Epiphany

Liam's limp and charred body crashed onto the rocky surface of the canyon walls, hitting one rock after another.

Sharp stones protruding from the rocky surface slashed his skin and wounded it even more.

He tumbled deeper, and deeper, and deeper, until finally, there was a slightly flat surface that he bluntly landed on – leading to a small hole inside the wall which he rolled into.

Liam's unconscious figure was a bloody pulp, his head was burnt entirely – making him bald, pieces of his hair mangled with his charred skin – his knees had broken during the fall too.

There was nothing covering his naked body, as the clothes had all caught fire during the earlier attack.

The only thing that indicated he wasn't dead was his weak, beating heart.

Hours later, he awoke, eyes flickering open and close.

'I'm alive.'

Was his first thought, amidst the excruciating, slow pain that washed over him.

He used the remaining strength in his arms to pull himself towards the cave wall, his body sore and heavy.

He painfully looked towards his hand, and his rings were fortunately still intact – though his fingers were bent in unnatural angles.

'I can make it out alive.'

Was his second thought, but even thinking was painful.

There were plenty of provisions stored in his ring, and he had multiple Jades he could use to contact Lloyd or Revel – though he doubted his luck was that great.

He then inspected the state of his body, and found it to be slowly healing. He instantly took out the two revitalization-pills from his ring and swallowed them.

Strength grew in his body, and a few of his most serious wounds healed – including his ears – but not nearly enough for him to make a full recovery.

His knees were still broken, rendering him unable to venture out, thus, he simply sat inside the small but empty cave, absorbing minute amounts of 'Ora' to speed up his regeneration.

The density of world essence was a bit higher than the surface, but he wasn't in a state to find out more.

He took a look into his mental sphere, and the translucent barrier's state was poor to say the least – multiple small cracks on its surface.

Over time, his hearing returned completely – howls, chittering, and every other kind of noise entered his ears.

'If I fell anywhere else, I would've been dead by now.'

He thought as he continued to absorb 'Ora', and his mind drifted back to the fight he witnessed with the Rank-4 beast and the patriarch of a noble clan. The might of it, the scale of it.

That, and Emma's betrayal. Liam knew there was something wrong with her – she looked too noble to be a fighter in the peasantry, not to mention he had never seen her, or her sister.

Violent thoughts bubbled in his mind. They both needed to die.

He sat there in dark silence, and an epiphany dawned on him.

…

"I'm nothing."

He uttered under his breath, his expression covered by a cloak of darkness.

During the clash between the beast and the patriarch, Liam wasn't even glanced at. He was simply an ant, trampled on by beings of a higher power.

He thought back to how fearful he truly became – how his entire body shook at the sight of that giant Lion. As momentary as it was, he still felt shame remembering it.

He realized how weak he truly was, both physically and mentally.

'My will, my ambition, my desire... it's not enough. I need more.'

His resolved green irises grew darker and his expression was strangely one of peace – like a weight had been taken off his shoulders.

A new layer of insatiable greed and bloodlust had formed within him. He felt as though there was nothing he wouldn't do for his new goal.

'I won't die here, not until I've become the strongest.' He hadn't forgotten about the word celestial for a moment.

Unbeknownst to him, an entire week had passed as his mind drifted, while he subconsciously absorbed 'Ora' into his body and ate small amounts of food.

Suddenly, a pleasant change occurred.

Liam's pores pushed out gobs of black, pus-like filth, and his broken knees and bones slowly started to reform and straighten. Any scars or wounds on his body had dissipated – turning into a healed scar – while his skin grew a smooth pearly shade.

The countless wounds he had accumulated slowly turned into nourishment during his seclusion, which pushed his body to the third rank.

Underneath his skin, the membrane seemed to thicken – which was the ability that stored pain and converted it to strength upon command.

Liam felt his strength blooming like a rose – but a sudden change to his lower body grabbed his panicked attention.

A small, marble-sized orb had formed right under his navel, and it naturally absorbed 'Ora' at an astounding speed!

The world essence pouring into his body was ten times denser than normal.

"Wait... is that my core?" He uttered under his breath, his eyes widening in shock.

'Ora' automatically entered it and nourished his entire body at the same time. That, coupled with his Rank-3 body gave him an indescribable feeling of vigor – making him forget most of the pain he felt a moment earlier.

'What about my element?'

Liam attempted to take out a strand of 'Ora' from his core, but couldn't do so.

'As expected. I'll need a cultivation technique from now on. I can't wait to get back to Lloyd and tell him about it.'

Liam hoped his teacher was safe, but he knew Lloyd was strong enough to survive.

He spent another week repairing the cracks on his mental sphere using his mental energy and resting properly, before deciding it was time to explore.

He took one step outside the cave, and blood drained from his already pale face.

All around him, different types of darkness magical beasts flew around the canyon gorge.

Night Bats, Death Owls, Darkness Pythons, and even Plague Rats were some of the few beasts he was able to spot – and name, no less.

He looked up, and the crack was nowhere to be seen. The idea of climbing upwards was automatically thrown away, since there were no handholds to climb with – especially since there were hundreds of Rank-3 Night Bats flying above.

Trails of corrosive smoke followed their flight, and they had three, red beady eyes instead of two.

He creaked his neck to look below, finding an endless abyss of darkness not even his senses could penetrate through.

'Welp.'