Myriad Devils-Chapter 136: The hardships of the mundane soul

The darkness pervading the heavens had dispersed. Though the landscape had been eternally altered, following the chaotic storm was period of calm.

Some time had past, and the two craters had become less noticeable. The regenerative powers of the earth itself had increased significantly after the great rebirth.

Although Seth was still unconscious within one of these craters, Anon had left him there, completely unbothered even if he would be swallowed by the earth alive.

Submerged under stones and rocks, subtle twitches occurred throughout Seth’s body. When his eyelids trembled, a dark aura slowly rose from his pores, causing the stones and rocks to crack and shatter, slowly becoming dust.

Then, this dark aura escaped the crater and rose into the air, and following it was Seth who crawled out of the hole in the earth.

"Ughhh." Seth groaned in discomfort. Pulling himself up, he slowly rose to his feet and then inhaled deeply. There was a cold wind that lashed against his skin.

Wherever this wind made contact, it felt as if there were minute blades attempting to cut his skin.

Tch.

Grimacing, Seth looked into the distance where the sight of a spear-wielding figure practicing his moves could be seen.

Due to the events leading up to his appearance in this drifting rock terrain, Anon’s pants were riddled with holes, and he was shirtless.

Since his arm had been severed, the academy’s accessory wasn’t present on the wrist of his regrown limb.

Masterfully, Anon maneuvered the cloud severing spear through the air, generating the illusion that this spear was instead the slithering body of a snake that swam through the air.

Seth saw that this practice had taken Anon’s entire focus, so he took a seat and entered what appeared to be a state of deep meditation.

On the other hand, the speed of Anon’s movements began increasing.

Within a certain region of this drifting rock’s landscape, Anon created several afterimages that each saw him completing a different action with the spear.

Boom!

Anon thrusted the spear forward a final time.

It caused the wind to grow chaotic and for muffled explosion to spread out.

Exhaling a puff of hot air, Anon nodded his head with satisfaction visible in his eyes as the spear began breaking down into characters that attached themselves onto Anon’s skin.

"My physical state has improved greatly." Anon assessed, "My ’base’ state should be comparable to the physical state I was able to reach when I drew power from my principle in the second layer of the second world."

Physically, he was already comparable to his previous self that was in the second layer. Naturally, if he battled himself at that time, the current Anon would simply get bullied.

Once his past self drew power from his principle, it would equal the physical battle. And then, having magical means beyond the current Anon, he’d be able to easily win.

But Anon was pleased.

’It only took one beast general’s essence to increase my strength to this extent.’ He thought with a subtle smirk playing on his lips.

After completing his assessment, Anon turned to the aura he had sensed earlier. He wasn’t surprised to see Seth awake, and approached him.

’He’s been unconscious for a day and night.’ Anon noted internally.

During that time, Anon was naturally worried for his safety. It wouldn’t be completely outside the realm of possibility to see another beast general show up from a foreign drifting rock.

If such a scenario occurred, he’d once more be staring death in the face.

Though the likelihood of this happening was low, once it was something that could be imagined, then it was a genuine possibility, no matter how unrealistic it might sound.

When Anon approached Seth, the latter seemed to have sensed this, and opened his eyes.

"I see you had no qualms with leaving my body within that crater." Seth’s voice lacked any depth as usual, but very noticeable was the apparent weakness in his voice compared to before. He spoked even softer than usual.

"Huh? What did you say?" Anon knitted his brows and asked.

Seth heard this but did not react.

He immediately knew that Anon had no intention of explaining himself.

Although Seth’s voice was faint, almost akin to a whisper, no matter how much strength Anon lost, he was still a stellar fighter, and his hearing was greatly amplified compared to regular humans.

Even if one was distracted whilst multi-tasking, it would be difficult for a stellar fighter to mishear something.

"I do not plan to step onto another drifting rock anytime soon." Seth said plainly.

Anon nodded his head.

In fact, he did not find this strange. After all, Seth had suffered a great deal from this past battle with the low-level beast general. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Although it wasn’t his match, to slay the creature without even damaging its heart, was inevitably too much to ask of him. And to complete such a task, Seth also paid a price.

Before heading towards the next target, Seth needed time to recuperate. Evidently, when they reached the next drifting rock, it would be him who battled once again, not Anon.

And again, he would need to slay the creature, not just defeat it, and also kill it without damaging its heart.

The two spent some time developing their next course of actions. The battle had granted them some much needed knowledge, and more so, their limits.

After a while, the duo had completed their planning, allowing Seth to return to a state of deep meditation.

But before he had the chance to enter this state, Anon stopped him and asked him seriously, "Remember when you taught me on the staff? Do you also have knowledge of the spear? And techniques that I can utilize?"

Seth heard this and his brows knitted. His recently closed eyes reopened as he remained in silence and opted to observe Anon for a time.

Along with those eyes, his face lacked any particular expression, remaining as unreadable as ever, which, when coupled with his sickly pale skin and strangely colored eyes, painted a chilling image for anyone who laid eyes on him.

But Anon bore this uncomfortable feeling and remained steadfast as he asked once more, "Because of the strain of my spirit, utilizing magical attacks at the level I was previously able to unleash is impossible, so relying on my cultivation base is useless in our current situation. But with the strength of my body increasing drastically, isn’t it very much possible for me to combat against these beasts alongside you by utilizing some kind of advanced spear techniques?"

Actually, this idea had only dawned on him recently.

’Father had me read quite a bit of fantasy novels from the olden era. In them, didn’t such situations take place? Though those worlds were only fiction in father’s time, the similarities between those worlds and the current era is quite apparent. Hmm...’ Anon mused inwardly.

When his thoughts reached here, he couldn’t help but become curious.

’Before our world became the world that I know, it was but an ordinary world, ordinary in the eyes of father and the older generation. A strange world that lacked stellar cosmic energy, and a world where principle power lied dormant within the bodies of us humans. And yet, in such a strange world, us humans were able to create works of fiction strikingly similar to the current world...’ Anon wondered.

There was a shinning light in the depths of his eyes.

’Manifestation.’ Anon thought of this word.

’I wonder, is the great rebirth something that us humans manifested? Just from the sheer wanton desire for supernatural strength, and power beyond mortal comprehension...’ As his thoughts flowed, a smile continuously played on Anon’s lips.

Naturally, this was merely a harmless possibility that was so unlikely, even he was practically certain that it was not the case.

As for the true reason behind the great rebirth...

It was something that he desperately desired to understand. Along with the events that caused the great rebirth, and the reasons behind it, there were many secrets that structured this universe.

Secrets that even the Human Lord was unaware of.

This was what truly intrigued Anon.

Everything else that happened, and especially the recent past, the current, and the near future, these were all things that were only the foundational blocks for his true purpose.

It was why he so desperately wanted to reach the end of the path he was walking on.

At the end of this path, Anon understood that all secrets would be revealed to him!

"Advanced spear technique you say?" Seth finally spoke.

His lips slowly parted as a grin began to form.

"Indeed, I know a great many techniques. From the staff, to the spear, and the great axe, the noble sword, the chaotic blades, and the bloodthirsty sabers. I know more than you can imagine, and the techniques stored inside my mind reach a level that you cannot simply comprehend." Seth said this as a matter of fact.

There was not even a hint of haughtiness or arrogance in his tone.

Anon clicked his tongue at Seth’s self praise but he did not attempt to disagree. In fact, to a certain extent, Anon even felt that his words contained some truth.

’He was able to teach me the ways of the staff to an extent that I was able to master the weapon in a few months. He himself has claimed to be above the level of true mastery, and although there isn’t any reason to believe his words, there are also no reasons to be disbelieving. This is, after all, the devil that dead mother has warned me of.’ Anon concluded.

"Basic techniques are for the mortal martial artists, whilst High-Tier techniques are for the first world stellar fighters. Previously, after you entered the second world, you should have already mastered some Top-Tier staff techniques, but you chose to focus more on magical attacks and did not place much importance on the staff." Seth’s smile widened as Anon did not refute his words, and only bowed his head in shame...

"And now, since your desiring to battle against beast generals, it means that you wish to jump from High-Tier staff techniques, skipping Top-Tier, and somehow grasp Apex-Tier techniques relating to the spear whilst also having zero experience with the spear to begin with. Much less High-Tier spear techniques, you don’t even know basic spear techniques, am I right?" Seth shook his head.

"How wishful your thinking is..."

Sigh...

"Geniuses knoweth not the hardships of the mundane souls." Seth sighed and said this with a pitiful voice.