Chapter 14: Inescapable Fate (1/3)
Regalus calmed himself down, though still looking a bit pale-faced. He waved Ira away, signaling her to leave.
Ira quickly bowed and left the room. Though her face looked only a bit shaken, her back was cold from perspiration and her heart was beating loudly. She had come here seeking an answer and indeed she got it, the Young Master has indeed seen his father's true condition! But now, that was truly the least of her worries.
'That... That was killing intent!' Ira exclaimed within. She was a trained assassin, even if she never did finish her training, she was nevertheless at the top of her class and could easily graduate with the highest honors in her future!
This killing intent, or rather, intent in general is a manifestation of one's feelings, willpower, or even just sheer mastery and understanding! As long as it is great enough, this immaterial feeling can transform itself into a tangible substance, willing itself into reality! For example, with it provided enough mastery, one can strike at a target kilometers away with just a swing of one meter sword using just sword intent! It doesn't require any immortal arts, martial arts, or Qi; only a pure understanding.
As for killing intent, it is a unique intent where there is only one way for anyone to understand and utilize it... only through killing!
Ira has yet to train on any type of intent as she had to drop out of her school early, but even then, her school wouldn't teach her such dark intent.
Ira walked away with a calm and stoic face, however, one could just barely see the beads of sweat on her forehead.
Ira knew she couldn't report such a thing to his parents, even they would think she was crazy. Even as of right now, she was thinking of herself as crazy!
Under both the Young Master's parents and her own supervision, he wouldn't have been able to kill a chicken without them knowing, much less people! They could be hundred of kilometers away from him and they still have means to track him. Though it's impossible to know his every movement, they would surely know if he had done something as grave as murder!
Ira's head exploded as her brain attempted to figure out how to report this in a believable manner. In the end, she merely shook her head, ignored the problem, and went on her way getting lost somewhere in the castle.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," Ira reasoned. As long as the Young Master was safe, it was fine.
——
Meanwhile, Regalus doesn't even know of the existence of intent, thus he didn't know why Ira had appeared so afraid. Instead he had his mind on another matter.
Regalus wasn't sure whether to be angry at himself or at the Ninth Heaven. It was indeed the Ninth Heaven that struck against his father but He was the reason it struck so hard.
In the end, Regalus blamed it all on the Ninth Heaven. He knew it was unreasonable, but men must be unreasonable sometimes. It could be said that Man's unreasonableness is the cause of progress. Hence, he stated:
"I won't die until the 9th Heaven falls!"
From Regalus's voice, one could tell that he didn't say it as a promise nor as an ambition, but rather a proven fact. In his eyes... only Eight Heavens are left.
He breathed in and out. Him deciding whether to let the Heavens live or not was akin to him deciding whether to drink water or not! The Heaven on his previous world had fallen by his hands, this world would be no different!
It doesn't matter whether this world is stronger than his Aether or not. It doesn't matter if his skills and knowledge is useful here or not. Back in his mortal days, before he gained godlyhood or even before he cast his first magic spell, he was just a soldier. One of the millions of pawns in the game of chess known as the World. Hundreds of people like him died everyday and people looked at him no more than canon fodder. Yet in the end, he swore vengeance to those that see him no better than dirt and he swept the board clean.
King?
Queen?
Royalty?
An Army of Millions?
A God-given Sovereignty?
A Kingdom lasting Thousands of Generations?
What are those playthings?
This arrogance of his was earned by climbing a mountain of knives! It was by no means given to him on a silver platter like some others.
Not to mention, by showing off his skill up in the mountain and seeing both the reaction of Ira Ignus and Aria Arendale, he know that the skill he showed should be more than acceptable by their standards.
"Alas, I still have some ways to go before I go do anything heaven defying..." Regalus sighed.
He felt his body truly on the brink of dying. The sort of thing Regalus's body went through today should have never been experienced by any normal 6-year-old. The only reason he is able to think and speak right now is sheer willpower and he knows full well that the longer he keeps it up, the harsher the strain on his injuries would be.
As such, he could only let his consciousness slip...
——
His mind blurred, a fuzzy scene coming into being.
A man walked along a forest path. He had been dressed rather raggedly. He wore a tattered, light metal armor barely held together by strips of worn out leather. On it, one could barely see a scratched out insignia. On his feet, a mess of boots could be found made of an indiscernible, but strong material. If it had been made by a lesser quality material, it would have long fallen apart. On his back, a long spear is hidden, covered by what used to be a cape of some sort. It was obvious he was a soldier, one with a bit of rank at that. Alas, who could tell what happened for him to go down so low. He looked young, yet not so at the same time. His face hinted at youthfulness yet showed age and wear from stress and sorrow. His hair too had long turned grey.
As he walked about the path, he found it eerily familiar, yet couldn't remember why or how. He merely continued walking forward absentmindedly.
He looked around the forest, unknowingly taking note of everything around him.
A line of Steeljaw Ants climbing up a grey Ironwood tree, biting pieces of the metallic bark off with its piercing jaws. A clump of beautiful red-yellow bell-shaped flower, an Aportabell Flower, as it sucked in a poor passing insect. A majestic, four-winged Compass Bird, who in the spring would always point towards the north and in the autumn would always point towards the south.
"Aaaaagghhh!!!" A scream resounded throughout the forest, breaking the delicate sound of the forest life.
The man sprung into action. He silently chanted in his thoughts:
'[Martial Skill: Chasing Wind]!'
*Bang*
The ground below him quaked and cracked as he ran full speed toward the source of the sound. His feet shone red as he moved through the forest at a speed impossible for ordinary humans.
Unlike ordinary humans, he was taught and trained Martial Skills and Order Essence. Utilizing the Order Essence within him, he is able to direct it around his body using Martial Skills and improve its functions temporarily!
To become stronger. To become faster. To become resilient. All of this are possible with Martial Skills.
As he ran, he looked at his right wrist. On it was a small, mythril plate adorned with a simplistic magical array. He sent an insignificant bit of Order Essence into this plate. After short while, he felt prick under his wrist, a small drop of blood was absorbed by the plate.
A minuscule buzz sounded out as the white hue lit the array. The white hue flashed a bit, flew off from the plate, and formed letters and numbers he could easily understand.
_
Health: 237/300
Essence: 78/100
Class: Crusader
Level: 35
Status:
Starving: -5 Health per hour
Fatigue: -15 Strength, -20 Endurance, -20Agility
Skill Use: -2 Essence per minute
Injured: Max health reduced by 132; strength, endurance, constitution, and agility all reduced by 25%
Unknown: Unknown effect
Time: 16:39 AN IST
_
He couldn't help but be amazed at the functionality of this little identification plate each time. Using the wonders and unique properties of Essence, this small array is able to easily quantify the statistics of his body! It was by no means the most advanced one, after all, this type of identification plate is widely considered common or even outdated. There even exists some that could even read and quantify every aspect of one's physique and even display one's skills!
However, he has run out of time to wonder about the fascinations of Magic, as he had finally reached the source of the screaming.
In front of him he saw a small child, huddled inside the roots of a mangrove tree. The small child was covered in mud but one could clearly see the cuts and bruises the child had. It was a pitiful sight.
*Bang!*
A predatory wild boar came out of nowhere and rammed into the roots of the tree. The moment it's tusks made contact with the tree, it gave off a short burst of fire. It caused the sturdy looking tree to shake as some of the roots below crumbled while the others smoldered. If given the time, this powerful wild boar would most definitely break through the sturdy roots, killing the child inside!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Regalus
Regalus Decided it’d be neat to have little fill ins from MC’s experiences in the past and have it affect his current decisions.
I’ll be going back to where I live by July 31, I’m really just in a very large mall that happens to have free WiFi. I have quite a bit of chapters saved up but I’ll release this one first to see what you guys think.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone