Chapter 1
Birds chipped and fitted happily around, occasionally landing to grab an unsuspecting worm or a lone seed. The river nearby, crystal blue and serene, rippled and flushed along its current. The sun high above on her throne above, casting warm rays downward.
The strangely shaped spiral of jagged cliffs of the Chasm and the Sumeru rainforest beyond that made for a breathtaking sight. Apart from the Hilichurl camps dotted around the landscape, it was almost serene.
A lone man sits in the shade of a leaning and lush tree, occasionally flipping through the pages of the book he is reading. Long, silky black hair pulled over his shoulder and green eyes narrowed in deep concentration. In his search for information on the Conqueror of Demons and his deeds, Wang Ping’an managed to come across a thick, dusty old journal sitting on a shelf in Wanwen’s Bookshop. It had no title nor was there any indication of who it might have belonged to. The dark blue cover, though sun bleached and faded, had decals of ancient symbols that he couldn’t make heads or tails of. He had been most intrigued by it, so he purchased it. As he was checking out, Wang Ping’an had asked the shop’s owner, Jifang, if she had any idea of whose it was. She had confirmed that she hadn’t recognized it and left the front counter to confirm if it was the store’s or not.
“Intriguing, I have no record of this book being submitted.” She had commented as she came back from wherever she stored records on books donated to the store. “Guess a past customer accidentally left it here and forgot to grab it.”
Though it had taken him weeks to read, thanks to the author writing it in a language or script that he had to get a decipher for, its contents were interesting:
Some pages contained some information on the realm of the gods, the Archon War, and the author’s thoughts on the War of Vengeance. A few pages theorizing that normal everyday peoplecoulduse magic without a vision if they simply trained hard enough. And a bunch of other outlandish theories involving making it so the leylines produce perfect copies of prior enemies and using that as combat training. Unfortunately, there was no information on the Conqueror of Demons to be found in these pages. He was looking for more information on how karma works, since all research outlets to date were inconclusive.
With a sigh, Wang Ping’an marked his place and closed the book with a quiet thump. Closing his eyes, he got onto his feet and brushed any bits of grass or dirt off the back of his pants. ‘Figures...’ he thought, putting the journal into his bag and headed back home. It was maddening... The one thing he needed for his upcoming book and all he’s managed to find is a bunch of hearsay, extremely brief mentions of the Conqueror of Demons or works that are more based on theories rather than fact.
Theoretically, hecouldjust ask the adeptus himself for the information he needed, but Wang Ping’an was hesitant on doing so. For one, he hadn’t exactly forgiven Ping’an for falsifying his identity as an adeptus.. Secondly, the adeptus was very hard to find and never stayed in one place for too long. Thirdly, Wang Ping’an got the sense that he didn’t like him very much and didn’t want to step on the man’s boots or do anything else that might anger him further.
Oh, well. Wang Ping’an would just have to search harder. There has to besome way to get information out there, surely? Asking Xiao was out of the question, the other adepti were hidden deep within Jueyun Karst and Rex Lapis had passed not too long ago. So how was he supposed to get the information he needed? Unless..
Thud
With a groan, Wang Ping’an rolled onto his side. A rather large stick had rolled out from underneath his foot, causing his embarrassing fall. He didn’t care though, for his mind and heart were now racing. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? If he couldn’t get the information he needed by pouring through old books or listening to old wives’ tales, hecouldbegin training as a Yaksha himself. But he had no idea on where to begin with that kind of training. Wang Ping’an could also barely get himself to not squeal like a little girl every time a hurlichurl surprised him. Besides, where exactly do you get your hands on a “Yaksha 101” manual?
Wang Ping’an thought back to the section of the journal he was reading mere moments ago.Didn’t that book mention something about a technology that could allow whoever uses it to produce near perfect copies of fallen gods and such? How exactly is that possible?
Too occupied with this “becoming a yaksha himself” idea and fantasizing about going through with it, Ping’an didn’t realize that he had made it back to the Temple of Pervases and was half way in the door. If that technologydidexist, where could he get his hands on it and why had no one else attempted it before?
‘No...’ Wang Ping’an scolded himself silently, wringing a washcloth out over a bucket of water before gently dabbing at the stone statue of Pervases. ‘You made a promise to the Conqueror of Demons that you wouldn’t do this type of thing anymore.. Besides, even if such a thing even existed, there was likely a price you can’t afford to pay...’
Worried about easily he found himself wanting to fall back into his adeptus charade and longing to see if this idea would even work fogged his mind as he continued to dab at a very particularly annoying speck of dust under Pervases’s left eye.
‘Although I don’t particularly enjoy the idea of throwing myself into battle,’ Wang Ping’an eyed the discarded polearms he found in a nearby storage shed. ‘I should teach myself how to fight...Just in case.’
While he finished cleaning Pervases’s statue, he formulated a training routine and worked out how exactly he was going to remain disciplined. Wang Ping’an dropped the washcloth into it’s bucket, then sat back and gazed out into the wilderness. ‘I just hope that if it came down to it, i wouldn’t need to kill ...’ He thought as he watched the shadows cast by the setting sun stretched and elongated.
