webnovel

Fettered Fate

Have you ever wondered if the life you know is merely a facade, concealing the invisible chains that hold you captive? These chains, though unseen and weightless, are omnipresent, influencing every step we take. Only through our own resilience and determination can we shatter these chains and taste true freedom. Immerse yourself in Kyrian's epic journey through a realm of magic, swords, and dark secrets. Witness his struggles and triumphs as he battles formidable foes and unravels ancient mysteries. Though he may stumble and falter, each challenge will forge him to become stronger and wiser. Join Kyrian, an unusually mature and mysterious child, as he transforms from a mere mortal into a legend, unlocking his true potential and embracing the power within.

Yardren · Fantasi
Peringkat tidak cukup
35 Chs

Steel Arts

"To give you a context on the rarity of your talents, only half of humans awaken and receive the ability to use mana. The other half have to rely on their own hard work to pursue power. Through hard work and intense training, a human can learn to wield aura. If a person studies religiously hard and discovers the intricacies of runes, then they can wield aether, another form of energy and path to immortality. There are various forms of cultivation methods, and none had definitively claimed that they were the strongest." 

Kyrian thought to himself that maybe he could cultivate the three forms of energy and gain advantage to fight the [Arbiters of Fate]. He needed all the advantages he could get since he wouldn't know when they would be unsealed.

"Master, are there people who successfully combined the three energy pathways?"

"Many have tried doing that, but doing so would overload the mana circuits or meridians and kill themselves in the process. The human body, or any other creature that had existed in Elyra is not strong enough, even at the peak of their ranks, to hold different types of energy. Besides, cultivating a single pathway is already time consuming, it is also resource draining, and the comprehension needed to succeed in a sole pathway is already hard enough"

The boy was a bit disappointed that his idea wasn't feasible, and let the thought go away temporarily. He now had to focus on what he has, and the resources he could get to get strong as fast as possible without damaging his foundation.

The master and disciple walked away from the arena and resumed their lesson near the river. It reminded the both of them how they first met, with the boy calling the old man an egghead, and the boy gasping for air as he almost drowned in the river.

Horace looked at his disciple and his hand itched, as if compelling his hand to smack the back of his disciple's head.

Meanwhile, the boy looked at his master in appreciation for the things he had taught him in the short span they had together.

Horace willed himself to stop these thoughts and instead, stared at his disciple in appreciation.

"Let's discuss your talents and attributes."

Kyrian listened attentively as his master taught him of his innate qualities.

"Getting a 100% affinity with an attribute or element means that your output efficiency and comprehension will be unimaginable compared to a normal genius who has around 50% of affinity. Raising your affinity is almost impossible without using incredibly rare materials that are always out of stock or extinct. For comparison, the Elden Houses went crazy when they learned that I have an 81% affinity for steel element.

Even in the records of the Zemof family, the highest affinity for steel element was 84%. Now, imagine the implications that you have since you have a 100% affinity for steel and fire, another one for two rare elements, and a unique element that no one had seen before."

Kyrian was now realizing the extent of his talent and the ability he would have in the future. He did not let it go through his head since these were gifts.

He knew that did not work hard to get this, nor did he do anything to deserve the talents he has right now.

Nonetheless, he would still work hard to achieve beyond what is expected of him, pay back those who had helped him in his journey, and destroy those who had harmed him and his loved ones.

"There are some theories that your affinity determines how far you will walk the path. 10% affinity means rank 1 is your limit, 20% - rank 2, and so on. The problem is, even if I have an affinity greater than 79%, the limit of this world is rank 7. None had been able to break through rank 8 since some sort of unknown mechanism prevents us to break free. I've been in middle rank 7 for hundreds of years without a path to walk on. Before, I could see possibilities of my ascension, but now that I am nearing my limit, the path disappeared."

"If this world prevents us from reaching rank 8, then why don't the strong people just leave this place?"

"If we could leave this planet, then we wouldn't have met. There is a barrier or seal in place that prevents anyone from leaving this place. No amount of power has been enough to scratch it. Even the powers of the president had no effect on this seal."

Kyrian lampooned in his attempt to give solutions to his master's predicaments. Of course, he should've thought that whatever idea he had was already thought of by these old masters. He feels helpless because he wanted to give back to his master, even if it were ideas that could cheer him up.

"Well, one day, when you reach the peak, maybe you can break it for all of us old fogies." His master's bright smile took away his worries.

"I'm going to do just that, master."

The two of them stared at the flowing river hitting rocks and listened to its rhythmic cadence which calmed the boy and old man.

"We got sidetracked again, I guess." The platinum blonde haired boy broke the silence.

"Back to the subject of ranking up, I think you need an epiphany or an encounter that will break your bottleneck. Staying here and feeling helpless might have been detrimental to your cultivation."

"Do you want me to travel the world?" Kyrian was considering the possibility of traveling and searching for his father when he heard his master speak.

"Not until I think you're ready. As of now, you should learn my personal steel art [Steel Emperor] and master the Pyrus' family art [Embers of Life]. This may take a few years considering your otherworldly talent."

The ground beneath the two rumbled as a steel platform emerged from the depths of earth until it raised the two of them towards the skies. Kyrian held on to the platform for his dear life as he struggled to stand stable because of the wind and the fear of falling down.

"Ahhhh! Master, can't you warn me before doing these kinds of things?"

"Isn't life full of surprises?" A grin appeared on Horace's face.

 ----

After settling down for a while, the two sat down in a steel, but weirdly comfortable chair, admiring the clouds beneath their feet. 

Kyrian wondered why his master brought him up in the skies when they could do the same training session on the ground.

"Let's begin with the first chapter of my steel arts [Steel Emperor]. What do you think of when you hear the word steel?"

"Swords, structures that make up buildings, it can be sharp and blunt?"

"Good. You have a basic understanding of the essence of steel. At first, human civilization utilized steel to build various structures that helped them like machinery, devices, structures, and weaponry. Steel is traditionally forged through the blessing of fire and its materials. With magic, this process is removed, and the mana particles strengthen the metals that form alloys to become a different kind of steel - A magical steel that can be repurposed to the whim of its user."

Horace waved his hands and the platform beneath them expanded until it became a flying sphere that covered the two of them. With another wave, the top part of the sphere vanished and turned into different forms of weapons. There were axes, spears, swords, arrows, and all kinds of weapons. These weapons suddenly sped towards the clouds and various formations and attacks were displayed. 

Now, Kyrian knew why his master brought him up in the sky. Doing that on the ground would have destroyed his master's estate.

In another show of power and control, he snapped his hands and liquified these weapons until it formed steel puppets that looked like Horace, but its body was covered with a helmet. Each of these steel armored puppets looked menacing and exuded a different kind of energy. From his [Eyes of Divinity], it looked like water flowing around the steel armored puppets.

Just as Kyrian was about to ask, his master answered, "All one hundred puppets of mine have a peak strength of rank 6. With your eyes, I'm sure you've seen a different type of energy. This is not mana, but Aura."

"But master, you said that a human couldn't wield two different kinds of energies."

"That's right. I'm a human, but the steel puppet isn't. While it is under my control, I cultivated each of them to reach rank 6 in power. Since mana couldn't be awakened in creatures without a soul, then with ingenuity and a little bit of craziness, I could make them learn aura."

Kyrian looked at his master in awe and incredulity. He had circumnavigated the limits of humanity and made an exceptional discovery with his genius. Horace may look stupid because of his face, but behind the grin and eyes of unseriousness is a brain that belongs to an exceptional genius.

"A single one of my puppet can defeat most experts in the world, barring some of them in the peak."

"Master, if you combine with the steel armored puppet, then won't that mean you could use aura and magic at the same time?"

"If you read the 8th and final chapter of the [Steel Emperor] arts, then you would see that it is the path I am walking towards. I'm still developing materials and gathering resources to upgrade my puppets to rank 7 before fusing to reach rank 8."

As always, just as Kyrian thought that he had thought of an original idea, his master had already thought of it. He was beginning to accept the reality that he couldn't help him at the moment and would only focus on his own strength so that he could help him in the future.

"When I travel the world, I'll help in looking for the materials, master!"

Horace ruffled his disciple's hair and thanked the kid for his words.

"If you don't get me those materials then I'm going to shave your head make you bald like me."

Kyrian and Horace enjoyed the banter they had as they continued to talk about the essence of steel.