Chapter 37

Rezen took the second, third, fourth, and so on steps. For every step that he takes, the pressure on his soul increases

If this goes on, Rezen’s soul would exhaust itself and collapse. That would be the same as a brain dead injury for him

The soul is one of the foundations of every living being and the complete collapse of it is no different than death

The more steps Rezen take, the more tired he felt. There were times when he just wanted to sleep and leave everything but he has no choice but to persevere

He can instinctively feel that losing consciousness now would definitely lead to his death

“Fuck it… I won’t die here and leave my pretty system behind!” Rezen said angrily as he take another recovery pill

His soul instantly recovered back to its peak state. The pressure of the forest was still there but his soul was invigorated

The strength that he used to reach his current position returned

This gave him more confidence and he continues

Right now, he can already see that there was something tens of meters away from him

That ‘something’ looks like a large and thick stem and on top of it was a large flower. Each petal was green in color and there is a strange and hazy thing in the middle of that flower

Rezen doesn’t know it but he strongly felt that he is indeed in the central part of the forest now and the goal should be that flower

Rezen sped up his pace and to his surprise, he actually encountered another human that is also a member of the captives

As soon as the two noticed each other, the pressure suddenly multiplied and they both staggered

They didn’t take any additional steps but the pressure suddenly increased… could it be…

The two stared at each other as if they realizes something and they casts spells at the same time

“[Water Stream!]”

“[Earth Stream!]”

Water and earth energies collided and clashed with each other but the water was easily winning

Unlike the fire mage from earlier, Rezen’s new enemy is only a 1st fusion mage

They are at the same rank but Rezen’s comprehension is already at the complete mastery of 2nd fusion rank!

“N-no!” The earth mage cried out in horror as Rezen’s [Water Stream] spell hit and killed him

As expected, as soon as one of them died, the pressure was alleviated. In fact, it didn’t just return to normal, the pressure also weakened

“Wow… they are really evil. To think that they would design things so that killing a fellow human would weaken the pressure” Rezen muttered, he don’t know whether he should be disgusted or amazed by how decisive these kidnappers were

This time, the human that Rezen killed didn’t turn into a log with lines of intertwining tattoos. Meaning that the mage was a real human being!

Rezen swallowed the little bit of guilt he had before proceeding

He met another captive along the way but fortunately, that guy is only just a 2nd fusion rank mage that hadn’t reached that rank for a long time

If that guy were at the peak of the rank with his soul and comprehension then Rezen would be in a bit of a pinch

Soon, Rezen finally arrived in front of the large flower. His soul would have collapsed already if he didn’t consume several pills to maintain his peak condition

When Rezen stood in front of the flower, he saw that in the middle of it was an oval seed

The seed was overflowing with vitality, it’s lifeforce was way richer than what a human has but that wasn’t the strange part

Inside the seed, Rezen can see what it looks like a human embryo. It was still not fully developed yet it already contained vigorous lifeforce

“Woah… what the hell is this…” Rezen muttered in amazement before he looked around him

The pressure in his soul suddenly vanished and around him was the kidnappers, encircling him

His nerves tightened and he unconsciously entered a battle-ready state

“There is no need to be on guard. We are not here to hurt you” the old man, Zero stepped out and said

His tone still sounds as cold and indifferent as before but there is also a hint of curiosity

“Grandpa Zero, didn’t I say so? That maggot is weird! I fought him earlier yet whenever he was critically injured or is on the brink of death, he would always recover back to normal! Even his limbs grew several times!” Fifteen said as if he was snitching his brother to their parents

“Human, you are weird. The traps in the forest, the battle with one of us and your fellow humans, and also the pressure in the central area. The test is adjusted based on the candidate’s rank but you are just too abnormal. You are clearly weak and inexperienced but you passed all the tests in a breeze by always returning back to your peak condition” Zero said, slightly amused

Rezen almost blurted out that it was all thanks to his recovery pills but he reckon that it would be better to shut his mouth

“Normally, someone like you that only has your ability to cast spells a rank higher than you as the redeeming point is far from qualified from receiving our master’s inheritance”

“However, this world has no lack of talented people with or without background. What we need are people that are peculiar, the ones that have the highest chance of surviving for a long time in the world when even peerless geniuses falls”

Zero continued as he stood in front of Rezen. The seed with a human embryo inside floated and landed on top of his palm

“This seed is the most precious inheritance of our master. This is a treasure that you wouldn’t get anywhere as it was personally invented by our Master. The skills that you showed do not qualify you to receive the seed but we don’t have time left”

“Today’s batch of humans is our last hope and despite your lack of skill and experience, you show a peculiarity that no one ever has. What we need is a human that would survive and keep the inheritance of our Master safe and alive”

Rezen raised his hand and Zero placed the seed on top of his palm

“This seed is called the Life Seed. Just like its name suggests, it is a seed of life. Every single one of us here all came from Life Seeds. Plant and nourish the seed with mana and in time, an artificial human will grow out of it”

“Every artificial human that would grow from the seed would be entities that are 100% compatible with walking the path of Tattoo Warriors without fearing its side effects”

Side effects? Rezen simply thought that these kidnappers are amazingly strong. He knew that they are Tattoo Warriors but he don’t exactly know what that is

Fortunately, Zero sensed his confusion

“The path and means of mages are different from Mana Warriors. Mages condense mystic gems and study and use magic circles to resonate with the natural laws to create a supernatural phenomenon”

“Tattoo Warriors on the other hand nourished our bodies and comprehension of the elements is not as important for us. A Tattoo Warrior can create their own Tattoo or they could have another Tattoo Warrior with a higher level of attainment do it for them”

“Generally, Tattoo Warriors are stronger compared to mages. We used our bodies and tattoo as the catalyst to resonate with the natural laws. Since the magic circle counterpart of our path (Tattoo) is directly on our bodies, we received greater power compared to mages at our rank”

“However, this also comes with a price. Since we use and fill our bodies most of the time with elemental energies, the bodies of Tattoo Warriors overtime were corrupted by the elements”

“There are many cases where a Mana Warrior used up too much power and turned and bursts into elemental energies. The artificial humans that the Life Seeds birthed don’t encounter such problems since even before we are born and are still seeds, we are already bathing in the elements”

“Grow the Life Seed and you will obtain an artificial human companion. It would be loyal to you as long you won’t mistreat it and in time, when the artificial human has enough power, it could create another Life Seed”

Rezen absorbed all the information provided to him. The moment that he had seen Tattoo Warriors and also the Life Seed, his interest and curiosity was already piqued

This was especially so for the seed. Since he has a Farm System, obtaining all sorts of precious and rare seeds would definitely benefit him

“T-thank you…” Rezen said. He still hates these artificial humans for kidnapping him and throwing him in danger but since he obtained the Life Seed, he felt better than before

Rezen can already imagine himself leading a large army of Tattoo Warriors. Creating a secret society might even be possible with his loyal artificial humans!

By then, would he still be worried and fearful of giant organizations with thousands of mages at their disposal?

Becoming the master of a secret and fearsome organization wouldn’t be impossible now!

“Nourish the Life Seed and treat the artificial human well. It would never betray you as long as you don’t mistreat it. And in time, when the artificial human starts to trust you, it will provide you with the memories it inherited about our path. You can become a Tattoo Warrior if you want. Considering how you always managed to return to your peak state, perhaps, you also wouldn’t have to worry about our path’s side effects”

Rezen’s eyes twinkled. He didn’t think of that! If he uses his pills then that might really offset the side effect!

Mages seldom increase their physique and there are few spells that boost their physical stats

No matter how powerful a mage is, if they were to be hit by an attack even with just the power of 1st fusion spells, they might still die

Of course, high-level mages have countermeasures for that but they are not as foolproof as having a better physique!

“But human, remember one thing” Zero’s tone suddenly became serious and even the other artificial humans around were the same

“Our master is a very powerful Tattoo Warrior. He should have lived a long life but Master is reclusive. He created us to be his companions as he felt that the human world is dirty”

“However, our Master is still too kind. In his few journeys outside the Blessed Land, he saved another human but in the end, he was betrayed”

“Without the Master of the Blessed Land, the Blessed Land would collapse in time. Our master’s only last wish is for his creation – the Life Seed to not die”

“For that, we searched and kidnapped humans to inherit the Life Seed and today is the last time we could do this. Your qualifications are not enough for our standards but we don’t have a choice now”

“We want you to survive and keep the legacy of our master from dying. Being too kind would lead to a disaster and we want a decisive human to inherit our master’s legacy”

Rezen didn’t expect that there was such a sad backstory behind these kidnappers. All of them were clearly saddened by the death of their master

Even just talking about him made the atmosphere this sad and heavy

“I-If you want the legacy to survive… why don’t you do it yourselves?” Rezen suspiciously asks

“Our master is already dead, why do we have to keep living? If not for our master’s legacy, we wouldn’t have to wait for the Blessed Land’s collapse before we die” Zero answered in a matter of a fact tone

He was very casual with it as if it wasn’t his life that they were talking about