Igniting the world anew with such brilliance, the sun rose with casual elegance. Each day she shone, and the world shone back, joyful to reflect those warm rays.
Orpheus and the others students went to wait for their teacher at the plaza. Five minutes after they came, Miss Asmodeus arrived dressed in tight training gear.
”So you’re all here. That’s great; some even have a breakthrough.” She said as she eyed Lilith, whose expression didn’t change even when her teacher seemed to be praising her.
Miss Asmodeus didn’t waste her time and immediately began.
”As you know, today we are here to start the mission. Each pair of students will be assigned to different forbidden zones. This time, only two forbidden zones have been chosen. These two are The Lost Forest and The Ice World. You have one mission, which is to eliminate a lot of origin beasts. Take wrist watch; it will record how many monsters you have killed while at the same time granting you points. In the end, the one with the highest point will receive a reward. Five hundred credits and three days in the gravity room.”
Most students were excited; they wouldn’t waste this godly opportunity.
They knew forbidden zones were dangerous, but with better preparation, they could survive. The Ice world is Level 4, while the Lost forest is level 4. It was the forest used by Amber and Katherina’s group to train.
Forbidden zones are classed by levels, from 1 to 7, with level 7 being the most dangerous.
After giving her students some advice, it was time to decide who would be paired with who. Half of an hour later, it was done.
Orpheus was paired with Kaguya.
”Fufufu! It must be fate. Let’s do our best, Kyle.” Kaguya declared, happy to be paired with Orpheus. She would use this opportunity to observe him, to know him better. The ice queen had a plan; as a future empress, she needed capable men, and Orpheus might be one of them.
Orpheus nodded but didn’t say a word; he briefly glanced in Ella’s direction; she happened to be looking at him.
”We need to talk.” She said before turning around and disappearing with Alvinia.
Orpheus smiled, which shocked Kaguya, who teased him.
”So you could smile like that? Well, it’s a good thing.”
”Let’s go.” She added before turning around and walking toward the teleportation portal that would take them to the closest city to the Ice world.
The city of Whitney was built amidst the gentle snows of a pristine tundra and is truly a gorgeous sight. Its appearance was matched by the backdrop of an abundance of hills that helped shape the city into what it is today. There were a lot of tall and beautiful buildings inside the city; all buildings here were painted white.
The temperature in this region is colder all year round, because of the region’s proximity to the Ice world; tall walls surrounded the city, and people were dressed in thick clothes to fight the cold.
Orpheus and Kaguya didn’t waste time; they directly took another portal to enter the Ice World.
It was a frozen world; in this Ice world, as the name suggested, the ever-present cold was the invaders’ nemesis. For every step forward they took, they slipped backward almost as much. The howling wind made talking impossible for most people.
Icicles dangled from the shadowy skeletons of trees, each like an ominous sword. The chill breeze slicing through the air seemed to whisper,
“ice… ice… ice…”
Orpheus mumbled.
”Beautiful”
And Kaguya nodded.
”Indeed, it’s beautiful.
The two had no trouble dealing with this level of cold. They advanced, killing the weak origin beasts they encountered.
Suddenly, Orpheus felt something, and he said.
”Continue this way; there is something I must deal with.”
Kaguya nodded and didn’t ask too much as she knew he was a man of few words. She would eventually know why he reacted like that.
Orpheus was pleased with Kaguya’s character; the reason why he left was that he sensed a powerful enemy tailing them, and he didn’t want to show too much in front of Kaguya; well, it was just an excuse; he just wanted a bit of fun without anyone interfering.
••••••
In another location.
He had known from the moment he was born, that he was unique, different from his other brethren.
This was because he knew he was far superior to all others.
Fate proved that he was right by sending him a gift one day. It was a purple stone the size of a baby. That day he stumbled upon that stone; something whispered to him to swallow it; the temptation was too high; hence he swallowed it.
From that day onward, he became more special; his level soared, he made several breakthroughs. In hundred years, he went from Tier 1 to Tier 4. He became the strongest.
He looked down on all the monsters that lived in the vicinity, including those that had lived for a long time or those that were much larger than him.
He eliminated everything that stood in his way, devouring them to become stronger. He even devoured some humans and other species that came and challenged him.
In the Inner region, he became the Overlord. Everybody fearing him, he advanced into peak Tier 4, almost closer to the next tier.
There were no more challenges here; thus, he set his sights on the Core region.
“I’m a Special being, even the supreme being acknowledged me. So, I’ll conquer the Core region; thereby, I’ll become the Overlord of this world. My next step would be to conquer the whole human world. Those puny humans will tremble to face my majestic self. This King will reign supreme in the whole world. There may be many worlds out there, waiting to be conquered by this King. Let’s conquer the Core region. You are the first step towards this King’s great dream.” He declared before moving toward the Core region.
However, dreams were still dreams; reality was cruel.
After he entered the Core region, he fought a few beasts and won. He became full of himself, thinking he was invincible until he encountered them.
On that day, they appeared while he was flying in the sky, filled with confidence.
They didn’t come here to have a conversation.
[Oh? What do we have here? You’re different from the other of your species. That’s rare. Well, it doesn’t matter. You are too weak.]
Said one of them. He became enraged upon hearing that blatant humiliation. He has been looked down upon.
“Do not speak to this King like that. I’m a special being. Let me show you your place.”
So he fought, and for the first time since his birth, he lost.
If he hadn’t been a Special being different from its brethren, instead of being gravely injured, he would have died right then. So he fled, feeling afraid and threatened for the first time.
On that day, he had learned that there were many beings with transcendental strength in this place. He was nothing special. He has been beaten with one punch. In just one punch, he lost, gravely injured. His arrogance was shattered, he fled back to his domain. These beings with abnormal strengths did not even chase after him. As if he was not worth anything in their eyes. His pride was hurt even more.
“I was just a frog in the bottom of the well, too full of himself, thinking I’m the strongest here. Sigh! Let’s train and devour some more.” It was what he decided after safely coming back.
So, he continued to train, to kill and devour mutated beasts, humans, and the other species he encountered to strengthen himself. He needs to become stronger and one day return the humiliation he suffered that day hundredfold.
The years went by, yet he could not advance, to have a human body like those beings. Still, he was patient, so he continued to train, kill, and eat. He was sure that one thing that could help him advance would show up.
Suddenly one day, he sensed two people, one female, and the other a male; it was a human male that interested him because there was something about him that made his blood boil. This human seemed to be in his late teens; he had black hair and a pair of strange eyes. There were crimson; he had never seen that kind of eyes on a human. He had seen his fair share of humans and other races until now; nobody among them had this kind of eyes except that being who had beaten him with one punch back then.
For an instant, he thought that maybe it was one of them. He shuddered just by remembering that day.
He observed the young human male until he was sure he had no relation with those beings. His skin was too pale, as if he was missing some blood. He observed the duo using his subordinates; it was how he knew he was not related to those beings in the core region.
This young man was the solution to his long-time problem; he would help him breakthrough.
So, he decided to kill the pale-looking human male and devour him.
“You shall become this King meal. That’s thy fate.” He declared before moving forward.