Age of Heroes

In a cave somewhere near the New World, a large big dragon who disguises himself as a young human is lying down on the cold hard ground of his cave, clutching his chest as he spurted out golden blood from his mouth.

His forehead was sweating with golden liquid, his fingers are trembling and his back is soaked with cold sweats.

'Curse You, Blood of Light!' the young man cursed in Dragontongue and his word changed the weather on top of the island as the peaceful night was visited by howling wind and screaming lightning.

A woman chained into the Godstree was smiling as she said in a whisper

'Apotheosis'

Meanwhile, on Novus Gaia, Arial is beginning to assimilate with the Divine Water Essence.

His dantian now gains another color. Before it was red and golden. Now it turns a bit bluish.

He enters his Sea of Consciousness and look at the huge sea in front of him. The last time he saw the sea it was a vast ocean that even he could not see the end of it. 

The sea used to be vast and still, calm and serene. 

But now it was like the ocean was blessed with spirit causing the whole ocean to look like Celestial Ocean.

The water glistening with vitality, energy of life condensed out from the sea. 

The sky on his consciousness was swirling with lightning yet it was not hostile like the first time Arial consume the Divine Essence.

The ocean is calm; the Sky is still. 

Perfect harmony, perfect balance. 

Gigantic sea that looks like it could fill the starry sky, and thundering lightning prancing across the clouds.

There is no longer the stream of blood. And Arial understand what Amara is trying to do. She is trying to purify him.

This is his sea of consciousness now. Thunder. And Water. And he was enlightened yet again as he could felt like a huge burden coming off of him

This is his quest. His journey to redeem himself. 

And he could not take another step if he could not cast of his guilt. At least for this moment. 

At least for this quest.

Even if he died doing this quest, then he should not have complained. He should not be unwilling. 

How many people have he killed? 

How many more he has to kill? 

To accomplish this quest, he knows more blood will be spilled. And Arial is sure that his ending would be in that final great battle.

He would confront his fate. He would fight. And he would die. 

Then he would rest. 

Knowing that his last moment of life would be to atone for all those souls he has reaped, hoping that it would be enough.

Not all souls are innocent but Arial has killed many. Innocents or otherwise. In the end, isn't it the most perfect ending if he too receives his just judgment?

The essence of water enables him to accept his impending fate.

'If you want to save the soul of humanity from darkness, then save the soul of yourself first. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and evil in yourself.' 

This is his second enlightenment. 

He could not change what he did in the past but he could change what he would do in the future

If he was a Demon before, then he had to break the horns and sprout the wings of angels. If he was Asura before, he needs to become an Immortal.

Arial must perform a self-transformation.

He needs to overcome his own darkness. To stop lamenting the past and start changing the present to affect the future.

As he gains this enlightenment the Dragon Heart that hold power over him lessened even more as holy essence filled his mind and body even without him knowing.

Tears fall down Arial eyes as he remembers the dead. 

That anger in his heart slowly unravels. 

With each drop of his tears, it sows the seed of forgiveness. He has to forgive himself and he has to atone.

He has to transform. And he realizes his quest for vengeance was not as important as the quest he is on now.

He cries. He forgives and he learns from that anger and wrath. And like wind blowing through the plains, he moves on.

And his heart is open and he smiles.

He could now forgive. He could now…. love. And as he cries, the tears of repentance become tears of happiness as he could now accept his fate and destiny.

He was laughing and smiling as he accepts what he has done and that will stay with him permanently.

There is no excuse nor there a reason to justify his killing. He just had to accept what he has done….and do his damndest to make things right.

This is the essence of water. Water does not resist. It flows. It caresses a wounded soul, nourishes life.

Like water, his anger flowed out. Anger and hate flow out from him and one could see that Arial does not seem as cold as he is before.

There is even a trace of that past Arial. The one that loves Helia. The one that was as passionate when he was with Velamina. 

The one that felt his heart flutters looking at those green eyes of the Empress. 

Feeling his heart comforted by the act of a certain someone who offer him shelter when he first came here.

Arial could feel that this is Amara doings. 

Yet, he did not stop it. He did not hate it.

For a moment, he could forget all the hate and his ears could not hear the screaming ghost of the people he killed.

His internal energy becomes even purer, lustrous golden light filling his entire body. 

The darkness that lurks inside him was chained by this golden light. His meridian strengthens and his internal energy goes up another level.

His body now possesses the hardness of steel. Each breath he exhales expels impurities from his body.

The clouds and weird weather phenomenon around the waterfall stopped and Arial open his eyes.

His eyes were full of wisdom and his tears have stopped. He looks at the sky and he smiles, this time it was a smile full of sincerity.

His eyes are open, and his heart is open. And he looks at the White Hart and he ask, knowing the White Hart won't answer

'Is this what I was meant to find?' The White hart neighed as he galloped just a few feet from where it was standing into a leave of bushes. 

Arial was perplexed and he follows the White Hart once again.

Pushing the leaves of bushes, he saw another scene that makes him want to question Amara.

The White Hart has disappeared but the reason Arial was shocked is because the figure of the woman lying on the ground.

'Is this a test?' Arial ask looking at the stars. He noticed that his star is shining brightly in the starry sky like it was given light.

Then sighing he look back down again and rub his forehead. He doesn't know what to do. Why is it so hard to let go?

Why does when he wants to let go, there is always something that conspire to thwart his effort?

Destiny and fate is playing around with him. He crouched down and wipe the dirt on the woman face and he could feel his heart beating.

He felt happy. He felt guilty. And he felt anger. There are no words to describe his feeling right now. The combination of this feeling made him confused.

Because...the woman lying unconscious on the ground was Ana. The older sister of the killer of his wife.

And he just stares at her face, not knowing what to do.

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