Chapter 50

Sigh…

We rode through the forest for almost three days, barely having conversed with the girls in this time period only nodding or answering some questions with a yes or no, most of them came from Haruka. Most of her questions were to confirm if I was to truly continue on with my declaration of handling my former classmates. Perhaps she was intending to try and make me reconsider it but I have already spoken and I will not back down, not for now at least.

I can see that she is trying her best, but my uncaring behavior is discouraging her even more. Truth be told I didn’t want to do this, honestly my only care is to get all of this over with but I cannot. Call me a hypocrite, or whatever you wish, but that won’t change the end result. They will die or suffer as I did.

Why? Simple, because I can. Too vague of an answer right? But it makes perfect sense to me. I never liked them, not a single one of them. Their haughty attitude towards me when I was back on earth, their clear discrimination of a lesser one and their outright hostility. Pampered children that knew not the struggle of the poor, always thinking themselves higher than anyone around them. Damning anyone that is below their standards to be forever in their shadow.

None was a close friend of mine, and none was going to be, if I had grown older I would have eventually slaved under them, working for them, pleasing them, just for a chance at survival. Yet now in this new world everyone was handed another hand, yet even though mine was shitty from the start I managed to do something with it, though painful and agonizing I turned the tables around, now I am going back to set the rules once again. Perhaps giving them a taste of their own medicine, showing them how it is to be weak. They were the cause and reason for my current state, though it was but a mere stroke of luck that I managed to turn out the way I am.

Arrogant? Ungrateful and hypocrite? Yes I am, and I will not deny it. This originated from my inferiority complex towards them. Too blunt huh? Yes, I never thought myself to be like them, they had everything while I had nothing. I lived, grew and struggled alone. Even before all of this started I was always alone. Grew up in a poor house without a mother to care for me, nor a father to have by my side. I don’t hate my father for having raised me and provided for me, it’s just that I didn’t like seeing him slave away under the looks of those above him.

Perhaps this was the reason for my hostile attitude towards the elite, and probably is the reason behind my attitude towards the ones from the divine. Frankly, I hate being looked down on, though I was powerless, weak and poor, still being looked down on is the most hatful thing in this world. To think of one to being worth less than pebbles on the road is not something that I can accept, and perhaps it is the reason for why I struggle.

Why do I fight? Frankly speaking I have not the vaguest clue, yet I know one thing, if I didn’t I will be damned. Why had I struggled against the odds and fought within hell? The answer is both simple and complex at the same time…I fought because I had to. I saw the damned, I saw their suffering and the only thing that differentiated me from them, that changed my fate from theirs was luck. I got invited to the palace of bones and was offered a chance that they didn’t get, I was given a way that the damned didn’t get, and even then I went deeper within hell to see their struggle. To learn their pain and suffering to know that many had and will pass through this fate…

I want to be set free from this, but there are two things that are making me unable to escape, the first and is the most simple, is the vow I took. My very existence is threatened by it, but I gained power thanks to it…I became versatile able to use different combat arts tactics and mechanisms that the souls within me had learned when they were alive, they gave me their knowledge for their freedom, something I know how expensive is. Freedom cannot be treated lightly, and I know it for a fact, I fought devils gods and great beings for it…so I understand their sacrifice.

The second thing is the most complex. The fixed points in time and the inevitability of fate. I was foreseen to be the one that brings down the divine seal and to release the ones from this hell, I can very well choose not to, but I still fear that the fact that I chose not to, will force my hands into doing this. Fate is inescapable. However one is not believing in it, the end result will always be the same…fate does not entail everyone’s actions, if it was then it is a shackle and a bind. Fate is the end result…always has been and always will be. Yet whatever happens from the start to finish is all possible within a man’s power to change.

Simply put, a man is fated to be rich in their lives, yet the way he acquires this richness is not decided by fate, it is decided by the struggle and way this man proceeds within his lifespan. You can be rich or poor. Only the way you handle the situation will differentiate you from one another. So is life, you cannot choose the hand you are dealt but even a pair of Duse can be a winner if you know how to bluff.

The ride was going to take more days to reach the destination where we are heading through, yet the black dragon’s nest is not so far from where we are.

But before I get there, there is something I need to take care of.

“Stop the carriage.” I said

And it did, almost instantly.

“What is it?” said Haruka who looked a bit startled at my sudden command to the driver.

“We are being followed, it was the case the moment we left the city, the one following us did not stop tire or sleep…I wonder who they may be.”

The other two girls looked at each other as if in fright.

“Why are you acting so scared?” I asked them and to be honest this is the first time I said these many words in a day towards any of these two girls.

“W-well…I think we should be scared shouldn’t we? I mean we are being followed, this means that we are being targeted…”

“You seem to be missing something” I said “So far you gained 10% of my base stats, this means that you have 10% of my power, and I truly believe that that is more than enough to help you against any normal enemy that you will be facing or that dares stand against you…stop acting like cowards…”

These words left the girls almost mouth agape as I left.

I even heard them summoning their status screens to verify the truth behind my words. I wonder why they didn’t do it earlier…perhaps they were so occupied by the sudden occurrences that they forgot.

Once outside the caravan I spoke, though I wanted to speak loudly something fun happened

“WHOMEVER IS THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF! I HAVE NO TIME FOR GAMES, IF YOU KEEP FOLLOWING US WITHOUT REASON THEN CONCIDER YOUR LIFE FORFEIT!”

You have learned a new ability

Mana Imbued voice

Increases the range and volume of your voice to reach far distances.

Can boost morals or instill fear in certain situations.

Level 1/5

Current traveling distance

1 Kilometer radius

The trees shook from the strength of the voice and most wild life fled from scene.

It took but a moment for a cloaked person to show up. It was a woman probably, she looked a bit exhausted, with her showing legs filled with scratches and bruises, probably from having followed us all this distance…

“What are you doing here?” I asked, now knowing who this person was even before she removed the hood on her head.

“I-I am sorry my lord…” said the woman after kneeling down.

Her hood removed showing her golden locks and her pointy ears, it was the same elf of that day…

“Why did you follow us?” I asked.

“I need your help my lord…”

“No.” I said and turned around to go back on the carriage.

“If you follow us, you die. You hear me?” I said before I got back on the carriage.

I don’t host an orphanage and I have enough trouble with just these girls, I am not making a harem nor am I interested in one…less woman mean less trouble and less trouble means a clearer head. Something that I got when I ascended but couldn’t really manage to enjoy…sigh

The girl was left standing there, and soon felt her presence fading. She probably gave up on following us. Even better.

The girls asked about who was that person, and I only shrugged at them.

If I had known how then how impactful that woman’s presence on my journey would have been, I probably would have had reconsidered my action towards her…

Hours later, when the sun was at its zenith though covered in the shade of the trees we reached a clearing. I had already tasked the driver to take us towards the dragon’s nest as soon as possible and we managed to reach in time.

I exited the carriage to check upon the location, the girls though apprehensive at first they still were quite curious to see a real dragon.

Leaving the carriage in the tree perimeter we walked through blighted ground,

Though the forest was filled with greenery and trees of all kinds, this place was the only one without it. it was black and filled with sludge, dark mana was premating the place…it was filled with magic, yet the bad kind…something that has no effect on me whatsoever.

There was a huge entrance before the so called dragon’s nest.

This entrance was made with rocks and giant boulders, as if it was an arc giving way through a mountain. We walked through it, while I walked straight forward the girls were trying not to dirty their new clothes with the scum.

Yet a moment before we got inside, a stag came into view.

It was enormous, about four meters tall, had white fur and horns made of crystal. With azure colored eyes that looked like they encompassed the sky.

Forest guardian

(Elite Sacred spirit)

Level 1250

One of the four guardian spirits

A spirit of the lost age tasked with guarding the sleeping forest.

A spirit? And that level…it is the first time I see something exceeding the millennial level, and it is outside hell…

It stopped before stepping on the blight on the ground and bowed its head towards me.

It voice boomed while its mouth remained closed.

“Ascendant…What business do one such as you have with entering the realm of one most foul?”

“It can speak!” said Haruna. To which the stag didn’t even seem to care for or register

I turned around and spoke

“I need to see what being lies there, is there a problem?”

“Ascendant, the one that sleeps within that cave should not be awakened, she remains there awaking a dragon was never a smart discussion, though if you do so wishes to continue on with your task, then I can only give you a warning. The being that you will encounter is not one to be trifled with nor should you enrage, though you may escape their harm this forest will not escape its wrath…so I ask you to reconsider”

“I will not. I wish to see what lies there, and I will if I wanted to”

“You care not for the lives of others Ascendant, your actions will only cause those around you harm…”

I didn’t want to answer its statement, so I asked it a question

“You seem knowledgeable about what lies in there. Tell us, it may change my mind”

“There lies a dragon, one of great power and terror, a nightmare of nightmares, a being strong enough to bring calamity upon this world, yet it sleeps due to a pact that was made long ago. So far the beings before this gate would have been enough to drive anything from ever getting closer to it, yet with your ascendant status none of these beings dared to come closer or challenge your way…therefore leaving the nest unprotected.”

So it seems that the reason we didn’t encounter any monsters was because of my ascendant nature.

“Do you know what level it is?”

“This being’s power cannot be quantified by levels, they grow in strength the older they get, what you gain from experience after defeating a monster, what you call a level they gain it by years…and this being lived for more than twenty centuries…”

“A level for every year of their life…Interesting, this mean that it could be a 2000 level being…”

I said with a grin

“Wait, Wait!” said Haruka “A level 2000? Are you crazy Daiki??? I say we should get out of here, I would rather try my odds against the human kingdom than anger something like this…”

“Hah!” I laughed “Only 2000, I thought it would be much stronger than that, I guess we can have a look. I am even more curious now.”

“Battle maniac…” said Haruna in a hushed tone, something I heard but didn’t want to speak against.

“I have warned thee, if you so enrage it, I will make sure to smite thee, our forest is protected by our pact and if you are to cause it to break you shall be our enemy! A black dragon is the strongest of all dragons, their only weakness is the older and stronger they get, the more they become corrupt and this one is far beyond saving….you have been warned”

Said the stag and disappeared.

Like hell if I would care, if you want to make an enemy out of me then join in line, I already have many of those.

I then stepped inside before telling the girls to stay away and inside the cave. They were not needed, and I would doubt they would have the courage to get inside and see the terror that hides within.

A sleeping dragon…

It should be fun

You have entered the nest of a dragon

Dragon’s effect will be activated

Black dragon’s nightmare

Black dragon’s nightmare has been negated due to possessing several titles with fear negating effects.

All stats are preserved.

Oh, so there were debuffs upon entering a dragon’s lair? Well thankfully I am fear immune.

The passage was a bit dark, but it did not bother me at all, I could still see like if there was no problem. I felt a faint presence inside, nothing comparable to the might of a dragon but it was there a bit too far though.

So I kept on walking until two giant red orbs floated in the sky.

“Who dares enter my home?” said something with a voice that sent shivers down my spine. I know I am fear immune, but the amount of pressure this thing is releasing is enough to turn boulders to grounded dust.

I inspected the red orbs only to understand that they were in fact eyes of the same dragon that I thought was asleep…

Black dragon of calamity

Level???

The dragon of end.

(Corrupted)

A black dragon created from the foulness of the world. It feeds upon the dark emotions of the beings that primates it’s surrounding, empowering it further.

There is no such thing as bravery when facing a dragon. Only a fool, or a strong fool would try.

The dragon, which had its maw wide open, was channeling a spell aimed at me. A black swirling orb made of dark energy was gathered up and was ready to fire…

So much for a quick look…