12 Chapter 12

Ryan's back was alive with pain. His seared skin was being scraped and pulled off as he was dragged along the hard hot soil. Even with his extreme pain tolerance, the heat and pain that he felt was almost too much for him to handle.

Each tree he passed seemed to be shaking with excitement at his pain. Ryan couldn't see a single animal or monster with the forest. But to be fair he wasn't looking that hard, he was being dragged quite quickly along extremely hot ground with nothing to protect himself.

Awaiting his demise, Ryan became more and more frustrated. Just like his past life, Ryan wasn't able to control anything and everything would be the same as it was.

Another minute of excruciating dragging later, the vines released his legs. The blood began to flow to his feet and Ryan became aware of his surroundings. He was on the outskirts of a small clearing in the forest, in the middle lay a small cottage made out of the same wood as the trees that surrounded him. Unlike the rest of the Nether Realm that Ryan had seen, the clearing was covered in deep blue grass that oddly made Ryan feel rejuvenated and stronger. A small pillar of smoke rose from the chimney signifying the presence of someone inside, this could be Ryan's chance.

He turned and began sprinting into the forest, for some reason the vines had let Ryan go and he wouldn't lose this opportunity to leave. Who knew what was in the cottage? There could be a nice old lady, or a cannibal craving a piece of Ryan's juicy ass.

Just as he thought he was allowed to run free into the forest and leave that way, a vine wrapped around his leg and threw him back towards the cottage with very little effort. He wasn't leaving without permission. Seeing no other option, he stood up and walked cautiously towards the cottage.

The glass was tinted and didn't let any light through, somehow it seemed to absorb the light like a black hole. Leading up to the cottage was a golden stone path that cut through the grass and lead directly to the front door of the petite building. Surrounding the cottage was an array of bushes with beautiful flowers that Ryan couldn't identify. The walls of the cottage, being of the same wood as the trees around it, had thin golden veins that covered the entire building making it radiate elegance and beauty.

After marvelling at the magnificent sight of the petite cottage for a while, Ryan ambled up to the door and knocked on it. As soon as his knuckles touched the wood, the door swung open to reveal a quaint fireplace with two big comfortable cushioned chairs it. By the side of each one was a table with a mug and a couple of biscuits on them. All in all looked pretty nice.

Ryan wouldn't let himself be deceived though, he walked cautiously towards the fireplace.

"Come here and sit down, I'm not going to bite. Well, maybe" a faint female voice called out from one of the chairs.

A small frail hand gestured for him to sit on the opposite chair, feeling as if there was nothing else he could do, he listened to the command. As he sat, Ryan looked at the person in front of him. She was a frail old woman that looked exactly how you would picture an old woman living in a small cottage in the middle of a forest. Her skin was loose but it made her seem more cute than decrepit, her body seemed frail and barely able to move and she was covered in warm soft blankets. Her grey hair was pulled up into a bun that sat atop her head.

"Could still be a cannibal though" Ryan whispered under his breath.

"I'm not going to eat you dear, but I know a lot of people that would want to. You got very lucky awakening in my section of the Imp Kingdom, otherwise people from all over the Nether Realm would have discovered your presence and come to eat you. Due to my barriers, you were able to stay hidden, but not from me." The old lady replied with a smile. When her face moved to speak her hair parted slightly and two small horns were able to be seen protruding from her forehead.

"What do you mean awakening? And why would people want to eat me? Why don't you?" Ryan asked with curiosity. He had already used identify on her and not even her name appeared when he did so Ryan knew she would be impossible for him to even touch let alone kill.

"Well young man, you are a purple being. How are you not aware of this? Did your master not teach you about this? Every being in the Nether Dimension is told about the colours from the day they are born."

"Um about that, I'm not exactly a hundred percent from the Nether Dimension. I'm human" Ryan said with a coy smile.

"Well isn't that strange. Never have I heard of a human awakening, and a purple colour at that. Since you are obviously unaware, I might as well do a little bit of explaining. Now have a sip of that hot chocolate I had prepared and settle in." The old woman said with a nice little smile.

Seeing Ryan being hesitant towards drinking the hot chocolate, she said

"You already know I can kill you anytime I please, don't think I didn't notice you using Inspect on me, drink the blooming chocolate."

"That's fair enough" Ryan replied with a smile. Raising the mug to his lips, he took a sip. It was the most delicious thing he had had in years. The drink was like an explosion of sweetness and flavour; Ryan could taste the cocoa beans that were used to make it, he could picture the sugar canes being grown. The taste made him go on a journey through time and space. He learnt how the drink was made, the correct ingredients, the correct ratios, everything became clear to him in the wonderful flavour of the hot chocolate. Ryan felt complete upon taking a single sip.

"Well, as you know, there are 6 major kingdom in the Nether Dimension; the undead, the demon, the devils, the imps, the giants and the draconians. Each one of these races came from their founding Kings and Queens. Those monarchs were said to be blessed with the aethar upon their coronation and their skins changed colours. Each race except for the undead changed to a dark reddish colour, the undead had a different version it is more navy blue than red. The colour you awaken at age 15 determines your status, strength, power and where you belonged in society. Basically your skin colour determines how good your life is. The Royals of each kingdom actually have quite a few birth defects due to the inbreeding that they have done, they are so obsessed with having the perfect bloodline that they screw their children. Of course the undead don't function that way, but you won't have to worry about them for a while. "

"But there is an exception to this colour scheme, every million years, a purple being is born to one of the kingdoms. There is no order to it, it is purely random. One time I remember the Devil Race got one four times in a row, it was insane at the time. It's one of the reasons they are one of the more dominant Kingdoms. The reason for this is because the purple beings not only have amazing control over aether and are very in tune with the Nether Realm, but they are also able to increase the bloodline purity of their followers. There are some other benefits that are exclusive to being a purple version of their race but those first ones are the most important. Now, until a few million years ago, there was a general rule that a purple being was to be untouched by other races until they reached level 100, but that rule was quickly abolished due to the greed of the 6 kingdoms."

Stopping to take a sip of her hot chocolate, the old lady also passed the packet of biscuits to Ryan. They were white chocolate cookies that were always warm and were slightly melted in the middle, they were gorgeous.

"So, one time, the Sin of Gluttony 'accidentally' killed a purple imp and then she got hungry. Being the glutton she is, Gluttony ate the corpse of the purple Imp and discovered something fascinating. If you eat the corpse of a purple being, your bloodline purity increases, your skills all level up by one, your level increases by 10, you get a stupid title and your affinities increase by a grade. Let me tell you, when your high enough level to be able to live for millions of years getting a single level in a single skill is excruciatingly difficult, so it was a god send. Now, whenever a purple being appears, the powerhouses of each kingdom rush to kill and eat the being first. They don't care if they are from the same kingdom, even if they were brother and sister, the purple one would still be eaten. Luckily for the beings born before the discovery, due to the explosive growth of purple beings they were able to get strong enough to fend off any attack sent their way. "

"I'm so sorry for interrupting, but surely there is a word for purple people, otherwise it must get long winded having to talk about them." Ryan blurted out. He was tired of hearing the same words repeated over and over again.

"Well yes actually they are usually called the Yukazu, I just wanted to simplify it for you since you know nothing about them. But back to the story, the reason I am not killing and eating you is because of a few reasons. One, I have already eaten multiple of them and two, I don't care anymore. I just want to live my days in peace in a cottage surrounded by my trees, drink this hot chocolate and eat my biscuits. I am bored of the politics of the world and desperately trying to maintain the position as the strongest or striving to be the best, it is tiring. That being said, I brought you here for a reason, I want to upturn the Nether Realm as I know it. And I want you to do it."

[Quest!]

The old woman who lives in a secluded forest in the Imp kingdom has grand plans for you. She wants you to destroy all the kingdoms of the Nether Realm and build up your own.

Reward: 100,000,000,000XP, Dominion Skill, Dragon's heart, Will of the World

Penalty for Failure: Account Deletion

Time Limit: 4 years

Accept conditions: Must be the old lady's disciple, must be a purple being, must have an abyssal pet.

Accept rewards: Colour changer, one request, 20,000 XP, blood of a high demon