Chapter 4: The Peak

Lorian woke up in the middle of the night; a heavy wave of thirst washed over him as he approached the pond. 

Looking at the water, he found his reflection illuminated by the plants beside it. 

He cupped his hands, dipping them into the cold pond, creating ripples across the pond's surface. 

He slowly brought it up to his mouth, taking a sip as he felt the cold sensation flowing down his throat. 

"My body has rested for long enough." 

Lorian's body was exhausted at the beginning of this regression. His body did not get any food or water for a long time, leading to his body's terrible state. 

These past two days, Lorian had gotten adequate sleep and proper nutrition. His body was well rested and was close to the body's best state. 

Lorian slowly walked towards the entrance of the cave; his footsteps reverberated throughout the stone walls. 

Being extremely cautious, Lorian walked outside; the fresh air surrounded him as he breathed in. 

The soft winds blew outside, and the sun rose, giving out piercing rays that illuminated the world. 

Lorian headed up to the top of the cave, quietly sitting down. 

"Now that my body has recovered, I should progress to rank 1 as soon as possible." 

Saying this, Lorian started to focus on this task, accumulating mana and refining his Path. 

He sat like a statue, unmoving yet gracious; beads of sweat could be seen running down his forehead, patiently refining as time quickly moved on. 

. 

. 

The sun was starting to set, and a cold wind blew through the city. 

The leaves on the tree began to fall, decorating the street with colors of orange and red. 

In the city of Meryl, two people were seen walking the streets, conversing with each other. 

"How is the process going along?" The man on the right spoke with an authoritative voice. 

"Viscount, everything is set up perfectly. In just a week's time, the process will start." The man beside him replied in a small voice. 

"Make sure this time to recruit as many people as possible; as long as they are rank 1, we will accept them." The viscount said in a very commanding voice to his butler. 

"Of course, sir, I will relay that information to the recruiters." 

They walked through the city, heading back to the viscount's grand residence. 

The mansion was beautiful, built with marble, and stood extremely tall. The outside had a beautiful lawn and was surrounded by a gate, protecting it from any outside intruders. 

Arriving in front of the gate, the servant in charge recognized the visitor and let them in. 

A couple moments later, the viscount arrived at the front of the door, and servants opened the door for him as he walked in. 

Suddenly the maids and servants all stopped working and immediately paid their respects and greeted the viscount. 

The viscount ignored the greetings as he walked up the stairs, giving orders to his butler as he approached the office room. 

"No one is allowed to enter this room unless I permit it." 

The butler quickly agreed as he told the other servants this information. 

The viscount walked in his room before sitting down on his chair, taking out a map within one of his drawers. 

Looking at the map, the viscount felt a sense of urgency. 

'Winter will arrive in less than a month; during this time the huge lake will freeze, allowing one to walk on top of it.' 

The viscount had a troubled gaze as he slowly thought about the lake. 

The lake within this forest was called the Lake of Sorrow, a grand lake that was dark blue. 

In the middle of the lake stood an ice castle, giving off an aura that would make most people shiver from just seeing the sight of it. 

The lake was enormous; the size of it reached half the city, creating a body of water that completely surrounded the lake. 

The viscount laid back on his chair; he felt an enormous amount of pressure this time; he couldn't afford to mess up on this expedition. 

This expedition would decide his future; a sense of anxiety was slowly approaching him. 

. 

"Chirp-chirp" The birds overhead sang with a beautiful melody, their words rising with the sun. 

"Huff… huff…" The sounds of panting broke the silence of the atmosphere around him. 

A small boy could be seen, breathing heavily while focusing. 

His hair was soaked, messy, and unruly. The clothes on him were drenched, darkening into a different color. 

A moment later the boy opened his eyes; dark black pupils gazed from within; a look of exhaustion could be seen from within. 

Dark, heavy bags could be seen under the eyes, showing the lack of sleep he had gotten. 

"Finally, after three days of working with minimal rest and food." 

Lorian let out a breath of relief; his head was in turmoil, and his breathing was ragged and deep with fatigue. 

Lorian looked up with a face of success; his mind was tired beyond belief, but he was still happy. 

He quickly checked his progress in excitement. 

Race: Human 

Strength: 2 

Speed: 1 

Stamina: 1 

Intelligence: 100 [MAX] 

Path: Time 

Aptitude: D 

Mana: 0 

Path Rank: 0 

Path Progress 100/100 

Skills: [Heavenly Hourglass (EX)] 

Path Attributes: [Perception of Time (SSS)] 

Blessings: [Blessed by Fate] 

Curses: [Cured by Fate] [Curse of Chaos] 

Artifacts: --- 

"Everything is set in place; all that's left is the ascension to rank one." 

Lorian had a deep gaze as he looked at the screen in front of him. 

"But before that, I have to get some rest." 

Lorian had been refining his Path in a very intense way. Lorian was still a mortal; his body was still extremely weak. 

He walked down, slowly heading inside the cave. After heading to his usual spot, he sat down completely burnt out. 

After drinking some water, Lorian laid down. His breathing becoming steadier and steadier, his eyelids gently closed, his mind drifting further away from reality and into the realms of dreams. 

. 

. 

[You have died] 

[Fate has sent you back in time] 

[Attempt 2/100] 

"....." 

How... How am I possibly alive? 

Fate? Fate has sent me back in time? 

Isn't fate just supposed to be a concept? Why can it perform actions? 

I looked around the alley; once again, it was night. The person next to me was still alive; everything was as peaceful as you can get in this dump of a place. 

But I don't want to stay here; I don't want to see that again; I don't want to be killed again. 

Disregarding the pain, I stood up; my body was tired and sore. But it didn't matter; I just couldn't bear to see that sight again. 

It didn't matter where I headed. As long as I get out of this place. As long as I get out of this living hell. 

I walked towards the end of the alley. I checked the streets, but they were completely empty of people. 

I didn't know where I was trying to go, but I just wanted to leave to get as far away as possible. 

I started to head in one direction, walking as far as I could go. Eventually I reached the outskirts of town; right in front of me was a vast forest. 

"Should I head in or not?" 

I couldn't choose; should I leave this place or not? The forest seemed to be scary, but so did the city. 

Eventually I chose the forest. I was hoping for a lake or river that could quench this thirst of mine. 

Walking forwards I entered the forest. The forest was peaceful, vegetation decorated the place, and the view was absolutely stunning. 

I kept going, but I couldn't seem to find anything; all I saw were plants and trees; there was nothing else that I could see. 

The longer I walked, the more in despair I got. Everything hurts—my body, my mind—but I kept going. 

Eventually I saw a glimpse of dark blue in the distance. Feeling excited, my body pumped with adrenaline as I walked faster and faster towards it. 

"Absolutely stunning." 

The lake in front of me was so vast; it had a dark blue color that reminded me of sapphires. The lake stretched on for miles, giving a grand and imposing view that filled my vision. 

I sat down next to the lake; underneath the dim moonlight, I could see my appearance in the reflection. 

Black hair and dark black eyes; my hair was short and dirty, and my face was covered in dirt. 

After snapping out of my daze, I quickly remembered my thirst for water. 

Head first, I started to drink the water. The water tasted weird; it had a taste that reminded me of something that I just couldn't quite grasp. 

Suddenly I felt something weird; I stopped drinking the water and looked up. I could feel something—something sad, something that I never wanted to remember. 

It kept getting worse; the more I tried making it stop, the worse it got. 

I walked away from the lake, seeing if getting further away could help. 

But it kept getting worse and worse; memories kept popping up. Memories that I buried deep within me had resurfaced. 

My breathing became ragged; my head was in shambles. 

The fatigue from earlier had also resurfaced along with these emotions. 

"Stop, just make it stop." 

Sadness, pain, regret, 

These emotions started to resurface. 

My vision started to blur out; my mind couldn't hold on anymore. 

The fatigue from earlier had returned; both my mind and body were in pain. 

I fell backwards, landing on my back. I lay on the ground as my vision blacked out, losing consciousness.