9 Mysterious iceberg

The battle continued with both sides suffering grave setbacks, but the raging fire of the war still burned brighter than a million stars. Hate blinded the people participating, hate from losing friend against the enemies, hate for all the humilation they suffered against them and hate for coveting what they decided to go for. This hate, however was something formed long ago, even before the sects were created.

Now because they are students, they were fed knowledge. Knowledge that are mostly biased on the school they went to. If you were fighting with someone, would you admit that you were in the wrong and let it be written down as the sect's annals of history? No one would like to read 'Sect Master X, fought for the wrong things, and even ended up losing against his opposition.' or 'Sect Master X tried to steal from the rival sect to blackmail their current sect master, died trying.'

Instead it would be written down as 'Sect Master X, fought for his beliefs and died with his consciousness clean.' or 'Sect Master X, tried to retrieve a peerless artifact which was stolen from the sect by storming through the enemy's territory. Despite not completing his mission, he died taking hundreds with him to the underworld'.

It was those teachings, the rich history they were fed with, that made them proud and courageous. They were not willing to sully their predecessor, opting to go out like a blazing flame rather than fleeing like cowards.

The once peaceful valley, free from the worries of the world, is history.

...

Deep beneath the valley, inside an iceberg, Ren' body fell. It wasn't any ordinary iceberg which filled usually filled with ice and water. It was hollow. The ice walls shone like diamonds, illuminating the everything in sight. Despite being hollow one would assume that the only thing to be found inside are chunks of ice, and bodies of water yet this iceberg actually hosted it's own ecosystem. Lush trees could be found everywhere, green plains that extend far into the horizon, mountains, lakes. It was like a miniature paradise.

Ren was unconscious. The patch of grass he fell on to is now soaking wet just like his robes. His face showed a pained expression but without a doubt he was still breathing. He was still alive.

"Dangerous entity approaching! Suggested course of action is to get up, run and hide." The system warned Ren once again, but he out cold so the warnings meant nothing.

A man wearing a white robe, walked out of the forest close to where Ren fell, he walked downhill and trying to reach him. He was chubby in a sense, and the way he moved emphasized on that. Finally, he came to a stop. Panting, he took a look at Ren.

"How did he drown?" He said genuinely confused.

He crouched down beside Ren, making his robe stretch. He looked like a balloon being inflated inside a really tiny plastic bag. If people could only see him now, they would ask 'What material is that robe made off?! How could it stretch like that?!'. It truly defied the laws of the world.

The chubby man frowned as he placed his hand on Ren's mouth and pulled his lower lip down. He then placed his hands above Ren's opened mouth. Air. He felt air.

"Wooh... good thing he's alive." Finally the man sighed in relief.

"I should bring him over." He stood up like a spring and waved his hand back and forth, similar to a rocking boat. The waving wasn't meaningless. Soon the wet patch was sucked out of the ground, even the water on Ren' robe was drained. The water swayed and swayed as it moved into the direction of the chubby man. When it was near his hand, he stopped and so did the water. He began moving his hand again, this time it was a mix of hand movements but still accompanied with a lot of swaying and moving.

The water moved in response and made its way under Ren's body. The man stopped and raised his hand abruptly as a result, Ren's body floated. Very similar to a leaf flowing through the gushing river.

"Alright, let's go." The man started walking again to the path he took, climbing up a small slope to the forest. Ren hovered right besides the man, stopping when the man stopped and continuing when the man continued.

They ventured into the forest. Tall trees similar to pine trees, various plants, bushes and flowers could be seen everywhere but there was something missing. Something extremely important. Animals. Creatures who should inhabit forests. It was very unnatural and eerily quiet. Except for the man.

"Flowers and chocolates, thats what I ate. Teddy bears by the pool, people who placed them are fools. Dragons who lazily sat wouldn't be able to fly~" He sang.

It was terrible. There was no rhythm at all, the pitch sounded off and nothing he sang was remotely close to what a song should be. Still, he sang. He sang like there was nothing awfully wrong about it, like he thought it was one of the greatest hit single ever produced.

Aside from the man's horrible singing the only sound that could be heard was the snapping twigs and the boots digging deep into the dirt.

...

"Dangerous entity spotted! Attempting to scan..." The voice of the system rang out followed by a noise that matches the sound a computer when it reaches high degrees of heat. If Ren was able to hear, he would feel delighted and angry at the same time. Delighted because the sound was something he was familiar with, angry because that same sound was the sound his computer would make when it overheats. If he would think about it again, he would probably just be angry. 'Are you overheating? Going to blow up my brain now? Please stop talking for a while.'

Couple of minutes later, a house was in sight. It was a cottage, made of wood. It stood in the middle of a vacant spot in the forest, wasn't too big but just enough for a family to live in.

"Welcome home, me." The fat man said. He walked foward and opened the house. There was something extremely wrong with the door as well. It was as wide as 4 doors combined. Maybe as big as a sliding door used in malls.

*Creak*

"Okay, let's go." He said as he waved Ren to float in.

"You're just in time for dinner as well, lucky you." He continued.

Ren's body went in after the man and the doors was shut close.