Chapter 182 - 182)Red Threads

A proper ceremony for someone who could very well be considered family, a Royal Funeral. It was an event that would only occur when a member of the royal family passed away. The atmosphere was glum and dull. Dry breeze blew through the kingdom, the sounds of leaves rustling filled the streets. Candles were kept lit under a huge memorial for Blade. Noel explained to the public the situation that led to his own disciple's death. 

The civilians were broken and conflicted, as much as they wanted Blade to live, not one person refuted the fact that he was the reason Noel was alive and standing right now. Noel was one of the protectors of Vraun, a symbol of peace and power. 

'Why must we pick? Why is there never the option to save both?'

Night thought as he stood by his Master's side. He looked at the coffin in front of him as his thoughts raced. He knew the answer to the questions he posed. It was simple, it was the reason why Neo Thallius acted the way he did. It was power. If Night was strong enough or powerful enough, then he wouldn't need to choose, he could've simply saved both of them by killing Neo.

'Get stronger my child, grow so much, and prove to everyone that you're worthy of my bloodline,'

Nyx's words rang through his head as he relived every single moment he spent in Genesis. So far Night only focused on enjoying the game and exploring, however, at the same time, he made sure to not treat Genesis as just a "game". NPCs were very realistic, to a point where they were more humane than some of the actual humans in reality.

NPCs were being that's could actively change the flow of the world, they could affect and be affected, they could think and reason for themselves, everything a human could do, NPCs could but better. The only possible thread that stuck out was the fact that they only existed inside a "game". The mindset that they were negligible beings run by a computer would never fully cease to exist.

'Bullshit...'

He grit his teeth and clenched his fists. So much to the point where tiny breaths of darkness escaped from the gap in his hand. His thinking and approach to the game was very selfish and naive. Night voluntarily made connections with different people but at the same time, he failed to realize that simply managing to establish some sort of a link wasn't enough. He had to grow. So much so that his acquaintances and allies would be safe and not at risk.

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

His thoughts were once again interrupted by the sound of metal touching the ground. All the soldiers were hitting the butts of their spears to the ground, while a group of guards marched in perfect unison and lifted Blade's coffin. Currently, Night was wearing an outfit that was stitched by the royal tailor, it was formal wear that people close to the victim usually wore. Noel donned something similar to his usual outfit, except this time it was more formal and circumstance fitting.

Once the funeral proceedings were completed, Night wasted no time and quickly picked up his old outfit that the tailor was fixing up. After all, he made a vow to himself that he would squeeze every last second out, regardless of what he told Nate, Night was in a hurry to grow and the best place for that was to go back to the beginning.

"Aeternum. That's where we're going." Night told Shade as he scratched Noctis' head. The little chaos creature was dull ever since it could be absolutely nothing against Neo. Noctis took pride in the fact that it could help Night no matter what the situation was. While there was some truth in that, it was only because of the levels of Night's opponents so far.

"I shall always follow My Lord," Shade replied as he slightly bowed.

"Why back there though?" Nate asked as he looked at his friend inquisitively. Aeternum was like the starting kingdom for every player and going back there was practically pointless for someone who cleared all his or her primary class challenges. "I mean, I need to go back there as well. I have to make sure I clear all the floors of the Academy,"

"Oh, that's a thing huh? Anyway, I just have some unfinished business there so I'll need to go back there. Hopefully, Shade hits level 100 by that time," Night said as he patted down his outfit that was newly made. There was a reason he chose not to pick proper armor, the main one would be his lack of funds, while that wasn't such a big issue, Night wanted to wait for a little bit longer. "Will you be coming with us?"

"Me? Nah nah, as much as I want to. I'll need to finalize everything here. Now that King Alaric unofficially declared war on the Imperial Kingdom, The Primordials are definitely going to be useful. Besides, all of us could use the extra training. However, once my work here is done, I might head to Aeternum or elsewhere. Although, I can't say for sure right now," the only other place that Nate could think of, was Mount Tempest. He mentioned it to Night, who initially was excited but soon fell back down to earth once he realized he had other things to focus on. "I need to open my epic armor and weapon set as well, gosh. We really need to figure out a lot huh?"

"Speak for yourself. I have a plan," Night scoffed sarcastically as crossed his hands.

"Hoh? The turn tables huh? The Anomaly becomes The Prodigy? Leave some titles for the rest of us O'supreme being," Nate said as playfully bowed down to his friend.

"Bah whatever, I'll take my leave now then. Let's get stronger. Until next time then," Night said as he patted Nate's shoulder and continued walking in the direction of a familiar forest.

Nate looked at his friend's back and smiled. He was always amused by how Night never turned around to look back.

'We will.....'

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"Keukukukuk so what if he managed to win some stupid tournament. I'm almost reaching my target kuahaha. The next time I see anyone related to Night, I'm going to slaughter them mercilessly. Nate is it? You've made a fool of me once, I hope you're ready to accept what's about to come your way," Sephiroth said as he threw one of his axes into a nearby tree, instantly cutting through it cleanly.

Just by the surroundings, one could say that he was somewhere near the Norse Kingdom. There were patches of snow scattered all around, the smell of blood could overwhelm any passerby. Bodies of Nordic warriors lay thrown about. 

What reason did he have? What pushed him to satisfy his bloodlust? In the first place, what caused such an intense bloodlust?

So far the only thing Sephiroth focused on was the pure murder and slaughter of everyone that stood in his path. Although, he wasn't foolish. He wouldn't pick fights with people he couldn't take on, he was smart and chose his fights wisely. 

He took advantage of the Nordic warriors' love for drawing blood and made sure they would underestimate him. Even though his demeanor was literally anything but someone who was calculative, Sephiroth was the purest form of talent. He was quick-witted and made decisions that favored him. At the same time, he was physically gifted, although it wasn't anything like the way Night was gifted.

The latter focused more on flexibility and speed while maintaining laser-like precision, whereas, Sephiroth mainly boasted crushing strength that could easily dominate his opponents. However, this was only in reality, he couldn't take advantage of his true gifts in the game.

*Crunch*

The sound of a twig snapping in half entered his ears. The second he turned around, he was met with another group of warriors who looked around furiously at their brothers who were brutally massacred. However, there was something unusual, he noticed a thin red thread sticking out of every one of their bodies. All these lines had different points of origin. For some, it grew from the stomach, for the others, it was from the thighs. (Threads/ Lines)0

"Huh?" he blinked multiple times only for the threads to get stronger and darker. It wasn't fully unusual but the more he looked at them, the more he understood their purpose. "Weak points....but why can I see something so important?"

To put his theory to test, Sephiroth simply jumped forward and struck at the man's stomach, he didn't even bother to take his other ax from the tree and simply jumped at his enemies. As soon as his blade touched the man's stomach, blood spurted all around, instantly killing him on the spot.

"This...." Sephiroth looked at the others with a smile, half of his face had blood splattered on it, his eyes were wide open and his smile grew just as wide as he realized the gift he somehow received.