Memories

[Volume 4: Spirit Pagoda, begins.]

Chapter 28 — Memories

"Since it's still too early to sleep, I'll tell you the tale again."

"Okay!"

"Ahem, I'll begin now."

A short tale began to play out.

"Once upon a time, there were bards who wandered the dangerous land of monsters to sing the song of revolution. Their songs were even able to reach people who have different languages and cultures."

"The courageous and wise bards sang about revolution and freedom. The listeners were soon instilled with the spirit to fight their oppressors—the monsters who saw them as mere livestocks and treated their lives as nothing more than entertainment!"

"After years of roaming the entire land of monsters, their songs finally touched the heart of the whole humanity. Despite the differences of languages, the songs were able to touch them."

"The spirit of humanity has now ignited. Humans had enough of sacrificing their children to satisfy the hunger of those monsters, they were tired of seeing their own family and friends dying before their claws, and they were frustrated to always cower fearfully before their presence!"

"All of them were furious toward the monsters. That's why they finally raised their primitive fists to kill those monsters. If their fist was not enough, they used their brains to create weapons and drenched their bodies with the blood of monsters! This was the first spark of war between humans and monsters."

"At the start, humans were weaker than monsters, but they were able to devise a unique power to contend against the monsters. And thus, this began the metamorphosis of the entire human race!"

"Humans respected the bards who began the flames of revolution. As long as the bards led them, the humans felt no fear against the monsters. The battlefield always had the bards, their simple song now a powerful battle music were like drums of war that bestowed boiling courage to humans and pounding fear to the hearts of monsters. All of them saw the human race prevailing and uniting as long as the bards led them."

"However…."

"....the monster went on to capture the families of the bards. The monsters wanted the bards to betray the humans for their families to survive."

"The leader of the bards was conflicted, the other bards felt the same. To save their families or continue helping the human race. The bards had to choose. Their children, their parents, their spouses—their families were quietly sobbing out of fear, but they didn't want the bards to choose them. But the foolish bards already knew what to choose."

"The bards were the voice who started the spark of revolution, but they were also the voice who came to extinguish it. The bards sided with the monsters to save themselves—their music now bringing terror to their own breathens."

"The human race fell into chaos and started to fall apart. They were once again being slaughtered by the monsters. The bright hope before them had burned into ashes—all because of the bards! That's why their rage and hatred grew without a stop. They detested and loathed the bastards who betrayed them! Those rage and hatred became the force to unite the human race to kill the monsters and the bards."

The short tale ended.

And it was told by a beautiful girl.

My hazy eyes could faintly see her lips tinged with sorrow and bitterness.

The girl then said something I've heard for a second time now.

"It's still too soon to say this secret, but It's really not fair to keep this from you."

She wore a serious expression.

"The bards from the tale are actually our ancestors from millions or billions of years ago."

I know.

No, I just remembered recently.

That my sister told me this secret when I was very young.

"The humans back then really hated our ancestors. Even monsters and gods hated them. Maybe this is the reason why our blood is cursed to have nothing but music and bad fortune."

"Well, our family is still lucky to live well despite the curse. And I'm thankful just to be alive, so I can't really blame our ancestors for their choice. This curse is just the price the descendants need to pay."

A soft hand gently caressed my hair.

"I'm sorry to break your dreams so early, but you must know no one with this cursed blood can become a Soul Master. I'm sorry."

This was a memory from a long time ago.

A familiar room greeted my sleepy, hazy vision.

The bedroom which I once shared with my older sister.

I was lying on a bed with her sitting beside me.

My older sister was a beautiful girl with black hair and ruby eyes.

"I'll play my flute so you can now sleep comfortably."

My sister was skilled at playing her wooden flute.

My parents said she possessed the thickest blood.

That's why she has a pair of bright eyes that resemble rubies.

"We don't have a choice other than to play music. The curse creates negativity within us which can eventually swallow us."

Our family plays with various musical instruments.

My parents were just running a traditional clinic so we could stably earn money.

How come I forgot this?

My sister grabbed her flute.

"That's why we must play music to control the negativity. Our family's special technique helps to push it away."

She smiled and started to play her wooden flute.

"This is our special technique, the Sound Of Heart."

A series of pure, breathtaking, and calming sounds slowly flowed out. These soothing sounds were like the vibrant beats of a heart, filling the bedroom with a serene atmosphere.

My surging rage and bloodlust were being pushed away by the sounds that directly entered my heart, allowing me to acutely feel the emotions contained within the sounds of my sister.

It felt like our hearts were connected to relay each other's feelings.

I gradually relaxed and felt drowsy—a sense of sereneness washing my entire being.

I felt joy and warmth, slowly reviving my dead emotions.

However, the sounds suddenly started to get distorted into something else, forcing their revivals to stop.

The distorted sounds were like hands trying to plunge you into the deepest abyss of darkness; sounding strange and eerie to the ears.

The rapidly emerging notes were like a chaotic mixture of sharpness, impureness, and murkiness—this was a music that only carried true evil and darkness, resembling the eerie caws of crows.

My drowsy eyes gradually cleared as I saw the expression of my sister morphing into something sinister and hideous.

Her lips were creepily curling upwards until it reached her eyes that bent sharply like a pair of crescent moons, eerily shining with a dark crimson light.

The same eye as mine.

It felt familiar.

"...who are you?"

Those were my only words before I saw the space swirling into a darkness of nothingness—a dark feather falling before my eyes.

My senses were gradually awakening one by one to get out from this space that wasn't neither a dream nor a nightmare.

How could I forget such important memories?

Was it when I died?

Then why did I forget such a memory when it could keep me sane?

Now it was too late.

There was a sense of incongruity that covered my mind.

Like there was something trying to destroy me from within.

A speculation was squeezed out, but the swirling darkness dulled my ability to even think who was the culprit.

A pair of flames then bloomed, as if they were eyes.

However, I was awakened before I could see it.

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I slowly woke up from my bed while sweating heavily.

"Agh…."

I held my mind that was throbbing painfully after those memories were completely recovered.

I learned something important from those memories.

A stuff I really need now.

"I need to play the flute…"

I need the flute to control the negativity within me.

The negativity within me had already grown to an abnormal degree.

I knew the special technique of our family was not the solution. It would just help stabilize my uncontrollable rage and bloodlust.

Yet it was enough.

I also have other means to help stabilize the negativity.

Those stabilizers were equally important to preserve my sanity.

Besides, my sister was also someone who plays the flute.

I wanted to follow her steps.

However, I first need to learn about the flute.

The mute idol was the right person to ask for lessons.

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After forming the water star, I came to realize more about it.

The true water essence were always there to help me clear my mind.

This was the benefit of my increased water affinity.

Apart from that, I realized the water star was constantly absorbing true water essence to strengthen itself.

The water star was able to produce its own gravitational force to pull them.

I've even learned that true water essence was present everywhere in the atmosphere, but they were denser in areas with water.

After several days, the next thing I learned about was the intricate influence of the water star over me.

For example, the movements of my body constantly carried a natural sense of fluidity and flow to them like water. My body was now able to display its exceptional flexibility to its best. There were also smooth connections and natural flows to each and every movement I did. If a combat expert was to examine me, they would realize my bodily movements lacked wasted energy since excess energy was always being conserved while efficiently transferring the rest from one spot to another.

As a result of the smooth connection and natural flows of water, the rate of my soul blood consumption has noticeably decreased. This new body phenomena of efficiently conserving energy consumptions also applied to my stamina, mind, and energy.

"It's even a good idea to add the nature of water into my boxing..."

However, the greatest gain was sensing my own presence being less pronounced than before.

It wouldn't take long for me to imitate the Nature Concealment of Na'er.

The reason?

Aside from the water star, I also thought of other possibilities.

Since I was able to create the water star by absorbing true water essence, then there was a high possibility of creating other elemental stars!

"It's really worth trying."

Since I first obtain true water essence from the ocean, It was appropriate to find suitable locations abundant with other elements.

According to the Earth Law Book I've read before, there are four main elements:

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

Wind.

"Hmm, which element should I try to create?"

I then decided by compatibility between elements.

That's why I chose the earth element which complements with water.

If I chose fire, it might lead to the collapse of the water star.

"As for how I can absorb the true earth essence…"

There exists the ground under me, but the cold force would have long reacted to it.

"Wait… the cold force usually activates without my will. The only reason it absorbed the true water essence was because of the necklace. Maybe if I start to actively control it…"

In the past, I managed to control the cold force when it tried to consume Hu Yu.

Why did it listen to me back then?

It was—

"My desire…"

The cold force responded to intense emotions, strong feelings, and powerful desires.

If so, I had to control it by stimulating those things.

And my emotions, feelings, and desires were connected to the negativity within me.

"Agh…"

Again.

A murky sense of distortion covered my ability to think.

…

Remember the memories. They're important in the far future, if my motivation keeps up.

What defines a devil?

Sneaky, Cunning, And Master Of Manipulation.

If you suggest ideas, I would gladly take it in. I may have already written up to shrek academy, but I still can add details, plots, new ideas along the way(or revisions).

We are also close to 1k collections, although quite slow, I'm thankful! Hehe, just missing some reviews!

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