A few days had passed since Olian and his children had been imprisoned. He hadn’t been able to see their faces in quite a while, with each of them being kept in separate cells far away from each other. Just where did it all go wrong?

  Was it when he had embarked on the journey of resurrecting his wife? Was it when he had chosen to stay back late for work? Or did it go even farther back than that? Maybe, maybe it all started when he first fell in love with her.

  And now here he sat, in a tiny, dark cell awaiting his execution. His fate had been sealed ever since yesterday’s interrogation, but the knights were still holding off on it. They could tell he was still hiding something, especially that commander, Hela.

  Staring up at the molding stone roof of his cell, the sound of rain began to pierce through the cold stone walls. It reminded him of that day, when he was forced to finally say his last words to her.

  His chest twisted into a tight knot as he recalled the giant fire, the sudden fall of rain, the washing away of her ashes. He wanted to see the face of Elise one last time. He wanted to see the faces of his children one last time.

  He wanted to hold them in his arms one last time. He wanted to tell them how much he loved them. But most of all, he wanted to apologize to them. If only he hadn’t been obsessed with bringing his wife back, could they have lived as a happy family?

  Olian’s wish would soon be granted, but the world always finds a way to twist it in the worst way possible. As he listened to the rain, ruminating over the past and thinking of the possibilities, he suddenly took notice of how quiet it was.

  Where were the patrolling knights? Where were the sounds of rats scurrying through the walls? Only the sound of rain pervaded the air, that was until the whistle of a man quickly pierced through it.

  A shiver went down Olian’s spine as heard that tune emanate throughout the damp, musty prison air. It was an old tune, one of those common tunes which couldn’t be traced back to its origins.

  There was only one person who would whistle that tune so nonchalantly as they trespassed through a prison. Dante, the man who gave Olian the Mithril Blood so that he could bring back his wife.

  Along with the sound of rain and whistling, he could hear that man drag something along with him. He was getting closer, his whistling louder and louder, almost as if it were shaking the entire prison. And then, he finally appeared before him in that same cloak that they had first met.

  “Dante?” Olian’s gaze went down to what Dante had been dragging along with him. “What did you do?”

  Lliam and Lily were in his hands, held by the hoods of their cloaks. Blood stained their clothes and face, slowly running down their face and dripping onto the floor.

  “You bastard! What did you do?” Jumping up from the ground, he gripped the metal bars, wanting to tear them off so that he could take his kids back.

  “I’m just here to cut off some loose ends.” Doing what Olian couldn’t, Dante kicked down the metal gate as if it were made of twigs. “It's unfortunate that we have to say goodbye like this.”

  He threw Lliam and Lily at their father, knocking him against the wall. “Lliam! Lily! Are you…”

  Thankfully, they were still breathing, though barely clinging onto life. There were wounds all over their body, and for some reason, they weren’t regenerating like usual. Just what…

  “Y-you don’t have to do this. I haven’t told them about you yet. Can’t you just leave—”

  “Yet.” Dante stressed that word. “If only you had succeeded, I might have considered saving you, but this is the easiest way of cleaning things up. Be proud, you’ve served your purpose.”

  Olian held his children tighter in his arms as Dante drew his sword. They could not scream, for with one stroke of his sword, their warm blood had been splattered against the stone, cold walls.

  They were together as a family, all holding each other in their deaths. Maybe they’d find each other in the afterlife. Maybe they’d all reunite in a better place. Dante hoped so, he hoped everyone could find themselves in a better place.

  Scattering nova petals on their bodies, he threw a lit match onto it before turning away. He didn’t want to witness another parting ceremony, and besides, he had better things to be taking care of. Dante disappeared into the rain, having not been seen by a single guard.

  …

  Ega stared out of the window, watching as the rain fell. A couple of days had already passed since he had started Ella’s swordsmanship training, and though the days were going by quickly, today was different.

  Ega was keeping her training “sword” close by, having confiscated it ever since he caught her secretly training as she watched him from a distance. Today was going to be another day of training, but with the rain pouring in, he had decided against it.

  Forcing Ella to train out in harsh conditions wasn’t something he was ready to give her yet, not when she was still so young and fragile. Instead, he decided to have her train her eyes using the falling rain.

  In the chaos of a storm, one can begin to discern each drop from each other and follow each of the droplets’ paths. The method was a bit abstract, without any clear goal like grabbing an exact variety of leaves or recognizing certain details of one’s surroundings. It was simply to stare at the rain and watch as it falls.

  There was no way for Ega to know if Ella was actually training her eyes properly, but seeing that intense stare was all he needed to see. As she trained, Ega was focusing on his soul realm, pulling away all of the souls that he had mixed into his own.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  As he looked at his own soul, he had witnessed no changes. It was the same as it ever was, burning just as brightly and around the same size that it had since the beginning. He left the salamander’s soul into his own, still needing it to complete the torturous training that he had been doing.

  After some time had passed, the sound of knocking pierced through the pattering of rain, drawing Ega out of his soul realm.

  “May I come in?” Hela was standing just outside their door.

  “Go ahead.” Not wanting to get up from his position, he simply allowed her in.

  As she stepped inside, Ega instantly felt that something was off. Her expression, though usually quite serious, was much more grave than usual.

  “Is… something wrong?”

  Before answering, Hela looked around the room. “Olian and his kids are dead.”

  Ega suddenly shot up from his chair. “What? Isn’t the execution—”

  “They were killed by an unknown individual. They snuck into the prison, at a time where, strangely, there were no guards

  “Do we even have a single clue on who could have…”

  “They left one thing behind, but…” Instead of telling him, she was going to show him what this mysterious individual left behind.

  Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to Ega. Opening it up, Ega froze. There was something written on it, and it directly addressed him.

  Ega: Possessor of the Old God’s fragments.

  Just how long can you hold onto them?

  Ega was thrown into a state of shock, unsure of how to take this information. Too many questions were swirling around in his head about this mysterious individual or possible group of individuals.

  Nothing. They knew absolutely nothing about this person who had somehow slipped past knights and eternally silenced the criminals that they were keeping. Just how powerful was this person? Was it a group? How powerful were they?

  There was something stirring in the shadows, and Ega knew nothing about it. His stomach began to churn as he realized just how little he knew. And despite all that, they knew about him, no, they had their eyes on him.

  From what he read, it seemed like they knew he possessed a true fragment of Yolu. Not only that, but they were threatening to take it away from him. Just what were they going to do with that fragment? If they were related to Olian, then did that mean they would create something like that disgusting monster?

  “Please, don’t worry too much” Understanding how he felt, Hela began to take her leave, letting Ega process the situation on his own. “I’m sure we’ll be able to deal with the situation somehow.”

  He wished that he could have tossed these feelings of worry aside. He wished that he could have chalked it up to an empty threat. But there was another part of him, the piece of Yolu was telling him that whoever they were, they were going to be deeply intertwined with Ega’s hunt for blood.

  He knew they were an enemy. He knew that he would have to face them one day. He knew that if he ever wanted to gather enough Mithril Blood to prevent the destruction of Lanier, he had to destroy them. That was what the piece of Yolu was telling him, but despite all of this, he knew nothing about them.

  Fear struck Ega in the chest. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down, but those feelings wouldn’t stop pervading through every inch of his body. He needed to do something to shake this feeling off, to make himself feel confident enough to face this faceless danger.

  “Stay here Ella, I have to do something.” Leaving the room, Ega headed toward the only thing that could give him any sense of comfort: the training grounds.

  He stepped out into the pouring rain with a training sword in hand. He swung at the rain, each strike shaking off a bit more fear than the last. Having forgotten to take Ella’s training sword, she was watching from the window, mimicking his movements.

  At first, she could follow him perfectly just like all the other times. But as time passed, something began to change about Ega’s form. There was something about each of his strikes, something infused into every single one of them that Ella just couldn’t copy.

  So, she simply watched in awe. She watched as his soul began to ignite itself, burning with such an incredible brilliance that even the downpour of rain couldn’t extinguish. Each time he swung was like throwing more and more oil into a fire.

  His soul was burning so fiercely, so brilliantly that it began to transform his body. It was similar to mixing another soul into his own and gaining their abilities, but instead of diluting his own soul with the soul of other beings, his soul was burning pure. It was turning itself into its truest form and transforming Ega into the greatest body that his soul could possess.

  And that was when it finally happened. Three strikes. Ega’s first strike tore at the air around him, not letting even a single drop of rain fall on him for an entire second. Ega’s second strike shattered the horizon in front of him, splitting the rain into two halves. Ega’s third strike cleaved the ground before him, leaving behind the mark of his Earth Splitting Strikes.

  His entire body ached as he performed those strikes, leaving him unable to move a single muscle for a minute. Despite standing out in the pouring rain, it felt like he was on fire. That feeling was beginning to die down as his soul returned back to its normal state, and as Ega realized what he had done, a wide grin spread across his lips.

  He had done it. Ega had carved out a tiny crack in the wall that stood before. He was beginning to see a path forward in that little bit of progress, and he would not let it escape him. Even if it was for a second, even if it was still incomplete, Ega had ignited his own soul.

  Exhausted beyond belief, he stumbled back under the cover of the fort. Though soaked, he reveled in that feeling of accomplishment, but he couldn’t find comfort yet. There was a much greater force out there waiting for him. Achieving this level was far from enough.

  But for now, Ega needed to rest. Dropping onto the stone cold floor, he closed his eyes for a few minutes, not having expected the floor to be so comforting. The sound of footsteps suddenly interrupted his rest, and as he turned to see who it was, Ella had entered his view.

  “Are you okay?” Concerned about his condition, she crouched down to his side.

  “I’m fine, just tired.”

  Just as he was about to close his eyes, Ella started to dry his hair with a towel that she had brought with her.

  “I can do it myself.” Taking the towel from her hand, he sat upright and started to dry what little of himself that he could.

  “Will I… be able to do that someday?”

  “Do… Oh.” Ega realized that Ella had been watching him. “You were watching me?”

  She suddenly tensed up like she had been caught doing something wrong. Ella braced herself for a scolding, but those words never.

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to do something similar in the future.” Seeing her face light up with excitement with his words, Ega couldn’t help but smile.

  “Really?”

  “Of course, just follow the training I give you and you’ll be there in no time.” Unable to help himself, he rustled her hair. “And that includes whenever I tell you to rest properly, okay?”

  Seeing her nod her head, he turned his gaze out to the falling rain. That’s right, he couldn’t be comfortable yet. If he wanted to protect the things he cared about, he needed to be much more powerful. It was a resolution that Ega made to himself as he watched the rain fall with Ella by his side.