Jarek soon found himself outside the town.
Outside the town, there was a forest with dense vegetation, and Jarek moved within this forest with such ease as if it were his backyard.
After travelling through the forest for some distance, he came across a river with clear flowing water.
He followed the river and soon a waterfall was visible in the distance.
As Jarek drew closer to the waterfall, he was hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia as he remembered the memories of the past.
He was now at the bottom of the waterfall.
---
'It looks beautiful from down here, doesn't it, Jarek?'
'Yes, it does, but where does all this water come from?'
'It comes from the ocean, moving through the lands until it goes back into the ocean again.
'The ocean?'
'You remember that I told you we are on a massive piece of land called a continent, right?'
'Yes, I remember. What is the ocean?'
'You are always so curious. The whole continent is surrounded by a lot of water that you can't even see where it ends. All that water is known as the ocean.'
'I want to see it! When will you take me there?'
'We will have to wait until you grow up before we go. So we will just have to go there when the time comes.'
'Really?'
'Of course. Why would I lie to you?'
'Okay, I'll wait.'
'Good boy.'
...
'I found a big hole behind this big rock.'
'This hole might lead into a cave inside the waterfall. Hmm? The sun looks like it will set soon. Let's go back home. I'll make your favorite today.'
'Yes...mother.'
---
Jarek quickly pulled himself out of a daze and stopped reminiscing.
He was now in front of a familiar big rock. He effortlessly pushes it aside revealing a path that was hidden by it.
He walks into the path, barely fitting through as he bends slightly forward to move through this narrow path.
At the end of this path, a cave almost the size of his room became visible, and Jarek walked straight into the cave.
The cave was lit with unique glowing plants that produced a green light similar to that in his room.
These common plants absorb light and then, when darkness falls, they emit a green light.
They are usually curled into balls and reminded Jarek of a light bulb when he came into this world.
He went into one corner of the cave and used qi to effortlessly dig the soil, retrieving a large box, ordinary in appearance.
Jarek opened the box and saw a bag inside it. He turned the bag upside down, and items dropped into the box.
These items weren't ordinary.
There was spirit stones, weapons, and even different types of materials that have been here for years.
He previously didn't have any use for them, and any careless moves on his part would have put a target on his back.
Now that he was armed with knowledge about karma, he couldn't help but praise his past self for his actions; otherwise, he would have been a goner.
Jarek used the system's features to identify these items.
[
Adamantium (Low Grade Metal)
A strong type of metal with a moderate level of qi conductivity with any type of qi.
]
[
Frost Iron (Low Grade Metal)
A heavy metal with a high level of qi conductivity with frost qi.
]
...
[
Gloom Veil (Low Grade)
An ominous dagger that feeds on the blood of its opponents and resonates with the shadows.
]
Jarek's eyes turned slightly cold at the sight of Gloom Veil, but he reigned in his emotions as he thought, 'It won't be long until I see you again.'
After looking at the items, he sat down on a rock, closed his eyes to cultivate.
Half an hour later, he soon heard footsteps walking closer to the cave. Judging from the sound, it appeared to be one person.
But Jarek opened his eyes calmly, not surprised by this, almost as if he had been expecting this.
There was only one other person who knew of this place other than him.
When the green light shone on the figure as she entered the cave, a woman with long hair as black as night appeared.
She had a slightly cold aura around her and a neutral expression that was quite similar to Jarek's.
[
Name: Eira
Age:18
Cultivation: Mortal
Physique: Unawakened
]
As Jarek checked her status, he was surprised to notice that she might have a physique of her own.
And on Eira's side, as she saw Jarek, her normal expressionless face melted, replaced with a smile, and she quickly moved to hug Jarek, quietly sobbing into his chest, crying, "I thought I would lose you too!"
Jarek hugged her back, comforting her, and couldn't help but think, 'When was the last time I saw her crying this much?'
As he thought of this, an unpleasant memory played in his mind.
---
Within a large building, a weirdly decorated mansion, were strange people with pale skin standing in front of hundreds of cages.
These cages each contained children ranging from ten to fourteen years old.
However, to these men, they might as well be animals waiting to be slaughtered.
One of the men's fangs became visible as he opened his mouth to speak. "Boss, how many are we eating tonight?"
They were not humans.
"Food like this is hard to come by these days. And we won't be able to get more from that town any time soon. How many of them are there?" The leader asked.
"Almost three hundred, boss." Another one answered.
"That's better than the last town. Then we will have to eat less than ten every day for this month." The leader spoke as he licked his lips, looking at the helpless children whose faces had either turned pale or were crying out in fear with a predatory gaze.
He couldn't wait any longer as he moved towards one of the children who was trembling and shaking in fear, with tears flowing down his cheeks.
He opened the strong metal cage with a key and grabbed the struggling young boy.
"No! Please! I don't want to die! Help! Urgh!" However, the boy's cries went unanswered, and it even excited the man even more, like a predator wanting to play with his prey.
He sank his fangs into the boy's neck, who groaned in pain as the rest of the children watched in horror.
In the very back, one child with white hair had a vacant and empty look, seemingly disconnected from reality, as he didn't even look at what was happening in front of him.
Besides him, a girl with black hair was crying her heart out as she covered her eyes, scared of what she had just witnessed.
Moments later, nine other children suffered the same fate as the first and breathed their last, all their blood essence sucked dry by these malevolent creatures.
The men soon left after leaving some food behind so that their meals don't starve to death.
After all, who would want their meal dying before they enjoyed it?
And the children? They ate the food. Even though their eventual fate was grim, no one wanted to die early.
Surprisingly, some didn't touch their food, preferring to go down this way rather than experience the tragic death they witnessed, not knowing they would be the first to die the following day because of this choice.
Jarek still appeared lost, and the black-haired little girl, who was a younger Eira, stared at little Jarek, who looked as if he had lost the meaning to live.
"Jarek, what do we do? I don't want to die." Eira's voice brought some light to the young boy's eyes, as he recalled something.
A voice played in his mind.
'Jarek... survive... please... and take care of Eira...'
Earlier, when he heard these words, he was too out of it, and they barely registered in his mind.
He was already struggling to come to terms with what he was about to lose—his world.
But now, as he remembered the last words of his mother, his vacant look turned into something unsettling.
When his eyes turned to look at Eira, she was a little bit startled at seeing Jarek's eyes, cold and chilling to the extreme.
It was on that day that he made a solemn vow in his heart. 'Mother. I will survive! And I will protect Eira, no matter the cost. And I swear, THEY WILL PAY!'
---
Eira's current tearful expression reminded him of the first time he saw her crying.
But unlike last time, this time, it was one of joy.