18 War Story

  Taking a sip of tea, John asks, "Have you heard of the second Lamenter war?" Anna shakes her head, causing John to nod knowingly. "It was a devastating war long before your time."

  As the dreamscape solidifies, a new scene appears. Cultivators now surround John and Anna. An aged man looms over them from a podium. The sect master waves his hands for quiet he informs the sect of the current situation, "The Lamenter's of the Emerald family have regrouped recently. Again they march on the sealed world. As part of the ancient pact, we will be joining the battle."

  Cheers swell in the air as excitement fills the eyes of the chosen in the sect. Everyone sees this as a chance to plunder and temper themselves. The sect leader strokes his beard pleased with the reaction. "While this is just the final gasps of a faction on death's door. However, a cornered animal will be the most ferocious. So with this in mind, all those who volunteer will get a top-tier defensive artifact!"

  The roars from all the powerful cultivators shake the dream world as the scene wavers and changes. Anna frowns at the scene, wondering how her ancestors stood against such a force. John, however, sighs while shaking his head. He then elaborates, "the first war scorched many planets and lands to the point that to this day not a thing lives there. Do you think the second war was as glorious as those fools believed?"

  In the same grand hall, young men and women gather with fear in their eyes. Some even shake while grabbing their friends. Among them, a few middle-aged cultivators are scattered among the young. None give off the imposing air of the last scene. John is among these older cultivators a wry smile on his face.

  A haggard sect leader stands before them once again. With a solemn expression, he addresses the crowd, "Today you've been drafted in accordance with the current rules of the war. We can no longer spare the young and support positions. You will report to the Silent Plains there you will be designated your defensive items." The rapidly aging sect leader heartbreaks as he looks at the younglings he is sending out. After a short break, he murmurs, "Do your best to come back to us."

  Anna looks at this scene in shock, "how did this happen?" She gazes at John, the mysterious dead man in front of her.

  John returns the gaze of the young mother and shrugs. "What is there to be surprised about? Would a war that had forced ancient treaties to be dusted off be easy to win?"

  John suddenly starts laughing. "Those fools didn't know the depth that the Lamenters had spread! Even core disciples ended up being Lamenters. Once the call to arms rang out, they came crawling out from every crack and crevice." John flings his arms open his robes fluttering. "Millions upon millions died in the war. I was spared since I had a lower cultivation and was a gardener. A war needs lots of healing medicines, after all. Still, even I was sent to the front eventually."

  Anna's eyes flutter as the world shifts to a trench. Boys as young as her son huddle together in fear. Anna looks around her. The laws seem broken and shattered as the place flashes from freezing to melting hot. Other areas have dimensional tears open and close. All around them, explosions and techniques fly from the trenches that are about 60 meters away.

  An officer glares at the kids cowering. "Get up, you braggarts! If you don't keep them down, they will slaughter you all," the officer hollers as he waves for them to keep fighting. Even the bravest won't poke their head out for more than a second. On both sides, they send quick techniques back and forth before hiding once again.

  Boom the world shakes as the sky shatters as stars rain down. Anna looks up to see that above, a grand battle is happening. Laws bend, and reality itself seems to groan at the combat. The residuals from the conflict fall on the poor souls praying for their lives in the trench. While these trenches block weak techniques, how can it prevent the earth-shattering power from the masters in the sky? They die by the thousands without even knowing what killed them.

  Anna can't help but shudder at the horrifying sight of the battle. John raises his eyebrow, "Don't you wish for this?"

  Anna's eyes wander the heart-shaking scene as she lets out a deep breath gathering her nerves. Her eyes return to John with a new resolve. "Even if it is more horrifying, we'll still go forth."

  John chuckles and asks, "are you sure that your phrase isn't meant for you?" He leans back and observes this scene from his memories. "I don't blame you. Lamenter's only have one true goal."

  Then the world once again shakes as the Emerald expert in the sky falls to the ground shaking the foundation of the whole world. Anna can't hide her disappointment even though she knows that the outcome of the war wouldn't be good for her people.

  There are no cheers or rejoicing the expert above moves on to some other place to confront another powerful foe. The officer on the ground lifts his sword and commands, "Charge, you cowards!" The kids and John reluctantly jump out from the trench. "Kill!" They yell as they charge forth.

  As the middle-aged John flies forward all around him, people die. Torn in two, smashed, frozen, every technique shatters a body. The current John frowns while recollecting, "They had long run out of the powerful defensive artifacts they promised. At this point, they gave us weak trinkets barely worth wearing."

  One small boy even seems to reach out towards Anna crying, "Mom, help me." Before his eyes lose focus and his body collapses. They curse Lamenters with all their hearts. "The emerald king is long dead, you bastards!" Another soldier shouts as he falls.

  Still, even surrounded by death, over a million souls leaves the trenches. It isn't easy to stem the flow as they wash over the plains. As they near the Lamenters side, they too leave the trench. "The Emerald King still lives!" the equally young soldiers yell as they charge forth.

  The clash is even more devastating than anything seen yet as Millions of cultivators break against each other. The cries and hate seem to manifest themselves as laws shattering the land below. After a few hours, the ground is piled with bodies. Both sides no longer have the energy to fight. The eyes of the livings no longer seem to have life in them. John is among them. Though he wasn't powerful, he had more experience than the young kids thrown away in the war.

  Soon another million takes the field on both sides. The survivors between these two armies wish they had a hole to hide in as they are attacked by friend and foe alike. Some give up, only hoping for a quick death. Others holler in rage to the stars feeling that the heavens betrayed them. John and many others drop to the ground playing dead and hoping their luck won't run out.

  The dreamscape returns to the quaint tea ceremony. "Eventually, the field was taken. I returned to the sect after that to continue gardening while others took my place," John sighs while remembering how much relief he felt after returning. It was like he was in heaven. John no longer cursed his lack of talent. He'd lived his life since then with content, happily living quietly in his garden.

  Anna contemplates the battle and slowly asks, "Do you think that the Emerald king is dead?"

  "Ha, Dead?" John looks at Anna in bewilderment. "How could he be dead. Would those greedy sects and clans waste so much to stop you guy's from seeing a dead body? No, at least then he was surely alive." he nods with confidence.

  "I see, thank you, senior," Anna responds with a smile. She doesn't know what the future holds, but she feels her horizons have significantly expanded.

  "Don't worry about it. Well, the night wanes, so we should call an end to our little chat." The world began to shatter as Anna's eyes open. Anna hears John mumble one last thing as she wakes up, "Just try not to throw your life away for your son's sake."