Divine Lord's Empire

clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop one could hear the sound of a horses clip-clopping in the path heading toward Divine Lord's Empire. It was now spring, the flowers were blooming beautifully as the birds sing on the trees. If one would listen closely, you could hear the rustling of the trees, the sound makes it look like they were part of a choir with the birds.

There was a light breeze that passed by giving the driver of the horse drawn carriage a refreshing feeling. The sun was up and it was covered a bit by the clouds, making the heat a bit comfortable. Surrounding the carriage were four men riding horses, wearing what seemed to be full plated armor. The horses themselves were also huge, showing their gallant form as war horses.

Inside the carriage were a group of people wanting to leave the Archeon Empire ruled by cultivators. To them who were normal mortals unable to cultivate, the Archeon Empire was a harsh place. They were treated as second class citizens, some of them were even treated as slaves simply because they couldn't cultivate.

So seeing a chance to switch sides to the Divine Lord's Empire the group immediately took the opportunity and migrated to the Divine Lord's Empire. It was said that people who believe in the Divine Lord with unwavering faith are given supreme power that was equal if not more powerful than immortal cultivation techniques.

The the three youngster aboard were excited to get a chance, to not only leave their life of mediocrity, but also be able to do something, to be a part of something grand. As the three young men who came from the Archeon Empire were having their delusion of grandeur, imagining themselves becoming heroes and saving princesses from dragons, and living happily ever after.

The fourth person in the carriage, wearing a hood was dozing off. He wore a simple black coat, wearing bronze gauntlets, and right beside him was a gigantic sword. Though the group of boys couldn't see what the person dozing off looked like because of the hood, they knew he must be the same age as them based solely on his body figure.

Still it made them wonder, how a such a slender looking youth was able to carry such a heavy looking sword. He couldn't be a cultivator could he? The boys thought, but immediately dismissed the idea. Why would a cultivator even leave the Archeon Empire, in there cultivators are treated like kings.

One of the boys then smiled at the others. "Hi everyone my name is Michael, I just want to say its a pleasure to be with you guys. I hope once we get to the Divine Lord's Empire will be able to help each other as fellow refugees."

The boy called Michael had a smile on his face, which made him look like a kindly older brother.

"No problem, we should stick together. Going to a new place is always hard if you don't know anyone. Oh right my name is, Jason nice to meet ya!" The one who spoke was a boy with blazing red hair, even his eyes were in the color of blood. He seemed to be the energetic type as he said his greeting with much enthusiasm.

Michael and Jason looked at the their other companion who was awake. When the boy noticed the two staring at him, he meekly lowered his head, and with an almost inaudible voice spoke.

"Umm... Hello, you two. My name is Lin, I hope you wont bully me." The meek boy called Lin had his bangs covering his eyes, so he looked a tad weird. When Jason heard Lin's introduction he started laughing. He slapped Lin's back, which made the poor boy's back ache.

"That was a nice joke Lin. Way to set the mood, no worries as long as I'm here no one will bully you!" Lin looked at Jason almost cowering, 'Aren't you the one who is going to bully me? How are you going to help me from the bully if you yourself are the bully.' Lin couldn't say what he truly felt, so kept to himself, as Jason wraps an arm around his neck.

Seeing the two's interaction Michael felt a bit relieved. He was happy that the refugees this time around, were kids his age. After Jason was done playing around with Lin, he looked at their final companion and whispered to the two.

"Hey, do you think he's really asleep? How come he isn't waking up from the racket we just made?" When Michael and Lin heard Jason's question, the two boys unconsciously stared at their sleeping companion.

"I guess he's still asleep, so let's not bother him alright. Will just get to know him once he wakes up." Michael acting like the leader of the group gave his opinion, the two nodded in consent.

"He's not a cultivator is he? Cause look at the sword his packing, not just anyone could bring such a showy weapon." Jason kept the conversation about their sleeping companion going.

"Shhh, don't say that. Even if he's asleep its offensive to keep on talking about him. Let's just change the subject ok... How about we talk about why were moving to the Divine Lord's Empire." Michael once again being the voice of reason made another suggestion.

Jason scratched his head and answered a little hesitantly, a total opposite of the personality he just displayed. "My reason is pretty common, I came from a normal family and couldn't be a cultivator. Don't get me wrong the cultivators in my hometown are nice and all, but... I just wanted to have a life of adventure, once I figured that I could get another power aside from immortal cultivation. I headed straight ahead towards the place I could fulfill my dreams, and that's why I'm here now."

"Your pretty lucky. I want to go to the Divine Lord's Empire, because I want to escape the cultivators. Unlike you Jason, the cultivators in my hometown treat us normal people like cattle. They make us work as hard as humanly possible, and give us the bare minimum pay. Not only that something their young lords raid our houses and rape our women." Michael just remembering the scenes in his hometown made his anger boil. Jason tapped his shoulder "It's alright now were faraway from you hometown."

Once Michael was able to cool down, the two once again focused their attention on Lin. The meek boy could only sigh as he was forced to tell his reason for going to Divine Lord's Empire.

"I came from a family that migrated from the Divine Lord's Empire, to the Archeon Empire. My family were fallen nobles in the Divine Lord's Empire. After losing everything, we were forced to escape to the Archeon Empire. Fortunately my ancestor had a talent for cultivation, but as five generations passed, only some of my family members could cultivate. Seeing as I couldn't cultivate like my brothers, my family suggested I return to our former land. Supposedly it still exists and is still owned by my family, so I'm going there to check it out."

When the two heard Lin's story they got excited. "Wow your a fallen noble?" Michael looked at Lin a bit differently now, there was a tiny bit of awe in his eyes.

"Nice, now this sounds like it could become a story. This could be the start of my Legend. It could go like this, Jason with his new friend Michael finds out that their companion Lin was a fallen noble. The three newly formed friends decide to help Lin, raise his fallen noble family back to the limelight. This could be the adventure of a lifetime."

As the three talk about their possible future adventures, the hooded figure still looked like he was fast asleep. The three were having a jolly good time, talking about epic quests and adventures, when they heard the one of the knights screaming.

"BANDIT ATTACK! WE'VE BEEN AMBUSHED!"