Journey Of A Legend

"This... How?"

The moment the backlight which was all around the island a second ago broke down fully and showed the outside view, Greg couldn't believe his eyes.

After walking out and looking around with widened eyes, what waited him was a breathtaking sight.

What appeared all around him were snow-white and fluffy looking clouds, while below them in the distance, an ash black scenery with a rotten looking environment could be seen, indicating that he was still in the Forbidden Lands somewhere on a huge mountain.

As he was looking around in awe, while thinking about how could this be possible, suddenly Russ walked out from the house with Wayne on his side and said, "The second reason why this place is the safest spot on earth is because of its ever-changing location. Every 3 days around 6 o'clock that strange power appears and teleports this spot somewhere else inside the Forbidden Lands. It is almost impossible to track after it has vanished."

"This is also the Alpha's doing?", asked Greg as he watched the scenery behind the bridge which started to change from an ash black surface into a beautiful green field with colorful trees and bushes materializing here and there.

"Unfortunately, no. Except for protecting this place or giving its blessings for others, it is doing nothing more, so we don't have a clue who or what is doing this. However, it doesn't actually matter no? The most important thing is that we are safe here."

Turning his gaze at Russ, Greg couldn't reply to that declaration, so he just simply shrugged and asked, "So? What are we doing now?"

Wayne on the side also looked at Russ and waited for him to say something.

Feeling both of their gazes on his skin, Russ started to think, and after a while, he said, "We brought you here to avoid unwanted attention and we still don't know why one of the Six came to find you, so we need you to stay here until you can't complete the Evolution step or at least reach the God Rank."

"You want me to stay here until then? I fear it will take me years to reach that rank! I can't stay here for that long!", said Greg and continued to think, "And what is more I don't rank up like you guys, so it's still unknown if I need to go through that Evolution step or not."

"You will need to too."

Hearing Alice's unexpected answer, Greg became a bit surprised and wanted to ask her for more information, but before he could, Russ shrugged and said, "That's not our problem. We brought you here to make sure you are safe from the immense danger, but as to how you reach the God rank is totally up to you. We will try to help you if you have any questions, but out of that, we can't help you."

After he said that he turned around and before walking back into the house he said one last sentence, "However don't forget it, there will be a war soon, so if I were you I would make everything that I could until then, because if you remain this weak..."

Not wanting to finish his sentence, Russ just shook his head helplessly and with Wayne on his side, he started to walk back into the house.

Watching the two men's back, Greg stayed quiet for a while, not knowing how to react to what Russ just said.

However, to tell the truth, Russ was on point. After what happened in the tournament it was entirely feasible that another incident like that could happen in the future, so if he goes back to them he would put not only his but all of his loved one's life in danger and that was the only thing he didn't want.

However, to remain hidden from his friends and everyone else that he loved till he reaches the God rank was a bit...

"I need to get strong as fast as I can!", thought Greg with burning determination in his eyes, and after sitting down onto the ground he asked Alice, "Alice, tell me how should I Cultivate your Art and reach the Soul Grade."

"Sure, but aren't you curious about other things lik-"

"Everything will come and explain itself with time, but power won't. Russ is right, if there is really an approaching war, then I need to get strong as fast as possible. I can not waste any of my precious time. It is especially true for me because I walk a wholly different path than anyone else."

Alice hearing Greg's words hummed slightly and after a small hesitation she said, "I understand it, then let me explain clearly what you need to do."

After a small silence, she started to explain, "As I said, you need to cultivate all the six elements separately while consuming energy crystals, however, I didn't tell you a few things."

"A few?", asked Greg with surprise feeling he shouldn't anticipate anything good from the following sentences.

"Yes. To make an element to solidify as the First Flow inside you, the first thing you need is to understand the practiced element itself. You need to know everything about it theoretically and after that, you have to utilize it in real life. If you can achieve that, the flow will automatically solidify, so you can start to cultivate the next element."

Understanding this, Greg nodded and asked, "Then why do I need to consume energy crystals?"

"Who said that the energy crystals you need to consume will be the same as you did until now?"

"?"

Feeling Greg's confusion, Alice chuckled and said, "Maybe you can remember, but when you got your staff back in that city, there were some Soul Creatures that required things to make them rank up."

"Now that you say this, there really was one which needed a Serpent scale and a Wind Crystal to make it to rank up.", said Greg with a slight nod after thinking back the moment he was in the Soul Association with Eliana.

"Yes, now that you understand this, it will much easier to explain things. Each element requires one energy crystal that has its affinity in it. They are needed for only one purpose and that is to make the flow that solidified inside you to make it 100% stable."

"Wait. Stable? Why, what will happen if I don't consume one?", asked Greg curiously.

"What will happen? Well, that's very easy to answer. If you don't consume the crystal that has the affinity of the element you have cultivated, then the flow can break and go crazy inside your body, killing you from the inside. Just imagine it, you accidentally forgot to consume a fire crystal then you will turn to charcoal from the inside. I think that wouldn't be a pleasant feeling that is for sure."

Just imagining the sight as his body got sucked into the utter nothingness while giving him no chance at all to resist just because he didn't consume a dark crystal, made Greg to feel a cold rush run through his body in an instant.

"Well, let's hope that something like that won't happen in the future.", said Greg quietly and after standing up from the ground he started to think.

"Then let's see... Which element should I start my cultivation with?"

Thinking about all the times that he used his powers, he realized that the element he used the most was the wind element.

However, it was obvious because it was the only power which was the most useful he had right at the moment, while at the same time it was the easiest to use.

Maybe the other elements were very helpful too in special situations, but against enemies that were stronger and faster than him, the most assistance that an element could give him was the power of the wind. It's speed boost ability and the way he can utilize his attacks just because of the vortexes gave him the most help, which could decide his fate under a life and death battle.

"Then let's go with the wind element. Now the only thing I need to do before the start is to find an energy crystal with the affinity of wind.", said Greg calmly and without hesitation he started to think for a way he could think to get such a crystal.

While he was thinking about a solution to find what he wanted, somewhere else in a dense black and rotten forest, four figures, one adult and three teenagers started to appear one after another from the tree's shadow.

The muscular adult with the dragon tattoo on his shoulder was naturally Kuragari, while the three kids were Joe, Mila, and Emma.

"If you are right, then we should start our search from here. If we follow this road right till the end of the Forbidden Lands, we will only meet with low level creatures, but there is a chance that there will a few high ones, so stay as close to me as possible.", said Kuragari calmly as he looked at his surroundings with a dead serious expression.

Joe, Mila, and Emma nodded at what Kuragari said and in an instant, all of them stepped a step closer to him.

Seeing as the three kids listened to what he said and acted almost instantly, Kuragari nodded slightly and after taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he threw it onto the ground and he said, "Then let's get going."

The moment he said that he summoned a pitch black katana into his left hand and with the three kids on his side, he started to run right into the forest, without a single idea of knowing what could possibly wait for them on their way...