he bore a stone sword on his side.

This stone sword, although looking very simple, had a dangerous aura to it. Making everyone who looked at it, raise an eyebrow.

As everyone looked at this celestial, they found it interesting that he seemed very similar to Alfron.

Even if they saw this and thought it, no one in their right mind would say it. As Alforn saw the celestial raising his hand, he furrowed his eyebrows and asked what that celestial wanted:

"What is it?" asked Alforn.

"Ummm... since I'm very new and only joined the higher ranks recently, I...uh...just wanted to know if uh...you could um...explain what this merging thing means." asked the young celestial with an embarrassed smile.

Seeing this Alforn sighed but continued to explain what the merging meant:

"Merging... it's an ancient technique that very few celestials have ever experienced. In a merging, all galaxies under a faction get moved into one galaxy, the one the faction chooses. In this merging, all planets that have life on them will be merged into the main planet that was chosen. With everything being combined, there is a much greater potential for growth and abundance in anything and everything. The galaxy itself will then grow at an extremely fast rate so that one day it will be so large, that it would be larger than all the galaxies it merged with. Once it has reached this level, the galaxy itself would undergo many other transformations. The only thing though, is that the success rate in doing a merging is abysmal. That is why a merging has only happened a few times in the past. For there were too many unsuccessful attempts which caused entire galaxies to become nothing but asteroids." Hearing this, the young celestial's eyes widened. He couldn't comprehend why they would even think then about doing something like this.

"I understand that you are apprehensive of this, but we have no other choice, we have invested far too much into that planet to now let it go.

Therefore, the other elders and I have decided that we shall begin with the preparations for the merging. We have already sent messengers to that world, to set up factions and prepare for our arrival and the merging." announced Alforn. Hearing this, the other celestials' eyes widened in anger.

How could they decide this without asking for everyone else's opinion? But that anger they had, soon abated, for they knew their power combined couldn't even scratch the elders.

Observing this, Alforn smiled and spoke once more:

"This plan would usually take many millennia to come into fruition, but because of the way things have developed, we now only have to wait a few years for this plan to be enacted" said Alfron with a confident smile.

"If we start sending low-ranking celestials over to that planet, and after they have all departed and arrived there, we will send high-ranking celestials-

This will then only need 13 years for our plan to be enacted," explained Alfron.

Hearing this, everyone gasped, for they had never heard of a merging that was so fast.

Many celestials were convinced by Alforn's words and were already excitedly waiting for what was to happen next.

Some celestials though, were not that easily convinced, although they did not show it. For they knew if they did, they would be instantly be killed and removed and their planets might be wiped out.

"Now that I have your attention, I need you all to prepare yourselves for the mission ahead. If we are not careful that world, in the end, might just kill us and turn us into something that could benefit it and its inhabitants.

Now you are dismissed! Prepare yourselves fellow celestials for what is to come," as he said that, Alforn floated away with a group of other celestials, leaving the rest to gather their thoughts on what had just happened.

Location: Unending Primal Forest

Time: Year 13 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

"Senior....! We have been coming back and forth to this forest for the last 3 years. Can we please stop doing this?" asked Helena while making puppy eyes in Evelyn's direction.

"Don't look at me that way. You and I both know you've also somewhat benefitted in coming with me every time. And you know I can't just easily give up." said Evelyn with a small smirk on her normally expressionless face.

"Agh...senior, why is it, that only in times like these do you show emotion," said Helena while pouting.

"Now now...I feel we are very close, maybe just a few more times and we'll finally find what I am looking for," said Evelyn with a confident expression.

"Sure...yeah...like you haven't said that the last how many times," mumbled Helena to herself.

"What did you say?" asked Evelyn with a creepy smile.

"Uh...nothing!!! Nothing senior sister!!! You're always right and I'm wrong..." said Helena with a frantic expression.

"Hmmm...that's right...now let's get going," said Evelyn as she started walking off.

Seeing that she was saved, Helena breathed a sigh of relief as she ran after her senior sister with a silly smile.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the Unending Primal Forest:

"Ugh...blegh!!!!" the sound of a man violently vomiting could be heard. It sounded like his entire body was in the process of being puked out.

After a while, though the horrendous noises finally stopped, and a hoarse voice could be heard.

"Where the hell am I? Who am I?" asked the man. He was extremely thin and pale. He looked like a bag of skins and bones.

The man was in a small wooden hut and he was covered only by a thin animal hide. As he observed his surroundings, someone walked into the hut.

"Ah finally awake are you...welcome stranger." said a friendly-looking old man. This old man was short, but he was still very fit for his age. He had messy grey hair on his head and light blue eyes.

Additionally, the old man had, for some reason, an old, ruined, once fancy suit on. How this suit had survived for so long, only the old man knew.

As the young man saw him, he was confused, who was this weird old man in front of him.

"Who are you? Where are we?" he asked in confusion.

"Ah me...I'm no one...and where we are, that my friend is a very good question...one that I can't answer. And as to who you are...you're my disciple...you got into an accident and lost all of your memories." said the old man with a caring smile.

"Your disciple...if I am your disciple...why the heck do I feel like I'm about to die of malnutrition?!" shouted the man in anger.

"I couldn't do anything about it... every time I tried to feed you, you puked a few hours later."

"If you hadn't woken up soon, I think you would have soon died. Thankfully, your body still had some power in it to preserve your vitality while you were in a coma." said the man with a thankful expression.

"Hmpf...fine if what you said is true...what's my name." asked the man as he looked at the old man with a less furious expression.

"You're name? It's Temarr." said the old man with a mischievous smile. For only he knew what that name meant.

The name in the man's language was "Rejected by the Water!"

"Temarr...fine...since you say you're my master, I'll follow you for a while to see if what you say is true," said Temarr as he struggled to stand up.

"Rest my disciple...I'll bring you food...and I'm happy that you've decided to stay my disciple." said the old man with a mischievous smile while walking out of the hut.

Following this, who would have expected that just a few years later, the epic tales of an old man and overpowered disciple would spread throughout the world and beyond?

Location: River of Greed, Faction Harbour

Time: Year 13 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

At the now ruined harbour, a large ship approached it. Compared to the other ships at the dock, this ship was in pristine condition.

As the ship docked, all its crew moved out of the ship and onto the dock. As they were all standing around, a fat ball was running towards them.

"Finally, you're back!!! Damn you fools! If you were any later, the main overseer would have had my head! Now captain, bring your vice-captain with you and follow me!!!" shouted the fat man as he quickly started running back.

Following this, the captain and Colin hastily ran after the man. After a few minutes of running, they came to a spot where they saw other fellow captains and their vice-captains.

As they got to them, no one spoke. For they knew they would surely die if they said anything that would irritate the main overseer.

As they waited, the main overseer appeared in front of them like a ghost.

"KNEEL!!!" screamed the main overseer in contempt. As the captains and vice-captains heard this, they felt an overwhelming pressure on their bodies forcing them down.

Even though they could resist it, they didn't dare try. For they knew the temper of the main overseer.

"Good!!! You, worthless slaves, are at least good at something!

Now listen I don't have much time to waste on you trash, so I will only say it once! I want you for the next two years to capture as many people as possible and bring them here.

We need a lot of slaves for all the work that needs to be done! If you fail to bring in a multitude of slaves, I'll torture you and your entire crew to death!!!" spat the main overseer with cold contemptuous eyes.

While saying this, he suddenly disappeared. Upon observing this, the captains' and their vice-captains' quickly ran back to their ships, for they did not want to even think of getting themselves and their crews tortured by that evil bastard's hands.

"Captain...the only way to get a very large number of slaves, is to...raid and pillage communities," said Colin who was completely overwhelmed.

"I know, but what else can we do." said the captain with a solemn expression. Hearing this Colin became silent.

He wished he didn't have to do this, but he had no other choice. He had to survive.

Following this. There was a huge upheaval in the areas close to the "Foundation Faction" mines borders.

Many communities were razed down and pillaged. So many atrocities happened that no one could keep count anymore.

This event would later be known as the pillaging of atrocities. Leaving a dark mark in history.

Location: Underground Mining Area 50-G

Time: Year 13 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

Deep in the caverns, the situation wasn't much better. Many people had died.

Of the once 150 strong groups. Only 50 in total had survived.

Stevens group had no casualties. While most groups were either already wiped out or only had a few members left.

Strangely enough, the man with a weird moustache still had around 10 members left with him.

Although, if one thought about how many people he lost, this wasn't exactly a very positive number.

Exhaustion could be seen in every group's faces. For they had been constantly moving and fighting their way forward for the last 3 years.

After fighting for so long and moving without rest, many people were at the point of a breakdown.

Despite this though, they still carried on, for they knew if they stopped, they would die! At every corner, there was some grotesque or even worse a cute creature that wanted to gruesomely gobble them up.

As Steven thought about his group, he couldn't help but think about the other groups and sigh.

"What are you sighing about Steven?" asked Xiang while stroking his beard. Which in his opinion, was very manly and magnificent. It gave him a sense of pride as he constantly showed it off to his group.

This though, irritated the group greatly. It came to a point, where they were even making plans to bind Xiang and shave off his beard.

As Xiang found out about this though, he was very careful and dared not to brag too much to the group, not wanting his majestic beard to be ruined by his evil group members.

"Ah...I don't know...it's just I can't help but feel bad for the other groups. I don't think they are as lucky as we have been," sighed Steven while regretfully shaking his head.

"Sorry? Feel bad for them? Why should you? They made their decision we made ours. This world doesn't have room for second chances and pity Steven.

You need to finally understand that. Otherwise, you'll just get exploited for your kindness and naivety Steven," declared Xiang with a serious expression as he stared at Steven.

"I understand," said Steven while frowning.

He thought that he knew Xiang and the rest well enough and that they had even changed. But it seemed he was wrong; he didn't know them well enough and they hadn't changed that much.

For he saw many members of the group nodding in agreement with what Xiang had said. Thinking of this, Steven couldn't help but feel a little bit down and think of why everything had changed.

What Steven didn't realise though was that, the people had changed a lot. But they mostly changed regarding how they were with each other, mainly, through Steven and his influence. For he held a special place in their hearts.

But when it came to anyone else, they couldn't care less. This world doesn't allow them to. While all of this was happening another year went by