Chapter 1 Hope
"Three full moons sat close enough in the night sky, to make anything seem graspable."
"This is why I come here every night, this is the only place in this forest that calms my heart"
On a mountain cliff sitting at the highest point of Silver Fang Mountain in the largest forest on the Everlife Planet is a nine year old Lazarus Everlife.
This is the Daodecagon Realm, the Everlife Planet is Ninth Planet and second smallest planet in the Daodecagon realm.
Almost 2,000 years ago this planet the ninth planet and second smallest was ranked the most powerful and was home to one of the most clan of warriors to ever break the void and ascend godhood, that is to say until a devastating war took place in which two moons and an entire planet was destroyed.
Planet Everlife home to the Everlife clan almost 2,000 later is not even ranked amongst the other planets and is only referred to as the Ninth Planet.
For hundreds of years due to defeat the Everlife clan was hunted down by various factions across the Daodecagon realm for almost 2,000 years, until 200 years ago. 200 years ago, Vikus Everlife, last of the direct descendant of the Everlife clan broke through and became a 7th ranked dual Barrier Saint and pledge a blood Oath of servitude to the Imperial Kingdom in exchange for retribution for his clan and so his heir wouldn't be hunted throughout the realm. The Imperial Kingdom being publicly known as the strongest Faction in the Daodacagon Realm and holders of the largest planet in Daodecagon only had 3 Breaker Saints and no faction would pass up on building a connection with a breaker Saint much less refused eternal service, even though Vikas was only a 7th ranked Barrier Saint being a direct descendant of the Everlife Clan guaranteed his progression into the Breaker Saint Level. Emperor Ramsey Vibrant seeing more benefits than lost at the time married his niece and 11th in place for Throne, Rosella Vibrant, there was no denying the battle Arts that correspond with the Everlife bloodline cores. At a grandiose wedding the Emperor announced that by extension, the Everlife clan is related to the Imperial Kingdom and that the Imperial Kingdom will retaliate with full force at any faction that attack an Everlife Clan member without proper cause, this of course upset the Divinity Clan and a few other powerful faction that benefited the most from the destruction of the Everlife Clan. At this point the whole Everlife Planet was divide up by various factions and was being drained of resources. The Everlife clan was just a shadow of it former-self hidden away deep in Silver Hiss Forest on Planet the only place none of the other factions would explore due the no one ever returning.
Years past and then news of Rosella Vibrant giving birth to two beautiful twin girls with dual element cores; Helen Vibrant and Arciss Everlife. They were said to be the new twin stars of the Imperial Clan and Everlife Clan, but only one could apart of the royal family and the other to be sent back to Planet Everlife in order to watch over the ancestral land in Silver Hiss Forest. Or at least that was the plan, a few years after the birth of the twins, the Demon Clan and Beast Clan launched a full scale attack on the Imperial Kingdom. The Imperial Family was losing from joint attack of two powerful faction, the war wage for three years until Vikas Everlife now peak 9th rank barrier Break killed a Breaker Saint from the Demon Clan, the explosion of a Breaker Saint elemental core destroyed a moon on the beast planet and an enormous amount of Rankers from both sides died, making it the first Break Saint death in 1,000 years ending the war, but permanently injured himself. He's to never be a Breaker Saint.
The death of a Breaker Saint cause the immediate end of the war. Not only was Vikas Everlife injured, but as stipulation in the treaty to prevent more war Arcixx Everlife, a direct descendent of the remnant Everlife Clan and The Imperial Family, was to be betrothed to Human-hybrid son of the Breaker Saint that died, and the first child shall by soul contract with a Beast Kings descendant as to sow good karma; all these were signed under a powerful blood oath treaty by Emperor Ramsey, the Ice King Demon Lord, And 3 Beast Kings of the Beast Nation.
30 Years went by, Tales of Helen Vibrant feats were know across the realm, she might not have been the most talented in her generation, but she was top five on all rankings. Ten years ago it was announced she gave birth to pair of twin with her Husband the Crowned Prince. As for Arcixx Everlife, she became the 4th wife of Zedong. The Demon Clan was home to both pure blooded demons that's been around since the beginning of the Daodecagon and a similar remnant clan that almost got exterminated from the Daodecagon realm, they're are now referred to as the slave tribe of the demon clan. Zedong was the son of the breaker Saint Blood Fly, who was a powerful blood feeder demon that's been alive since before the first planet blew up 100,000 years ago and a woman from the Sunken Abyss tribe. Blood Fly loved Zedong and even asked the Demon King to make Zedong take his position amongst the demon generals once his strength is of that level. Zedong became the first demon general that was part human. He's then started gathering powerful hybrid demons among his ranks and he himself was a powerful 6th ranked Barrier Breaker at 34, with the rare but horrifying abyss element and Blood refining abilities. Zedong wanted Arcixx as his 4th wife not for her looks but powerful bloodline and backing, all his previous wife's possessed powerful demonic bloodlines and had with standing in Demon Clan, he was a man that craved power. So it wasn't surprising that 10 years ago the same time news of Helen Vibrant was giving birth to twins were circulating, It was said that Arcixx gave birth to a core-less son, and that Zedong then Comand to him the child sent to the Slave tribe but Arcixx killed her way off the planet in the process destroying of one her cores, even worst she destroyed her other Barrier core and fled to the 9th Planet with her baby.
Lazarus Everlife was that baby. Arcixx Everlife passed away 5 years ago. Below Larz at the the foot of the mountain is what remains of the Everlife Temple. After 2,000 years of being hunted and their home being robbed of resources it's reverted back to a simple village guard an enormous Temple at the of a mountain. Even then from the aura majority of the has an exuberant characteristic seeming endless. This was because the cores possessed by majority of the Everlife clan is the life core, but unlike the life core majority of the beings in the Daodacagon Realm they possess a internal energy life core, more like a vitality core. The purpose of a core to act as a medium and control head for the proceeding laws or elements. The Daodacagon Realm was only home to twelve elemental laws, some say each corresponding to each planet. But then the first human broke through the void, putting a hole into the so called Heaven's Void, ever since variants cores, mutated bloodlines, and an abundant amount of atmospheric and Galactic Ki flooded the realm. The first human broke open the void and blessings flowed all through the realm but of course this was millions of years ago, back in the age of comprehension. Lazarus Everlife could be said to be born in the age of Bloodline, but without a core he has no tether to the laws of the Daodacagon realm, so he has no choice but to train as the ancients did. Others might have given up already because in order to do such training as to refine a core, Body Renewal is the only solution, but Body Renewal Arts have long since be coveted by all the powerful factions and families. It could correctly be stated that in past 5,000 years the number of humans that have successfully refined a core is under 1,000 and the number of people that has been able to do before the age of fifty is under one hundred. But of course all these people refining cores were born with cores.
"My mother used to always tell me to respect my heritage because I don't know the amount of power the clan possessed all those years ago, but have ten year olds beating the shit out of each as some kind of blood sport sacrifice to the ancestors is fucking crazy" Muttered Lazarus angrily.
"Anyway tonight is the night I feel like I'll final make a break through in one of this god forsaken technique. My mother sacrificed her life to preserve my life and get these books from the ancient era hoping one of them was a Body Renewal Art or a Core Forming Art. All three scrolls my mother stole off the demon planet belong to my so called Grand father who was born in who was a pure blood demon from the antique era so one of these have to be an Body Renewal Art or something along the lines of one, else I've wasted 7 years of my life."
When Arcixx Everlife broke her core in order to bypass the repulsive force of the Planet Everlife's atmospheric, she became a peak 9th Rank Core Refining Stage from 7th Ranked Barrier Saint, but a broken core always deteriorates. Even though Planet Everlife was the second smallest planet using her powers as at 9th Rank Core- Refining ranker, it took her one whole year to get to Silver Hiss Forest and to the Temple of Everlife using the stories Vikas told her when she was a child. During that year not knowing what to do she enchanted and instilled all three information from the scroll to a one year one baby, over and over and over again. When they finally got to the Everlife clan and Arcixx Everlife saw reverted and poor the once notorious clan had gotten, she made preparations for Lazarus and taught him everything she can, when Lazarus was at the age of four Arcixx Everlife fell into a deep sleep and died a year later. Since then every night Lazarus would come to the peak of Silver Fang Mountain and train in the Soul Then Body Art, Focal Point And Shadow Bonding Art.
Lazarus has been spend six years coming up to the highest point of this mountain range every night, from what he comprehend from this Soul Then Body Art, every time he moves his body in the way depicted in manual he has'Eren sc to perceive each moment as it's happening or else it feels like something is ripping him from the inside each time he messes up. After the first two years of practicing this techniquel he sensed what the technique does, Lazarus Everlife has to the do the same thing twice, he always carries out things in one fell sweep, his perception sharpens every time progressed further and further through the movements, sometimes the movements gets so hard he bleeds from all seven orifices trying to complete them, but the benefits showed, and his body and soul always feels in tune, as if ever swing of his arms was 100% body and 40% soul.
Focal Point was the most nonsensical technique of the three. The premise being by focusing your spirit, mind and eyes in a certain location you'll be feel the things in that specific location, smell the things in that location and even maybe hear the things. In other words this technique trains your spirit, your mind, and your eyes. Two years ago Lazarus was able to smell a rabbit shit himself after getting swoop up by Purple Wing Falcon over 3 miles away. Today before he made up to the mountain from the village using Focal Point, he over heard he's "Uncle-cousin" telling some peak 1st rank Vitality-core 10 year olds that went through the ceremony last Year that beating Lazarus Everlife to brink of death is what the ceremony should be about. Apparently the more blood spilled by a direct descendant the more bountiful the blessings the ancestor brings, Hence his problems tonight, he's always been up at the mountain training, his mother life him enough money and resources to live comfortably on the Everlife Planet And with or without a core Lazarus is still a direct descendant and never in the history of the Everlife history has a direct descendant been attacked in Silver City. But that doesn't mean the clan won't spill blood to appease the ancestor as is tradition.
The only hope Lazarus had was the last manual and largest and most complicated of the others, it wasn't particularly a Body Renewal Art rather what seems to be an evil technique that involves refining ones shadow in an empty weapon vassal of godly level in order to gain control of the weapon, in exchange you lose your shadow and your presence shall forever be lost to man, fate, and even the your ability to sense the elements and laws get taken away unless one uses the weapon refined by the shadow. In other words it switches medium from core to weapon, few would make that exchange seeing as cores are indestructible unless one overdraft their souls or self-destruct.
The name of the manual was called Shadow Bonding. For the past six years Lazarus has been devoted in training this taboo of arts and with instructions and consent from his mother in the most taboo way. Arcixx knew that there wasn't much hope for her son, she's never once come across anyone born without a core much less, know how to refine one, She once heard Zedong mention the manuals he inherited from his father and kept them in the family vault for him and his sons. But Arcixx was born with a dual core, possessing the two laws that gave the Everlife clan their terrifying reputation, Vital-core supplies the body with endless life energy, well not seemly much but with the Everlife Physique Art that push the body to extreme limits, ones body could become hard as steel, be able to tear through a mountain with their bear hands, the vital-core trained correctly gave their bodies Herculean strength, they use to say through out the realm when ganging up on someone with the last name Everlife just try not to ever meet them in close combat. The other law she trained in was the spatial law. The spatial core give beings a tether to the spatial law, laws mean that the application is endless, with the spatial laws one can scout up to miles and miles without leaving ones location, change location on the battlefield instantaneously, some say even controlling the force of gravity at will. Beings born with the spatial are rare and it's a random law that people have trained to tame with to a bloodlines for centuries. No faction has ever done this except for the Everlife Clan, each direct descendant of the Everlife clan has either Spatial core or the Vital core. There was even a few prodigies that were born with both such as Arcixx, they were called Winged Tigers through out the realms. With her Rank at 4th of the Barrier Saint stage before she died and well versed in the battle arts of the Everlife Clan she was like a fish in water, an elusive unstoppable force. When review the Shadow Bonding Art, maybe driven insane by the chaotic gas while traveling to planet Everlife, She extracted her broken core, left multiple visual soul prints with instructions for Lazarus. Lazarus Everlife has been slowly for six years refining his shadow into his mother broken Dao-core. The technique involves him always having his shadow visible via day or night that's why he spends all his time on this high peak, either the light from the sun castes his shadow, or the illumination from the moon. After the first year of training according to the arts he notice the marble size core he wear in a tiny pouch around his started to darken as his shadow became paler and paler. After six years of refining his shadow, the core Lazarus is currently looking at is pitch black, as for his shadow, it's as invisible as the wind but just like the wind it was still there and tonight Larz is gonna fix that. According to the book Larz was at the final section of this art, that is to completely sever the shadows connection to the body but strengthening the connection to the soul, he has to swallow the weapon refined by his shadow because it would then be encase by his soul being unable to case a shadow itself.
"Good thing this isn't a weapon and cores where just the size of a grape... I really hope this works, I see no reason why it shouldn't, and even if it doesn't I'll use my time tomorrow running away and searching the Temple for the secret library Grandpa Vikas today mother about" Larz finally gathering his thoughts. "Here goes my future"
The wind blowing around him as he face the three moons hanging in the night sky, he stared at the core in his hands, most of the memories of his mother were of spatial imprints he left to help him through training. He then swallow the core. He felt the world blackening as he swallowed the core.