Book Three: {A Larger World}

  Mountains are not merely rocks and peaks of varying heights. In truth, they are hearts… immortal hearts that fight the world and stare at the sky with fierce eyes and ambitious anticipation to reach it… and perhaps to go beyond reaching the sky… to shatter it, for example… or to build a new sky.!!

  The battle for the throne begins with the journey of entering cultivation to fight against the inevitable fate, winning the smallest battles and the greatest ones to build the grand epic and sit upon the throne… and then comes the time of a new beginning.

  **************

  Chapter 51

  {Curse of Death}

  Titan Village.

  Day 11

  Six new villagers arrived.

  From the Orc Village, three arrived.

  From the Goblin Village, one arrived.

  From the wolves, three.

  Horses, two.

  From the ferocious wolves that were previously in the Orc Village, three.

  Ian’s army received a major boost with a group of more than 100 soldiers at Level One and two at Level Two.

  Among them was a new profession… Spell Caster.

  Spells are a profession that uses a special language belonging to an ancient race… the cursed race.

  This language is their power and their great secret, and as long as the cultivator learns it, they can use it as a means of attack, defense, or sensing.

  It was distinctive, unique, and nearly impossible to block.

  “Excellent work,” Ian praised.

  On one of the trees, hidden smoothly, an automatic crossbow was placed.

  “Chris… get ready,” Ian ordered.

  The crossbow was very well concealed—so well that no one could sense it—and it was extremely special, capable of distinguishing enemies. It was an item crafted with high mastery by one of the oldest races.

  The Dwarves.

  Masters of refinement and crafting.

  Now this thing had been built and prepared, and the time for firing had come.

  One of the soldiers placed a hexagonal stone with a pale white color inside it (Energy Stone).

  The moment the stone entered, it transformed into a mass of energy. The crossbow rotated and turned toward Chris.

  A bolt of energy formed on the crossbow and fired.

  Chris was ready.

  “Boulder Shield,” and a stone shield formed around him.

  BOOOOOOM

  The bolt shot out at lightning speed and reached Chris’s chest in a single instant—before Chris could even properly react.

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  From the sheer force, the shield cracked and Chris was pushed backward.

  A trail five meters long was carved before the pushing force disappeared—along with the bolt.

  However, a faint trace of blood formed at the corner of General Chris’s mouth.

  “Impressive,” Bali and the rest of the Level Two members praised.

  “It would easily kill Level One individuals and inflict severe injuries on Level Two if they weren’t prepared… but if they are prepared, it won’t succeed at all,” Chris summarized.

  “That’s enough for now,” Ian smiled.

  “But how will we solve the Energy Stones problem, my lord?” Bali asked.

  “We’ll soon find a mine for them and resolve the issue… and if we can’t, we’ll substitute them with Red Iron,” Ian said.

  Red Iron.

  It was a special material because it was a substitute.

  The meaning of the word “substitute” is that it compensates for other things… of course, it won’t have the same properties, and the effect won’t be 100% or even 80%… but at least it is a substitute that can fill gaps and shortages in many things, including what is happening now.

  “We’ve consumed the three stones we found from monster corpses… but here is where it stops… Red Iron will never solve the problem completely… we’ll consume all our stock and won’t have any defense,” Liu said.

  “Don’t concern yourselves with this… return to training now,” Ian ordered.

  They bowed and left.

  “Zero… how is the scouting?” Ian asked.

  “There are some things, my lord,” Zero emerged smoothly from a nearby shadow and bowed.

  “Speak.”

  Zero took out the village map, which had been expanding and filling with details. “This is the village… and here, two miles away, is our Goblin Village… and to the west, at the same distance, the Orc Village. Now, there are some problems… here is another village—this time of the Elves—with a force of around 500, and farther away is another human village with around 600… and the most dangerous of all is this… a Wind Dragon at Level Three.”

  Ian stared at the map and remained silent.

  “There’s something else, my lord… the Mysterious Lake has been showing strange movements recently… even Chief Yora ordered me to personally monitor it, and I discovered movements of some auras and nymphs…”

  Ian nodded calmly. “A Level Three dragon!!… Why did it come here?” Ian asked.

  Level Three beings generally hide deep within the forest… their presence outside was a great danger to Ian… and at the same time, this should not be happening.

  “According to the information, that dragon is injured. But it is about to lay its egg… and that’s why it fled from the depths and came here,” Zero said anxiously.

  “Fine. Continue monitoring, but do not take any action and do not let anyone see your traces,” Ian ordered.

  “As you command, my lord.”

  <<<<<<<<<<

  World of Death.

  The soldiers trained by slaughtering monsters.

  The World of Death provided many wonderful things… for example, powerful weapons filled with a Death Aura that gnaws at the Aura of Life, chewing it away—simply devouring it. This means that all items here are stronger than items in the World of Wonders as long as they are in the same tier… and they can even fight items of a higher level.

  The second thing was the difference in time: one day outside equals ten days here. Because of this, the training time of the forces increased tenfold in full… added to this was the Weakness Aspects skill, which worked continuously and raised their levels.

  Honestly, the entire army, which was approaching 420 fighters after adding the Orcs, was close to abolishing the idea of the existence of a Level Zero soldier.

  Of course, they would still need a few more days… but what was the problem—especially since during these days some other Level Two existences would appear.

  And who knows… perhaps Level Three as well.

  ….

  On the shore of the island, there was one of the soldiers.

  An ordinary person with no physical advantages.

  But his eyes were shining, even though his face was very pale, and his hands… his hands were nothing but complete bones!!

  Noa

  “How are you?” Ian looked at his hands, which had turned into a skeletal form, and felt pain inside.

  Noa.

  - Afflicted with the Curse of Death.

  - Description: He touched the waters of the Yellow Day, and thus became an existence between death and life, unable to leave this place… unless he dies completely or lives completely.

  - Age: 47: 100

  Although his physical appearance had not changed, Noa lost nearly twenty years in just a few days.

  All of this was to obtain a strange set of eyes behind him.

  - Eye of Death

  - Description: An eye that fell from the fish of the Yellow River.

  - Properties: Consume it to lose one year of lifespan and advance one step in Level One.

  Lose three years to advance one step in Level Two.

  Lose ten years to advance one step in Level Three.

  (Does not work on higher targets. After consuming ten of them, the Curse of Death will begin and the countdown to the user’s death will start.)

  “I’m fine,” Noa smiled, speaking in a voice resembling the screams of ghosts.

  “I will heal you, don’t worry,” Ian said.

  “I’m not worried, my lord,” Noa smiled. “I just don’t want you to think about it too much… it is my pursuit, and… I am a soldier of Titan. Serving Titan and serving you is my honor, even if I die in its cause.”

  “You won’t die… you haven’t even married yet,” Ian smiled.

  “My lord… during these days… I found something strange on this ship… there—there is a strange fish down below,” Noa said uncertainly.