Forgotten One

The trials were finally finished. By the time Ansu got back to his room, he was still shocked. He remembered Lei Shu's back and remembered what he said, he remembered his reasoning to fight.

It was the exact same as his father's last words. When Ansu was a small child he was in a poor family. His mother had grey skin just like him and she had black hair as well. She was extremely beautiful, and her husband was a large man. Ansu's father was very large and strong. His muscles were bulging beneath his skin. His skin was rough from countless battles and his hair was a wild red. He kind of looked like a giant Viking.

Ansu's family was poor, they were from a small and rural town.

Their entire village was terrorized by the royals above them. They had no method of changing anything within the village. They had to work their asses off just to live. Ansu saw it with his own eyes. The royals which came from lavish lives would come down to their village and take from the poor. They would ask for resources and materials and they would slightly change them and sell them for much more and people would buy them because they're royalty. It was blatant burglary, but they couldn't do anything.

Ansu's father was the chief if the village and he was quite powerful himself but the people around him weren't. Whenever a royal came to the village the entire village had to unwillingly bow their heads. They bowed their heads, sat on the ground and held their hands open for others to take from.

One day Ansu tried to speak out. He always asked his mother why they didn't just stand up to them or move away. She was a loving mother and she replied in the only way she could.

"My dear Ansu, we want the best for everyone in the village, but this is just the way it is. There's nothing we can do against… power."

Ansu was young and he couldn't take it anymore. He was 9 years of age when this happened. The royals arrived once more. Ansu's village already had some of the elderly dying out. Their bodies were thrown into a corner because they didn't even have enough land to bury their loved ones. Ansu was fed up, he was too young to see bodies at such an age. He was angry and naïve.

Ansu yelled at the royals when they came, "Royalty is supposed to be big and great, you guys just come to steal from the village. You guys aren't royalty, you guys are just dirty thieves, and I won't bow to thieves!"

Ansu's mother was shocked, she tried to cover Ansu's mouth with her hand, but it was too late.

Ansu's father got up and stood in front of his wife and child, preventing any casualties in the process. The royal man spoke, he had a cyclone embroidered on each of his shoulders. Tassels covered the front of his face but telling by his voice he was very young. He spoke with disgust,

"KILL THE MUTT, AND A FEW OF THE OLD TO AVENGE MY ANGER THIS TIME."

Ansu's eyes were about to burst, he wanted to fight back but he couldn't. The village barely had enough to sustain itself, but the royalty increases the amounts every year without care for the poor. They let people die as they pretend, they care.

Ansu's father actually got up and agreed to the royal prince. He turned to his son and wife and took the steel knife. He took them back to the cave with the knife around their necks. Doubt and fear-filled Ansu's eyes, he didn't know what to believe. He hoped that it was all just a dream, he was far too young for this.

Ansu's dad put him and his mother down. He knelt down and whispered in their ears. "Ansu, my dear son, you were right. We can show them our utmost respect, but they won't appreciate it, they don't even care, they even believe that it is deserved and necessary. I couldn't retaliate because the whole village is my family, I have to look out for them. But now they take away even our lives, I can't look away from this any longer." He turned his broad back towards Ansu, it was blocking the light outside of the cave, casting a shadow over Ansu and his mother.

"Ansu, you always wanted me to fight but you never asked me once why I choose to fight. I may not be able to teach you much, but I will tell you one thing, fight for what you believe in, fight to protect the things you can't live without." As he said this, he dropped his knife and reached for his war hammer.

Ansu's mother's eyes glazed with sadness, "Stop, Baldur, you know you can't fight them all."

By this time Ansu was struggling to free himself from his mother's grip. They were both crying but she couldn't let go, she would lose too much.

Baldur left with a few words to his wife and child, "Ansu, I love you. If anything, be happy. Selsa, if there is another world."

Selsa spoke for the last time, "And if there is any world, if there is any time in this world that you and I are together I will never let it go. You gave me everything, and now we must give our everything for Ansu."

Baldur nodded his head and made his way out. The villagers picked up their weapons and fought. Alas, they were simple villagers. Some scratches caused but that was only because some of the royal soldiers were being overly confident. Soon enough the village was painted with the colour of blood. The elders were made to watch as they killed their children and grandchildren in front of them. They would tear the baby's limb from limb and behead the older villagers. By the time they were finished their act, all the elders had died from severe heart attacks, they couldn't handle watching their children pass.

Baldur was now alone; his war hammer had smashed the skulls of many on this battlefield.

The prince spoke, "This ape seems to be a bit stronger than the first, what do you say about joining my soldiers? Work under me and I'll give you whatever you want."

Baldur looked up at the man, he wanted to see what a monster actually looked like. "So you're saying I will get benefits the villagers couldn't have? So you're saying you always had the means to help but you just didn't care, our lives simply aren't equal to yours. WELL THE NUMBER OF VILLAGERS ON THIS FLOOR WILL EQUAL YOUR SOLDIERS I PROMISE THAT."

Baldur swung out furiously. Red runes lit up over his body turning his flesh red with heat. Every punch he sent was infused with pure fire. His fists were raining down like meteors as he took chunks out of his foe's torsos along with their armour. An arrow was finally shot from afar, it was surging with wind profound energy around it, a might arrow indeed. It was the last time Ansu saw his father, he was sitting within the cave. He peeked through his mother's guarding hands. A single arrow lodged right between his father's eyes. However, Baldur never fell. He was dead that's for sure, but his body remained standing, his hammer still in hand. Countless royal soldier corpses beneath him, he died a hero, this image was ingrained within Ansu's mind, something he would never forget.

Ansu finally woke up from his daze. He was now in his room and he woke up still somewhat entranced. He was confused about Lei Shu, "he has a hint of royalty, but it seems ingrained not inherited, his confidence was birthed and created, not by material means of any sort. He gives me a weird feeling, is this feeling good or bad?"

Lei Shu and the group could be seen eating at the table. He was having a few refreshments that were set up in the courtyard for the event. As soon as everyone got into the courtyard, they found their usual groups and talked over some food and drinks. They waited until they finally heard Elder Hansa's heavy steps. He was rolling out a wooden table, on top of it were silver domes covering something underneath.

"Hm hm hm, thank you all for coming to the courtyard this morning and I would like to congratulate you all on becoming disciples of the Jade Dragon Sect. For today we don't want to stress you out too much because you just finished the trials. You should have your cake and eat it too. If you didn't know, the Rainbow Carps that you caught are absolutely delicious. Our chefs in the sect are versed in many styles. They have steamed the Rainbow Carps to the point where the scales just fell off, the only thing that is left if the succulent and squishy meat. Each bite tastes like a piece out of the Rainbow, that's actually why they get the name, Rainbow Carp."

He removed the domes and the scent of fresh fish filled the air. It was quite refreshing; it gave you a boost of energy just with a whiff. It wasn't fishy by any means; it was just simply refreshing."

Elder Hansa took his time cutting out each of the portions. When he finally got to the end of the table, he started handing out the portions. There would be enough for only one portion per table, but one portion was more than enough for 3 people. This would be true unless you were Lei Shu. The group talked about the crazy days of the trials and how they finally got what they wanted. They spoke a bit about their future aspirations as well. Ting Ting said that she wanted to be strong enough to help her family and Tian Fu said that he needed enough strength to prove himself in the eyes of others. The spoke and ate until they were tired of speaking and eating.

Lei Shu was obviously the last one to finish eating and the last one to leave the table. His stomach rumbled; Elder Hansa was secretly waiting for Lei Shu to finish but he was surprised that the boy was hungry for more.

However, that wasn't the case. Lei Shu put the food down and hurried to his room. A bit of sweat was building on his forehead. "I can't believe I waited this long, it's like the trials made me forget. The battles during the trials helped me loosen my bottleneck and the Rainbow Carp meat just gave me a perfect advancement. So, I can advance through spiritual meat, battling and one more thing. I spoke to Tian Fu and he said that he can absorb energy slowly from his near surroundings and convert it to his own. He can also advance through battles as well. I guess I'm just weird then."

Lei Shu focused on his roaring blood and channeled the energy towards the pillars.

BANG BANG BANG

His energy spiraled as he attacked, every attack left a mark. Every other attack made the mark larger and larger until the pillar collapsed. This continued for a while until a small POP was heard. Lei Shu was brimming with energy, he sent a fist into the ground, feeling out his new strength. "The 3rd stage of Body Tempering, I need to speed up and catch up to my generation. In terms of strength, I'm in or around their realm but in terms of cultivation, I'm lacking. What were those things Ting Ting was talking about? Spiritual stones, yeah, I'm going to need some of those if I want to speed up my training. Especially because these are most useful in the Body Tempering stage. Ting Ting said that you could absorb the spiritual energy inside of the stone and make it your own." You could do that as it's faster than trying to use your surroundings. Lei Shu for some reason isn't even able to absorb energy from his surroundings even though he can sense them well. He must rely on stones if he wants to catch up and surpass them.