We were back at our hut, which we named "The Call."
The hut consisted of 2 rooms and after an intense rock paper scissors match, i recieved the room.
The room was serperated by the rest of the hut with 3 wooden planks held together by tree sap from the trees outside but that was the least of our problems.
The roof would barely hold water from the rain so whenever it rained we were left with a lot of water on the floor which is precisely why we need to increase the quality of the hut because I for one is sick of cleaning water from the floor and replacing the eroded plank of my room wall.
"Everyone listen up, we need to upgrade the hut," I said to the boys. "I found out the royal guards are here collecting tax. If we play our cards right, we can get a new room."
"Finally, I don't have to share a room with this asshole."
"Wanna fight, Zico?"
"Name a time and place."
"SHUT UP! Mask up and let's go."
"Ew, this one stinks."
"Does it look like I give a shit?"
"The Call, roll out."
When we first starting being thieves, we weren't professionals by any means, we used to rob a shop called swords and stuff and the old man would always catch us and report us to the village chief who would punish us severely via lashing but after a couple attempts we started getting better and starting experimenting with strategies that wouldn't get us caught. After a lot of trial and errors and I mean a lot we have finally came up with a fool proof plan which contained 3 letters. LDE, location distraction and execution.
The location was a simple and easy to find. The riches was in a cart close to the village well. They always go from the front of the village to the back and to the front again stationing right outside the village well.
Normally we would get one of us to act as bait but when you are going to trick the royal guards, we had to think outside the box which is why Macron made us explosives.I don't know how he made explosives considering the lack of funds we have. He really is a genius.
And the execution would be macron retrieving the goods and we exploding the cart hiding any evidence.
This plan was sure to work.
"Alright macron go get the gold".
He is taking too long,we aren't trying to grab everything, just the essentials.
"Macron that's enough, come back".
But he didn't listen
"I am almost done just a little more".
"Shit the guards, macron they are coming hurry up".
"Sepsis, blow the cart," said Zico.
"Are you stupid? I can't, Macron is still there."
"It's either him or us, blow THE FUCKING CART."
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?"
"SEPSIS, BLOW IT UP NOW!"
I was hesitating. It felt like my heart was about to fall out of my chest. I was so scared and frightened. The world felt slow for a moment. There isn't a worser feeling than your family being surrounded and you being put in a position to kill another member of your family,The fear i saw in macron's eyes is something i don't think i will ever forget. The feeling of being helpless is a feeling that can't be overcome. It was only a matter of time before the noticed me and Zico and came for us next.
"Sepsis, you idiot. If you had just blown up the cart, this wouldn't have happened."
It was all my fault, I got greedy, I wanted more money, I sent them all to their graves. We were fine, we didn't have much but we were happy. Just the 3 of us, all those birthdays we celebrated together, all those life and death festivals where we would pull pranks on people, all those times where the water leaked from the roof and we would spend all day cleaning it up from the floor, what is this? My life flashing before my eyes?
"I am sorry," said Macron.
His last words was I am sorry. I am sorry Macron for putting you in this situation.
It was at that moment when Macron died. His head was cut off, and his blood spewed all over me and Zico.
"Shit, shit, SHIT."
These bastards killed Macron right in front of me. He just turned 16. We didn't have time to celebrate his birthday properly. I was thinking about using some of the money to buy a spinning wheel so he could make the clothes he wanted instead of the clothes he could afford. Just when the sword went through my neck everything started to get warm but it felt nice. I don't know if it was because I was hallucinating but for a second I saw my soul exit my body and I looked at my lifeless corpse as I started accelerating into space but it came to a sudden halt. I found myself in a state of nothingness. Walking between the barrier of life and death.
To my left I saw paradise, an area of greenery and the sounds of birds singing in my ear and to my right I saw nothing but darkness. It sometimes stared right back at me.Fear, the fear of death is something I could have never imagined and amidst of all of that I saw the figure of a man in white, roaming through the boundaries of life and death without a care in the world,
"Hello, where am I". I shouted to the man but he just carried on Walking. This is the punishment I deserve atoning for the crimes I have committed against humanity, murder,theft and treason and I will finally receive retribution for it all.
Fuck this.
I chased after the man in white hoping to get answers, where I am, who he is and how I ended up in this place.
One wrong step and I can fall into death without the thought of a return. The closer I got, the further he went.
It was as if I was being told by the universe to not meet the man but I was determined to. The universe had fucked me up once and I am not going to let it fuck me up again.
"HEY YOU BASTARD! STOP IGNORING ME AND STOP".
The man in white stopped moving.
"What do you want". He replied.
"I am sepsis jinsei"
*jinsei? That was the name of my son*
"Why am here"
*whoosh*
He turned around and in an instant he was standing right infront of me.
"Yeah your him alright, the same facial structure, same hair, same mana flow".
"Jinsei, was the name of my son". He said with a stoic voice.
He then started to feel my face.
"You really are my descendant aren't you, Sepsis jinsei".
Descendant? What is he talking about
"Who are you"?
"I am Orion".
"After the explosion me and the demon king released, the gods had to seal that energy away, they thought we were too dangerous to be roaming the planet so they imprisoned us in our own little sanctuary created by the explosion and would every now and again leech off of the mana outside the sanctuary and fuse it with the earth to birth strong fighters. Why? I don't know but I have been trapped in here for a millennia and you are the first human to talk to me".
"You see that boy on the floor over there".
Crap I haven't even thought about my friends. How was I so blind sighted.
"Zico wake up wake up".
"What is this place".
"The gods sealed Orion in this sanctuary and they now use the mana he releases to birth stronger fighters".
"I knew a bastard like you wouldn't die," said Zico.
It was nice to see Zico still being his usual self. Even after death he still finds a way to put a smile on my face.
Is this the end? Is my life over now? Do I stay here forever? Do I never move onto the afterlife?
"Orion I have to ask something".
"What is it".
"Do I just roam here with you for all of eternity"?
"You two both have 2 gates which you can choose to go through,you guys will both go your separate ways, life and death but think carefully about the path you take as it will alter the course of your life, the second you enter the gate it will be closed Immediately so that way you guys don't follow the same path. I am not forcing you to do this, give me the word and I will close the gates right now".
2 paths huh.
"Zico, do you know what you are going to chose".
"I made up my mind, I will chose death". He replied
"Then it is settled, I will chose life.See you on the other side Zico".
"You too sepsis".
I could feel it. The power rushing through my body was exhilarating, overwhelming even.
My life arcane acted as a second heart but instead of pumping blood it pumped mana around my body.
I could feel my head re attaching to my neck leaving the knights in shock of the event that they had just witnessed. A boy that's not from a prestigious family had his neck cut off and it started to heal. A boy that had escaped death itself. A living breathing calamity had just been awakened, an immortal that cannot be killed.
It was at that moment when a state of euphoria had overcome me.
"SEIZE HIM".
I swiftly dodged their attack with little to no effort and I started floating in the air
The birds singing. The flowers blooming. The children laughing. I can feel it all, the true essence of life itself.
The true meaning of life that nobody can understand. Except for me that is.
"Listen up".
"Look to this day, for it is life, the very breath of life. In its brief course lie all the realities of your existence".