Chapter 215: A Winter From Childhood

From what he understood from Kael, there had been a big fight between the humans. A civil war, if he had to name it, which wasn’t good when you consider they already had an enemy that was much stronger, that being the Demon of Dread and the Tides.

The war lasted for a long time, years on end, humanity fought, which is maybe why they had not made that much progress when it came to fighting back against the Tides.

There had been many deaths, to the point where the Tides were almost overloaded with souls, which is how many of the ruins got created inside the Tides, but with so many people inside the Tides, most went insane.

…

And this was something he had just now found out about this world… that insanity turned you into a monster, it was how the monster repopulated.

So the Tides went from being infested by humans to being a place dominated by monsters who used to be humans that had just gone insane from the place.

It was sad to think of, but this war didn’t help humanity at all; it only created even more monsters and made them lose people who could have helped in the battle against them.

But at the same time, it would have been impossible to stop a war from happening.

The war had taken place between those who had gained Wills and the Will-less. It made sense, even now, the social hierarchy was evident; the Will-less were like disposable beings, so of course, they would want to fight back.

And with the weapon styled coming to life, they had something to fight with, so of course, they took it, tired of being mocked and looked down on.

Though it wasn’t enough, as the war sadly ended with the Will-less losing, and the weapon styles slowly died after that, as the number of people who wished to learn them dimmed, as most just accepted the world those with Will’s created.

Where they were at the top, and they were at the bottom.

It was why their eyes were hollow.

Kael hadn’t been born at that time, when the war had taken place, which only showed how long ago this war was, since Kael was quite old. The ones that have fought in the war for the Will-less were the original masters of the weapon styles, which were passed down, just like the masters of the Will’s had done with their techniques.

The original masters of the blade were said to be the most powerful people to ever exist, without a will, that is. The complete mastery of their blades, alongside their weapons, which were specially crafted and enchanted to slaughter, made them almost unbeatable.

The Will-less was never able to replicate one of those weapons; the craftsmen had been something never seen before, and plus, they had been enhanced with blood from powerful beasts… plus.

They were made out of the bones of the original beast that had come to earth alongside many more. A terrifying, gigantic monster that crushed everything.

But since then, its bones have become fragile and broken, due to time, so the weapons could never be copied again.

And sadly, after the war had ended, the masters of the Will’s had confiscated the weapons, crushed them into pieces, and scattered them across the world. Hiding them or giving them to people they trusted most, that way they were never found or retrieved, and if they were, it was almost impossible to find and get all the pieces to put the weapon back together again.

…

And yet, Kael had given him the mission of retrieving the pieces of the rapier the original master wielded, and extremly powerfull blade…

Yet he wasn’t impressed by it; he thought that Voidpiercer was stronger, and if it wasn’t, then the original Voidpiercer definitely was.

He didn’t understand why he had given him this job; it seemed impossible, I mean, he knew nothing of this world, so how was he supposed to know where to find them? Plus, he had to get his training…

But Kael did say that it might help him get rid of his training.

Plus, it wasn’t like this job made it so he had to do it now.

No, he had given him this job for the whole time he was here. He could take months’ breaks, he could stay at the dojo as much as he wanted, he could train as much as he wanted, but in the end, he had to complete it.

It wasn’t that bad… after all, it gave him something to do in this world.

At least he wasn’t following a path while blindfolded.

Plus, traveling the world and getting these parts might help him progress in the story of this trial.

It’s been a few days since he gave him the job, and he accepted… yet at the same time, he had said that he wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon… he wanted winter to go first, and it was going to take quite a while. Since it had just started.

So he was going to have to take care of this dojo for some more time.

Aether stepped outside the dojo, and the cold met him without hesitation. Snow was falling thickly now, slow flakes drifting down through the forest canopy before settling on the ground. The trees stood tall and unmoving, their branches heavy with white, some bending under the weight, others frozen in place. The forest floor had disappeared beneath the snow, turning roots and stones into vague shapes barely visible beneath the surface.

He walked forward, the sound of his steps dull and contained. Each movement felt smaller here, as if the forest absorbed it. The air was cold enough to sting when he breathed in, filling his lungs with something sharp and clean. His breath came out slow, pale clouds that vanished almost instantly.

There was no wind, or if there was, it moved carefully. Snow fell straight down, undisturbed, piling onto the ground, onto the roofs of the buildings, onto his shoulders. The world felt paused, caught in the middle of a moment that refused to move forward.

He looked back. The dojo stood behind him, solid and unchanged. A thin trail of smoke rose from somewhere within, twisting upward before disappearing into the sky. It was the only sign of warmth in sight.

Turning again, he faced the forest. Paths that once existed were gone, buried beneath the snow. Without markers, without tracks, everything looked the same. It would be easy to get lost out there. Maybe that was the point.

A snowflake drifted down and landed on his nose.

He paused, eyes crossing slightly as he tried to focus on it. The cold registered a moment later, sharp and sudden, before the flake melted away. He exhaled quietly, more amused than surprised, and lifted his gaze toward the sky. Snow continued to fall, steady and indifferent.

Winter had only just begun.

…

It reminded him of his childhood, in the Withered, where it was very cold, it rained a lot, so snow could never settle down, so the last time he had seen snow was around when he had just turned eight. One year before, he had gotten trapped inside the Withered.

One year before it all began, all his suffering.

So it has been seven years since… a long time if he had to say… almost half of his life.

Well… actually, he had seen it before, in Frozen Crown, but at the same time, when he was in

Frozen Crown, he was focused on getting out, on getting stronger, so he never got the chance to enjoy the snow, to be able to play in it.

That was how long it had been since he had last been able to enjoy snow. It… made him happy.

Really, after fighting Denial, he never would have thought he could feel so childish again, that he could act like a child again. And yet here he was… burying his bare hands in the snow, trying to build a snowman as if this wasn’t a Seeker Titan trial.

Maybe this winter wasn’t going to be that bad… maybe things weren’t that bad.

Bringing his hands up to his face, Aether exhaled a warm breath into them, since they were pale and red from the snow-cold temperature. Then he rubbed them together so he could produce some warmth.

After he enjoyed the snow enough, he wanted to leave, but before he could, he felt a snowball hit him right in the face.

Aether wiped it off his face, confused by where it had come from, by who it could have been thrown by. Only to see Kael standing in front of him, already creating another snowball.

’The bastard.’ He said, smiling softly, as he quickly darted to the cold snow to make a snowball to throw at the old man.

He was going to win this fight.

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