Dylan: Mankind's Last Hope

Chapter 1: Purple Sand

Coughs! Coughs!

A young boy of about ten years sat up, coughing violently. His dull eyes swept around the surroundings and he frowned.

Where am I?

The cool breeze cleared his mind and some bits of memories finally surged to the surface of his mind.

Blood! Ruins! Destruction!

As the horrifying scene flashed in his mind, he trembled uncontrollably.

Dylan had woken up a few days ago to find himself entangled amidst mangled bodies. With a great deal of effort, he had dragged himself out of the dome shaped structure.

After walking a short distance, he staggered and fell flat on the ground. His dry lips trembled and a gust of breath left his mouth. “I don’t want to die like this.”

He laid there, weak, helpless, hovering between life and death. He wanted to call for help, but there was nobody around, only an endless stretch of purple sand.

Woosh! Screech! Rattle! A sea of wailing noises ripped the place apart. It was another cosmic storm. Dylan’s weak body got caught up in the storm and after what seemed like an eternity, he was flung out.

Thud! Boom! His body crashed against something solid.

Dylan was already weak. How could he withstand such an impact? His vitality started draining away.

There was only a shred of vitality left in his body when a mechanical voice sounded in his head, “Mobilising the last line of recovery mechanism. Activating Cryogenic defense.”

There was a low static buzz and his body was enveloped in a strange blue light.

Two years later….

“Master, I think we should go back now.” Gerard gathered his courage and spoke in a hesitant voice. “We have been wandering through the purple land for three weeks now. I don’t think we will find what we want.”

“Very well. Let’s return.” The old man stopped walking and turned to face Gerard. With a wave of his hand, chains made of fire wrapped around Gerard’s neck, throttling him. “Since we can’t find what we want, I can only make do with your body.”

Denver’s hands glowed red as the power in his body surged in defence. But Denver didn’t dare to use it at all. Forcefully suppressing his own power, he whimpered, “Master, I was wrong. Please show mercy. How can the divination made by the great sage be wrong? You will definitely find what you want within a few hours.”

“Right?” The old man’s eyes flashed red, and he burst into a peal of maniacal laughter. “How can the divination of the great sage be wrong? We will surely find the perfect test subject.”

This old man was Shen Jie, an eccentric fire type elementalist. With his talent, he would have become a prominent leader of the Fire Temple. But when he was twenty-five, he was struck by a strange inspiration. He wanted to become proficient in controlling all five elements.

For thirty years, he tried hundreds of methods, but he couldn’t even control a second type of element. He was limited by his fire type physique.

Shen Jie was a stubborn man. He didn’t give up even after this. If he couldn’t control all elements, so what? He would nurture someone who could.

Thus began his relentless journey of experimentation. After twenty years of research, he finally found a way to alter a person’s physique.

The only thing he was lacking was to find a person born without a magical vein. Now that there was hope after twenty years of perseverance, how could he not be excited?

Seeing Shen Jie’s enthusiasm, Gerard let out a sigh. He knew that searching for a person in the desolate purple sand was as difficult as looking for a needle in the haystack. Even so, he didn’t dare to voice his concerns again.

Clearing his throat, he tried to speak in a cheerful voice, “Master, this time, your experimentation will definitely be successful. Soon, your name will be famous all over the Five Crowns Continent.”

“That’s like my good apprentice.” The old man released Denver and used a green stone to heal his injuries. “All you need to do is stay by my side obediently.” His eyes dazzled with a fiery light. “I will take you to the peak of the world with me.”

Another day and night later, the master and apprentice found a cave. Shen Jie was feeling disgruntled, but when he saw this cave, his eyes lit up.”

“Denver, go and see what is inside. Given how freezing it is here, there might be ice essence buried in the cave.”

“Yes Master,” Denver walked to the ice cave to find that he was being blocked by an invisible wall. He didn’t feel disheartened when faced with this obstruction, instead, he felt excited.

A place that was protected so well must have something good. He took out three fire stones from his spatial storage device to magnify his powers and started melting the barrier.

This process was very slow, and it took almost five hours to make a hole large enough for Denver to crawl through.

“Be careful,” Shen Jie warned, “Don’t damage the stuff inside. You go ahead, I will stay on guard. If anyone else tries to get inside….” He snorted and his eyes flashed with a sinister light. “I will turn them into lab rats for my next experiment.”

“Ahhhh!!!!” Moments after Denver crawled in through the gap, a scream ripped through the cave.

“Damn! What is the matter with you?” Shen Jie cursed as he followed inside. “Why in the freaking world do you have to….”

Shen Jie froze, and his eyes widened. There were no treasures or ice essence. Instead, it was a boy buried under layers of ice.

Shen Jie’s heart trembled. “Could he be the one the great sage had told me about?”

“But how is that possible, master? The great sage had divined about a living person, but he….”

Gerard shuddered looking at the boy laying buried under layers of ice. He spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper, “The way he is lying, pale and motionless, he might be long dead. Also, master, look at the wounds and clotted blood. I don’t think anyone can survive such a fatal blow.”

“Hmm…. What a pity.” The old man sighed. “Nonetheless, put away his corpse. It is quite well preserved. I will use it to test out the effects of the starry silk worm.”

“Yes, master,” With a wave of his hand, Denver created a separate section in the storage space of his device and placed the frozen corpse there.

The storage device was magically connected to Denver. So, the temperature inside was higher than the surroundings. Unknown to him, the ice started melting.

While the master and apprentice continued on their journey, the ice continued melting. After a day and night, the ice had completely melted.

Gerard was sitting by the bonfire roasting some meat for his master when there was a low sound. ‘Thump! Thump!”

Gerard was startled, but then he shrugged it off. In a place like Purple Land, it wasn’t uncommon to hear such sounds.

However, the rhythmic sound continued. Thump! Thump! At first he heard the sound only every few minutes, but as the time passed, its frequency increased.

“Master, can you hear that?” Denver couldn’t stop himself from asked, “It sounds like a heartbeat. Do you think there are divine beasts hiding in the dark?”

“Divine beasts, my foot! I have already scanned the entire area.” Shen Jie snapped angrily. He was in a foul mood because he hadn’t found the person without magical veins, even after searching for so long. “If you dare to disturb my meal again, I will punish you.”

The rhythmic sounds continued to assault Denver throughout the night, but he didn’t dare to talk about it to his master again.

“Damn it! Why can’t I find anything?” The frown on his forehead deepened as he searched frantically. “Could it be that there is some defect in my ears?”