A ghostly image floated out of the box.
“Hello, receiver of the Song of Swords.”
Without thinking, Jia Yuan responded. “Hi.”
But, the ghost continued to speak, without a care for Jia Yuan’s interruption. “I am the creator of these pills, as well as a close friend to the creator of the Song of Swords. At the time of this message, the creator of the Song of Swords has already died, betrayed by his family, his nation...all though he’d protected. As his last close friend, I felt it my duty to pass on his life’s greatest success, this Song.
“I hope that these pills will aid you on your path - please use them well to bring the Song of Swords, the Sword Kingdom, back to the forefront of this world! Please, for the sake of this old man, and my friend, give us this last shout of defiance.”
The ghost briefly paused, and the elderly ghost that had been observing Wesley slowly assimilated himself into the speaking ghost’s form.
“The pills along the top of the case are used to train the soul, so that your understanding of the Song may improve by leaps and bounds. The first can be used in the absorption stage, second in the manipulation, third during the True Disciple stage, while the fourth… will help you advance beyond.
“The bottom four pills are used to train the body. These pills are very precious, and it was only by sacrificing the lives of thousands that these pills were made. As you may or may not know, the average body can only handle one element of a Song.
“For example, most people in the Fire Kingdom can only train in a Song of Fire, because they were only born with the capability to accept this form of Song. The same applies to the Water, Air and Earth Kingdoms.
“However, there was a small nation comprised of the element of the Sword, the Sword Kingdom - of which my friend was the King of. Alas, upon the betrayal of the other Kingdoms, the Sword Kingdom was destroyed, the vast majority of the citizens, killed.”
The ghost sighed. “The Sword Kingdom had an important secret - with the consumption of certain pills, a descendant of the Sword Kingdom would be able to train in multiple elements. Doing so, though, puts great strain on the body.
“I have prepared the required pills for you. In this box, there are two-hundred each of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth pills. I would recommend only consuming one type of pill at a time, otherwise you may experience adverse side-effects, or even death. The pills each contain a small amount of energy - if you are in a situation of life or death… consuming one may save you. In the future, if you are able to find a talented pill master, you may be able to learn other elements or perhaps even other Songs. After all, resources and variety of Songs are rather limited on this Continent of the Five Elements.
“Finally, look at the center of the box. In that small compartment is a ring. It may look like a bland wooden ring, but it is in fact a priceless treasure, capable of storing any non-living items. The inside of the ring has the space of 729000 cubic feet - you can take it as its owner the same way you acquired the Song.
“This is all I can do to help you, oh descendant of the Sword Kingdom. Please, allow us this last hurrah.”
With that, the ghostly image faded into the air.
As the ghost faded, Jia Yuan fell backwards onto the cave floor, and laughed.
“Ha! This can’t be true, can it? I’m a citizen of the Fire Kingdom, and I’ve never heard of some Sword Kingdom. Even if it is true, what can I do about it? I’m just a kid...how am I supposed to find revenge for these two men from god knows when, and even if I have the strength to do so someday, should I?
“There will always be winners and losers in war...it’s just how the world works. Ah forget it. It doesn’t matter for now - the old man was kind enough to provide me with all of this… I guess that enough is reason alone.”
Jia Yuan faced the direction the ghost had been in, and bowed. After all, even though the old man had had his personal reasons for helping Jia Yuan, the fact was that he had done Jia Yuan a great service.
Picking up the wooden ring from inside the box, Jia Yuan concentrated.
He gasped, for inside, there was truly a space in the shape of a box, 90 feet by 90 feet as the old man had said, with a ceiling far overhead.
“What a treasure! Seems like I’ve really profited this time.”
Jia Yuan quickly deposited the box of pills into the ring, and looked around the cave once more. After verifying that there was nothing left in the room, he promptly left, his mind still in turmoil.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered himself mentally as he shimmied his way back up the hole.
For now, I’ll spend my time training. All of those grandiose things the old man mentioned, there’s no point in worrying about them now. I’ll have enough time to think about those when I’m strong.
Jia Yuan ran out of the cave and broke into a dead sprint toward Fire Hill Village - After all, he had spent several hours in the cave, and it was nearring nighttime.
Suddenly, though, he stopped.
In front of him, a genuine monster was growling at him.
“A fire lizard, huh.”
Jia Yuan smiled. It was the perfect chance to test out his new Song.
Fire lizards were amongst the most dangerous creatures living in the forest. So dangerous, in fact, that a single fire lizard spotting outside the village would send the village into “lock-down” mode while the adults left the village to hunt the fire lizard down.
The common fire lizard was three meters long, and rose to over a meter off the ground. In addition to physical attacks, but fire lizards are born with the ability to use fire attacks with their claws and tail, which could brain an adult human with a single swing.
It was said that the first composers of Songs of Fire took inspiration from these fire lizards.
Jia Yuan quickly settled a stance and raised his wooden sword.
The fire lizard charged forward.
Jia Yuan switched from his first stance into the second, with two movements. With the first movement, he smashed his sword toward the fire lizard, then with the second, he deftly ducked under the fire lizard’s attack, and beautifully weaved his sword toward the fire lizard’s stomach.
“Sheeeek!” The blade pierced through the soft belly of the lizard, but did not enter the lizard deep enough to cause a fatal wound
However, it
was
enough to anger the fire lizard.
It turned back towards Jia Yuan, but in the half-second the fire lizard had used to turn around, Jia Yuan had switched to the third stance, heavily smashing his sword towards the lizard’s head.
A direct hit! The lizard stumbled back, stunned.
Jia Yuan finally switched to the final stance, and his sword sliced through the air at an absurd speed and sliced through the head of the lizard, effectively braining it.
Jia Yuan stepped back from the lizard’s corpse and panted.
Why do I feel so tired? I hardly moved, but I feel so drained, and not just physically, either. My brain hurts...
Shaking his head, Jia Yuan looked down at the Fire Lizard. Too bad. It was too big for him to drag back to the village, and he wasn’t even sure if the meat was edible.
A pity.
He turned and continued his run back to the village. When he arrived home, however, what he saw horrified him.
The hut was in shambles!
Rushing in, he saw his father lying on the floor, covered in cuts and bruises. Clearly, he had been attacked by either another villager, or a traveller.
“Father, what’s wrong? Who attacked you?”
“Ah... Jia Yuan… I’ve lost everything…”
“What do you mean?”
“The Zhao family… they saw your older brother leaving with the army officer, so they sent their servants to rob me of the fire shards…”
“What? Let’s go to the village head! The village won’t stand for it!”
His father groaned, then with Jia Yuan’s help, pushed himself off the floor and rested against the hut’s wall.
“As unfortunate as it is, the Zhao family is too powerful, their status is even higher than that of the village elder. Aish. The wounds aren’t life threatening, at least… we’ll just have to make do.”
His voice dripped with defeat.
Jia Yuan felt filled with rage, and rightly so. Even though he didn’t know, many of the village residents had seen the Zhao family’s servants march into his father’s house and the violence that ensued.
They’d simply not done anything about it. Not that they really could have.
The Zhao family not only possessed a large number of servants, many of whom were adept fighters, but their family head was very strong - no other in the village could match him. At the 7th level of Absorption, even the village head, who was only at the 6th level of Absorption, could not fight against him.
There was truly no way for the village to respond.
“It’s okay, Jia Yuan. This sort of injustice exists everywhere in the world. If only I were stronger...alas…”
Jia Yuan nodded. “I understand. In this world, the strong control the weak. However, over time, the weak may become strong…”
Jia Yuan continued his thoughts in his mind.
After I’ve joined the Burning Legion, I will make sure the Zhao family understands that while the weak may grow strong, the strong may also turn weak...
Jia Yuan helped his father dress his wounds as best he could, then laid him down to rest. After doing so, he then picked up the pot his father had always cooked their congee with, and looked inside. Sure enough, there was congee, but it was cold, and on the bottom of the pot, was a giant hole.
Through this hole, Jia Yuan could see that some congee had spilled onto the ground.
Sighing, Jia Yuan took out a flame ember to light a fire for the pot. After all, hot congee was much tastier and more comforting than cold congee. However, even after a few minutes, the congee hadn’t warmed up much because the hole in the pot was leaking heat.
Grimacing, Jia Yuan poured the lukewarm congee into a bowl for his father.
The entire while, his heart burned with rage. After all, the money that had been stolen from his master was no small amount, enough for the two of them to live comfortably for years to come! Not only that, but the fire shards had been Dou Di’s bonus for signing with the army. In a way, the fire shards represented Dou Di!
In his heart, Jia Yuan reiterated his vow.
I will be strong!
