At the edge of the river, deep in the forest, lay Omari, covered in mud.
His fingers twitched and he slowly moved his hands,lifting himself up.
A ragged groan escaped him,"Still alive.....somehow."
He surveyed his surroundings and made sure no one was close.If his father spread the message, countless people from different villages would hunt him down. His gaze fell to the ground; there lay the knife he'd taken from one of the hunters, and he snatched it up.
He sighed,"I can't relax, I have to keep going, before my father sends another group of hunters, worse if he comes himself."
He got up,freezing, but he had to push himself. He started jogging slowly, limping a bit. After hours of relentless running, he stopped, noticing the sun was orange, almost gone; it was getting dark.
He found a tree and rested,sitting down. Omari sat slumped against the rough bark, his chest heaving as the memories clawed their way back. His mother's face flashed before him, bloodied, furious, yet still shielding him. The guilt carved deeper than any blade.
Hot tears streaked his mud-caked cheeks,his sobs raw, unrestrained. For all his anger, for all the hatred that burned inside him, at that moment he wasn't a fighter, wasn't the son of a chief. He was just a boy calling out silently for the mother who could no longer hold him. The forest swallowed his cries, but inside, the ache only grew louder.
At the hut,Ayoka was sitting on a stool with Sekou next to her, lying on the bed, bandages covering his head. Her hand ran down his hair while she stared outside the opened wooden windows.
The chief of the village was standing at the door,wandering, staring at his wife. She was so overwhelmed by sadness, he didn't know how to talk to her or ease her pain. He sighed deeply and turned around, leaving her be.
In the forest,Omari had cried himself to sleep. His head was slowly falling to the side. Before he could hit the ground, he snapped his eyes open, instantly using his hands to balance himself.
He shook his head to try and remove the sleepiness,
"Ahhh,"he groaned.
"I can't believe I slept out here;if a predator had shown up, it would've been the end of me. I need to be more careful."
He placed his hand on his forehead,"How am I going to survive out here, do I go to a new country?"
He scratched his head a few times,"Ahhh," he groaned.
"Should I just live here like some kind of wild man?"
He sighed deeply,"I guess I really am homeless now."
He got up about to leave when the most unbelievable thing happened.Up above in the tree line, a flying sword appeared with an injured man on it. The man was gritting his teeth with blood running down his face from his forehead. He was up there standing on a sword as if he was loved by the wind and gravity.
The man instantly tumbled from his sword,and the blade clattered to the ground behind him. He landed hard on the ground, making a cloud of dust appear upon impact.
"Haahhhh,"he yelled in anger.
"I can't believe I was forced to flee into the mortal world,haaahhh that Celestial Gate Sect," he yelled, frustrated.
Omari hid behind his tree and stared,his mind racing, "He said mortal world, wait... he's a real immortal? Does this mean there's a world for immortals out there?"
He hid his head behind the tree again,"A real life immortal, mother was right, they really can fly."
His head poked out from behind the tree and he watched the immortal lying on the ground.The man slapped a small pouch on his waist and pulled out a round, orange, small pill and swallowed it.
A few seconds later,"Ahhhh, I've finally stopped the bleeding and I can move a bit," the man said while sitting up.
"I'll have to stay here for a little while until things settle down."
Omari kept on watching from behind his tree,"What did he throw in his mouth? Do they use that to increase their power? If I had that, I wouldn't need to run; I could even go to the place that immortal came from and join them," Omari thought.
The dark green glow appeared again in his eyes,"My life can't end here in this forest; this is my chance, my opportunity from the gods," he told himself.
He hid behind the tree again and started crying and sobbing loudly,whimpering and sounding as innocent as he could.
The cultivator raised his head,"Is that a child crying?" he whispered while getting up to go and check. He slowly made his way, following the sounds of the crying and sobs.
He moved two fingers and his sword flew to his hand.He held it tightly while slowly approaching the tree.
He peeked behind the tree and Omari screamed,looking at the man, "Please don't kill me, please! My parents left me here, please don't kill me!"
The immortal cultivator dropped his sword,"Hey, it's okay, young one, I won't hurt you," he said, getting to his knee, his glowing robe brushing against the dirt.
Omari stopped crying but continued sobbing slowly.The cultivator got closer, his voice gentle, "What's your name, child?"
Omari stared at the cultivator like he was looking at an idol,his lips quivered.
"Omari,"he answered while his right hand trembled against the ground as if he meant to push himself up.
The immortal's face softened,a faint, paternal smile breaking through the blood and exhaustion. For a heartbeat, he looked like salvation itself.
Then—Tsk!!
That was the moment Omari struck.It was a raw, animalistic surge, the same green-tinged instinct that had driven him onto Sekou. The knife wasn't thrust; it was rammed upwards under the man's jaw. The cultivator's eyes just widened in shock; they searched Omari's face, a silent, betrayed "why?" forming in them before the light began to fade.
A hot,shocking wetness flooded over Omari's hand. The man's body convulsed once, then slumped, his weight dragging Omari down before he could let go.
Omari scrambled back,his sandals skidding in the dirt, putting frantic distance between himself and the twitching corpse. The coppery stench of blood filled his nostrils, thick and suffocating.
He stared at his hands,painted slick and red. This wasn't the clean blood of a hunt; it was the violent, intimate blood of murder. His stomach clenched and he twisted to the side, vomiting until nothing was left but dry, gut-wrenching heaves.
"I killed him...he's really dead."
After a few minutes of coming to terms with his action,Omari stood up and knelt next to the body.
"I'm sorry...we all survive in different ways."
He grabbed the man's sword and stood up.He brandished it beside him, "This is an amazing sword, so sharp and this glow."
He placed the sword down and started patting down the body of the cultivator;he removed the pouch on the cultivator's waist, threw it in the air a few times to feel its weight before placing it on his waist.
He patted the man's body again to make sure he had taken everything.
"I have to get out of here before predators get attracted by the scent of blood and come here."
He quickly got up,picked up the sword, and started walking away. A few meters away he stopped, turned around, and ran back.
He took off the man's robe,"Hmmm, I'll take those too," he said, removing the man's boots. He looked down to see his sandals ruined from the running away he did and decided to try on the man's shoes.
"A little too big for me,"he spoke, but the shoes shrank to his size, startling him. He started running away from the body while looking for a safer place to rest.
After a few miles of running,he stopped and one of his questions was answered; the shoes didn't have any powers like he thought, they were basically one-size-fits-all.
He sat down,back against a tree, and decided to explore what was in the pouch. He removed it from his waist and opened it by untying the strings.
He shoved his hand into it and was shocked and amazed by how big it was inside.He pulled out a handful of small balls. A medicinal scent spread into the air.
"Are these pills?"Omari asked himself.
He placed the pills on the side and shoved his hand down the pouch again and pulled out a book.
A sly grin appeared on his face as he read the title,"The Basics of Cultivation."
Out of excitement,Omari quickly opened the book to read it.
"All living things contain energy.How you nurture it determines your strength, lifespan, and destiny."
A smile appeared on his face;that statement brought him immense joy.
He continued reading until he reached the basic stages of cultivation.
"1.Body Refinement - represents the pinnacle of mortal potential before stepping into the supernatural."
He couldn't stop grinning and continued with the book until,"There are pills made to assist cultivators to pass the first stages faster."
Omari instantly closed the book,excitement on his face. He looked at the handful of pills he had pulled out of the mysterious pouch.
He threw one pill into his mouth.A wave of refreshing energy washed through him, knitting his bruises and soothing his aches in seconds.
His exhaustion vanished.A greedy, ecstatic smile split his face, "I've truly hit a jackpot."
He looked at the handful of pills.The book said they helped pass the first stages faster. How much faster? His father's hunters could be on him any moment. He needed strength and he needed it now. With a grimace of determination, he tipped his head back and shoved the entire handful of pills into his mouth, swallowing them down.
He waited for a few seconds,confused because nothing was happening. Then, a furnace ignited in his gut. It wasn't just heat; it was a torrent of raw, chaotic power shredding its way through his body.
His muscles seized and his bones felt like they were being ground to powder.White, searing light crackled under his skin; it was visible energy leaking from a vessel about to shatter. He could feel his own flesh being torn apart, his body heating up more with every second as if he was about to explode at any second.
He got up,groaning in pain and heat, cracks showing on his skin.
"The river,"he remembered and instantly took off running. His body started steaming, skin turning red, his blood boiling, and every step he took running brought about immense pain.
The hotter his body became,the more it hurt. He felt like his flesh was being boiled. After dashing through the forest and jumping over bushes and logs in pain, the river finally came into view.
He stepped on a log and jumped into the air,white streaks of steam and energy being excreted from his body.