After walking into the watchtower, the three would clean themselves up and return to the top-floor lounge area.
With damp heads of hair and clothes, they'd once more gather on the couch.
William was the first to speak.
"Giving the scale of her ability, that Wind Woman is likely a scholar-ranked verifier, outside of our current combat capacity, if we want to come out unscathed. It'd be smart to avoid her for now."
The other two nodded in agreement.
"Our main objective now should be to explore the area towards the Lord of Shadows; everything there is a mystery to us after all. Perhaps there could be things of use." William threw out an idea.
"That works for m-me." Fei Kangzhen stammered out.
"I dislike him vehemently, just like those Law bastards..So it works for me too." Li Jiaojie said with hatred in his eyes.
'What did this guy do...' William wondered to himself.
Today was a rather large disappointment, with the only rewards being the gloves he had acquired. So William was eager for any type of progress.
After a few more minutes of planning, the other two would head off to bed.
William sat alone on the couch, silently. He wasn't sad or anything, just in the mood for some quiet.
'And it'd be a whole lot quieter if you shut your trap.'
Sighing, he decided to walk over to the balcony, lying on the railing whilst staring out at the midnight sky. The Silvery Crescent Moon and the countless stars behind it serving as background actors.
'What a sad sight.'
He then headed into his private study, lost in thought.
An iridescent night enveloped the watchtower.
---------------------------------------------------------
The next day, William dropped by Linen's place once more to ask some questions.
The man was busy forging vestiges by the looks of it.
"Mr.Linen, how do you advance? I was told a certain level of notoreity is required, as well as a unique condition."
"Is that so? Well, you'd be correct. Considering you're one of the top participants in the Fame Game, you should easily fill the notoreity quota, as for the condition, just think of it as an application of your core ability." Linen replied, not willing to share any more information.
William nodded understandably before departing.
He walked from the outer part of the outer ring towards the area of the Lord of Shadows instead of his own area today, he strolled the streets casually, not trying to hide himself at all, hands in pockets, fake cigarette in mouth for aesthetic. Gloves on both hands. Movement and Strength.
Xiao Wei was in the form of a pitch-black newsboy cap on William's head.
Naturally, the area around the Lord of Shadows was rather loud and alive, either from people attempting to take his place, or people seeking protection under him.
As he approached, the streets split under his presence, whispers and murmurs enveloped the area with each step he took. Questioning his identity and motive for being here.
Meanwhile, William continued to approach the center of all this noise, the Safe Area under the Lord of Shadows, which took the shape of a massive dome-shaped cathedral. Built out of pristine, shining, marble and exquisitely cut stone bricks. Making the cathedral a gift fit for a Giant King.
Now, you're probably wondering why on Earth our protagonist here decided to march into enemy territory without bothering to bring any allies with him, that's a very good question indeed.
In response to his appearance here, a vortex of shadow surged towards him, trying to devour him.
A radiant light appeared in William's right eye.
[Record: The Odyssey, Chaos Edition has descended into reality.]
Illuminating his path forward.
As he marched forward into the shadows, the noises of the outside world would leave him, leaving him in dead silence.
Abyssal beings of Shadow appeared in front of William, guardians of this estate. He summoned his bident in a flurry of incomprehensible illusory text, slashing and piercing his way through him with fierce determination.
The flames of the Sun ignited his will, and without the tranquility of the Moon in the daylight, nothing was left to put out the inferno.
Burning his way through the guards, he had finally reached his destination.
A vast forest of trees taller than the eye could see greeted him, as an ethereal hue of emerald permeated the air. It was extremely peaceful and relaxing.
A symphony of bird chirping and leaves swaying in the wind reached his ears, it was soothing beyond recognition.
As for the reason of him being here, it was a simple one.
As he walked through vast pillars of oak, his mind was at ease. This place reminded him of an old childhood dream he used to have.
When he was younger, he hoped to live on top of a large mountain, surrounded by beautiful aspects of nature to accompany him through his life. Without another human being in sight, it was ideal for him.
After walking for quite some time, he reached a clearing.
The clearing was surrounded by thousands of cherry blossom petals, dwindling in the light, not a sound could be heard, just silence left behind.
This entire place wasn't manmade, nor was it naturally occuring. It could be said that it was the result of a Story's world leaking into ours. A rare phenomenon, beautiful yet terrifying.
Though, Isn't that just how life is? A constant cycle of darkness and misery for a few glimmers of light.
Hahaha, forgive me for getting a bit sentimental, and cringy.
William Wei walked through the clearing, passing by several cross-shaped stones along the way there. Tombstones of all kinds, for this was a graveyard of sorts.
The soft and gentle keys of a piano being played could be heard as he walked, as if the remnant spirits of the deceased had returned to play their visitor a piece they'd never forget.
At last, he had finally reached his true destination, a small group of tombstones laid next to each other in a small corner of the graveyard.
He approached, hands shaking slightly, it had been quite some time after all. The last time he had been here had to have been...At least half a decade ago.
He kneeled down in front of one tombstone in particular, placing a few stray cherry blossoms he had caught right in front of it.
'Hello there, old friend.'
It read:
A life well-lived, a soul lost in the abyss.
Zhang Jiewei.
[Progress: 15.89%]
(Apologies for the shorter chapter...I was rather busy today. I do hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. Allow me to end off with a quick message.
Grief is a subjective emotion, everyone deals with it differently. Some laugh, some cry, and some stay dead calm in the darkest of times, they smile in the face of death, not because they look forward to it with excitement, but because they are the people who have already died.)