The Path To Perfection

Chapter 39: Don't Talk To Strangers

Planet Green Cloud had just five continents and all of them were currently habitable and collectively occupied by a total of twenty billion humans.

The Divera Dynasty which occupied the third largest continent happened to be in the center of three other continents. One can say the Divera Dynasty saw all other nations as child's play.

Unfortunately for the Divera continent, a ball of fire decided to fall into one of the residential areas in one of its cities.

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"Ooh! Mummy look, what's that?" A four-year-old little boy said as he pointed to the sky with his chubby little fingers. The middle-aged woman who walked beside him raised her head to observe what her son was pointing at.

She narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the far away bright orange dot that seemed to be heading towards them. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized the speed at which the object was moving.

"Quick! run!" She shouted and grabbed her son's hand firmly, dashing back away from the spot where the incoming ball of fire was going to land and towards the nearest house for safety.

The few people on the street also looked up in alarm from the young boy's call and the mother's panicked cry.

"What in Ozias' name is that?" Even as someone had the time to ask that useless question, others had already started running. The ones too far from their homes banged on the doors of the nearest house or just outrightly broke down the door and hid behind the walls close to the windows.

Yet some people ran out of their houses because their instinct was telling them that it would be safer outside.

As the flaming object came further down, the fire extinguished on its own and a few people were able to make out the figure of a man.

PHEEEEEEEEEW!....

BAAAM-CRASH...

Like a meteorite sent by an angry god, the figure fell straight down and crashed into one of the duplexes on the street. The impact of the fall caused a small shock wave that shook the ground and broke the walls of the nearby houses.

Where the duplex had been was now rubbles and debris. Still in panic, a lot of people ran out until they were out of the street. Meanwhile, some of the more clear-headed ones stayed in their houses and looked through the window for any signs of another strange ball of fire.

Soon, the entire area was devoid of any sound and no one in the houses dared come out. Those who couldn't wait any longer had already called the emergency lines.

…

Back at the collapsed duplex

"Well, my weight increased." A gentle, manly voice sounded out amid all the dust and rubbles.

The dust cleared to reveal Al'ravee still wearing his somewhat fitted kaftan that surprisingly remained intact even after the fire and the fall.

His bones snapped back into place and the bloody injuries healed up.

'Definitely keeping this' He thought, referring to the attire. Al'ravee flexed his arms, seeing his somewhat large muscular biceps looking more pronounced through the tight material. Almost the entire cloth hugged his body from his back, shoulders, chest, and legs. The only free part was the bottom section of the top part of the kaftan and the black sandals that came with it.

Al'ravee used his hands to straighten his hair and clean his beard then folded his arms, causing a crevice to form on his burly chest.

"M-mummy... mummy please wake up" A cry filled with despair rang out in the area.

Looking around the damage he caused, Al'ravee spotted a little boy covered in dust, kneeling before the remnant of a wall.

On a closer look, the top half of a female body lay on the ground with the remaining half being crushed under the fallen concrete wall.

The little boy tried pulling her hand but her body just won't budge. No one needed to check for vital signs to know that the woman was dead.

Al'ravee sighed in genuine sadness. He shook his head and walked up to the boy from behind.

Upon hearing the sound of the heavy footsteps, the boy turned around with his snot-covered face to check out the newcomer. Standing before him was a tall and slightly buff man dressed in a white matching up-and-down attire.

His average-looking face had a clean neck-length brown hair that was parted in the middle of his head and a smooth, clean-shaved beard. His face was the type that had nothing special yet was unforgettable.

"M-mister, please can you help me wake my mummy up?" The boy in his despair had forgotten the number one rule his mother always told him. Don't talk to strangers.

"I'm sorry..." Al'ravee started " Your mother... won't be able to wake up"

The boy started crying and mumbling some words, pleading with Al'ravee "Please mister, please"

The boy just wanted his mummy to wake up and take him home. Why won't she wake up?

Al'ravee knelt with a more saddened expression and put his left hand on the boy's right shoulder to provide some form of comfort.

"I understand how you feel, honestly, I do. I have a mother and I've asked myself 'What would I do if I found out she was really dead and gone all this while?'. Yeah, I won't feel good.

The feeling of losing someone you actually care about... I've felt it multiple times... Just like how you are feeling now. It's inevitable, the mortals around you will and must die.

My friend was executed because he took away someone's loved one. I had to watch my last daughter age till death took her into its embrace.

You would probably forget about this feeling in a few long years while I would remember it forever like it just happened a minute ago. *Sigh*"

The boy turned to Al'ravee with tears still flowing from his eyes, not able to comprehend the strange man's words.

Al'ravee sighed again, coming to peace with his conscience.

"Not to worry kid, I will save you the pain of having to deal with this loss..."

*STCHEETCH*

Al'ravee had suddenly grabbed the boy's head and viciously ripped it off its shoulders.

The movement was so sudden that the boy didn't feel any pain before he died.

"Hey Ozia, are you watching this"

Al'ravee reached out to Ozia with the concept of communication. He looked around the premises as he stood up with the boy's head still in his hand dripping blood.

"Affirmative Al'ravee" Ozia responded almost instantaneously.

"How do I handle this soul stuff? Do I just kill people?" Al'ravee asked.

"Are you able to see the souls?" Ozia answered him with another question.

"Hold on a sec." Al'ravee closed his eyes for a bit, brushing through the guide given to him by Krene and tapping into that feeling he had when he first opened his eyes at the learning pod area.

The next time Al'ravee opened his eyes, they had turned into eye-sized mirror balls. Al'ravee's mirror eyes reflected everything he cast his gaze on, both the things that could be seen normally and the things that could not be seen normally.

If someone looked into Al'ravees' eyes now, they would not only see a reflection of the physical matter but also two semi-transparent formless souls. Basically, everything that was reflected in his eyes was what Al'ravee saw.

"Yes, I can see them... I guess" Al'ravee could feel that energy inside of him slowly decreasing, albeit very minimally.

"Just as I thought, you've gained the concept of sight without knowing, it's a concept that most gods comprehend very easily early on. Its use is somewhat dependent on the type of concepts you have. As time goes on and you understand and fuse more concepts, the things you will be able to see will increase. For now, it's just limited to souls."

"What if a god doesn't have the concept of sight?" Al'ravee asked nonchalantly, taking his time to observe everything through his new vision.

"That's like looking at the world through the eyes of a mortal, how irritating." Ozia's response was filled with disdain.

"Oh okay, but how do I move the souls?" Al'ravee asked again patiently. He knew what Ozia was talking about but didn't want to dwell on it yet.

"Well, leave that to me, I'll keep a record of all the people you personally kill."

Al'ravee went silent in contemplation, he decided to just count the souls personally in case Ozia tried to cheat him.

He didn't yet know the kind of things that thick these gods off. He wasn't going to let his mouth run loose just because he didn't trust them, not yet at least.

Al'ravee stood there and contemplated his next actions, unaware of the armed men making their way to him.