623 A Net Positive

Shocked by the sight of his sweetheart’s terrifyingly quick death, the boy froze in place. He had failed to notice a dozen more red-robed individuals descend from the skies, each releasing five more of those deadly blood-colored threads from both hands, capturing more of the town’s innocent inhabitants.

To shake him awake from his shocked state, was the sight of ten original threads that, after turning just as many kids into mummies, retracted into the fingertips of the man that floated above the ice lake, only to emerge once again right after, in search of more targets.

Unwilling to witness the grim show repeat itself, Johan turned towards the city and started running. His feet tapped the dirty layer of snow as he ran past each house, trying to ignore the screams of the village’s inhabitants, who were most likely witnessing their loved one’s demise before their turn would come.

After about a minute, Jonah finally came into sight of his house, but as he looked at its entrance, his blood froze and his body stiffened.

In front of the pelt that acted as a door, five men in red robes stood. One of them, the one who stood at the front, was not wearing his hood, allowing for others to witness his appearance. He was a blonde young man, with eyes as bright and as red as freshly spilled blood, and a crooked smile on his face.

The blonde young man seemed to be enjoying what he and his companions were doing, but soon became serious as he came upon Johan’s house. Once at its entrance, he turned towards a large individual that stood by his side, and asked, “This is where she lives?”

pan,da n<0,>v,el The large creature nodded in confirmation before grabbing the pelt and moving it to the side, allowing for the former man to pass without having to dirty his own hands.

Seeing the team of five approach the door of his house, Johan did not know what to do. He had left his family just minutes ago, and it was early evening.. There was nowhere his mother, father and brother could have been but at home. But what could he have possibly done to stop the group of five? He was just a kid, who stared blankly as murderers made their merry way into his house.

Unaware of the boy’s presence, the red-robed young man lowered his head and stepped forward. But before he could walk in, a large ball of compacted snow connected with his face, exploding on impact, and covering him in soft frozen water.

As the young man brushed the snow off his face, the four robed individuals turned to the side where the snowball had come from, and there, standing just twenty meters away, they noticed the figure of a trembling boy. His thin arms were dropping to his sides, and yet, he was still holding a second snowball, which he had intended to throw in case the first failed to catch the group’s attention.

As the four turned to look at him, he somehow felt relieved that the first snowball had worked, for their sheer gaze had erased any hostile thought in his mind. He could not bring himself to raise his arms.

After the blonde young man finished brushing his face, he too turned towards the young boy, and stared at him with a pair of eyes that resembled twin bloody moons.

For as threatening as this gaze was, however, the most terrifying part was how the satisfied smile had never left the blonde man’s face. In fact, seeing Johan’s pointless resistance seemed to have done nothing but excite him further, for the moment he noticed his presence, he started walking in his direction.

While conflicted on whether to feel fear or happiness, Johan did not linger on the thought, and instead, he turned to run. But, alas, he still did not understand the nature of these entities, as the moment he turned around, he saw the figure of the blonde young man standing behind him, looking at him from above, like a tiger would an injured rabbit.

“Young lord, we should really..” muttered one of the four individuals.

“Calm down, you forgot whose domain this is? We are in no danger.” Said the blonde young man while quietly placing his hands on top of the boy’s shoulders. He then turned to look back at the boy, who was trembling like a leaf, and added, “Plus, don’t you know, nothing beats the sacrifice of an honorable character.”

As he finished speaking, he took a step back, and stretched his arm forward, with his index finger coming off of the boy’s forehead by just a couple inches. Then, from the tip of his finger, a single, yet wider bloody thread started to emerge, stretching towards the boy.

The thread wiggled forward, then stretched around the boy’s body, slithering behind the back of his head, around his neck, down his clavicle, and towards the left side of his chest. When it stopped, the end of the thread was floating just above the boy’s skin, twisting on itself at a high speed, forming a drill of sorts.

Just as it was about to dig into the boy’s body, however, a quiet figure landed on the blonde man’s right shoulder.

Feeling the oddly weak pressure, the red-robed cultivators looked up, only to meet the golden eyes of another cultivator. As their eyes met, the pressure went from that of a feather, to that of a mountain.. And it only kept growing exponentially.

Unable to resist this infinite pressure, the blonde man’s legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. A crunch followed, as the weight of the newly arrived individual had completely crushed the skin, flesh and bones of his shoulder, turning that entire area into mush.

“AAAARGH! KILL HI-” The blonde man screamed as an excruciating pain flushed through his body, forcing any feelings of satisfaction and superiority he had expressed until now to disappear in the blink of an eye. Before he could finish asking for help, however, a second foot landed on his head. *CRUNCH* The pure white snow was painted by the sudden splatter of fresh blood and brain matter, which sunk in it due to the residual heat each bit carried.

The four red-robed cultivators could do nothing to stop the man. They could only watch as the events played out in the span of sheer moments. Immediately they tried to react in an attempt to save their young lord, but before they could, his body exploded into a mist of golden colored sparks, which the newly arrived being had allowed them, and the boy, to see.

These uncountable golden sparks shot in all directions, just like the fireworks the boy had happily witnessed just minutes ago, but instead of dissipating, they lingered in the air, before finally gathering around the man’s body. They then seeped into his skin, granting it a holy golden hue that finally uncovered his appearance for the four red-robed cultivators to see. A young-looking man who gave off an air of divinity.

He was, of course, Daniel.

Witnessing the deaths of their young lord, the four red-robed cultivators were blinded by rage. From seemingly nowhere they unsheathed an array of weapons, and dashed towards the glowing figure, but, alas, their desire for revenge would never be fulfilled, for the moment they took a step, four bolts of pure lightning fell upon them, smiting them out of existence.

Once little more than ashes was left to dirt the otherwise clear snow, a second figure descended from the sky. A shirtless and barefoot young man with dark hair, and a scholarly appearance, who was being carried by the winds. Gentle enough to not cause a disturbance, but powerful enough to hold the man’s weight as it gently landed his body on the ground.

Roley had landed right next to the boy, in front of which he bent slowly, and looked at with kindness.

Daniel, on the other hand, was looking elsewhere. His attention was given to the people that inhabited this planet. They were mortals, just like he had once been.. Except that from none of them he could feel the powers of mana, or a specific form of ki. They were simple mortals, with no level of cultivation.

What was curious about these people, however, was not their lack of powers. After all, this was not the first time Daniel had seen a primitive society. One that had yet to either reach their era of cultivation, or a high level of technological advancement.

What had caught his attention was the karma each of these humans possessed. An amount that was neither too high nor too low, considering that they did not have the luxury of a long life, but that was, curiously, strictly positive. Not one of them, his powers told him, possessed negative karma of any amount.

Johan was still frozen stiff. In his eyes, the murderers had only been replaced by other murderers. And this fear was confirmed the moment a third figure, a middle-aged man clad in heavy armor fell onto the ground with a loud boom, leaving a small crater under his feet.

As the kid saw this man, he immediately noticed the injured figure he was carrying by the neck. A red robed cultivator who he wasn’t sure was still alive or not, for it left behind a trail of blood. “Who.. I-I do-” the kid tried to say something, but the words seemed to refuse to leave his mouth, as if they were frozen alongside his body.

Seeing how nervous the kid was, Roley approached him, and after falling on one knee, completely unbothered by the freezing temperature, said, “Don’t worry, we are not here to harm you, or anybody else. We will take you home.”

The kid could not understand the meaning of the scholar’s words, but as he heard his voice, a feeling of calmness unfroze his body. Roley’s hand gestures had somehow delivered the message his words had failed to.

Once in a calmer state of mind, the boy looked around. Many people had died that day, both friends and enemies.. And he felt grief for both. An emotional response Daniel, Roley and Der found quite odd. Why feel pity for the enemies? They wondered.

After a few seconds, the boy regained his composure, and started walking towards his home, unbothered by the presence of the three individuals following him.

It only took a few steps for the boy to reach the entrance of his house, which he opened with worry, revealing the figure of his father who, armed with the same iron he had been stoking the fire with, had been guarding the entrance from intruders. He had also been debating on whether to leave the house in search of his youngest son, but was stopped at the thought of leaving his other son and pregnant wife alone, and vulnerable.

As the man saw Johan, he immediately dropped the iron, and squeezed him into a bear hug. Then, he noticed the figure of the other three individuals.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Der asked Roley, as the sounds of battle started to resound across the small town, and far beyond. The armies of elementals and cultivators had started a massacre of the red-robed individuals.

Roley kept looking at the alerted middle-aged man with a kind expression. His hands raised in a peaceful sign while he responded, “It is. My mission was updated the moment we saved the boy’s life.”

“Okay, what now?” Der asked as Daniel too turned to look at Roley. He was also curious about why they had come here to do, or what their next step was.

Unfortunately, their curiosity was not his to dispel, as he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, then said, “I don’t know. The objective is vague.. I guess something is supposed to happen now?”

As if on cue, a pregnant woman with white hair emerged from the inner parts of the house. She was worried, yet ecstatic to see that Johan had returned safe and sound.. Yet, the moment her gaze met the golden sphere that had long replaced the original color of Daniel’s eyes, her demeanor changed completely.

Her loving and warm appearance had become frigid, and she now stared at him with a sharp gaze.

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