“Hahahaha!”

A deafening laugh came from a place that can only be described as an endless void.

“Whose voice is that? I should be on my way to the Netherworld! Is this the Netherworld?” Bastian asked with a tinge of anger in his voice.

“Hmm…you look surprised. Didn’t you offer your soul in exchange for power?”

Bastian heard these words and immediately recalled the moment he offered his soul in exchange for power.

“Why do you not speak? Aren’t I the god you serve?” asked the mysterious voice that seemed to come from all directions in the void.

“Forgive this humble servant for not realizing this sooner. Thank you for granting me your power, Oh divine being!” said Bastian in the most respectful tone he was able to muster.

“Good, Good. I have been watching you ever since I granted you power, and I must say your life has been very interesting. Ever since I broke through to the realm of immortality I’ve lived for eons and life grew boring. But watching your life, however short as it has been, was amusing. I was almost disappointed when I watched you die, until you offered me your soul that is….hehe.” said the powerful mysterious voice. As Bastian listened he couldn’t help but shudder, but he did not regret his decision.

After saying those words, the voice stopped and everything went silent.

After what seemed like an eternity, a light emerged from an opening in the void, and just as Bastian’s eyes were adjusting to the light,a booming voice announced,

“Enter!”

With the light illuminating him, Bastian saw his appearance which resembled a transparent version of himself. He sighed, and a bitter smile spread across his face as he proceeded to enter the opening to the void.

As soon as he entered, his jaw dropped in awe.

In front of him was a tiger that could only be described as “larger than life.” The tiger’s face and front limbs could be seen, while the rest of his body seemed to go on for miles. Bastian couldn’t help but kneel, as he felt unworthy of the right to gaze upon the magnificent creature.

Seeing Bastian kneel, the enormous tiger smiled, revealing a row of sharp, gleaming teeth. The divine tiger then said, “Young human, do you know why I accepted your proposition when you were about to be killed by that force?”

Bastian, masking a tinge of anger that was sparked in him by that question, bit out,

“Tch, how would I be able to understand the mind of the strongest divine being?”

Noticing the tiger’s cold, penetrative glare, he forced himself to calm down and said with an indifferent look,

“Forgive me, but even I, Bastian, would not dare say he understands and comprehends the mind of a divine being, let alone the most powerful one of them all.”

The divine tiger smiled and said,

“Good answer, Good answer! Well, for now let me give you a brief summary of my life. I was born a very, very, very long time ago in a world which is dominated by martial art prowess and magic. Quite simply, it’s a world where those without power suffer and are looked down upon. I was born in a clan much like yours, but much larger.”

Bastian was in shock. Before the tiger even finished his story, he queried,

“You were born human?”

Facing this question the divine tiger just faintly smiled then replied,

“Yes, now don’t ask anymore questions until I’m finished or else I’ll show you pain. Anyway, the clan I was born into was called the divine tiger clan it had at least 50 million clansmen. At that time I was the young master of one of the branch families and I trained in a martial art similar to yours but at the same time completely different. You can think of your method of training as cheating by using my power, but never mind that. The reason why I accepted your request was because I want you to live in the world you were meant to live in, although the current divine tiger clan is no longer the top clan in that world. It still ranks in the top ten.

So basically I want you to become the pillar of that clan as I did. You will understand why once you’ve been reincarnated, but although I can grant you my power from here I can’t interfere with the mortal world directly. But don’t think for one second that the other great clans don’t have Sovereigns behind them. Since I, Shiraz, the strongest being in existence is your benefactor, I will grant you the knowledge of the technique I developed to become a Sovereign. But whether or not you’re able to train in it completely depends on your devotion.”

The divine tiger then opened its mouth slightly and a transparent white mist flowed and entered Bastian and fused with his soul. Bastian discovered an immense amount of information stored in his mind that had not been there before.

The white tiger then said,

“It seems our time is done. Now leave and don’t dare disappoint me!”

Bastian’s body then travelled rapidly out of the divine tiger’s domain and back into the endless void.

The world of Vargath.

At the edge of the Divine tiger clan’s southern branch’s territory.

The continent of Drehl, a vast continent that goes on for millions of kilometers, it is divided into 9 territories; each spanning over large amounts of land. On the southern territory of the divine tiger clan on a mountain range surrounded by a thick layer of fog laid a mansion with a number of people standing outside it.

They wore black cloaks that covered every part of their bodies including their faces. In front of them was a middle-aged man wearing a pitch black long-sleeved shirt and trousers with a black and white overcoat on top. The overcoat bore the symbol of a blueish-blackish lightning bolt on the back.

The middle-aged man stood at the front door of the mansion, his shirt covered in smears of blood, while some of the black cloaked men had fresh wounds on their bodies.

The man laughed, and said with a hint of disdain in his voice.

“To think there were assassins hiding even in this secret area of our southern clan. Curse your god, for the one you targeted is my son, the future leader of the southern branch of the divine tiger clan. I, lightning Tiger Akela Tar Aldarion, will not let even a single one of you escape.”

All of a sudden a mysterious figure appeared completely out of thin air and knelt next to Akela, saying,

“My lord these bastards have really gone too far this time. Even though our clan already has a low birthrate they even come to kill those who have just been born. Please let me take care of these bastards.”

Akela, rubbed his jaw thoughtfully while contemplating this idea, sighed, and replied,

“Manu, I know your child was killed by an assassin right after birth and the likelihood of having another one is very low. Mmm….very well then, kill them.”

The black robed men, upon hearing Akela’s words, scattered and began to flee. However, they were barely fifty meters away when suddenly a huge wall of air appeared, locking the cloaked men inside. The leader of the assassins cried out, saying,

“We didn’t know the one being born was the young master of the southern branch! Please allow us to le-.”

Before he’d finished what he was saying a large wave of shining white needles appeared and pierced through the heads and bodies of all the assassins. Blood, flesh and other pieces of their bodies scattered everywhere as the never-ending flow of needles continued to rain down on them.

In the end only small pieces of flesh, brain and large amounts of blood was left of the assassins. Seeing this, Akela said,

“To think you would use two high-class martial skills just to kill these pieces of shit. It looks like your needle skill has improved, but your wind wall technique is still lacking. You even allowed them to travel almost fifty meters before you could guide your divine power to control the air around them and lock them in!”

Only after confirming there was no one around did Akela go into the mansion. The inside of the mansion was practically empty. There was only a large hall with a room at the end.

From inside that room, low cries and moans of a woman in labor could be heard. Bastian’s mother was giving birth. As soon as Akela heard those sounds he went into the room only to find the baby being gently carried by the female shaman, who had a look of worry on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Akela asked worriedly.

“The baby isn’t crying! This is very unusual.” said the female shaman fearfully, while gently prodding and examining the baby.

Akela then took the baby from the shaman and put his hand to his chest and let some divine power into the child. When the divine power entered the child’s body, Bastian finally awakened and opened his eyes only to find he was being carried by a giant who had a hint of a smile on his face.

Having examined Bastian’s body with his divine power Akela smiled and said,

“Mm…Saphir you have given birth to a strong, healthy child.”

On hearing her husband’s words Zamera revealed a smile. “Please, my husband give him a name.”

“Mmmm…seeing as he has silver hair which is very rare in our clan, and only the clan head has silver hair, I will name him Silver Tar Aldarion.”

He handed the child to Saphir with a smile and said,“As soon as you recover we will leave and go back home. For now, you need to rest.” Akela then left the room.

“Master, why are you so happy?” asked Manu who was waiting outside the room. Akela looked at Manu with a smile and said,

“Manu that child has a strong, fighting soul. He definetly has potential.” He laughed heartily.

“I can’t wait until he grows to the age where we can test his divine power.”

“Ho! Congratulations master. It’s to be expected, seeing as he is the son of the strongest person in the southern branch of the divine tiger clan.”

Meanwhile Bastian, who was in the room feeding from his mother’s breast,was coming to his senses.

“You must be tired, little silver. Mama will put you down to rest.” Saphir then stood up and put the child into a crib with animal skins as a mattress.

Bastian was shocked. For a woman who just gave birth to move around like nothing happened, “She definetly isn’t normal.” Thought Bastian.

“I am but a child. There is nothing I can do by myself let alone train. However there is a technique the divine tiger put in my soul. Hmmm…..it looks like it’s a technique that increases the purity of divine power in one’s body as well as when trained extensively gives the user the ability to read minds. I guess I’ll begin right now.” Bastian thought as he licked his lips in anticipation.